Think 1k is the early adopter tax coming through. Nice PC, but one of the joys of the mini pc is their low entry price. At this price, the Asus 14" laptop with the same chip actually looks good value. Amazed there hasn't been a Snapdragon X mini yet apart from the Dev unit. Doesn't tick the gaming box but it's a nerdy itch I need to scratch!
Very thorough review. I just checked out your Minisforum UM890 Pro review. I like the fact that they sell a barebones unit. I don’t think Beelink offers a barebones option. The only risk with a barebones unit with these no name brands is if there is malware on the motherboard. I suppose malware could be introduced with a BIOS update. Assuming these units get BIOS updates. For those of you who have these mini PC’s, were you or are you concerned about malware on these units? Thanks.
Hey man just wanted to comment and say thanks 🙏🏻 helped so much bough a 2tb WD black nvme and installed it and then was able to set it up. Also had troubles with my old hard drive was showing up as disk “0” had to right click instead to reset it to black. When I tried to type disk 0 it wouldn’t work. Hope that helps someone else
Am I seeing the downfall of Beelink on this one? 1. Too expensive compared to previous gens 2. Non upgradable memory In case of memory, LDDR5 does not equate faster process, I have a SER 7 with 32gb (2x16gb) user replacable and Ideapad 5 Pro with soldered 32gb, the same 7840HS, SER 7 stock SSD while Ideapad with replaced (faster) Crucial SSD, both at balance mode Guess what, SER 7 outperform the ldeapad by around 5 to 8 percent running computational task, I observed power is the primary reason for this and memory being soldered does not affect much Bring back those memory slots 😡
Faster memory speed is for integrated graphics, not CPU performance since there's no dedicated Vram. There's marginal benefit for CPU tasks. By going up to 8000MT/s from 7500 in the BIOS there was a 3.5% GPU performance uplift. 5600 would be a big downgrade.
@@Robtech 3.5% uplift for inconvenience of not being able to upgrade memory down the road. No thanks. And the price is at OLED laptop territory. Many don't want another Apple in mini PC space.
3.5% was from 7500 to 8000 on this mini. SODIMM replaceable RAM stops at 5600. It would be a double digit drop with SODIMM. Until there's a faster memory format for integrated graphics, soldered memory will continue. Maybe CUDIMM or CAMM2 will solve the issue.
@@Robtech just for sake of discussion, there is no available benchmark (none I know of) that say soldered RAM translate to noticeable FPS boost, but from what I experienced and actual testing in YT videos sustained CPU frequency (power to CPU) affects overall performance significantly Also most buyers of mini PC are aficionados who like to fiddle with PC parts, non replaceable memory will discourage these people, I'll bet my 2 cents this move of Beelink will not fly I hope someone in Beelink is reading these comments, I was very excited in the release of Ryzen AI in a mini PC but the price and setup killed my enthusiasm faster than I can say "Apple copycat" 🤣
Thanks a lot Rob! Great test as usual and I was really waiting for this one. For a next review with a comparison between different iGPU generations, could you perhaps add a few more test where you add frame generation (even if it isn't required). Curious how different generations handle it and whether it improves the game play experience, even if you get decent FPS without frame generation Regarding this unit. At this price point one could also buy a Aoostar GEM10 6800H + Occulink Dock + 4060RTX. (Of course at much higher power consumption) (Unfortunately AMD it no better than Intel regarding their pricing strategy when they have the performance crown: In the K8-K10 era they priced the FX-60 at "performance" level, same for 3rd gen TR's and now their laptops SOC's )
As more Strix Point minis come in I'll do different tests with each one to keep it from going stale. Different resolutions, different quality settings and yeah, FSR and frame gen too.
the reason why the gains are so minimal is the fact that the 890m is just a 780m + 4 cus , so it's realitically a " 790m" built on rdna 3 and not a "890m" should actually be on rdna 4 . the 890 is a biffed up 780m
6:55 Great review, and thanks for these side-by-side games! It really shows the GPU uplift!. My biggest complaint about the SER9 is that Beelink didn't go for LPCAMM2 memory and instead chose for soldered. Hopefully by the next iteration (LP)CAMM2 will be an option.
I had a segment about CAMM2 in the video and cut it out since I didn't think it added anything. But yes, CAMM2 or CUDIMM are future options. Problem with CAMM2 is it's quite large and expensive. So only going in the flagship desktop motherboards for now. Also, thanks a lot for the Super Thanks!
@@Robtech CAMM2 and especially LPCAMM2 are not that large compared to their respective counterparts. SODIMM is 75x47 mm and LPCAMM2 is 78x34 mm. With SODIMM there's different sockets (flat, perpendicular, slanted) which allow SODIMMs to be mounted in various positions for different housings, but I can't imagine a dual socket SODIMM (needed for dual channel) being significantly smaller than a single LPCAMM2 (which doesn't need 2 modules) I imagine at this point it's more a matter of cost and availability for a small volume manufacturer like Beelink. I hope we get to see this in the (near) future. My hopes are for the Tuxedo Nano Pro Gen 14.
Oh I was including the slot with pins and heatsink (depth) since it gets too hot being exposed at 10,000MT/s. I suppose they might be able to get away with just a fan. Fun times ahead 🤔
Great timing with this video, I was just thinking of buying one, you answered basically all my questions. The price is high but it's a good overall package (for a 1000 dollar entry price, for 1250 there are better options).
lol It was only two to three months ago people were saying AMD would sell these Strix Point APUs cheap enough for mini PC manufacturers to compete with gaming consoles.
