Zotac Reveals Zbox AD03 HTPC Series With AMD's E-350 APU

We know it's hard to stay on the cutting edge of technology, particularly if you're trying not to go broke while doing it. But Zotac is definitely not waiting around for anyone with their latest release. It feels like just yesterday that we sat down and tested out a Blu-ray equipped HTPC from this very company, and now -- just months later -- a successor is being unveiled.


The new Zbox AD03 series is yet another slim, sleek HTPC line of machines that have Blu-ray capabilities. But the major change here is the use of AMD's E-350 APU platform. That's right, Fusion! Already we're seeing Fusion used in new, strange places, and we have to confess that we love it. There's a 1.6GHz APU (dual-core) at the heart of this new machine, as well as an AMD Radeon HD 6310 graphics processor, a pair of DDR3 RAM modules, a 250GB hard drive, USB 3.0 support, HDMI/DVI/VGA outputs, support for high-def audio formats, onboard 802.11n Wi-Fi and Gigabit Ethernet.

Zotac isn't mentioning a price or ship date yet, but hopefully it'll be released just as soon as these Fusion APUs become good and ready for public consumption.

ZOTAC® Supercharges Energy-Efficient Computing
New ZOTAC® ZBOX Blu-ray AD03 series powered by the AMD E-350 APU platform deliver perfect CPU and GPU synergy

HONG KONG – Jan. 04, 2011 – ZOTAC® International, a leading innovator and the world’s largest channel manufacturer of graphics cards, motherboards and mini-PCs, today supercharges energy-efficient computing with the new ZBOX Blu-ray AD03 series powered by the AMD E-350 APU platform. The ZOTAC® ZBOX Blu-ray AD03 series combines discrete-class graphics processing with a dual processor cores for the perfect synergy of CPU and GPU that delivers a perfect digital media experience with unprecedented energy-efficiency.
    AMD Radeon™ HD 6310 discrete-class graphics processing takes charge of all digital media processing tasks to enable the ZOTAC® ZBOX Blu-ray AD03 series to deliver stunning Blu-ray and smooth streaming high-definition video playback. The ZOTAC® ZBOX Blu-ray AD03 series is a potent casual gaming platform capable of rendering stunning 3D visuals with Microsoft® DirectX® 11 technology.
    “The AMD E-350 APU platform combined with our ZBOX Blu-ray form factor is a phenomenal small form factor solution. The snappy day-to-day performance and superb high-definition video and DirectX® 11 3D capabilities makes the ZBOX Blu-ray AD03 perfect for users that crave energy-efficiency without sacrificing premium features and capabilities,” said Carsten Berger, marketing director, ZOTAC® International.
    Enhanced audio output capabilities deliver superior audio quality and features with the ZOTAC® ZBOX Blu-ray AD03 series. The ZOTAC® ZBOX Blu-ray AD03 series can send raw lossless (bitstream) audio formats – Dolby® TrueHD™ and DTS-HD™ Master Audio – via HDMI to digital home theatre receivers for flawless high-definition audio that matches the high-definition video capabilities.
 An integrated slot-load Blu-ray drive enables the ZOTAC® ZBOX Blu-ray AD03 series to read Blu-ray media, read and write DVD and CD media for compatibility with all available forms of optical media.  Dual network connectivity options lets the ZOTAC® ZBOX Blu-ray AD03 connect to home networks at speeds up to 300 Mb/s wirelessly or up to 1000 Mb/s via Ethernet for lightning-fast transfer speeds with or without wires.
    The ZOTAC® ZBOX Blu-ray AD03 packs class-leading expansion capabilities inside a slim chassis and provides support for a 2.5-inch SATA HDD or SSD, two DDR3 SO-DIMM slots, mini-PCI express, USB 3.0, USB 2.0 and eSATA expansion capabilities – ZBOX Blu-ray AD03 Plus models include 2GB of DDR3 memory and a 250GB HDD preinstalled.
    It’s time to play with the ZOTAC® ZBOX Blu-ray AD03 series.
    
    
General details
•   ZOTAC® Supercharges Energy-Efficient Computing
•   AMD E-350 APU platform
o   1.6 GHz, dual-core
•   AMD Radeon™ HD 6310 graphics processor
o   80 unified shaders
o   Engine clock: 500 MHz
•   ZBOX Blu-ray AD03
o   2 x DDR3-1066 SO-DIMM slots
o   Support 1 x 2.5-inch SATA 6.0 Gb/s HDD/SSD
•   ZBOX Blu-ray AD03 Plus
o   2GB DDR3
o   250GB 5400RPM HDD
•   SuperSpeed USB 3.0 technology
•   1 Mini-PCI Express expansion slot
•   Slot-load Blu-ray drive
o   4x Blu-ray read
o   8x DVD / 24x CD read/write
•   HDMI, DVI-I and VGA (with included adapter) outputs
•   AMD UVD technology(hardware accelerated H.264, VC-1, decode)
•   Dolby® TrueHD™ & DTS-HD™: Master Audio bitstream ready
•   Cyberlink PowerDVD w/ Blu-ray playback
•   Gigabit Ethernet
•   Onboard 802.11n WiFi (300Mb/s)