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Beelink AP34 Ultimate Mini PC Review: Much More than a TV Box

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Beelink is best known for its Android TV boxes, but their newly-released Beelink AP34 Ultimate, which comes with an Intel Celeron N3450 quad core Apollo Lake processor, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, and Windows 10 OS, is definitely not just another regular TV box. How does this device fit into our daily life? We will try to answer this question in this review.
Main specs of the Beelink AP34 Ultimate
Operating System: Authorized Windows 10 Home
Processor: Intel Celeron N3450 quad core Apollo Lake processor
CPU Frequency: 1.10 GHz (base) to 2.20 GHz (turbo)
GPU: Intel HD 500 graphics
RAM: 8 GB DDR3
Storage: 64 GB eMMC flash, SD card slot, M.2 SSD slot up to 320 GB
Video Output: HDMI 1.4
Audio: 3.5mm audio jack
Internet: Gigabit Ethernet, dual band 802.11 b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi, & Bluetooth 4.0
USB Ports: 3 x USB 3.0 Type-A ports
Button: Power Button, Reset Hole
Power Supply: 12V/2A
Shell: Cool Blue Metal Case
Unboxing
The Beelink AP34 Ultimate ships with very compact retail package.
Inside the retail package we have the Beelink AP34 mini PC, a 24Watt power brick, 2 HDMI cables of different lengths, a wall mount bracket, some screws and some documentation.
Design and build
The Beelink AP34 looks like a regular TV box at first glance, thanks to its small size. In fact, it is even smaller than most of the Android TV boxes we have reviewed, including the Jide Remix IO. The cool blue metal case gives the device a chic and premium feel.
You can find the Beelink logo on the top surface of the device. The font side plays host to an LED indicator, which will light up when the device is booted.
The right side hosts two USB 3.0 Type-A ports, a SD card reader, and some vents.
The back side of the device is the busiest, it contains a power button, a 3.5mm DC port, a USB 3.0 Type-A port, an HDMI 1.4 port, An RJ45 network port, an audio jack, and a reset hole.
The left side sports a Wi-Fi antenna and also some vents.
On the bottom side of the device you will find four rubber feet and more vents.
The build quality of this device is great, it feels extremely robust and sturdy, no matter how hard I try to squeeze it with my hands, it stays the way it is. Also, the cool blue coating on the surface is very resistant to scratches. After 4 weeks of reviewing the device and moving it around constantly, I still haven’t found any marks on its surface.
System & Apps
Setting the AP34 up is as easy as any TV box, connecting the device to a socket, a display and input devices (a mouse and a keyboard) and you are good to go. After some first-boot settings (language, Wi-Fi, PIN) and you will enter the familiar Windows lock screen. Unlock it and there is the desktop.
The AP34 Ultimate ships with a clean version of stock Windows 10 Home OS, there are no preinstalled 3rd party applications and bloatware, which is good news for the majority of users.
There are thousands of apps available in the Windows Store, if they are not enough, you can also install traditional PC apps on the AP34. Not only can the device serve as a media center in your living room, it can also get some lightweight productivity tasks done.
You can install the mobile versions of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint from the Windows Store for free, and use them to browse your documents or do some simple editing. If you find their functions too limited, you can also buy the PC version of Office 365.
We connected the AP34 to my 65-inch HDTV, and did a lot of media consumption, web-browsing, social networking. Everything looked amazing on the 65-inch display. We feel like we can never really go back to our old Android TV box, as there are too many things which the AP34 can offer but average Android TV boxes can’t.
Performance
The Beelink AP34 Ultimate is powered by an Intel Celeron N3450 quad core Apollo Lake processor (1.1GHz – 2.2GHz) and 8GB RAM. It won’t match those powerhouse laptops and desktops PCs when it comes to horsepower, but it is very capable of handling those basic everyday tasks.
Like always, we ran some benchmarks on the device, and compared the points to the scores of similar products we have reviewed.
In the Antutu V6 Benchmark, the AP34 Ultimate scored 112,567, ranking behind the Core-i3 powered ASUS Vivomini UN62 and the Pentium N4200 powered Voyo VMAC-V1.
In the Cinebench R10 test, the Beelink AP34 Ultimate scored in 1,846 Single core, 5,470 in multi-core, and 2782CB in OpenGL.
In the Cinebench R15 test, the AP34 was returned in 119cb CPU performance and 11.50 fps in OpenGL.
The Fritz Chess benchmark returned a score of 3,411, which even beats the 3,177 snatched by the Pentium N4200 powered Voyo VMAC-V1.
In the PCMark 8 Work Accelerated 3.0 test, the AP34 scored 1,614.
Although the device is capable of outputting 4K resolution (3840*2160px), we won’t recommend people to set this resolution as default on the AP34. As there is no discrete graphics card under the hood, 4K will be too much for the integrated Intel HD 500 to handle sometimes, 1080P is still a more reliable choice on most occasions.
The AP34 Ultimate was capable of handling all the media files we threw at it, including some 4k clips. We also had no problem streaming full HD and 4K YouTube videos with Google Chrome. Thanks to the 8GB of RAM on board, the AP34 can even handle some serious multi-tasking. We did feel the heat coming out of the vents when the AP34 was under heavy loads, but it still didn't get loud, thanks to the fanless design, and the CPU temperature never got too high to trigger a warning from Ludashi.
We also did some gaming on the device, games installed from the Windows store generally worked fine, with decent frame rates and responsiveness. Lightweight desktop games such as Plant vs Zombies, Chicken Shoot and Stealth Bastard also ran smoothly on the AP34. However, the device is definitely not built for graphic-intense titles such as the Metro 2033, GTA 4 and StarCraft, as it took forever to load, and the frame rates were totally unacceptable during gameplay.
The good news is, the AP34 Ultimate is upgradable. Opening the device with a screwdriver is quite easy, inside the shell you will find A M.2 slot, which is available for up to 10Gbit/s data transfer rates with a maximum capacity of 320GB.
Connectivity
The AP34 Ultimate has dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 on board. Placed in our living room, the AP34 was able to find more hotspots than the Remix Mini and Remix IO could. Wi-Fi connection was pretty solid as well. We put the both AP34 and Remix Mini on the TV cabinet (the WiFi router was positioned in another room), the AP34 was able to download files at the speed of 6MB/s, but the Remix Mini’s download speed was only around 300KB/s.
The AP34 can be connected to a mouse, a keyboard or external sound systems (headphones or speakers) wirelessly via Bluetooth. We connected the AP34 with my Bang & Olufsen S3 speakers and enjoyed a lot of music and movies, the connection remained uninterrupted most of the time. Unfortunately, the AP34’s Bluetooth doesn’t support AptX, listening to lossless music with wireless headphones and you will notice the difference.
There are 3 full USB 3.0 ports on board, but one thing I need to mention is that, when we plugged in a mobile drive and a mouse at the same time, the AP34 sometimes failed to output enough power supply to the receiver of the mouse, and there were lags and delays while we were moving the mouse on the screen. This is one of the few issues that have been constantly bothering us, and we really hope that it can be solved with some software patches.
The SD card reader on the right side is also a nice touch, as you can browse photos and videos taken by your digital camera easily. And if you want to get access to files in a micro SD card, all you need is just an adapter.
Verdict
Beelink has done a pretty good job with the AP34 Ultimate. We really like its size and overall look, which make it well suited for any situation. The hardware is also pretty up-to-date and you can expect to get lots of things done - that is to say office productivity, media playback, surfing the Web, and playing light games. With a wireless keyboard and mouse, this could be a very neat home theatre PC.
Priced at $269.00, the AP34 is affordable to the majority of consumers, and is certainly better investment than the ASUS VIVOPC-VM40B-04, which comes with a weaker processor (Intel Celeron 1007U Processor 1.5 GHz) but a higher price tag ($319.00).

Ubuntu runs well on this device as well

can you use steam streaming http://store.steampowered.com/streaming/ without issues too ?
Do you recommend it over Beelink S1 ?
Thanks

Although the device is capable of outputting 4K resolution (3840*2160px), we won’t recommend people to set this resolution as default on the AP34. As there is no discrete graphics card under the hood, 4K will be too much for the integrated Intel HD 500 to handle sometimes, 1080P is still a more reliable choice on most occasions.
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I have the 4GB version which is an excellent value - it is 'adequate' for most applications if you are not trying to use to multi-task.
I have upgraded to the latest Intel Drivers - Only 30Hz rate is available at the 4K resolution - this makes pretty much any video quite choppy if display adapter is set to output this resolution
It is indeed much happier set to 1080.
My understanding (please correct me if I''m wrong!) from searching is that the N3450/HD500 Graphics set is only capable of 60Hz refresh on Display Adapter Output and 30Hz on HDMI
But of course there is NO Display Adapter Output Connector on the AP34

Hello
how do you compare AP34 with AP42 Mini PC http://www.kodlix.com/349/ ? AP42 seems to be much better ? Am I wrong ?
Thanks

Difference is barely discernible - https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&q=n3450+vs+n4200&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

decosse said:
Difference is barely discernible - https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&q=n3450+vs+n4200&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
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ok but It's something chepear

graziano68 said:
ok but It's something chepear
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
??
The Ap34 should be cheaper - make sure you are comparing 4GB RAM with 4GB RAM models

Core i5+WiFi 6+NVMe, the Beelink GTI11 is the mini PC for all

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If you follow the news of mini PCs, you should know Beelink recently announced a new model called the GTR5, which is powered by an AMD Ryzen9-5900HX processor, and is deemed as the most powerful mini PC to date. Because the GTR5 is so prominent and is getting everyone’s attention, another model that is also very good is kindda falling under the radar. Yes, I am talking about the Beelink GTI11, GTR5’s Intel powered brother.
The Beelink GTI11 is sort of a mix of the best mini PCs and NUCs, and will fit well into a living room or home office. It's quite compact, but has the performance needed to handle a fair amount of productivity work. The price is also quite reasonable, with the i5, 16GB/500GB model priced at ＄699. I've been using this tiny PC for a couple of weeks to see what it's all about and whether it's worth your investment.
Specifications
OS: Windows 11 Pro
Processor: Intel Core i5-1135G7
CPU: 4 cores, 8 threads @2.4-4.2GHz, 10nm process
GPU: Intel Iris Xe Graphics
RAM: 16GB DDR4L Memory
Storage: 500GB m.2 NVMe SSD
Wireless: WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0
Ports: USB 3.0 *4, USB 2.0*2, USB-C*1, HDMI*1, DP*1, 3.5mm Audio Jack*1, 1000M Ethernet * 2, DC-in*1
Dimensions: 160*120*39mm
Weight: 597g
What’s in the box
Beelink GTI11 Mini PC * 1
19V-3A Power Adapter * 1
User Guide * 1
Wall Mount Bracket * 1
HDMI Cable * 2 (1m and 0.2m)
The GTI11 comes with simple, but attractive retail packaging.
Inside the retail box you will find a GTI11 mini PC, a 57W power adapter, a user manual, a mounting bracket, two bags of screws and two HDMI cables.
Design and build
The Beelink GTI11 looks almost identical to last year’s GTR. The chassis is completely made of magnesium alloy, with the top panel covered by glass for a little bit of extra pop. The case feels reasonably sturdy and holds strong under direct pressure. The blue coating of the exterior gives the GTI11 a professional, yet attractive look, and the matte finish on the side panels perfectly resists fingerprints.
With a small form factor, the GTI11 measures only 160mm wide, 120mm deep, and just 39mm in height. It easily fits on desks or even under a monitor stand if you have one, without taking up too much space. If you literally have no room on your desk, the bracket included in the retail box can also help you mount the mini PC onto the back of the monitor, making it completely disappear from the surroundings.
What makes the Beelink GT series (GTR & GTI) mini PCs special is the fact that they all come with a fingerprint reader, which makes unlocking extremely easy. The fingerprint scanner on the GTI11 has decent size and very high success rate. During my two weeks testing the computer, I’ve never had any failed attempts unlocking the system with my finger.
There are a lot of ports on hand here. The front side host two full-size USB 3.0 ports, a multi-function Type-C port, as well as a 3.5mm audio jack with mic support. You can also find a CMOS reset hole and power/standby key with LED indicator built in.
The rear side comes even more packed with I/O, you will find two more USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, two RJ45 ethernet jacks, one HDMI 2.0 port, one DisplayPort, and a DC-in port. Unfortunately, the GTI11 doesn’t include an SD/MicroSD card slot, a USB card reader will be needed if you want to get access to the files on your storage card from the GTI11.
This PC is actively cooled, many vents are featured on the side panels.
The bottom of the GTI11 is pretty non-descript. There are two rubber strips to keep the mini PC in place while it’s sitting on your desk, you can also find the instructions on how to enter BIOS setup and boot menu.
The GTI11 weighs only 597g, moving it around your house, or taking it on a trip won’t mean much effort, as long as you don’t mind the relatively hefty power adaptor.
Getting inside the system is easy, all you need is a screwdriver. After removing the 4 screws from the bottom panel, you are able get to the GTI11's internals. As small as it is, the GTI11 still offers two memory slots, and supports as many as 3 hard drives. You can insert two m2.2280 SSD and one 2.5-inch hard drive.
Software: Windows 11 is already here
The LED on the top panel, and the LED built in the power button will both light up when the mini PC is booted.
The Beelink GTI11 ships with licensed Windows 10 Pro, which can be upgraded to Windows 11 Pro after you boot the computer up for the first time. The operating system here is a completely clean version, with no pre-installed 3rd party applications or bloatware.
For average consumers, the Pro Edition of Windows OS probably won’t mean any difference. Yet for power users, there are quite a few extra features that may come in handy.

Performance: powerful enough
Performance from the Core i5-1135G7 and 16GB dual-channel memory is about as good as I expected, putting up respectable numbers that will accommodate anyone looking to tackle productivity work or streaming. The integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics will handle creativity duties or even some lightweight gaming. To help you better understand the overall performance of the GTI11, I ran quite a few benchmarks on it, and compared its scores to the results of other midrange mini PCs.
First, I launched Maxon's latest CPU-crunching Cinebench R23 test, which is fully threaded to make use of all available processor cores and threads. Cinebench stresses the CPU rather than the GPU to render a complex image. The result is a proprietary score indicating a PC's suitability for processor-intensive workloads. The GTI11 got decent scores in both CPU single core and CPU multi-core.
I also ran the older Cinebench R20 test just to compare the GTI11 to more models I had tested before. The GTI was slightly edged out by the Intel NUC 8 in CPU multi-core, but completely dominated the chart with its CPU single-core score.
This mini PC also scored 15991 kilos per nodes in Fritz Chess Benchmark, and it’s a solid number for any system with a mobile chip.
The GTI11 also did quite well in the wPrime CPU test, finishing the 1024M calculations in less than 6 minutes.
In the cross-platform Geekbench 5 test, the GTI11 scored 1431 in CPU single core, 5074 in multi-core, and 14527 in OpenCL. In terms of the CPU single-core performance, the GTI11 leads the Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 5i by more than 50%, and that’s incredible!
PCMark 10 simulates different real-world productivity and content-creation workflows. We often use it to assess overall system performance for office-centric tasks. The GTI11 scored 4580, which is a tie with what’s achieved by the Intel NUC 8.
The computer also features a Kingston m.2 NVMe drive, which is extremely fast, readings and scores of the CrystalDiskMark test told the story.
The unit I received comes with two Crucial 8GB-3200MHz memory sticks. This dual-channel memory setup guarantees high overall bandwidth and throughput speed. In the AIDA64 cache & memory benchmark, the read, write and copy speeds of the 16GB memory are decent, the 69.4ns latency is solid, too.
The performance of the integrated GPU also benefits greatly from dual-channel memory, as the GTI11 scored much higher in the AIDA64 memory and GPU benchmark than the Lenovo YOGA Duet, which comes with the same processor and integrated GPU, but a single 16GB memory stick.
The Intel Iris Xe Graphics in the GTI11 is a huge step up from older UHD graphics, and completely dominated the Radeon Vega 10 GPU of the Beelink SER and the Iris Plus 655 GPU of the Intel NUC 8. In the 3DMark Sky Diver, Fire Strike and Time Spy tests, the GTI11 scored 12862, 3683 and 1437 respectively.
In the real-world use, the GTI11 handily saw me through most common home and office tasks, from web-browsing, editing my work presentation to streaming my favorite movies and TV shows. This system could even play 8K YouTube videos in Chrome without any frame skip.
There are only a handful of models which can be used for content creation, and the GTI11 is one of them. I had no problem editing photos in Adobe Photoshop, the system wouldn’t even slow down while I was adding many layers and filters to the picture. I also did not encounter any issue editing a 4K video clip in Power Director, everything felt reasonably fast and smooth.
I didn’t really think about playing 3D games on the GTI11 before receiving it. Having tested the Lenovo YOGA Duet, which runs on the same processor, I thought I knew what the performance was going to be like on the GTI, but I was proven to be dead wrong. Titles like “League of Legends”, “War Frame” and “Resident Evil 3”played fairly smoothly under 1080P and medium to high settings. In League of Legend, the frame rate stayed above 120FPS all the time. Even “Conqueror’s Blade”, which was always a challenge for systems with integrated graphics, recorded an average frame rate of 36 frames per second at 1080P and medium settings. And during those intense battle scenes, the graphics still stayed well above 25fps, which is simply amazing for a computer this small.
These were all the games I tested on the GTI, and it's really promising to see that we are now able to have decent gaming experience on mini PCs.
As powerful as it is, the Beelink GTI11 is still a compact PC system with no discrete graphics, so it probably won’t see you through difficult workloads like super complex artistic design or gaming in 4K. Nonetheless, it ought to be greater than sufficient for most computing duties.

Noise, Stability and Power Consumption
There are two high-speed fans and two heat conduction tubes inside the shell for cooling. Beelink called these fans "silent" in their advertising, but believe me, they are not really silent. The GTI11 will make a fair amount of noise during multitasking or while running big applications. The noise is audible and may even be a little bit distracting at times if your room is quiet enough. With that said, It never really made my ears too uncomfortable to the point that I wanted to shut it down. And the system is relatively quiet during handling low-power duties such as video playback and social networking.
Fortunately, these fans are proven to work pretty efficiently. The GTI11 was amazingly stable, I could edit videos for hours on it without experiencing a hiccup. It also easily passed the 3DMark Time Spy Stress test with an impressive score of 99.6%, handily beating all the computers I have tested before.
In the AIDA64 Stress test, all 4 CPU cores were running at full load for 50 minutes, but their temperature stayed under 70℃ the entire time and didn’t trigger a warning.
Running on an Intel Core i5 processor, the GTI11 is not technically a low-power system, but it still consumes way less power than, say, a normal-size desktop PC.
I recorded its power outputs in different working scenarios and found that it was quite energy-conservative in video playback and office duties. Only when benchmarking or gaming did the power output exceed 20W.
Connectivity: WiFi 6, dual LAN, 3 displays
As mentioned above, The GTI11 offers a wealth of ports for its size. The HDMI, DP, and multi-function Type-C all support [email protected] video output, so you can connect the mini PC to as many as 3 monitors at the same time. This can be particularly useful if you have some complex office duties at hand.
The GTI11 features Bluetooth 5.0, with Bluetooth input devices and speakers, you will be able to have an almost wire-free desktop setup. And when it comes to surfing the internet, there are 2 RJ45 ports on the back of the GIT, meaning you can even use the mini PC for soft routing. WiFi 6 is also onboard to guarantee fast and stable wireless internet access.
Verdict: too good to ignore
The Beelink GTI11 is a feature-packed mini PC with a lot of horsepower under the hood. No matter what your computing tasks are, it always has the answer. Special features such as the fingerprint scanner, WiFi 6 and dual ethernet jacks just make your computing experience more convenient than ever. Yes, you may find better value with a normal-size desktop PC if space and power consumption aren’t that much of a concern, but the Beelink GTI11 is simply too fetching of a product to look past, I am sure it will have a pretty long stay on my desktop.

nice read up, thanks for sharing

blaze2051 said:
nice read up, thanks for sharing
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Beelink GTR5 mini PC review: the best there is!

AMD's very powerful Ryzen 9-5900HX flagship notebook CPU is making its way to small form factor desktop PCs. The recently released Beelink GTR5 is not the first mini PC to feature this SoC., but it might just be the best one yet!
Beelink GTR5 Main Specs
OS: Windows 11 Pro
Processor: AMD Ryzen9-5900HX
CPU: 8 cores, 16 threads @3.3-4.6GHz, 7nm process
GPU: Radeon RX Vega 8 @2100MHz
RAM: up to 64GB DDR4 RAM (32GB in my review unit)
Storage: up to 2TB m.2 NVMe SSD (500GB in my review unit)
Wireless: WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2
Ports: USB-A 3.0 *3, USB-A 2.0*2, USB-C*1, HDMI 2.0*1, DP 1.2*1, 3.5mm Audio Jack*1, 2.5Gbps Ethernet * 2, DC-in*1, m2. SATA slot*1, 2.5-inch HDD connector*1
Special features: Fingerprint unlock
Dimensions: 165*119*39mm
Weight: 678g
Retail packaging
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The GTR5 comes with very cool packaging, the dragon on the front side of the box perfectly illustrates the amount of power packed inside.
Besides the GTR5 mini PC, you will also find a relatively bulky 90W power adapter, a user manual, two HDMI cables (0.2m & 1m), a mounting bracket, as well as a bag of screws after unboxing.
Design: simply stunning
Until last year’s SER, I hadn’t really been that impressed with Beelink’s design, but the Chinese brand seems to have finally outdone itself! The GTR5 simply looks stunning, in fact it is one of the best-looking mini PCs in the market right now. The carved finish on the top side gives it an extremely stylish and premium look. With its sturdy metal chassis, it should also be able to take a fair amount of reasonable office abuse you throw at it.
Besides the relatively subtle branding, the top side also sports a fingerprint scanner, which has decent size and makes logging into the operating system a lot easier than any type of passwords. The recognition success rate is also quite high, I haven’t had any failed attempts in my two weeks with this device.
The AMD logo and “Let’s Start” catchphrase on the top side will light up after booting up, giving the device a more interesting look.
The chassis has ventilation holes on 4 sides (top, left, right, rear) for heat dissipation. There are dual cooling fans and dual copper pipes under the hood to make sure that the system never gets overheated.
Beelink products have always been quite generous with I/O, and the GTR5 is no exception. On the front side you will find a USB 3.0 port, a multi-function type-C port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack with mic support. There are also two buttons: a power button which has status LED built in, and a green button for clearing the CMOS.
More I/O are packed on the rear side, including two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, 2 RJ45 2.5GB/s ethernet jacks, 1 HDMI port, 1 DisplayPort and a DC-in port. Some features are missing, namely a storage card slot, but since you have as many as 6 USB ports, mounting a card reader shouldn’t be that much of an effort. As with other systems powered by AMD, there’s no thunderbolt port, either. The multi-function USB-C port does support fast USB 3.2 Gen1 data transmission and [email protected] video output, but it still pales in comparison with a Thunderbolt 3/4.
The expandability does not stop here. After removing the four screws on the underlying base, you can easily lift the bottom panel and get access to the internals. There are two SO-DIMM DDR4 memory slots, two m2. slots (1 NVMe and 1 SATA3), as well as a 1 SATA3 port on GTR5’s very compact motherboard. If dual-channel memory is somewhat a must-have to ensure solid performance, having the option to install as many as 3 hard drives in such a small computer is simply amazing. All internal hardware and components are neatly arranged, the unit in my hands comes with two 16GB-3200MHz Crucial memory sticks and a 500GB Kingston NVme drive, but Beelink offers other configurations for consumers to choose from.
The GTR5 measures 165*119*39mm, and weighs only 678g. It’s so small that it easily fits on any kind of desk, or under a monitor stand if you have one. It can also seamlessly attach to the back of a display with the included bracket, but please bear in mind that mounting the GTR5 on to the back of a monitor could make fingerprint unlock less convenient than it should be.
System & Apps
Most mini PCs and laptops run on the Home Edition of Windows OS, but the Beelink GTR5 ships with licensed Windows 11 Pro, Average consumers will probably see no difference, but for power users, Windows 11 Pro offers some extra features, the most important of which is being able to join a domain, including Azure Active Directory for single sign-on to cloud services (and have group policy applied as part of that).
You also get Hyper-V for virtualization, BitLocker whole disk encryption, enterprise mode Internet Explorer, Remote Desktop, a version of the Windows Store for your own business, Enterprise Data Protection containers (a feature that comes later in the year) and assigned access (which locks a PC to running only one modern application, to use like a kiosk). Pro users can get updates from Windows Update for Business, which includes options for scheduling updates, so they don't reboot PCs at important business times.
Fortunately, the Windows 11 Pro here is a completely clean version, with no pre-installed 3rd party applications or bloatware. I don’t feel like digging into the main features Windows 11 offers. For those who just switch from MAC OS or Linux to Windows, I highly recommend that you watch some tutorial videos on YouTube.

Performance: incredible horsepower
At the very core of the Beelink GTR5 is an AMD Ryzen9-5900HX processor, which ranks only behind the Ryzen9-5980HS and Ryzen9-5980HX in terms of performance in the world of mobile computer SoC., and it is also the fastest chip to ever power a mini PC. My unit comes with 32GB dual-channel DDR4 memory and 512GB NVMe SSD, but you can have as much as 64GB memory and 5TB of internal storage at most.
In the Maxon Cinebench R23 and Cinebench R20 test, the GTR5 simply has no competition in the world of Windows-based mini PCs, and even gives the Apple M1 powered Mac Mini a run for its money. Until models featuring the next-gen processors come out, the GTR5 will probably stay on top of the chart.
Geekbench 5 provides further evidence of the GTR5’s strength, even though the gap here is a little bit smaller between it and the Apple Mac Mini. Still, the CPU single core and multi-core scores are impressive.
PCMark 10 is a holistic performance suite developed by the PC benchmark specialists at UL (formerly Futuremark), it simulates different real-world productivity and content-creation workflows. We often use this benchmark to assess overall system performance for office-centric tasks such as word processing, spreadsheeting, web browsing, and video conferencing. The GTR5 notched an incredible score of 6345 points in the standard PCMark 10 test, ranking above the ASUS Mini PC PN50 and the i7-1165G7 powered Intel NUC 11 Pro.
Even though there’s no discrete graphics on board, you can still expect a fair amount of performance out of the Radeon Vega 8 GPU, which is clocked at 2.1GHz. In the 3DMark Sky Diver, Fire Strike, and Time Spy tests, the GTR5 scored 15097, 4019, 1615 points respectively.
The NVMe drive inside this computer is not the fastest we’ve seen, but it is a lot faster than cheaper SATA SSDs. The GTR5 scored 2545 in the AS SSD benchmark and got decent numbers in CrystalDiskMark.
There are two memory slots on the SER’s motherboard for dual-channel setup, which guarantees high overall bandwidth and throughput speed. The performance of the GPU also benefits immensely from dual-channel memory, as the GTR5 was returned very decent scores in the AIDA64 memory&cache, and GPU benchmarks.
In the real-world use, the GTR5 is a do-it-all kind of PC. You can open 20 or extra image-heavy webpages in Microsoft Edge and run a few other big apps side by side without seeing the system slow down.
In terms of media playback, the GTR5 has no problem decoding any video formats I played on it, including a few [email protected] and [email protected] clips. Streaming 8K YouTube Videos in Chrome, this mini PC does not skip a bit, either.
This machine could take care of all my creative projects as well. Rendering complex 3D images in photoshop, or editing 4K videos in Power Director, the GTR5 has been consistently fast.
No mini PC this size is designed for intense gaming, yet still people asked me questions about gaming all the time. The Radeon RX Vega 8, with a high 2.1GHz clock speed, is one of the most powerful integrated GPUs. As a result, the GTR5 can run most AAA titles in moderate settings.
Non-resource intensive games were smooth in 1080P and high graphics settings. In “League of Legend”, the average frame rate was 162 FPS. Even after I switched to 4K, the GTR still delivered an average frame rate of 75FPS, which is quite amazing.
More graphics-intense titles such as “Spell Break” and “Genshin Impact” were also smooth in 1080P and medium settings. The former stayed at 60FPS consistently during the 30 minutes’ session, while the latter recorded an average frame rate of 46 FPS.
Some of the most demanding titles were also playable on the GTR5. Conqueror’s Blade was generally smooth with an average frame rate of 32FPS in 1080P and medium settings, even though the frame rate could drop to 28 FPS in intense battle scenes.
As powerful as the AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 might be, there is still a fairly large gap between it and top PCle GPUs. If you want to game in the highest settings possible and still get the upper hand in competition against other players on the internet, you will need a more traditional gaming setup than the GTR5.
The system is also quite stable, thanks to the efficient cooling. In the 3DMark Time Spy stress test, the GTR5 scored 99.99%, which is the best number I have ever seen.

Power Consumption and noise
With such a beefy processor inside, the GTR5 is not technically a low-power system. Still, it should be more energy-conservative than a full-sized desktop PC. In terms of power consumption, we saw some fairly solid figures.
The system stays fairly quiet under light loads, but if you run heavy CPU/ GPU workloads the fans spin up and it certainly gets louder. However, the noise is never too much of an issue, and easily gets drown out by other sound in your surroundings.
Connectivity
The GTR5 supports the latest WiFi 6E technology, also known as WiFi 6 Extended. It allows the PC to use the 6GHz band, which in return brings more bandwidth, faster speeds, and lower latency, opening up resources for future innovations like AR/VR, 8K streaming, and more. In additon, you also have two 2.5Gbps ethernet jacks, which offer all kinds of internet possibilities.
The HDMI, DP and Type-C ports all support video output up to [email protected], so you can connect the GTR5 to as many as 3 displays at the same time. This can be very helpful if you have some complex productivity tasks at hand.
Verdict
The Beelink GTR5 is a powerhouse in a tiny package. It has a beefy processor, packs a slew of I/O, and offers a broad range of features such as fingerprint unlock and superb networking. The tiny case is beautiful and rock-solid, the vast array of designs improves value and versatility.
However, it is not cheap. The 32GB/500GB model retails for $799, while the 64GB/1TB version will cost you even more. In the same price range, you can get a base model of the Apple M1 powered MAC mini, or a complete Intel NUC 11 system with memory, storage, and an OS. The GTR5 is obviously more feature-packed than the other two, but you cannot overlook Apple and Intel’s brand power.
If size doesn’t matter that much to you, a large DIY system of similar performance can save you quite a fortune yet give you more expansion room for later upgrades. But if you want the tiniest computer possible for all the computing you may need, there aren’t many SFF PCs more qualified than the Beelink GTR5 out there.
You can check the screenshots of those benchmarks here:

Hey, nice review, but what about the constant stuttering while doing nothing on the pc ?

GEEKOM Mini IT11 review: the best NUC 11 Pro alternative?

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GEEKOM may be new to the mini PC industry, but they have released quite a few high-quality but cost-effective models in a very short period of time. The Mini IT11 is the latest addition to their lineup. With an Intel Tiger Lake CPU, a licensed copy of Windows 11 Pro operating system, and a moderate price tag, it may offer better value than the Intel NUC 11 Pro.
Specifications
OS: Windows 11 Pro
Processor: Intel Core i5-1135G7 / Intel Core i7-1165G7/ Intel Core i5-1155G7 / Intel Core i7-1195G7 (Core i7-1165G7 in my review unit)
CPU: 4 cores, 8 threads @2.8-4.7GHz, 10nm process (i7-1165G7)
GPU: Intel Iris Xe Graphics EU96
RAM: Dual-channel DDR4-3200, expandable up to 64GB (32GB in my review unit)
Storage: 1*SSD (M.2 SATA/PCle), expandable up to 2TB (1TB in my review unit)
1*2.5’’ SATA HDD/SSD (7mm), expandable to 2TB
Wireless: WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2
Ports: USB4*2, USB 3.2 Gen2*3, HDMI 2.0*1, Mini DP*1, 3.5mm Audio Jack*1, Gigabyte Ethernet*1, DC-in*1
Dimensions: 117*112*45.6 mm
Weight: 565 g
What’s in the box
GEEKOM Mini IT11 Mini PC * 1
Power Adapter * 1
User Guide * 1
VESA Mount Bracket * 1
HDMI Cable * 1
Carrying pouch * 1
The GEEKOM’s packaging may not be very fancy, but you will get all the accessories you need in the box.
Design and build
The GEEKOM Mini IT11 looks very similar to the Intel NUC 11 Pro, as the two are almost identical in terms of shape, size and the layout of the ports. The well-vented chassis is made of ABS & PC, which is much more robust and durable than ordinary plastic material. The matte blue finish isn’t anything we haven’t seen before, but it does give the machine a professional look.
With an extremely small footprint (117*112*45.6 mm), the GEEKOM Mini IT11 will easily fit on any computer desk or TV bench, no matter how crammed that place may be. You may even decide to use the included VESA mount bracket to install the unit behind a monitor, which completely frees up your desktop.
This mini PC packs lots of I/O for its size. On the front you will find a USB4 Type-C, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, and a 3.5mm audio jack (with mic support). The back panel plays host to another USB4 Type-C, two additional USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, an HDMI 2.0, a Mini DisplayPort 1.4, and a DC-in. There’s also an SDXC card slot on the left side, and a Kensington lock on the right side of the machine. As you may have already noticed, the Mini IT11 can be connected to four 4K displays at the same time, making complex creativity tasks easier to handle.
The USB4 ports on this mini PC are marked as the 20 Gbps version, but in my test, both of them could easily exceed that speed limit. I consulted GEEKOM for this and was told that the USB4 ports on the Mini IT11 were actually the 40Gbps full-speed version, but due to the reason that the 40Gbps marking would need extra certification, they were currently undermarked. The USB4 ports are perfectly compatible with Thunderbolt 3 devices. Not only can you transfer files between the GEEKOM Mini IT11 and portable SSDs at high speeds, but you may also use a Thunderbolt certified eGPU to enhance the graphics performance of your mini PC.
Getting access to the internals could not be easier, the only thing you need to do is to unscrew the four screws on the bottom panel. The Mini IT11’s motherboard features two DDR4-3200 memory slots, an M.2 2280 SSD interface, a 2.5” HDD/SSD interface, as well as 2 M.2 2230 interface inside. You can have as much as 64GB dual-channel memory, and 4TB internal storage under the hood. My review unit comes a single 16GB Kingston DDR4-3200 memory stick, but I added another 16GB memorty stick for dual-channel setup.
The build quality of the GEEKOM Mini IT11 is simply stunning. The chassis feels extremely smooth and robust, with no ugly mold lines on the surface. There’s also a metal frame inside to protect the internal components from impacts, a nifty feature that all GEEKOM mini PCs come with.
System & App
The Mini IT11 ships with an activated copy of Windows 11 Pro, so you don’t have to pay extra for the license. For average consumers, the Pro Edition of Windows OS probably won’t mean much. Yet for power users, there are quite a few extra features that may come in handy.
The operating system here is completely clean, with no preinstalled bloatware or third-party applications at all. Besides Windows, you can also choose to install other X86-compatible systems, such as Linux, Android X86 or UOS.
Performance
Performance from the Core i7-1165G7 and 32GB dual-channel memory is about as good as I expected, putting up respectable numbers that will accommodate anyone looking to tackle productivity work or streaming. The Intel Iris Xe graphics iGPU will handle creativity duties or even some lightweight gaming. To help you better understand the overall performance of the Mini IT11, I ran quite a few benchmarks on it, and compared its scores to the results of other top mini PCs.
First, I launched Maxon's latest CPU-crunching Cinebench R23 test, which is fully threaded to make use of all available processor cores and threads. Cinebench stresses the CPU rather than the GPU to render a complex image. The result is a proprietary score indicating a PC's suitability for processor-intensive workloads. The Mini IT11 got decent scores in both CPU single core and CPU multi-core. As you can see in the chart, there’s still a relatively huge gap between the GEEKOM Mini IT11 and the Apple MAC mini in terms of CPU performance.
The cross-platform Geekbench 5 test returned a very similar result. The Mini IT11 scored 1540 in CPU single core, 5133 in multi-core, and 16969 in OpenCL.
PCMark 10 simulates different real-world productivity and content-creation workflows. We often use it to assess overall system performance for office-centric tasks. The Mini IT11 scored 4661 in the standard PCMark 10 test, indicating that it should do well in a variety of heavy productivity tasks.
This mini PC also features a Kingston M.2 NVMe drive, which is extremely fast, readings and scores of the CrystalDiskMark test told the story. The dual-channel memory setup guarantees high overall bandwidth and throughput speed. In the AIDA64 cache & memory benchmark, the read, write and copy speeds of the memory are decent, the 71.2ns latency is solid, too.
Daily Computing
In the real-world use, This mini PC handily saw me through common home and office tasks, from web-browsing, social networking to editing 4K video footages. The Mini IT11 felt as efficient as the Beelink GTR5 when handling most duties, even though it got beaten by the latter in nearly all benchmarks.
Video Playback
One area where the Mini IT11 did better than the GTR5 was video playback. Thanks to the impeccable video codec support of the Intel Iris Xe Graphics iGPU, the Mini IT11 could hardware-decode most video formats up to 8K. I played many 4K movies and TV shows on this mini PC, and never encountered any frameskip or hiccups.
Not only was the Mini IT good at decoding local video, but it was also excellent in streaming videos online, even [email protected] YouTube videos could play smoothly in the Chrome browser.
Gaming
The Intel Iris Xe Graphics iGPU may not match top discrete graphics cards in performance, but it was a huge leap forward when compared to Intel’s older Iris Plus and UHD iGPUs, and could also outperform older discrete GPUs. In the graphics-focused 3DMark test, the GEEKOM Mini IT11 scored 1594 in Time Spy, 4332 in Fire Strike, and 13710 in Sky Diver. These results are significantly better than the numbers put up by the Intel NUC 8 and the Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 5i. Surprisingly, the Mini IT11 also easily edged out the HP Envy 13, which features an Nvidia MX350 discrete graphics card.
League of Legends was extremely smooth at 1080P and medium quality settings, with 115 fps on average. Even when I switched to 4K and high quality, it was still free of any noticeable lags or frame drops. Spell Break, which was slightly more hardware demanding than LOL, stayed at 60 fps the entire gaming session.
Running Genshin Impact at 1920 x 1080 and medium quality settings saw an average of 44 fps, not great, but still enough for me to enjoy the gameplay. However, the Mini IT11 did struggle a little bit with more graphics-intensive titles like Conqueror’s Blade. The average frame rate of this game was only 31 fps at 1080P and medium settings, still playable, but there might be delays and frame drops in those intense battle scenes.
Those results mean the Mini IT11 should be able to deal with demanding graphic workloads without grinding to a halt. But if you want to game in high quality settings and still get a fair chance against other players, you might need an external GPU.
Noise, stability, and power consumption
Power consumption of the Mini IT11 is at 8 watts idle and 70 watts on max load, and the machine stayed fairly quiet most of the time. I did hear noise from the cooling fan when the mini PC was running big applications and games, but its volume was never really too untamed.
As quiet as it was, this mini PC was still reasonably stable. It passed the 3DMark Time Spy test with a score of 99.9%. And thanks to the efficient cooling, the chassis of the mini PC never became too hot to touch.
Verdict
Throughout my time with the GEEKOM Mini IT11, I can attest to this unit being a nifty piece of kit that will suit most home and office scenarios. As tiny as it is, it still packs plenty of ports, and enough power for not only our everyday basics, but also creativity workflows and gaming. If you are looking a versatile mini PC to serve as your daily driver, you can’t go wrong with the Mini IT11.
By the time I finished writing this article, GEEKOM informed me that the SoCs of the Mini IT11 were going to be upgraded from Intel Core i5-1135G7 and i7-1165G7 to Core i5-1155G7 and Core i7-1195G7 before the model hits the market. These new processors will surely give the mini PC more horsepower and help it get better numbers in benchmarking, but how much more efficiency it will bring to the table in real world use still remains to be tested, I will do another review once I receive the upgraded unit.