I'm hoping some of the techies can answer a couple of questions for me. This has 32 G of 7800 RAM. In what real-life situation would 32 Gig be insufficiant except as a talking point. Why would I need 64 Gig of Ram? It seems to me, in my ignorance, that unless you are doing extreme graphic editing that you would never ever exceed 32Gig of RAM, especially 7800 speed. I admit that I am not that knowledgable but to me it seems like this RAM question is kind of like in the old days of audiophiles who raved about an amplifier with .0001 PicoHertz of harmonic distortion. Sure if you have an occilicope you can measure that but you can't hear anything outside of the threshold of human hearing of 20-20k Hz. I'd be curious to be educated about this. The price, It's going to be about $1500 CAD but to get the computing power that this little machine has would cost me about double that to build my own from scratch. My only small issue is the lack of a Thunderbolt port but for all other concerns this seems like a terrific machine for all but the very heavily intensive graphic/video editing situations. If anyone can enlighten me I'd be grateful before I take the plunge. Cheers.
That 32gb of ram gets shared between CPU and GPU. So if you want to use 16gb as vram, you would "only" have 16 gb left for system ram. 64 gb is more future proof and specially for video editing it is nice to have a lot of VRAM USB 4 is compatible with TB 3 and 4. So you can use a lot of your Thunderbolt devices.
@@annebokma4637 Such great information Anne. I had wondered how RAM was allocated if you want to bump up the VRAM. I have a dedicated card now but did not know the specifics that when increasing (I believe that this SER9 is configured for 4 Gb Vram) so as you said to boost that to 16 would mean a 1-1 exchange from your total RAM. That makes a great deal of sense now that having 64 G would be preferable when no dedicated Vram card is present. Likewise thank you for the clarification about USB 4. In my feeble understanding of things I thought that Only USB-C Thunderbolt had 40Gbit transfer speeds. Now and then I do a mass emigration to new drives and this feature makes a differance to me. So, all of that said maybe I'll just hang back a few Weeks and see if the Asus Nuc Pro AI (Lunar Canyon) goes on the market. I really appreciate your helping me to understand Anne. Thank you..
@@Rabid-Pinocchio waiting always gives you more options while the prices get lower. At the moment there is a thing about Asus predatory service handling. Also Intel processors are going dead. Myself I am looking at an AMD mini pc but I am waiting for strix halo. 16 zen5 cores. And I am looking at cheaper brands with better service than Asus.
@@annebokma4637 Witing is always better no doubt but a part of me is saying, just get it over with man and there will always be something coming down the pipe to make you snap your fingers and go well dang I should have waited another 2 Weeks or 2 Months or 2 Years. I guess that's the age-old problem when you don't actually "need' a new computer. It's more a matter of that old brainstem reaction that says, 'ooooooooh Shiny!' That Asus Nuc Pro AI (Lunar Canyon) seems shiny as heck but they said that it would be available in September and that would be Today at the latest so I'm thinking that if they release it in the next couple of Weeks I will wait for Rob's review and then make a concrete decision on which shiny toy to buy. Cheers.
@@Rabid-Pinocchio absolutely, that is why I just bought a laptop with the gen before strix point. 32gb ram is enough for what I want to use it for. And it did give me the space to wait with buying a mini pc. Besides OLED screen 😍 And my old laptop died after 6+ years. It had 32 gb ram too.. kinda says it all.
Two questions: Is this the only Beelink mini PC with built-in speakers? Does the HX 370 890m perform better than, let's say, a laptop's (max-p) rtx 2060 (in an actual game not on paper)?
GTi14 Ultra has speakers but is a bigger mini. I'd put my bet on the 2060, but I'd have to compare against my Phantom Canyon footage since I don't have one to test against.
I think that microphone is for AI features,,, you know, always listening to you so that it can,, ahem.. help you , translation, so Microsoft can use your data against you in the form of advertising et-al. The good news is that you can disable to microphone. The speakers....That one baffles me.. maybe Big Brother AKA Microsoft as a future "benefit" of AI is that not only will it listen to you but it will communicate with you too. Anyone that suggests that he speakers are for listening to the soothing sounds of Pink Floyd is trying to stretch the limits of plausability. Personally if I buy this the microphone and speakers will be disabled on Day One. I have absolutely 0 need for anything AI related and tbh I am getting awfully close to taking the Linux plunge because Microsoft is parked in a van outside my house and is maneuvering to move into the spare bedroom..I think it's about time I move far far away. But I digress.. Totally agree with you about "rubbish speakers and microphone" cheers.
I don't think they compare well and for two different markets. If you want actual gaming performance it's a mini with discrete graphics. If you want something small and quiet and don't mind the integrated graphics, these are the minis to look. But I can include it in a future Strix Point review. The performance and power consumption gap is large.
I liked it a lot... until you mentioned WiFi 6. That is a massive let down. WiFi 6E would have made it a must buy for someone looking to buy a new mini-PC. The port locations seem odd too, but that is a personal pet peeve of mine after getting used to a nice layout from Intel NUCs and Geekom models.
The one issue similar to this is that only one of my displayports "works", but the monitor is stuck at 60 hz. If I swap the two monitors connections, the OTHER one works. I really hope that isn't a graphics card issue. I just got mine 6 months ago.
