ASRock DeskMini Z370 GTX1060 Review: A Compact Coffee Lake Gaming PC
by Ganesh T S on June 12, 2018 10:00 AM ESTPerformance Metrics - I
The ASRock DeskMini Z370 GTX1060 was evaluated using our standard test suite for SFF gaming PCs. Not all benchmarks were processed on all the machines due to updates in our testing procedures. Therefore, the list of PCs in each graph might not be the same. In the first section, we will be looking at SYSmark 2014 SE, as well as some of the Futuremark benchmarks.
BAPCo SYSmark 2014 SE
BAPCo's SYSmark 2014 SE is an application-based benchmark that uses real-world applications to replay usage patterns of business users in the areas of office productivity, media creation and data/financial analysis. In addition, it also addresses the responsiveness aspect which deals with user experience as related to application and file launches, multi-tasking etc. Scores are meant to be compared against a reference desktop (the SYSmark 2014 SE calibration system in the graphs below). While the SYSmark 2014 benchmark used a Haswell-based desktop configuration, the SYSmark 2014 SE makes the move to a Lenovo ThinkCenter M800 (Intel Core i3-6100, 4GB RAM and a 256GB SATA SSD). The calibration system scores 1000 in each of the scenarios. A score of, say, 2000, would imply that the system under test is twice as fast as the reference system.
SYSmark 2014 SE also adds energy measurement to the mix. A high score in the SYSmark benchmarks might be nice to have, but, potential customers also need to determine the balance between power consumption and the efficiency of the system. For example, in the average office scenario, it might not be worth purchasing a noisy and power-hungry PC just because it ends up with a 2000 score in the SYSmark 2014 SE benchmarks. In order to provide a balanced perspective, SYSmark 2014 SE also allows vendors and decision makers to track the energy consumption during each workload. In the graphs below, we find the total energy consumed by the PC under test for a single iteration of each SYSmark 2014 SE workload and how it compares against the calibration systems.
As expected, the hexa-core Core i7-8700 equipped machine has no trouble emerging on top in almost all scenarios, despite the impacts of the Spectre and Meltdown fixes that don't impair some of the other machines. It comes a close second in the responsiveness scenario, only just beten by a configuration with an arguably better SSD and without the Meltdown / Spectre patches. In terms of energy consumption, the GTX1060 is greener than the GTX1080, and that helps the DeskMini Z370 to come in the middle of the pack.
UL PCMark 10
UL's PCMark 10 evaluates computing systems for various usage scenarios (generic / essential tasks such as web browsing and starting up applications, productivity tasks such as editing spreadsheets and documents, gaming, and digital content creation). We benchmarked select PCs with the PCMark 10 Extended profile and recorded the scores for various scenarios. These scores are heavily influenced by the CPU and GPU in the system, though the RAM and storage device also play a part. The power plan was set to Balanced for all the PCs while processing the PCMark 10 benchmark. Here, we see that the lack of the Metldown / Spectre patch in the Zotac EN1080K helps it come out on top. The DeskMini Z370 doesn't have the power budget sharing between the CPU and GPU that is possible in the Hades Canyon NUC. These two aspects make the DeskMini Z370 appear in the top 3, yet, not on top in any workload.
Futuremark PCMark 8
We continue to present PCMark 8 benchmark results (as those have more comparison points) while our PCMark 10 scores database for systems grows in size. PCMark 8 provides various usage scenarios (home, creative and work) and offers ways to benchmark both baseline (CPU-only) as well as OpenCL accelerated (CPU + GPU) performance. We benchmarked select PCs for the OpenCL accelerated performance in all three usage scenarios. These scores follow the same pattern seen in the PCMark 10 results.
Futuremark PCMark 7
3D Rendering - CINEBENCH R15
We have moved on from R11.5 to R15 for 3D rendering evaluation. CINEBENCH R15 provides three benchmark modes - OpenGL, single threaded and multi-threaded. Evaluation of select PCs in all three modes provided us the following results. Here, we see the hexa-core CPU come out on top, as expected.
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Death666Angel - Wednesday, June 13, 2018 - link
I haven't heard of your problem before. I thought MXM connector was standardized. But I do know that many laptop brands have whitelisted only some GPUs. Some Clevo units are unlocked other versions or manufacturers need custom modded BIOSes. That, along with the increased cost is a turn off for me. Better to get a 22cm 1080TI, which costs as much as 1070 MXM and has all the warranties and guarantees you need.iranterres - Tuesday, June 12, 2018 - link
Is it a PC or a power supply? LOLjtd871 - Tuesday, June 12, 2018 - link
It's already been done. A link to the relevant project is https://smallformfactor_DOT_net/forum/posts/40583/Sorry for the DOT, apparently the comment system thinks my hyper link is spam.
Ratman6161 - Tuesday, June 12, 2018 - link
Wow. I guess small costs!Pork@III - Tuesday, June 12, 2018 - link
In gallery: many thumbnails with no connection to big images!ganeshts - Tuesday, June 12, 2018 - link
We have been facing some issues with the images server. It will be resolved soon.fackamato - Tuesday, June 12, 2018 - link
Are there noise comparisons (idle/video/full load)?MadAd - Wednesday, June 13, 2018 - link
Yay! More SFF! Personally its a bit too S for me but we need more of this. If I never saw another ATX review again it would be too soon. Unless we wish to additionally house our cat only specific edge cases actually needs ATX these days.strayan - Wednesday, June 13, 2018 - link
Is this system DisplayPort++ compatible for the diminishing number of us who still use passive displayport to vga cables to connect to CRT monitors?venkateshch9505 - Wednesday, July 11, 2018 - link
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