Zotac Zbox nano CI521 (Core M-5Y10c) Initial impressions

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lowpowercomputing2
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Location: Germany

Zotac Zbox nano CI521 (Core M-5Y10c) Initial impressions

Post by lowpowercomputing2 » Mon Jul 20, 2015 9:22 am

Hello,

was a member here long time ago.

If just to get my hands on something new to play around with, I received a passively cooled Zotac Zbox nano CI521 a few days ago; planning to use it as tertiary desktop computer including virtualization, perhaps some light HTPC use.

Specifications:
  • CPU: Intel Core M-5Y10c
    RAM: 8 GB DDR3 (soldered in, not replaceable)
    Storage: 1x mSATA, 1x SATA-III for 2.5" drive
    GPU: Intel HD Graphics 5300
    Bluetooth/WiFi: Intel AC 3160
    Ports: 4x USB 3.0, HDMI, DisplayPort, 2x Gigabit Ethernet, line-out, mic-in, DC-in
    Misc: SD Card Reader, IR receiver
    Power brick: Delta Electronics ADP-40KD (19V, 2.1A)
First impressions attained using a 128GB Samsung 830 SSD with Windows 7 x64 and Linux Mint 17.2 64-bit (kernel 3.16) after updating the BIOS to the latest version:

Good things:
- Pretty snappy for web surfing (Firefox) and office use.
- Firmware allows for cTDP to be modified (down, nominal, up) and offers many power-related settings, screenshots will be provided as I go on.
- SATA, USB, graphics, audio, ethernet, WiFi worked out of the box on Mint 17.2.

Bad things:
- WiFi reception is disappointing. Where my other devices easily find more than ten networks, the Zbox only finds two.
- Throttling occurs. For initial data points, I ran Geekbench 3.3.2 ten times in a row. The first run produced scores of (single/multi-core) 2057 and 3897 respectively, the last run only got 1986 and 3343.

To be done (and added as I get them in):
- power consumption tests
- further examination of throttling using Prime95 or another benchmark, monitoring CPU frequency, voltage and temperature.

If there's anything else in particular you're interested in, please let me know and I'll see if I can provide these information or benchmark results (for the latter, I'd prefer freely available ones).

Hope this was of some interest. :)

CA_Steve
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Re: Zotac Zbox nano CI521 (Core M-5Y10c) Initial impressions

Post by CA_Steve » Mon Jul 20, 2015 2:29 pm

Thanks for the post. I've got the Baytrail version - CI320 and found it would get stuttery playing flash-based streaming content from network TV sites (usually hanging on the ad server crap). I'm guessing your Core M doesn't have a problem?

Thermal performance - I'm suprised your 6W TDP is throttling. My 7.5W CPU got warm but not hot, and I think it's about the limit of what I'd put in this case.

lowpowercomputing2
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 8:49 am
Location: Germany

Re: Zotac Zbox nano CI521 (Core M-5Y10c) Initial impressions

Post by lowpowercomputing2 » Sat Sep 05, 2015 7:33 am

edit: Disregard this post, see the next one.
Last edited by lowpowercomputing2 on Sat Sep 05, 2015 10:00 am, edited 1 time in total.

lowpowercomputing2
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 8:49 am
Location: Germany

Re: Zotac Zbox nano CI521 (Core M-5Y10c) Initial impressions

Post by lowpowercomputing2 » Sat Sep 05, 2015 7:44 am

Sorry for the long delay... Power consumption tests will be made but here's a couple of updates:

I've had no issues playing 1920x1080 content from YouTube; 3840x2160 content has not been tested. I don't have access to any other streaming sites (and normally tend to avoid Flash at all cost) so cannot comment on their performance.

Using Prime95's "maximum heat" test and HWiNFO64 (both in their respective latest non-beta versions), I've discovered a pattern as far as throttling is concerned. The cores run at 800 MHz when the system is idle. Immediately after starting the test, they clock up to 2 GHz which is the maximum turbo boost speed. As soon as their temperature hits the 60°C mark (shown by HWiNFO), the clock speed decreases to 1.2~1.4 GHz which causes the temperature of both cores to fall to 49°C, and then it slowly climbs again as the test continues to run. After a few minutes, I saw brief spikes to 1.4~1.6 GHz but as soon as the temperature reached 60°C, it goes down to 1.2~1.3 GHz again.

Right as I write this, the test's been running for about 20 minutes. Both cores sit at 1.2 GHz occasionally go down to 1.1, with the temperature being reported as 64°C.

I know the M is not "supposed" to handle longer periods of high loads (and Prime95 is an artificially high one) but I think this is a little excessive considering the CPU is rated for higher temperatures (assuming HWiNFO's values are accurate). I'll have a look at the BIOS to see if I can find temperature-related settings.

CA_Steve
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Re: Zotac Zbox nano CI521 (Core M-5Y10c) Initial impressions

Post by CA_Steve » Sat Sep 05, 2015 10:03 am

Thanks for the update. Here's the thermal profile for my CI320. You can see the tiny little heatsink leads to an idle thermal tail that slowly heads to ~50C steady state as well as the load profile. Mine went up to 75C peak with Prime 95.
Image

epralong
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Re: Zotac Zbox nano CI521 (Core M-5Y10c) Initial impressions

Post by epralong » Tue Sep 15, 2015 11:09 pm

Hello I just bought the same machine.
Presentely running Windows 10 the power goes from 12 to 25 Watt. I think that a lot of optimisation can be done in Bios.
Have tried to play with the CPU settings ?
I would like to use this machine as a 24/7 server. Presently I run an intel nuc d54250wyk that draw 10 Watt with 2 hard disks.

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