Regular readers will know I'm fond of tiny computers. During my search for a tiny but powerful game-ready PC, though, I found several beautiful and well-made options, all very expensive indeed. But none were so small as the Zotac Zbox EN1070K [Amazon], which is roughly the size of a Sega Dreamcast. I've had it for six months, now, and can report that it's great: easily the most enjoyable, compact, no-nonsense game-ready PC I've ever owned.
Miniaturization is accomplished by using the MXM video card form factor originally devised for laptops. In the past, this would have resulted in a severe performance compromise. But current Nvidia models hit close to the numbers posted by full-size counterparts. Even with Zotac slightly underclocking the GTX 1070 (presumably for heat reasons), it benchmarks only about 10% off what I'd expect to see with a full-size model. I didn't test it rigorously. I just don't notice the difference.
There's even a model with the GTX 1080 [Amazon] in it, but it's twice the size of this one and I wanted small; 1070 is the fastest model that uses the smallest design, with various other slower and cheaper options offered in the same case. As it turns out, the MXM 1070 is more than enough for every game I've tried, and (at least wedded to a similarly newer i5 CPU) outpaces the GTX 970-equipped PC I upgraded from. It did just great at 1440p on everything I've tried. The latest games on the highest settings on 4k monitors would be pushing it, I'm sure, but if you need that, maybe a PC the size of a hardback novel isn't in your future.
There are compromises, though, to bear in mind. Upgrading the i5 Kaby Lake CPU is possible, but I wouldn't chance it until the machine is otherwise too old to get much out og -- it voids the warranty and requires almost complete disassembly. The MXM video card looks easier to replace, but they're not really a consumer item and you'll pay outrageous money for something ripped out of a dead laptop. The ZBox isn't a console, but upgrading the gamey bits would be hard and expensive work.
And beware the EN1070 (without the K) -- it's the 2016 model, with a significantly slower CPU and not much saved off the price. (The new ZBoz Q workstations use the same case too, by the looks of it)
Upgrades to RAM and SSD (there's both an mSATA header and an M.2 slot) are very easy, though. With 32GB of RAM and a 512GB Samsung 960 Pro installed, this is an astonishingly powerful little box and I'm very happy with it. The overally price premium of smallness isn't terrible, but it is significant: about $250 over the cost of a similarly equipped Mini-ITX PC specced out with equivalent gadgetry within.
The only annoyance, for me, is the case design. You'd think it'd be the sleekest most minimalist thing going, but it looks like an off-brand cable modem, right down to the plastic fins and glowy buttons. There's no annoying gamer greebling or red-LED edgyiness, thankfully. It's well-engineered, too, easy to open up and add memory and storage. It comes with a fairly large power brick: 6x4x1".
I'm tempted to pad this out with benchmark charts, but the proposition here is simple enough, so there's no point bothering. If you want a genuinely powerful and tiny game-ready PC and you don't plan on frequent upgrades, just get this one.
Zotac Zbox EN1070K [Amazon]
SPECS
210mm x 203mm x 62.2mm Intel Core i5-7500T (quad-core, 2.7 GHz, up to 3.3 GHz) 2 x DDR4-2400/2133 SODIMM Slots (up to 32GB) GeForce® GTX 1070 8GB GDDR5 256-bit 2 x HDMI 2.0 2 x DisplayPort 1.3 1 x 2.5-inch SATA 6.0 Gbps HDD/SSD bay 1 x M.2 PCIEx4 / SATA SSD slot (22/42,22/60,22/80) SD/SDHC/SDXC card reader Microphone, Headphone 2 x USB 3.0 1 x USB 3.1 Type-C 1 x USB 3.1 2x USB 2.0 Dual Gigabit LAN 1 x WiFI SMA connetor 802.11ac/b/g/n
P.S. Here's the back:
