REVIEW – Mini PCs are an attention-grabbing product to me, somebody who has just about solely used gaming laptops or self-built gaming PCs for practically 2 a long time now. One of many different mini-PCs I not too long ago reviewed (the superb Geekom AS6) is now serving as our Plex media server, and doing an excellent job at it. This month, Geekom despatched over their A5 mannequin to overview, with a distinct look and (barely) completely different internals, so I took it by its paces!
What’s it?
The Geekom A5 is a mini PC. Principally, most mini PCs are laptop computer {hardware} in a small rectangular box-shaped kind issue, and the Geekom A5 mini PC will not be a deviation from this normal. Geekom usually affords quite a lot of storage and reminiscence choices of their PCs (and typically barebones choices as properly with no reminiscence or storage). The A5 they despatched to overview sports activities 32 gigabytes of RAM and a speedy 512 gigabyte NVME Gen 3 drive for storage (on the time of overview that is the one out there configuration on their web site as properly, however I wouldn’t be shocked if new combos pop up sooner or later). You may swap these default elements out for a bigger NVME SSD, and/or add a 2.5″ SATA drive as properly for a complete of 4 TB of storage doable, and as much as 64 GB of RAM are supported.
What’s within the field?
- GEEKOK AS 5 mini PC overview
- AC Adaptor
- VESA mounting plate
- Screws for mounting
- Handbook
{Hardware} specs
Click on to view
- Processor: AMD Ryzen™ 7 5800H Processor (8 Cores, 16 Threads, 16MB Cache, 3.2 GHz~ 4.4 GHz)
- Graphics: Radeon™ Vega 8 Graphics
- Reminiscence: As much as 64 GB Twin-channel DDR4-3200 SODIMM (32GB in overview unit offered)
- Storage: As much as 2 TB M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 3×4 NVMe/SATA SSD (512 GB in overview unit offered), + as much as 2 TB 2.5” 7mm SATA HDD
- USB ports: 3 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Sort-A, 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Sort-C, 1 x USB 2.0 Sort-A
- Graphics ports: 2 x HDMI 2.0b (Show Port over USB-C can be supported on two of the USB-C ports, for a complete of 4 related screens)
- Different IO ports: 3.5mm headphone/audio-out jack, 2.5G RJ45 LAN port, SD card reader (full measurement), DC jack
- Wi-fi connectivity: Wi-Fi 6, USB 5.2
- Dimension: 117 x 112 x 49.2mm
- Weight: 650 grams
Design and options
The Geekom A5 mini PC is much like most of the different PCs on this class: a roughly 4″ by 4″ box-shaped unit. On the entrance, we’ve got a pair of USB 3.2 gen 2 kind A ports, a 3.5mm headphone (or audio out) jack, and the facility button. The outside is steel with a pleasant brushed rose-gold end.
On the correct facet, we’ve got air flow grills (in a pleasant sample) and a Kensington lock slot.
On the again are plentiful IO ports (left-to-right): Energy in, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Sort-C + DP, HDMI 2.0b, 2.5G RJ45 LAN, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Sort-A, USB 2.0 Sort-A, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Sort-C + DP, HDMI 2.0b. I like how all of the USB ports are labeled with max switch speeds, and the 2 USB-C ports on the again sport Displayport logos as properly to point which of them assist display-over-USB.
And on the left facet is an SD card reader and extra air flow grills.
On the underside is a few regulatory information. The 4 rubber toes additionally include the 4 screws holding the highest cowl in place. Eradicating these (don’t rip the highest off shortly, there’s a ribbon cable for the two.5″ SATA onerous drive slot) provides entry to the internals:
Within the overview unit despatched to me, the Geekom A5 has simply accessible twin RAM slots (16 GB every) and the NMVE Gen 3 SSD slot. There’s additionally an M.2 2240 slot that’s unoccupied, however nothing within the guide or web site mentions it, so I’m undecided if it will work for much more storage (I don’t have a 2240 sized SSD to check with). Within the “lid” is a connection for a SATA 2.5″ drive (7mm thick or much less), for extra storage growth.
Setup
Setup on the Geekom AS 5 is a completely vanilla Home windows 11 Professional affair, in addition to merely plugging within the AC adaptor (and also you’ll want to offer your personal keyboard/mouse/monitor(s)). The Home windows 11 Professional license is absolutely activated and the one bloatware on the machine are the same old Home windows ones.
Efficiency
I examined out the Geekom A5 mini PC with quite a lot of benchmarks (see screenshots above), in addition to actual world productiveness and lightweight recreation testing. Probably because of the ample RAM and stable 8 core CPU, I by no means bumped into something that felt gradual or laggy, besides for contemporary graphics intensive video games. Rendering movies, doing photograph work, and normal workplace work have been all good and quick (my much-more-expensive every day driver will not be a lot quicker if I disable the graphics card, however with GPU-assisted duties it’s not a good competitors).
Gaming is healthier than I anticipated, not having used the AMD Vega 8 taste of GPU but. At 1080P resolutions, the Geekom A5 mini PC is fairly good for many video games at medium or low settings, relying on the sport. Some video games which might be GPU intensive like Name of Obligation or Battlefield 2042 struggled, however others like Firm of Heroes 3 have been able to a minimum of 30 frames per second at decrease settings. Older video games can be no problem in any respect for the Vega 8 chipset, so that you’ll have a number of gaming choices (aside from current AAA titles).
When stress-tested, I didn’t discover important thermal throttling – efficiency remained regular or simply barely decrease over time. Even at full load, the fan isn’t louder than many of the laptops I’ve used, and underneath lighter hundreds it’s very quiet.
What I like
- Good worth proposition – the Ryzen 7 5800H is a good processor that also punches above it’s class regardless of being just a few generations previous now
- 32 Gigs of RAM and 512 GB quick SSD is nice sufficient for most individuals – and the flexibility to broaden sooner or later is nice.
- Small kind issue that may even be mounted behind a display screen
- Skill to drive as much as 4 screens at 4k/60Hz (and even two at 8k/30Hz!)
What I’d change
- The Vega 8 GPU can wrestle with the newest video games, in the event you’re trying to recreation the newest AAA video games on a price range then the Geekom AS6 and different fashions with 580/680M GPU chips may be a superb improve for you, in any other case it’s going to be good for just about the rest.
Last ideas
I might see the Geekom A5 mini PC being an excellent choice for quite a lot of use instances: professionals in search of a succesful PC on a price range, residence theater PC/server, retro recreation emulator powerhouse, mild gaming machine, and I’m positive many different situations I haven’t considered. Having spent just a few weeks taking part in with it, I’d gladly recommend it to buddies or members of the family in search of a brand new pc at a low worth (a minimum of for the present $399 sale worth, there’s much more competitors on the full retail $499 asking worth that may make it tougher to suggest).
Value: $499 (on sale for $399 at time of overview)
The place to purchase: Geekom (Save $40 with code: gadgeteera540 ) and Amazon (Save 16% with code: TGA516OFF expires 11/15/2023)
Supply: The pattern of this product was offered by Geekom
