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Therefore we’d avoid those desktop drives that run hot and look at more laptop-friendly designs where power consumption was more important than raw speed. While a barebones option would have been nice, the asking price for a machine of this specification is competitive and highlight how much more power and capability paying extra can net you. In general, the performance of this machine is on the top rung of current NUC designs in all but one annoying aspect. For whatever reason, cost presumably, Geekom decided to install the same NVMe drive (Kingston SNV2S/1000G) in this system as was in the AS 5. If it used more power, it probably wouldn’t be possible to fit this platform in an NUC-sized enclosure without overheating issues.
With the Beelink SER6 Pro 7735HS, we saw a Wild Life score of 15435, and this machine nearly halves that to just 8662. That reduction is a combination of the better GPU in the 7735HS and the greater bandwidth available to it.
What is less than ideal is that the second M.2 slot is on a separate daughterboard that also supports a 2.5-inch SATA bay, and it is connected to the motherboard by a large flexible ribbon cable. Another performance limitation that we need to point out is that the speed of the NVMe drive isn’t fantastic, but it is only PCIe 3.0. With newer silicon using PCIe 4.0 and able to handle NVMe to that specification, the speed offered by the Kingston SNV2S/1000G in this system is as fast as it is designed to run within the constraints of PCIe 3.0 bandwidth. But where it gets exposed is in the graphical tests where the Vega 8 GPU doesn’t have the bandwidth to compete with DDR5 memory and the better AMD or Intel processors. In short, the design of the AS 5 is great in terms of the upgrade options but less wonderful because of its plastic construction and inherently fragile flexible connectors.
a b "GEEKOM Launches New 2021 Flagship MINI PC Product: Mini IT8 to Celebrate Thanksgiving". Science & Digital News. 19 November 2021 . Retrieved 10 August 2022. Access to the inside is via four screws inside the four rubber feet on the underside of the PC, though getting this panel to release is complicated by a cutout that includes the video-out part of the I/O shield area. As it uses the DDR4 in the AS 5 for display memory, the bandwidth limits of the RAM impact the performance of the Radeon integrated graphics. What was most striking here is that we recently covered the Geekom AS 6, a Ryzen 9 machine that, with a few small exceptions, beat this Core-i9 across the board. What’s more surprising is that this hardware was also beaten by the Minisforum NBP7, a system that uses the Core i7-13700H. How does that work?Comparing this machine to other Mini PC designs, even other ones made by Geekom, is a slightly sobering experience. Because while this is a Core-i9, what that translates into for the benchmarks isn’t remarkable. Going inside would probably be only for upgrading the storage since all the SKUs come with 32GB of RAM, the maximum capacity available to the chosen processor series. GEEKOM is a Taiwanese multinational consumer electronics company specializing in mini PCs. It is one of the largest manufacturers of mini PCs in the world. A theoretically powerful platform that Geekom somehow managed to fit inside this tiny box. However, because it was designed for a laptop, this chip is limited to a base power consumption of 45W and a Turbo mode of 115W.
Alongside the illuminating power button are three USB ports, with two USB-A and one USB-C, and the only other front port is a 3.5 audio combo. GEEKOM launches MiniAir 11: the mini PC for every day". TechGameWorld. 10 June 2022 . Retrieved 10 August 2022. While it didn’t quite hit the heights of the Ryzen 7735HS, the Ryzen 9 6900HX is an impressive platform for any mobile computer, and it drives this NUC relentlessly. We’ve tested several AMD Ryzen mobile processors in laptops and Mini systems, and they’re potent devices that generally exceed our expectations. After much wiggling and some spudger encouragement, the base can be detached to reveal a slightly worrying layout. The AS 5 uses a dual board design where various functions have been disseminated onto a second board that is connected by a wide flexible ribbon cable.
Even when the machine isn’t under duress, this makes a clearly audible noise, one that might ultimately annoy the owner. When we investigated the BIOS settings, we discovered that the AS 5 and AS 6 both had a fan speed set to ‘Standard’ by default. It is possible to use ‘silent’ mode instead and reduce the hum, though this obviously might not cool the machine as effectively, resulting in CPU and GPU throttling. Being able to drop a second NVMe drive for cloning or expansion is remarkably helpful, and relatively easy access to the RAM provides a simple way to increase the amount installed. However, what is probably an even greater issue is the second issue, memory bandwidth. The 5900HX can only use DDR4 memory, and the AS 5 has the fastest DDR4 SODIMM modules available at 3200MHz.
But, to paraphrase that familiar relationship-ending phrase, it's us, not the AS 5. Because we’ve been spoiled by the Ryzen 7735HS, Ryzen 7 6800H and Core i7-13700H into expecting more than the Ryzen 9 5900HX can deliver. In particular, the sides have wide angled slots to allow maximum airflow from the outside, but this spacing makes for some thin unsupported plastic bars. Intel also makes another mobile part, the Core i9 13900HX, with a 55W base TPD and 157W turbo draw, but that 32-thread model isn’t the one used here. The performance of the AS 5 was something of a disappointment, given it also has a Ryzen 9 processor with eight cores, but the AS 6 is much more impressive.Compared with more expensive options, like the Intel NUC 13 Pro, the AS 5 looks like a snip for this power and capability. All the other CPUs we just mentioned use DDR5, which not only provides more bandwidth (much more in dual channel mode), but also plays a significant part in GPU performance. Included in the box with the AS 5, Geekom provides an HDMI cable, a 120W external PSU, a VESA mounting plate and a selection of screws for attaching that to the AS 5 and a monitor. That creates a glass performance ceiling that the CPU and GPU can’t exceed, even if the silicon is capable of being run with more power.
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