PCs and components maker Zotac has refreshed its ZBOX C Series mini PCs with Intel Alder Lake P processors . The highly compact mini PCs are fanless and silent, and now come in three 28W Intel 12th Gen Core processor options: the new ZBOX CI627 nano with Intel Core i3-1220P (10C/12T), the ZBOX CI647 nano with Core i5-1240P (12C/16T) and the ZBOX CI667 nano with Core i7-1260P (12C/16T).
Zotac pitches the compact ZBOX C series as PCs that are "ideal home theater PC, digital signage, home office, office workspace, and more." In space-limited environments, where quiet operation is preferred, they are particularly suitable with silent fanless operation, VESA mountable chassis, flexible video output, and a compact USB-C power supply.
As FanlessTech notes, besides the processor inside, all the new Zotac ZBOX C series PCs are identical in most respects and aren't significantly changed from the previous generation. They all come in a tiny 1.8-liter chassis measuring 204 x 129 x 68mm (8.03 x 5.08 x 2.68 inches).
Inside the Zotac ZBOX C series PCs, sold as barebone kits, users can equip up to 64GB DDR4-3200 RAM (2x SO-DIMM slots), plus dual storage (one each of an M.2 2230/2242 PCIe x4 SSD and 2.5-inch SATA 6.0 Gbps drive).
All other expansion options are catered for with external ports as follows: HDMI 2.0b (up to 3840x2160@60Hz), DisplayPort 1.4 (up to 4096X2160@60Hz), DisplayPort 1.4 via Thunderbolt 4 (up to 4096X2160@60Hz), 1 x USB 3.1 (Front), 3 x USB 3.1 (Rear), 1 x USB 2.0 (Rear), Dual LAN (2.5Gbps / Gigabit), 1 x Thunderbolt 4, 3-in-1 card reader (SD/SDHC/SDXC). Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5 are also supported. You will use the rear USB-C port to connect the USB-C PD Power Supply, delivering DC 20V/65W.
If you want a reminder of the differences between the Intel Alder Lake-P processor options here, please review our article from when these processors launched back in February.
At the time of writing, Zotac hasn't shared the pricing of the fanless ZBOX C Series PCs with Alder Lake-P chips. The previous generation (with Tiger Lake CPUs) was sold starting from about $499 for the Core i3-1115G4 model. As well as memory and storage, you will have to source an OS, with Zotac stating that both Windows 10 and 11 are supported.