If your budget is around 3K, and you want to purchase a mini PC that has a low noise level during operation, high performance, and rich interfaces, which one is worth buying? Personally, I recommend the new version of Zero刻 SER8. Of course, recommendations should be supported by evidence, so in this article, I will validate whether the Zero刻 SER8 mini PC meets the requirements based on these points.
First, regarding the noise level of the cooling fan during operation, after starting the Zero刻 SER8, without performing any operations, the noise level of the cooling fan is around 33 to 34dBA.
Using AIDA64 for the “single burn FPU” test, the current Zero刻 SER8 enters a “high load operation” state, but the noise level of the cooling fan does not increase much, remaining around 34 to 35dBA.
I also tested the noise caused by typing on the keyboard, and compared the results of the two tests with the keyboard noise, it can be said that the cooling fan noise of the Zero刻 SER8 is easily overshadowed by the ambient noise. Therefore, describing the Zero刻 SER8 as a “silent” mini PC is not an exaggeration.
Then, will the low noise of the cooling fan reduce the heat dissipation effect of the body? By using AIDA64 to test the Zero刻 SER8 for about 1 hour under “single burn FPU” testing, it can be seen that the current CPU core temperature is around 65℃, with a maximum of around 67℃. However, this was tested in 54W mode, and even when switched to 65W mode, the temperature did not increase much, still running “calm and quietly”.
A cooling performance like this is also inseparable from the new MSC2.0 airflow cooling design used by the Zero刻 SER8, which draws air in from the bottom, carrying away internal heat through air flow, and this cooling design also enhances the overall “aesthetic” of the machine, achieving a seamless design on the sides and top of the body.
As for performance, the new version of Zero刻 SER8 is equipped with an AMD Ryzen R7-8745HS processor, with integrated graphics of 780M, compared to the old version equipped with 884HHS processor, the difference is that the NPU has been removed. I conducted a hardware evaluation using Lu Master, and the score is around 1.26 million.
Under the 3DMARK Time Spy test, the graphics score of the Zero刻 SER8 is 3007.
In the stress test of Time Spy, the Zero刻 SER8 also passed easily.
Under the CPU-Z test, the multi-core score of the Zero刻 SER8 is 6834.1, and the single-core score is 692.1. Overall, the performance of the Zero刻 SER8 is quite good, and it seems reasonable to categorize it as a “high-performance” mini PC.
With the support of “high performance”, using the Zero刻 SER8 to play some AAA games is not a big deal. For example, playing “Black Myth: Wukong” at 1080P resolution and low quality, the current scene frame rate is around 60 to 70.
If adjusted to medium quality, the frame rate is around 50 to 60.
Still at 1080P resolution, playing “Dying Light” at medium quality, the current scene frame rate is around 50, and switching to low quality will also improve the frame rate.
At 1080P resolution and medium quality, playing “A Plague Tale: Innocence”, the current scene frame rate is close to 60. Basically, some AAA games can be played on the Zero刻 SER8 at 1080P resolution and low/medium quality with relatively high frame rates.
Using the Zero刻 SER8 to play some online games is also not a big deal. For example, at 1080P resolution and high quality in “Lost Ark”, the current scene frame rate is around 60.
As for office and creative work, I used the Zero刻 SER8 to export a 4K 60fps video of 2 minutes and 42 seconds using Jianying, taking about 1 minute and 25 seconds, and the export speed was quite fast.
Regarding interfaces, the Zero刻 SER8 has three interfaces designed on the front of the body. In the above image, from left to right, they are: power switch, CLR CMOS, 3.5mm audio interface, Type-C 10Gbps (data) interface, and USB3.2 10Gbps interface.
On the back of the machine, excluding the power interface, there are a total of eight interfaces designed. There are two USB2.0 480Mbps interfaces as well as USB3.2 10Gbps interface, USB4 40Gps interface, 3.5mm audio interface, HDMI 2.1 (4K 120Hz) interface, DP1.4 (4K 120Hz) interface, and one LAN 2.5G interface.
Among them, the USB4 interface on the back is a full-featured interface that supports video output. At the same time, using the word “rich” to describe the interfaces of the Zero刻 SER8 is very appropriate.
Through the above content, I believe you can also see that the Zero刻 SER8 mini PC indeed meets the three requirements of low cooling fan noise, high performance, and rich interfaces. Additionally, the Zero刻 SER8 at the 3K price point includes 32GB of memory and a 1TB hard drive, which is the model mentioned in the article. If you have spare hard drives or memory at home, you can also choose to purchase the barebone version, which is priced at around 2K, making the overall cost-performance ratio even higher.
As for the imperfections of the new version of Zero刻 SER8, I have not found any for the time being. After all, it runs “quietly and calmly”, has high performance, looks aesthetically pleasing, and is reasonably priced, so I feel it is not an exaggeration to call it a “barrel-type” high-performance mini PC. Well, that concludes the content of this article, I am Vertical Saw Review, see you next time.