Zotac’s Q-series mini PCs are tiny, fast workstations powered by NVIDIA’s Quadro graphics
Zotac’s Q-series mini PCs are tiny, fast workstations powered by NVIDIA’s Quadro graphics
Zotac has announced its QK5 and QK7 line of mini PCs, the company’s first miniature workstation systems to feature NVIDIA’s Pascal-based Quadro graphics cards.
They’re around the same size as an Intel NUC system, but they’re also far more powerful. Intel’s newest NUCs run on the Kaby Lake-G chips with integrated Radeon RX Vega graphics, and Zotac’s ZBOX Q series PCs will go head to head with them for a slice of the workstation market.
The company is releasing a total of three different SKUs – the QK7P5000, QK7P3000, and QK5P1000.
The Q series PCs are powered by a range of Quadro graphics cards ranging from the P1000 to the new VR-ready P5000, and will appeal to users looking for a mini PC that can chew through professional applications and tasks like computing complex datasets, CAD design, and rendering.
The QK7 systems share the same 203 x 210 x 62.2mm chassis, and can be equipped with up to a quad-core Intel Core i7-7700T (2.9GHz, 8MB L3 cache) processor and 32GB of DDR4-2400 RAM.
On the graphics front, the QK7P5000 will take an NVIDIA Quadro P7000 16GB, while the QK7P3000 will have to settle for a Quadro P3000 6GB.
The lower-end QK5P1000 features a dual-core mobile Core i5-7200U (2.5GHz, 3MB L3 cache) chip and an NVIDIA Quadro P1000 4GB. It can also be equipped with up to 32GB of DDR4-2133 RAM.
The QK5 also has a slightly smaller space footprint than the QK7 models, but it’s also slightly thicker, measuring 184.6 x 184.6 x 71.5mm.
All the Q series systems support a full range of modern connectivity technologies, including dual Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, HDMI 2.0, and M.2 storage devices.
In addition, they all also feature a 2.5-inch drive bay for a second SSD, but the QK5 system is limited to just SATA drives.
The QK7 PCs also come with more ports and connectors. While the QK5 has just three USB 3.0 ports, the QK7 has two USB 2.0, two USB 3.0, one USB 3.1, and one USB 3.1 Type-C port.
That said, the QK5 does have one advantage over the QK7, and that’s its support for more flexible mounting options. Its compatible with VESA mounts, so you can lay, mount, or hang it to better accommodate your setup.
Zotac hasn't released any pricing or availability information yet.