Review on ZOTAC ZBOX CI329 Nano Silent Mini PC Intel N4100 CPU UHD 💻 Graphics 600 OS Barebones System (ZBOX-CI329NANO-U) - Ultimate Performance, Compact Design, Ready for Customization by Dragan Nelson

Before we continue, this is special for this model: ZOTAC ZBOX CI660 Nano Plus Silent Mini PC Intel Core i7-8550U UHD 620 8th Gen 4GB DDR4 / 120GB/Non-OS SSD (ZBOX-CI660NANO-PU). This may apply to other models, but I wanted to be clear. I love this thing, but the most important thing to know: if the sound isn't working (especially if you have Linux, Debian, Ubuntu, or Arch installed); no panic! Just go into the bios and turn it on. I spent hours debugging it but it was *off* by default. I do not know why. See attached picture. I'll update this review if I run into any major issues, but one day this thing will be quiet, cool, and FAST. Not like a fast CAD workstation, but like you'd take a Dell XPS 13 and put it in a box that's 90% a heatsink, which is exactly what it is. I replaced the 120g drive (I bought the Plus model) with a good Samsung SSD. ; Removing the case was a bit of a chore, but not a big deal (once I removed the legs/thumbscrews). You will need some kind of micro screwdriver to loosen all the hard drive bracket screws. I cheated and just left the SSD plugged in and made sure everything would compress it enough to stay in place. It doesn't look like a laptop or anything; it will just sit on my desk - very quiet! Works smoothly with Debian Stretch 9 and since 02/03/2019 also with Debian Buster 10, although there is a small bug that causes Buster to print messages on the console. (which is still being tested) which I don't want to mess around with, so I'm going to downgrade it to stable. Ubuntu 18.04.1 and Elementary OS 5 also worked fine. Yay GNU/Linux! I was so lucky to find a really quiet fanless computer. I hope you enjoy it too. ======================================= . It doesn't matter and it's pretty quiet, but it's something to be aware of. The only time I really hear it is when I'm doing something graphically intense. In my case I hear it when running Civ 5 (even in the background when I'm busy surfing the web for example and it's running in another window). BUT when I switch Civ 5 to strategic view (i.e. 2D, not 3D, the audio immediately disappears). So if I'm just working on documents or surfing the web I don't hear it, but when a game is on I hear it. Other than that, still love this thing and keep it going 24/7.