A look Inside

Taking a look inside, the first thing to be careful of is the wiring on the right-hand side; two fans and the RGB LEDs have wiring that connects to the motherboard and a smaller PCB. To gain further access to other components, I next removed an exhaust fan, which then allowed for the HDD to be more easily removed. Next, I removed the heatsink fan to take a closer look at the heatsink itself. It features four copper heatpipes and should prove more than adequate at keeping the CPU cool considering it's a 65w Intel i7 7700. At this stage, I also disconnected the 24-pin in order to more easily remove the system memory. Meanwhile, the M.2 SSD is hidden under the ZOTAC-branded heatsink.


The memory modules are from Samsung (M378A1K43Cb2-CRC), run at 2400 MHz, and have a CAS latency of 17. The SSD has no brand name, but does use a Phison controller and has a capacity of 256 GB; however, ZOTAC labels it as a 240 GB unit. When it comes to wireless networking, ZOTAC is using Intel's Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165. Finally, the HDD is from Seagate, and it's a 2.5' 1 TB BarraCuda spinning at 5400 RPM.


Taking a closer look at the right side panel, we can see two 60 mm fans that expel heat from the motherboard region. However, they are near the 92 mm CPU cooler's fan. Configuring the blower-style fan as a better exhaust and using these two side panel fans as intakes would have made more sense to me, but I will give ZOTAC the benefit of a doubt until testing is done. Taking the left side panel off, you will see that ZOTAC is using a proper full-size GPU in this system. It is of course one of their own graphics cards, the ZOTAC GTX 1070 Ti with a cheaper blower cooler than the FE edition cards. A unique bracket holds the GPU firmly in place, and with not only the PCIe extender but a 90 degree adapter on the board, all is combined to make this work. On a side note, the graphics card uses a single 8-pin power connector and exhausts heat out the back. No fans are included to force cool air into the case.


Finally, the power supply is provided by Silverstone and is an 80 Plus Bronze certified 450W unit. Its v2.0 model features an 80 mm fan, while v3.0, which available online, uses a 92 mm fan.