REVIEW – Mini PC’s are seemingly an increasing number of well-liked, judging from the sheer quantity of recent fashions dropping yearly. We’ve reviewed a minimum of a couple of dozen of them right here at The Gadgeteer, they usually’re helpful for all kinds of functions, from basic house PC use to media modifying to gaming and every thing in between. The Geekom AE7 mini PC I’m reviewing at the moment lands on the upper finish of the mini PC spectrum with a robust CPU and first rate GPU, a minimum of on paper. Precise actual world efficiency will closely rely upon the flexibility of this mini PC to take care of warmth, so with out additional ado…

What’s it?

The Geekom AE7 mini PC is a mini PC that provides loads of computing energy for gaming and video modifying or information heavy duties. It seems like Geekom goes to supply completely different configurations, however it seems that all will rock the AMD Ryzen™ 9 7940HS 8-core processor paired with an AMD Radeon™ 780M graphics processor. The model despatched to me to overview included a 1 TB SSD and 32 Gigs of RAM.

What’s included?

• Geekom AE7 mini PC
• AC energy provide
• VESA mount

Tech specs

Design and options

The surface of the Geekom AE7 mini PC is a pleasant silver coloration with rounded edges. The entrance sports activities a pair of USB 3.0 kind A ports and a 3.5 mm headphones/audio-out port subsequent to an influence button with LED gentle indicator.

On the left aspect of the machine now we have air flow ports and a full sized SD card reader.

The again of the unit has beneficiant connectivity for such a small kind issue. From left to proper and prime to backside, now we have: DC energy enter, USB 4 Gen 3 Sort C, HDMI 2.0, RJ45 2.5 Gbps ethernet port, USB 3.2 gen 2 kind A, USB 2.0 kind A, USB 3.2 Gen 2 kind C, and HDMI 2.0. The USB-C ports do help DisplayPort enter.

On the appropriate aspect now we have extra air flow and a Kensington lock port.

The underside of the machine consists of a detachable metallic plate which is eliminated by unscrewing the 4 mixture screws and rubber toes. A VESA plate included within the field permits for mounting the PC on the again of a monitor or every other stand or mounting plate you’d like, so long as it’s VESA sized.

Eradicating the underside is simple, and there’s no cables to fret about like on some mini PCs. There’s easy accessibility to the RAM and SSD slot, and it seems like there’s room for a 2.5” exhausting drive on the underside plate itself, however I’m not seeing any apparent connection on the motherboard for a tough drive. It could be hidden underneath one thing, I didn’t pull the rest out.

Meeting, Set up, Setup

Setup is as straightforward as plugging in your monitor, mouse, and keyboard. Home windows Skilled 11 is preinstalled and I didn’t discover something out of the peculiar by way of info gathered or preinstalled apps.

Malware Scan

I scanned this mini PC instantly after setup (and Home windows Updates) utilizing Microsoft Defender’s full disk deep scan characteristic. No threats have been discovered.

Efficiency

I ran Geekom AE7 mini PC by way of a number of gaming and video modifying benchmarks, with respectable scores throughout the board (a minimum of for brief bursts). When a heavy load taxed each the CPU and GPU (reminiscent of with Complete Warfare: Warhammer III) the mini PC would thermal throttle after 20 seconds or so after which run at a ~20-30% decreased velocity. Video games have been nonetheless very playable (and most laptops/mini-PCs thermal throttle to some extent), however it’s one thing to pay attention to.  The fan was quieter than most laptops I’ve used, even underneath heavy load. Possibly if Geekom used the next RPM fan we might see a bit higher efficiency at the price of extra fan noise.

Lighter video games like Fortnite and Roblox ran at 100+ FPS, so the Geekom AE7 could be very able to enjoying practically something at 1080P, although you may need to tweak settings to decrease ranges for the newest AAA video games. The 780M graphics card is roughly 25% sooner within the 3DMark Timespy benchmark than the earlier gen 680M that I reviewed on the Geekom AS6. In Cinebench, the processor was about 25% sooner as effectively.

For basic use, the {hardware} is greater than sufficient for most individuals. Throughout net searching, media consumption, and basic workplace productiveness work this mini-PC felt buttery quick. The 32 gigs of reminiscence does an excellent job dealing with RAM-intensive applications or the handfuls of browser tabs you would possibly throw at it.

The networking card on this PC appears wonderful, it linked to my wi-fi router and maxed out my ISP speeds (1 Gigabit fiber) over WiFi.

What I like in regards to the Geekom AE7 mini PC

• Good all-around {hardware} for many customers wants
• Quick access to SSD and RAM, person upgradeable
• Small footprint and VESA mount included within the field
• Good IO choices, together with USB4

What must be improved?

• Thermals might be higher, underneath full load it undoubtedly throttles slower

Remaining ideas

After reviewing the Geekom AE7 mini PC, I plan on changing my present media server with this PC. The highly effective processor, ample RAM, and first rate GPU ought to simply deal with a number of 4K streams to family and friends. As an added bonus, I can simply seize this and use it as an additional gaming PC for LAN sport nights with niblings or associates. I’ll tear into the cooling system and re-paste issues sooner or later as that appears to be the weakest a part of this package deal. I’ll replace the overview if I get the time for that venture sometime!

Worth: $699 for the configuration examined
The place to purchase: Geekom and Amazon (Save 5% with code: GKGADGAE7)
Supply: The pattern of this product was supplied free of charge by Geekom. Geekom didn’t have a ultimate say on the overview and didn’t preview the overview earlier than it was revealed.