Just a week after launching a new mini-desktop with an Intel Haswell processor, Zotac has introduced a new model with an AMD Kabini chip.

The Zotac ZBOX nano AQ01 is a tiny desktop computer with an AMD A5000 quad-core processor and Radeon HD 8330 graphics. It supports DirectX 11.1 graphics and can handle HD and 3D graphics, making it a decent candidate for a living room PC.

zotac zbox nano aq01

Like most members of the ZBOX family, the ZBOX nano AQ01 will come in two versions. The AQ01 Plus features 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive, but no operating system. The basic ZBOX nano AQ01 is an even more barebones product, shipping with a CPU, motherboard, case, and not much else.

Both models feature built-in 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, and an external antenna as well as Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI and DisplayPort. The system has 5 USB 2.0 ports and 2 USB 3.0 ports, a flash card reader, a single memory SODIMM slot (with support for up to 8GB) and support for a 2.5 inch hard drive or solid state drive.

 

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41 replies on “Zotac launches ZBOX nano AQ01 mini-PC with AMD Kabini”

  1. Just bought this. Throwing in 8gbb of ram and a 64gb ssd to use it as a steam client. Ill be testing it next week and can post here about it.

  2. This seems like a decent replacement for my old Dell desktop that is languishing upstairs. This has 8 times the RAM and over six times the hard drive capacity! I could probably use this as a test bed for Linux and ReactOS, which would be a sufficient replacement for Windows XP.
    As long as price is decent, I’m all in.

  3. this is great, too bad brix dropped the kabini version…
    also why no a6-5200? the a4 and a6 use very similar levels of power but the a6 is actually decent outside of mobile formfactors…

    1. Interesting, any evidence that gigabyte dropped the kabini Brix, I’ve searched on the ‘net and seen nothing about this

  4. Unfortunately neither AMD nor Nvidia offers open-source drivers, which is why I’d prefer something with Intel: Intel HD, Iris, Iris Pro etc.

    1. WTF are you going on about…AMD has FOSS drivers [radeonSI osn’t quite as powerful as the r600 radeon driver yet], stop spreading FUD!

    2. right… because… you usually pay for drivers… or you extend them yourself… or because intel gpu’s are so much better then either amd or nvidia…

      oh wait… nvidia & amd both have much better driver support for both windows and linux(where there are multiple implementation for both and both support the os dev teams… actively besides offering their own closed source drivers)… You never ever paid for drivers… and you most probably never extend the drivers yourself – if you would you would do it to tap into gpgpu and intel has none of that… So I cal bs…

    3. There are open source drivers for AMD and NVIDIA but they suck. Right now, it’s a waste of money to get discrete GPUs or AMD APUs with the intent of installing Linux and the open source drivers. Even some Linux game developers have announced to their users to not use the open source drivers (specifically the Radeon one) and to instead use the closed drivers to prevent stability and performance issues.

      Hopefully, with the recent talk of increased support of the open source drivers and the publishing of some documents from AMD and NVIDIA, the open source drivers will get better. However, as an end user and someone not put off by closed source software, I’ll continue to use the excellent closed drivers that are frequently updated to add features, fix issues and support newer Linux kernels. For non-gaming systems, I’ll stick with Intel only platforms to save money and possible headaches.

      1. What you say about open source drivers for AMD graphics really only applies to the recent GCN-era hardware (Radeon HD 7000 and later). The “R600” driver works really well for HD 3000-6000 hardware, almost as well as Catalyst. It’s a shame that AMD hasn’t devoted more resources to the open source drivers, particularly before the hardware was released.

        The “RadeonSI” driver for GCN-era hardware is getting there though. Probably next year it will start to become generally usable.

  5. Too bad from what I’ve read, the Catalyst drivers for Kabini aren’t great on Linux and the open source Nouveau drivers are pretty bad on Kabini (on top of the already bad support of other new AMD Radeons).

    Also, I’m sure this is like the other Zotac boxes and uses Realtek or Ralink NICs which are generally crap on Windows and even worse on Linux.

