The Asian Age

Backpack PC for VR gamers

- AGE CORRESPOND­ENT

ZOTAC announced VR GO Backpack PC designed for VR enthusiast­s. The system runs on NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 1070 graphics, a quad-core CPU from Intel, rich I/O capabiliti­es and a hot-swappable battery. Despite its positionin­g, the VR GO can be used like a regular desktop PC, which differenti­ates it from early prototypes of wearable VR PCs from other makers. ZOTAC is mostly known for its graphics cards and high-performanc­e small form-factor PCs, but not wearable systems. To develop its VR GO computer, the company had to use the experience obtained from building SFF systems from gamers as well as to find ways to minimize weight and guarantee that the design will be able to handle harsh treatment during gaming sessions. Basically, ZOTAC had to fix everything tightly inside the box while ensuring appropriat­e cooling and proper position of the I/O ports. In order to make it easy to connect a VR headset to the VR GO, one side of the device has the appropriat­e ports. The side has one HDMI output, two USB 3.0 ports and one power connector on top. Such positionin­g simplifies cable management and makes VR gaming with a PC on your back comfortabl­e. The system comes with a removable battery pack. However, to develop a PC only for VR would seem extravagan­t and hence which is why ZOTAC has also provided not only the VR but the full specific of a powerful desktop computer. It has three additional USB 3.0/3.1 Type-A connectors, an SD card reader, four additional display outputs, two Gigabit Ethernet ports and two 3.5mm audio jacks. The motherboar­d is custom - a proprietar­y form-factor carrying an Intel Core i7 CPU, two DDR4 SO-DIMMs, an M.2 SSD, an 802.11ac Wi-Fi module and NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 1070 MXM module. The cooling system is a proprietar­y low-profile air cooling system. ZOTAC has also added a bay for a SATA-based 2.5-inch storage drive. They have not specified pricing details or timeframe for commercial release.

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