TEST SCREENSHOTS HERE:

Very nice machine and the USB4 is an extra really appreciated. Do you know when are you going to receive the upgraded version? I guess that extra horsepower will do very little, but if the price is the same very welcome.

GEEKOM AS 6 mini PC review: the flagship of flagships

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There’s a lot to like about small form factor PCs, which often deliver desktop-grade performance and connectivity in enclosures that aren’t much bigger than a TV box – and the GEEKOM AS 6, which comes with a mighty AMD 6000 series CPU, tries to push that trend even further.
The good
Compact, neat, and accessible case.
Impressive CPU and graphics performance.
A wide array of ports.
Superb networking.
Easy to upgrade.
The bad
No SD card reader.
Specifications
OS: Windows 11 Pro
Processor: AMD Ryzen 7-6800H, 6nm process, 35W TDP
CPU: 8 cores, 16 threads @3.2-4.7 GHz
GPU: Radeon 680M @2200MHz, 12 CU
RAM: 16/32GB DDR5 4800MHz (dual-channel)
Storage: 2*M.2 2280 PCIe4.0*4 NVMe SSD (up to 2TB)
1* SATA III 2.5-inch HDD/SSD (up to 2TB)
Wireless: WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2
Ports: USB4*2, USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A*5, HDMI 2.1*2, DisplayPort 1.4*1, 3.5mm Audio Jack*1, 2.5Gbps Ethernet*1, DC-in*1
Dimensions: 120*130*58 mm
Weight: 0.9 kg
What’s in the box
GEEKOM AS 6 Mini PC * 1
150W Power Adapter * 1
User Guide * 1
VESA Mount Bracket * 1
HDMI Cable * 1
The AS 6 is a product of the global partnership of GEEKOM and ASUS, that’s why you will find the branding of both companies on the front of the retail packaging. The mini PC is available with two CPU options: AMD Ryzen 7 6800H or Ryzen 9 6900HX, the unit that I received comes with the former. Along with the AS 6 mini PC, you will also find a 150W (20V-7.5A) power adapter, an HDMI cable, a user guide, a bunch of screws, a VESA mount bracket for attaching the mini PC to the back of a monitor, and a greeting card from GEEKOM.
Design and build
The AS 6 is basically a clone of the ASUS PN53, in fact, you can argue it is literally a rebranded PN53. The mini PC is noticeably larger than the Intel NUC 12 Pro, it measures 120*130*58 mm, and weighs 900g. Fortunately, the larger housing also means more room for cooling, and a wider array of ports.
There are two USB4, five USB3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, two HDMI2.1, one DisplayPort 1.4, one 3.5mm audio jack, as well as a DC-input. USB4 and DisplayPort 1.4 support [email protected] video output, and HDMI2.1 supports [email protected], you can connect the AS 6 to as many as 4 monitors. Each USB4 port supports 40Gbps traffic on its own and is compatible with Thunderbolt 3 protocols, which means you can even connect the AS 6 to an external graphics card.
The hardware expansion in the AS 6 consists of two M.2 Type-2280 slots for PCle4.0*4 NVMe SSDs, a traditional 2.5-inch drive bay, and two laptop-style SO-DIMM slots for the DDR5-4800 RAM. The M.2 2230 wireless card, which supports WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2, is also accessible. GEEKOM only sells the AS 6 as preconfigured units, there are no barebones versions available, at least not for now. My review unit features 32GB dual-channel DDR5-4800 RAM (in the form of Crucial brand RAM sticks), and a 1TB Kingston PCIe4.0x4 NVMe SSD, onto which a licensed copy of Windows 11 Pro is preinstalled.
The build quality of the GEEKOM AS 6 is simply amazing. It feels extremely robust in my hands, and the internal components are neatly arranged.
OS and Software
The AS 6 ships with a licensed copy of Windows 11 Pro operating system which, compared to Windows 10, brings upgrades including a more aesthetically pleasing UI, improved multiple desktops, built-in XBOX gaming, and better security features. Since this is the Pro Edition of Windows OS, you also get a few extra IT and business features such as Hyper-V for virtualization, BitLocker whole disk encryption, enterprise mode Internet Explorer, and Remote Desktop.
The Windows 11 Pro here is a completely clean version, with no pre-installed 3rd party applications or bloatware. Besides regular Windows software, you can also load the Android subsystem and Linux subsystem on the latest Windows 11 build. If open source is more of your thing, the AS 6 is compatible with numerous Linux distributions. You can even choose to triple-boot the mini PC since it supports three storage drives.
Performance
The AS 6 is a beast when it comes to performance. It is powered by the mighty AMD Ryzen7-6800H processor, which runs at a 3.20 GHz base frequency and can increase its speed to 4.70 GHz when necessary. It bundles 8 Zen3+ CPU cores, 16 threads, 16MB L3 Cache, and has a TDP of 35 Watts. This SoC also features an extremely powerful iGPU: the Radeon 680M. Based on the RDNA2 architecture, the Radeon 680M has 12 CUs (=768 shaders) clocked at 2,200 MHz, and offers performance equivalent to entry-level desktop graphics cards.
Benchmarks
As for CPU performance, Zen 3+ has proven to be only a minor upgrade from last year’s Zen3. In the Cinebench R23 CPU-crunching test, the AS 6 scored 1413 in CPU single-core, and 11795 in multi-core. While slightly edging out the 5800H powered Beelink SER5 Pro and i5-1240P version of Intel NUC 12 Wall Street Canyon, it is nowhere near the Beelink GTR7 and Lenovo Xiaoxin mini. The performance still has plenty of room for improvement, as the GEEKOM limits the cTDP of the 6800H CPU to 35W at the moment to keep the noise down, but the CPU can be configured to 45W.