    1. Why do you prefer AMD over Intel? If it’s for compatibility, stability and performance reasons then I’d like to know so I can consider it whenever I decide to buy a system and make a good choice for the system’s target application.

      1. JML is a moronic troll! The fact that this guy, who is an adult by the way (i’ve had the misfortune of seeing his mug shot), has so much time on his hands to troll every AMD related article, makes you think how he actually pays the bills. I bet his mummy pays his bills for him, i also bet he can’t even afford a machine from Intel, and is sitting there with a Athlon x2.

        1. Oh wow you are STUPID!!! I can afford an Intel PC and I do have one with a I5-4670K that Smokes EVERYTHING AMD will EVER put out. Nope Wrong again STUPID!!!

          1. Well Well Hello there haven’t heard from you in long time. Sure AMD’s GPU is faster but it’s CPU is 1/2 the speed of Intel’s Awesome i5-4670K that I have!!! Nope it uses less power and with the power savings I can use an AWESOME Nvidia GPU and finally put AMD out of business!!!!

          2. So it is you, I wasn’t sure as you have a different user, I take it your previous handle, JML, got banned for trolling?
            And how come you have a 4670K? I thought you were after a low power machine, not an 84W mini furnace.

          3. Yeah funny story about that actually. I built a computer for my uncle and I got the Core i5-4670K for his PC but it got a machine exception check error that turned out be the CPU so I bought another i5-4670K and a new motherboard and I got his PC to work and then I had an extra i5-4670K but it didn’t work at all so I returned it and got a new one from Intel and then I had to get a new PSU and Motherboard and here I am. I will get a new low power PC sometime next year and give this one to dad.

          4. So, you’re saying that you ended up with an extra machine because intel tried to sell you a faulty chip? And that doesn’t annoy you?

          5. I ended up with a extra machine because at the time I didn’t know how to contact Intel for a replacement. Yes it does annoy me to no end that Intel haswell was the first CPU that I bought that had this error. I built Intel PC’s before and the error I told you about never happened until I bought Haswell. Too Bad AMD makes sucky products that use far too much power.

          6. Yes it is but most of them work and the work well. AMD’s IPC is a joke and I can’t run gamecube and PS2 on AMD hardware at decent framerates.

          7. No because PCSX2 at most is quad threaded and Intel’s quad core CPU would demolish anything AND Everything AMD makes or will ever make. Yes it does me make a bit angry but I got a working part so its not all bad. Besides my CPU isn’t even listed in that thread.

          8. sure the intel quad wil be a little bit faster than an AMD quad at emulation, but the AMD quad will be a lot cheaper, and there’s no point in paying for performance you don’t notice.

            Besides I hope that link dissuades you from the erroneous notion that AMD chips can’t do emulation, they can, and they can do it very well.
            Sorry to hear about your intel chip woes, perhaps you should try an alternative.

          9. A little faster how about MUCH faster than AMD and Intel uses Far less power to do as well. I like to turn the Graphics settings up so I need a strong CPU and I need a decent GPU. I got a radeon 5750 which may not be strong enough for emulation. AMD products have terrible drivers and EVEN WORSE Linux support where as Nvidia has nothing less than Awesome Linux support and great gaming GPU’s. I would but AMD sucks too much for me to look into. Terrible IPC and Very High power consumption make AMD a terrible choice.

          10. Wut you talkin ’bout Willis?!

            According to the link you posted, the A10-6700 system actually uses more power under load than the 4670K and a lot more power than the 3470

          11. Good point, according to hotHardware, the AMD system does use 9 watts more at full CPU and GPU load, although to be fair it does give about twice the frame rate in doing that.

          12. The AMD APU gives much higher performance in games, but still not enough that I would limit myselt to one for gaming, except for the most extremely limited budget. For the thermal envelope, I’d rather have a lower wattage intel chip and discrete video card.

      2. I don’t like AMD solely because they SUCK!!!! They make terrible products and they are dooming x86 by putting out crappy CPU’s and APU’s.

  6. Sounds like a great little box, but I worry about reliability. Not the AMD APU, but everything else (and noise). The NUC and BRIX appear to be better built. Zotac has a questionable reputation for reliability.

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