PCMark 10 assesses overall system performance by simulating different real-world productivity and content-creation workflows like word processing, spreadsheet jockeying, web browsing, and video conferencing. The test generates a proprietary numeric score, and higher numbers are better. The 6743-point finish from the AS 6 is well above the 4,000 points we consider excellent, and it's a very respectable showing for a PC this small.
3DMark measures relative graphics performance of a PC by rendering sequences of highly detailed, gaming-style 3D graphics that emphasize particles and lighting. I ran two different 3DMark subtests on the AS 6: Fire Strike and Time Spy. The former is a DirectX 12 benchmark which tests how well a system can handle DirectX 12 games, while the latter is a DirectX 11 benchmark that tests the PC’s capability of running older gaming titles. The Radeon 680M iGPU proves to be a huge leap from Radeon Vega iGPU, as the AS 6 scored 2580 in Time Spy, and 6212 in Fire Strike.
The AS 6 also features dual-channel DDR5-4800MHz RAM. According to AIDA64 memory & cache benchmark, the read, write and copy speeds of the memory were more than decent. The integrated GPU also benefits from DDR5 RAM as shared VRAM, the numbers in GPGPU benchmark look quite good.
The 1TB NVMe solid-state drive used by the mini PC isn’t the fastest PCIe Gen4 SSD I’ve seen, in fact it doesn’t do much better than high-end PCIe Gen3 SSDs in CrystalDiskMark. However, it still offers decent read and write speeds. Booting into Windows 11 only took a few seconds, launching big applications and games was also quite fast.
Productivity
With such impressive hardware, the AS 6 obviously has no problem of seeing us through common home and office chores. It was also perfectly competent when dealing with relatively demanding creativity tasks.
Editing multiple layers of 4K video footages in Power Director 20, the AS 6 stayed fast and responsive the whole time. Producing a 10-minute high-bitrate 4K video via hardware encoding with GPU acceleration, The mini PC took 7 minutes, 25 seconds. Not a bad result, but it is somehow outshined by the 4 minute and 30 seconds time taken by the Beelink GTR7.
Using the open-source video transcoder HandBrake 1.4 to convert a 3min video clip from 4K to 1080p resolution, the AS 6 took 96 seconds.
Gaming
The Radeon 680M is the best iGPU in the world for a reason. Running League of Legend at 1080P and medium quality setting, we saw an average of 156 fps, which looks super smooth on my 144Hz gaming monitor. Even when I switched to 4K and high quality settings, the game still averaged 91 fps.
Genshin Impact was extremely smooth. At 1080P and medium setting, the AS 6 averaged 59 fps. After switching to high quality setting, it still averaged 52 fps.
Playing Witcher 3 on the AS 6 was also a fun and smooth experience, at 1080P and medium quality settings, we saw an average of 47 fps. Even in those intense fighting scenes, there were no noticeable hiccups.
Conqueror’s Blade has proven to be too much of a challenge for Ryzen 5000 mini PCs, but not so much for the AS 6. At 1080P and medium quality setting, the mini PC averaged 43 fps, even though there were noticeable dips in intensive battle scenes, we didn’t see any real delays. Switching to low quality setting could bump up the average frame rate of the game to 49 fps.
Even though the AS 6 is still not going to compete with desktop tower PCs with top-of-the-line graphics cards, but its gaming performance is decent enough for most people.

Video Playback
Video codec support is one of the few areas that AMD Radeon iGPUs lag behind their Intel counterparts, and the new RDNA2-based iGPU still didn’t change the game. According to DXVA checker, the Radeon 680M supports way fewer video formats to 4K and 8K. But for 4K videos of common formats, the AS 6 had no problem playing all of them smoothly.
Streaming YouTube videos in Chrome was also a fun and smooth experience, including all [email protected] and [email protected] videos. Because it was using hardware decoding, the utilization rates of the CPU and GPU were both quite low. But unfortunately, the AS 6 doesn't support AV1 decoding, so streaming 8K60fps videos could result in severe frame skips.
Stability, power consumption and noise
Although the eight CPU cores and the Radeon 680M iGPU inside are extremely fast and can reach high frequencies when necessary, the cooling mechanism inside still managed to keep the mini PC running generally cool and stable. The AS 6 passed the 3DMark Time Spy stress test with a terrific score of 99.9%, one of the best I have ever seen.
The AS 6 wasn’t the greenest computer I have tested, but it is still generally more power-efficient than average desktop towers and gaming laptops. The power draw was around 10 watts at idle, but can reach 94 watts when the processor was running at load.
Fan noise behavior is tied to the power profile setting. At Idle, the system could remain quiet. Light multitasking or video streaming will bump up the noise to a more audible 38 dB(A). Graphics-intensive gaming induces the noise of around 50 dB(A), which is definitely audible against a silent background, but still gentle compared to most mini PCs I have tested.
Verdict
The GEEKOM AS 6 checked lots of boxes. It comes with a beefy processor, rich selection of I/O, and superb networking capabilities. The mini PC also offers performance that peaks above what notebook platforms typically provide with the same hardware, along with being a bit more customizable with upgradeable memory and storage. If you want enough power for all the computing you need in a very small box, the AS 6 is the one to get.

GEEKOM AS 6
Product link: https://bit.ly/GEEKOMAS6-US
$709 after use code: as640a
Test Screenshots here: