Minisforum launches the MS-01 with a full sized PCIE slot, then they launch the MS-A1 with an AM5 socket. Put the 2 together and you have something truly revolutionary.
@@ACLucian79 I've seen quite a few comments saying the same in comments of reviews for this unit, I really hope Minisforum listens and brings out a version with SFP+ ports.
This is a great device but not the 1st, even not 1st from Minisforum. Their Elitemini B550 is the 1st one to do so, along with a PCIe X8 gen 3 Cable which you can attach to their GPU dock to get a full blown gaming Mini PC with any GPU you want. I bought that as barebone and using with it a 5700G and just upgraded it with Ryzen 9 5900XT 16C/32T CPU and a RTX 4070 Super GPU. Still going strong.
25K in MT cinebench R23 is very low. 7950x hits 39K at normal TDPs. the 7945HX (basically same chip in laptop form) hits 36K. minisfoum power limits on this miniPC are too low given how good the cooling system. I think this is a wasted opportunity. I dont know what they're thinking.
I’ve ordered the MS-AI barebone and plan to pair it with a Ryzen 7950X that I got at a good price. I was hoping to run it in ECO 105W mode, but according to the Minisforum official website, dual CCD CPUs are capped at 100W. I assumed this option was available, but after watching @theTechNotice, it seems like it’s still limited to 65W. I wonder if @theTechNotice simply assumed the 65W option for the 8700G and didn’t double-check the TDP settings in the BIOS. Anyway, I’ll have the MS-A1 soon and will experiment with the BIOS-I'll share my findings here. Hopefully with 100W option, it can reach between 32-34K.
a little more to go to get a full portable desktop workstation, even half powered it's still cheaper and more powerful than most laptops at the same prices
Could you please put some 9000 series and show the results even with productivity test? I work with virtual machines so it could be a Best Buy of the year this mini pc! Thanks
I’ve contacted Minisforum because of conflicting information on the M.2 NVME SSD slots. On their website they provide a link (“More MS-A1 support”) showing the characteristics of the M.2 NVME slots depend on the CPU used. For Raphael CPUs (7000 series) and the Granite Ridge CPUs (9000 series) this is: one PCIe3.0x4 slot, one PCIe4.0x1 slot (single lane) and two PCIe4.0x4 slots (both four lanes). For Phoenix CPU’s (8000 series, including the Ryzen 7 8700G they supply) one slot is PCIe3.0x4, one slot is PCIe4.0x1 (single lane), one is PCIe4.0x2 (two lanes!) and only one is PCIe4.0x4 (four lanes). Please note that the information in the Manual is incorrect.
Ohhh that explains alot. They sent me false eng schematics lol. They said I was using 8500g so I can't use any slots besides the bottom 4.0 with fan. I'm putting my 7900xt phantom gaming with my asrock mini itx pg into a unsurprising compact black case from Silverstone and it fits a 240mm aio, gotta buy 5.0x1 m Nvme tho. Prob just a 512gb to teet
Minipcs are very useful for office pcs. To keep desk clutter to a minimum you often see them attached to back of monitors at banks and other big companies. Typically these office minipcs don't need a lot of horsepower though so to keep down costs companies don't usually buy the high end ones. Another problem with high end mini pcs... their form factor is too small for a good GPU. There are an assortment of ways you could dock a GPU but then it defeats the purpose of the mini form factor. And for other use cases if one is fine with integrated GPU, a laptop usually makes more sense. in other words, the market segment of high end minipc is a bit of a gimmick. Cool but in the vast majority of use cases there are better options. IMO It's primary sensible use case would be for home lab server for those on a limited budget. Good enough for docker containers without breaking the bank
You would then just have an itx case or a proprietary power supply you could never replace. Flex ATX are all garbage so that leaves you SFX as the only internal replaceable power supply. The brick gets hidden under a desk or shelf and is easy replaceable with anything you want.
@wojtek-33 I agree. I think a power brick in this case is more appropriate as it can be hidden sonewhere behind a desk and still have a very small device on a desk.
Minisforum needs to revamp that BIOS ala ASRock style or something and unlock some more features! And also give the cases some more design features and colors, they will sell more if they do that. So i will wait for the next Gen. or Revision 2 and hope they made some improvements when that time comes.
I hope they'll release the new chips with 40cu graphics so they can be used on desktop. Slip one of those in a small form factor PC like this, and you'd be golden. Imagine it as a nice home theater/gaming PC with lots of storage for video storage and streaming. It would be pretty sweet.
Beelink got that external GPU dock, basically a riser with PSU 600W. It's faster than Oculink for GPU. These Chinese companies are doing wonders for the SFF Mini PCs.
Please note that the sole USB4 is only available on Phoenix CPUs - 8700G, etc - not on Raphael - 7000 series. In the case of 7000 series the USB4 reverts to a standard USB port.
What's the power from the wall? The package power measure is pointless when the infinity fabric is using most of the power (It's not part of this measure)
@@SolarSuntime eventough i assigned 16GB VRAM and keep 80GB ram for system.... the system still perform very sluggish in photoshop.... not until i add on a RTX4070........ I am so regret buying 8700g instead of 9950x... I hope the 8700G is not locked to the board which i can sell it for future upgrade... :)
NVMe looks like a Kingston NV2 1tb Gen4 drive. It's on the lower end, and often considered the best budget gen4 drive, being cheaper than even most gen 3 drives. No bangs and whistles but does the job :) (also available in 2TB and 4Tb format) They actually recently secretly released the NV3 version which is essentially just the updated version with 25-30% better performance at similar price point. One of my favorite SSDs for low end builds
I received my MS-A1 workstation yesterday and what a mess. It is now sitting in parts on the floor. This does not have my recommendation. It was problem after problem after problem. I already had the ram and 8700G waiting. Without any directions and a lot of guessing and trying screw after screw to see which one would work, I got it together. My unit was called the workstation and the huge heat sink and fans came in a seperate box. At power up I got nothing. Minisforum suggested to clear CMOS, and second , to pull one dimm, and third, to let it sit for 6 hours???? I did both and the machine started booting into EUFI. I had the Windows 11 USB but it wasn't booting. I tried another one and it came up with the 'drivers needed' error. I finally got it to start the install and it was very odd looking. Less graphics and more print. Anyway, it went through that quickly and in the end I had 90c at boot and then those tiny little toy fans that are used would cool it down to 78c, if left alone. Upon use, it would get back up to the limit of 90.7c. I replaced the other dimm and it worked fine (crazy), but still hot!! I could not destroy my CPU by running it at 85c all day so I took it apart and put them in my new Asrock x600. Upon disassembly, I saw that the contact surface paste was uneven on the CPU and the parts had not come together correctly. The whole system seems toy like and I was very disappointed. Time to move on, $200 lost. The x600 build went much better. I had to use Windows 10 install but it worked great. Temps were 58c. This was not a Chinese machine. I would not recommend the MS-A1 kit. It was a bad day.
If one buys the barebone unit and you want to put a 9700x CPU in it, do you have to wait for the BIOS update? If so, do you have to also by an 8700g in order to update the BIOS so you can then install the 9700x?
@@brianmorgan7207it seems so. This is extremely disappointing since anyone getting the barebone to pair it with a Ryzen 9000 series will be unable to update the BIOS. Hopefully can fix that by simply provide an updated BIOS and push it to current on sake devices, however, i am doubtful that will happen.
Near perfect! Forget graphics, what is the _maximum_ single thread perf (say, Geekbench 6 ST) we can get from this box? I presume the answer is either like Ryzen 9 9900X or 9950X might do the trick if it can work in this box.
In single threaded workloads it should be a very close match to a stock 7950X. GamerNexus have posted a video that shows single thread for 65W and 105W ECO mode it matches stock. I assume the same would apply to the Ryzen 9950x.
I can confirm that there is no difference in terms of Single Thread performance. The power limit only affects multithreading performance. I have the barebone with the Ryzen 7950X.
Why not try with a 9800X3D? Maybe even just any X3D processor. Makes for an interesting new review. It's a shame, on the website, you can't see which processors are supported by the BIOS.
Great video, just wonder if you downloaded the firmware for 7000/9000 series from the support page before installing the 7950X? I read in other places 100W is possible but unsure if true.
17:04 The bios will really not allow you to jack up the tdp because that is the maximum it could allow based in the oem fan and cooler it has even if the cpu tdp is higher
They do some really cool stuff I love my BD790i such low power yet an absolute hammerblow of performance 33453 in cinebench from a tiny system that uses less power than my old 5600X - is bonkers.
The 7000 series works out of the box with the original released BIOS (v1.03), however 9000 series requires a new BIOS - I believe v1.06. However, as far as I know the new items being sold do have an updated BIOS that works with 9000series out of the box
@@AnthonyS-w7g Thank you, I was a bit worried it wouldn't even boot with the 9900x after all but I think it's going to work...I expect a 105W TDP support update soon at this point.
I hate it when companies change their internals without announcing it. The MS-A1 now has a different fan, which block the U.2 area. And they didn't send a U.2 connector. The old fan with heatsink has been removed
According to the manufacturer's website the max tdp for a processor with two CCDs is 100 watts. Is a bios update required? another video with the 7950x at 100 watts of tdp and new tests?
How is this getting GPU? What is the 7950x3d is used instead? Or for that matter, one of the lower end x3d CPU's that may take better advantage of the lower TDP but keep the same performance?
Yesterday, the link worked and I added the MS-A1 to my list to purchase today. However, no AMD models are listed....ANYWHERE!! Does anyone know what happened? Have they pulled this model from the US market? How can I get one? Great content and love your videos!!!
I dont think you would gain that much between a 7950x or a 9950x. At most 10% improvement at these TDP levels. At current prices, you pay a premium for the 9950x for 10% at most performance gain.
My MS-A1 doesn't arrive until next week, and the eGPU dock is supposed to be the following week. I bought the barebones kit because there was a great deal on the 8700G, which made the barebones route much less expensive. I want to test my 3090 over Oculink.
One major downside, especially for those using a Ryzen 7000 series, is that the USB4 port reverts to a standard USB port. USB4 support is only available on Phoenix models.
i wonder how this would fare in games if you chucked a 7800x3d in there and connected an external gpu through oculink. could it challenge a desktop while being so much smaller than one?
Wait, this also have Oculink port at the back rite? Why not test external gpu 4090 using oculink port, I'm curios about the performance on Blender and DaVinci :) Oculink can provide up to 32 Gbps in connection within a four-lane configuration right?
What's the point of eGPUs I wonder? Minipc+power brick+egpu+egpu PSU... That's not compact at all, and since it's not compact, why not go with a desktop?
@@BoraHorzaGobuchulyea people lose the plot in these small machine. Once you add an egpu the purpose of a mini pc is defeated. A laptop off sff is easily a better answer. Especially since a laptop closed in a vertical stand closed takes up much space
I still think I can beat this. I have a ThinkStation P3 Ultra with i9-13900T and discrete RTX A2000. The PC is slightly bigger at 3.9l, but I have discrete graphics, a 24c/32t processor @ 35W TDP and a PCIe slot. It also has ECC RAM support. It is more expensive yes, but I challenge someone to find me these specs or better in a smaller package 😉 (Sep 2024)
I have something similar, with the Dell 3260 Compact - i7 13700 (non T), RTX 4000 SFF ADA, also with ECC support, currently 64GB. Also a bit pricey but I wanted a second machine away from my main machine for AI experimenting and other random stuff.
The 7950x ECO mode 105W only looses marginal performance. This is in my view the sweet spot. Unfortunately, capping to 100w is a dissapointing approach. As of now there is no BIOS update to even enable 100W option for dual CCDs.
I'm fighting for a 3rd rma. They have tons of expired keys and I'm fairly certian the tpm is completely fake imo. I think it is a 2.0 but the certs are all expired. Won't help me on cs I got a legit rootkit i cannot flash bios on anything. And good luck if you need to reinstall windows. You cant. You have to beg them for the dism iso from the factory
Can companies just start making mini ITX's please. This is ridiculous. They have mini pc's they have regular and mid size towers and they have accessories to make mini pc's larger. Why not just start building ITX pcs across the board. Save people money and time.
Regarding the idle power consumption - the reason the 8700G idles so much lower than you're used to relative to other ryzen CPUs is that it's monolithic rather than MCM/chiplet like the non G/F series SKUs. Rather than having 1 or 2 CCDs both connecting to an IOD via fabric, it's one piece of silicon with all compute and IO on die. Think of it like a 7840HS laptop SOC with a higher power limit and socketed rather than a 7700X with better graphics. Relative to the 7700X it also only has half the L3 cache.
This kind of stuff makes me wish companies would just put out CPUs and GPU's and PCIE expansion slots as 3 separate blocks. PC cases where you have to open the whole case to do anything are kind of annoying imo.
How? No GPU....unless you opt for an external GPU via oculink but even in this scenario you wouldnt maximize the 3D cache to its fullness due to the oculink loss of performance. 8 am not convinced this setup is suitable for these 3D based chips for gaming.
@theTechNotice I do not get the part about how much you can push the Ghz. I'm thinking buying this setup for intense audio editing where high single core CPU values and Ram are most important. Can I push the 7950X to 5.7Ghz on this setup? Or is the a better mini PC route then this? Thank you sooo much for all your valueable videos!!! Hope some can help?
I have ordered the MS-A1 backbone and will pair it with a 7950x. Based on GamerNexus the 7950x single thread performance in 65W and 105W ECO mode matches the 7950X at stock. You will lose substantial multithreading oerformance, though. From GamerNexus findings, 65W you loose around 30% and 105W you lose 10% in multithreading. The only caveat is temps, but as this video shows temps are pretty low, so single thread should be close to 7950x stock.
wow, ok its official it can run even the top tier ryzen X SKUs. so it should be working perfect with every single 65 watts ryzen AM5 CPU out there. i mean, "8 watts idle power consumption"?, try to top that with any desktop PCs. performance and efficiency in SFF. yeah its insane. and they could just update the BIOS support with more wattage option for the CPUs. what i still wondering is, can it work using the F SKUs? like 7500F or 8400F or the 8700F? and if anybody thinks "why would you go without an iGPU?", i meant in configuration where the monitor will be connected to the GPU on minisforum DEG1 dock and the dock constantly connected to the MS-A1 through oculink as an integrated system, boot up, and boot off. which will theoritically simplifies GPU "compatibility" issues in LINUX installation if you are going to use an RTX card. somebody better test that one out. MS-A1 with a ryzen F SKUs inside and desktop GPU docked to the DEG1.
Imagine if amd add more powerful graphics and then used it like Quicksync and then have x3d cache on the cpu. You have the best aio cpu ever made. Or more like the best aio cpu amd will definitely fumble on.
The 780M is already like the best integrated GPU to ever exist. Compares to the 1660, which sounds bad, but it overshadows almost any other iGPU i know of.
@@commander3494780M has the best iGPU on a part available to PC manufacturers, but not the best iGPU in general since the PS5's iGPU is mostly spec equivalent to the RX 6700
The AMD CPUs have VCE encoder. But some programs only work with Quicksync, and not VCE or NVEnc encoders. Booth Quicksync and VCE can produce large videos with good quality. We can add Quicksync to the PC with Intel GPUs. We aren't restricted to use only Intel CPUs for Quicksync.
Oculink for a GPU defeats the purpose of a mini-pc for a lot of people. I don't understand why they didn't just copy of the design philosophy of the ms-01 even if that meant going very slightly bigger or using a soldered chip like the 7745HX or 7945HX.
Bought the 9900X to use with this thing, but they say these CPUs are "supported through a BIOS update" and there's no BIOS updates in the support section of their website...That was maybe not the best choice on my side
@@curtistokarski2514 My 9900X build doesnt' boot...It's not a good start. 7900X is supposedly ready to be used. I bought a 7800G to try, let's see how it goes.
All ports at the back are turned upside down. How could this happen at a special designed PC? This very annoying, as you are not able to see the activity LED of your USB-Stick and turning the plugs several times in the dark, with little of space, trying connect them to this PC😮
Don't even dream of that resolution on an APU, at least for now. Anyway, whoever has a 4K monitor can afford a discrete GPU... I have that processor, and the 780M GPU runs Battlefield 2042 at a stable 60 FPS with high graphics settings, but at HD resolution (1280x720).
FYI At the time of making the video the barebones on AMAZON is ONLY $260 😱😱😱😱
Check it out here: geni.us/Jk2iN
A 9700x would have been perfect for power and thermals in this form factor!
REVIEW MINISFORUM. V3
@The_Dude_Abides117 that's currently $130 more than the 7700x
That window has closed 😩. It's now US $399.
why u r so orange? (skin)
Minisforum launches the MS-01 with a full sized PCIE slot, then they launch the MS-A1 with an AM5 socket. Put the 2 together and you have something truly revolutionary.
just stick it to the side of a 4090
@@fracturedlife1393 Nah, a 4070 so the "meme" can finally be complete and people can move on.
@@fracturedlife1393 I see, your 4090 has a PC attached to it
@@fracturedlife1393 I see, your 4090 has a PC attached to it
@@fracturedlife1393 I bought a PC for my graphics card?
If they had kept the SFP+ and PCIE from the MS-01 this would have been amazing.
I second that, when I saw that those are missing it went off my "purchase" list
@@ACLucian79 I've seen quite a few comments saying the same in comments of reviews for this unit, I really hope Minisforum listens and brings out a version with SFP+ ports.
Yup, that would have made it the ideal 'mini server'. Like this, it's merely an overpriced incapable AM5 Mini ITX mainboard with a nice case.
Agreed .. Its hard to believe how anybody any Minisforum thought this was a great idea .... Its like fitting 14" steel trims on a Porsche 911.
I think they thought about your suggestion and released a new version to sell better
This is a great device but not the 1st, even not 1st from Minisforum. Their Elitemini B550 is the 1st one to do so, along with a PCIe X8 gen 3 Cable which you can attach to their GPU dock to get a full blown gaming Mini PC with any GPU you want. I bought that as barebone and using with it a 5700G and just upgraded it with Ryzen 9 5900XT 16C/32T CPU and a RTX 4070 Super GPU. Still going strong.
They removed the SPF+ for some reason. They need to bring that back! Then fit a 7900 and it will make an ideal Proxmox node.
Ideal CPU for this would be the 9700X at 65 TDP. You should test this configuration !
This is the first time me see your video. Question what is the best mini pc that I can use for streaming, playing games and movies
25K in MT cinebench R23 is very low. 7950x hits 39K at normal TDPs. the 7945HX (basically same chip in laptop form) hits 36K. minisfoum power limits on this miniPC are too low given how good the cooling system. I think this is a wasted opportunity. I dont know what they're thinking.
hopefully with a bios update it does better.
Yeah, unsure what's going on, I even remember reading that the MS-A1 can do 100w, but only for dual CCD parts
MinisForum will need to double the TDP to around 120W to hit 35k.
they can just update the features and supports in the BIOS.
I’ve ordered the MS-AI barebone and plan to pair it with a Ryzen 7950X that I got at a good price. I was hoping to run it in ECO 105W mode, but according to the Minisforum official website, dual CCD CPUs are capped at 100W. I assumed this option was available, but after watching @theTechNotice, it seems like it’s still limited to 65W. I wonder if @theTechNotice simply assumed the 65W option for the 8700G and didn’t double-check the TDP settings in the BIOS. Anyway, I’ll have the MS-A1 soon and will experiment with the BIOS-I'll share my findings here. Hopefully with 100W option, it can reach between 32-34K.
2024 Is The Year For Mini PC Market💯
Get a 160W Power brick to power that mini PC, you need to start there for sure.
BIOS too, but only after you make sure you can supply more power from the brick itself.
a little more to go to get a full portable desktop workstation, even half powered it's still cheaper and more powerful than most laptops at the same prices
And the barebones is very affordable!
Could you please put some 9000 series and show the results even with productivity test? I work with virtual machines so it could be a Best Buy of the year this mini pc! Thanks
I’ve contacted Minisforum because of conflicting information on the M.2 NVME SSD slots. On their website they provide a link (“More MS-A1 support”) showing the characteristics of the M.2 NVME slots depend on the CPU used. For Raphael CPUs (7000 series) and the Granite Ridge CPUs (9000 series) this is: one PCIe3.0x4 slot, one PCIe4.0x1 slot (single lane) and two PCIe4.0x4 slots (both four lanes). For Phoenix CPU’s (8000 series, including the Ryzen 7 8700G they supply) one slot is PCIe3.0x4, one slot is PCIe4.0x1 (single lane), one is PCIe4.0x2 (two lanes!) and only one is PCIe4.0x4 (four lanes). Please note that the information in the Manual is incorrect.
Ohhh that explains alot. They sent me false eng schematics lol. They said I was using 8500g so I can't use any slots besides the bottom 4.0 with fan. I'm putting my 7900xt phantom gaming with my asrock mini itx pg into a unsurprising compact black case from Silverstone and it fits a 240mm aio, gotta buy 5.0x1 m
Nvme tho. Prob just a 512gb to teet
great video but i have to ask what is up with the half orange tan ????
Minipcs are very useful for office pcs. To keep desk clutter to a minimum you often see them attached to back of monitors at banks and other big companies. Typically these office minipcs don't need a lot of horsepower though so to keep down costs companies don't usually buy the high end ones. Another problem with high end mini pcs... their form factor is too small for a good GPU. There are an assortment of ways you could dock a GPU but then it defeats the purpose of the mini form factor. And for other use cases if one is fine with integrated GPU, a laptop usually makes more sense. in other words, the market segment of high end minipc is a bit of a gimmick. Cool but in the vast majority of use cases there are better options. IMO It's primary sensible use case would be for home lab server for those on a limited budget. Good enough for docker containers without breaking the bank
I would rather have a slightly larger case with a inbuilt power supply rather those bulky power bricks as a separate unit.
You would then just have an itx case or a proprietary power supply you could never replace. Flex ATX are all garbage so that leaves you SFX as the only internal replaceable power supply. The brick gets hidden under a desk or shelf and is easy replaceable with anything you want.
@wojtek-33 I agree. I think a power brick in this case is more appropriate as it can be hidden sonewhere behind a desk and still have a very small device on a desk.
It’s all about use case. Not everyone shares yours apparently.
Seems like a perfect platform for a Ryzen 7600X3D with a 65W TDP.
a pc like that with an good gpu would be a dream
Can you please check if ECC UDIMM works with 7950x?
Minisforum needs to revamp that BIOS ala ASRock style or something and unlock some more features! And also give the cases some more design features and colors, they will sell more if they do that. So i will wait for the next Gen. or Revision 2 and hope they made some improvements when that time comes.
I hope they'll release the new chips with 40cu graphics so they can be used on desktop. Slip one of those in a small form factor PC like this, and you'd be golden. Imagine it as a nice home theater/gaming PC with lots of storage for video storage and streaming. It would be pretty sweet.
Beelink got that external GPU dock, basically a riser with PSU 600W. It's faster than Oculink for GPU.
These Chinese companies are doing wonders for the SFF Mini PCs.
Lack of 10Gbps and TWO USB 4 is really sadly.. i wanted amd version with same ports.. Peer to peer (Ring) network can't be done
Please note that the sole USB4 is only available on Phoenix CPUs - 8700G, etc - not on Raphael - 7000 series. In the case of 7000 series the USB4 reverts to a standard USB port.
What's the power from the wall? The package power measure is pointless when the infinity fabric is using most of the power (It's not part of this measure)
just bought mine with 87010g+96GB DDR5+ 1T SSD from the official taobao store.... can wait to see it arrive this week...
Is it any good? :D
@@SolarSuntime eventough i assigned 16GB VRAM and keep 80GB ram for system.... the system still perform very sluggish in photoshop.... not until i add on a RTX4070........ I am so regret buying 8700g instead of 9950x... I hope the 8700G is not locked to the board which i can sell it for future upgrade... :)
Bro you got a lock in the focus on the overhead view.
Good eye, actually the focus area was somehow mixed into the corner, so didn't pick it up correctly :(
that is pretty awesome...
NVMe looks like a Kingston NV2 1tb Gen4 drive. It's on the lower end, and often considered the best budget gen4 drive, being cheaper than even most gen 3 drives. No bangs and whistles but does the job :) (also available in 2TB and 4Tb format)
They actually recently secretly released the NV3 version which is essentially just the updated version with 25-30% better performance at similar price point. One of my favorite SSDs for low end builds
SMU Common Options > Smartshift Control did not work to up to TDP?
Can you undervolt with PBO2?
Amazing!
I received my MS-A1 workstation yesterday and what a mess. It is now sitting in parts on the floor. This does not have my recommendation. It was problem after problem after problem. I already had the ram and 8700G waiting. Without any directions and a lot of guessing and trying screw after screw to see which one would work, I got it together. My unit was called the workstation and the huge heat sink and fans came in a seperate box.
At power up I got nothing. Minisforum suggested to clear CMOS, and second , to pull one dimm, and third, to let it sit for 6 hours???? I did both and the machine started booting into EUFI. I had the Windows 11 USB but it wasn't booting. I tried another one and it came up with the 'drivers needed' error.
I finally got it to start the install and it was very odd looking. Less graphics and more print.
Anyway, it went through that quickly and in the end I had 90c at boot and then those tiny little toy fans that are used would cool it down to 78c, if left alone. Upon use, it would get back up to the limit of 90.7c. I replaced the other dimm and it worked fine (crazy), but still hot!!
I could not destroy my CPU by running it at 85c all day so I took it apart and put them in my new Asrock x600. Upon disassembly, I saw that the contact surface paste was uneven on the CPU and the parts had not come together correctly. The whole system seems toy like and I was very disappointed. Time to move on, $200 lost.
The x600 build went much better. I had to use Windows 10 install but it worked great. Temps were 58c. This was not a Chinese machine.
I would not recommend the MS-A1 kit. It was a bad day.
Hopefully Minisforum will make a BIOS update to allow for more power for the CPU.
If one buys the barebone unit and you want to put a 9700x CPU in it, do you have to wait for the BIOS update? If so, do you have to also by an 8700g in order to update the BIOS so you can then install the 9700x?
@@brianmorgan7207it seems so. This is extremely disappointing since anyone getting the barebone to pair it with a Ryzen 9000 series will be unable to update the BIOS. Hopefully can fix that by simply provide an updated BIOS and push it to current on sake devices, however, i am doubtful that will happen.
6:11 Pro tip: use manual focus.
What's the point without the sfp+ and pcie? What were they thinking?
Fantastic.
Near perfect! Forget graphics, what is the _maximum_ single thread perf (say, Geekbench 6 ST) we can get from this box? I presume the answer is either like Ryzen 9 9900X or 9950X might do the trick if it can work in this box.
In single threaded workloads it should be a very close match to a stock 7950X. GamerNexus have posted a video that shows single thread for 65W and 105W ECO mode it matches stock. I assume the same would apply to the Ryzen 9950x.
I can confirm that there is no difference in terms of Single Thread performance. The power limit only affects multithreading performance. I have the barebone with the Ryzen 7950X.
hi GUY ,try ryzen 9 9900x ?
Why not try with a 9800X3D? Maybe even just any X3D processor. Makes for an interesting new review.
It's a shame, on the website, you can't see which processors are supported by the BIOS.
sure send him one.
Dude, from 6:19 and on get your camera to focus. Can't see details on the tech
Great video, just wonder if you downloaded the firmware for 7000/9000 series from the support page before installing the 7950X? I read in other places 100W is possible but unsure if true.
Ahoj Tech Notice
MS-01 How long have you been using it?
outstanding
17:04 The bios will really not allow you to jack up the tdp because that is the maximum it could allow based in the oem fan and cooler it has even if the cpu tdp is higher
They do some really cool stuff I love my BD790i such low power yet an absolute hammerblow of performance 33453 in cinebench from a tiny system that uses less power than my old 5600X - is bonkers.
Hi there, please review 9950X.....please please please !!!!
So many have tested this already.
Did you need to configure the BIOS somehow when you slotted in the 7950x?
Nope, plug and play :)
And if it doesn't work they have a BIOS update for those CPU's on their site to download.
The 7000 series works out of the box with the original released BIOS (v1.03), however 9000 series requires a new BIOS - I believe v1.06. However, as far as I know the new items being sold do have an updated BIOS that works with 9000series out of the box
Good coverage, however you lost me when you revealed there are only 2.5gb nics
I know, I don't care about smb multi channel, I want 10GB!
@@theTechNotice with this powerful cpu 10gb is a must !
Yeah!
can you try 9950 or 9900 on it?
On Miniforum they state the 7900X can use 100w TDP, is that in a bios update or is it now on the system? Any chip with two CCD.
Did you find that out? I bought a 9900x to work with this thing but there's no BIOS update on the website so far...
@Hack3r91 Bios 1.03 is the latest so far and doesn't have support for 100w yet. Bios says it can do 75w but I haven't seen my cpu past 65w yet.
@@AnthonyS-w7g Thank you, I was a bit worried it wouldn't even boot with the 9900x after all but I think it's going to work...I expect a 105W TDP support update soon at this point.
I hate it when companies change their internals without announcing it.
The MS-A1 now has a different fan, which block the U.2 area. And they didn't send a U.2 connector.
The old fan with heatsink has been removed
According to the manufacturer's website the max tdp for a processor with two CCDs is 100 watts.
Is a bios update required? another video with the 7950x at 100 watts of tdp and new tests?
How is this getting GPU? What is the 7950x3d is used instead? Or for that matter, one of the lower end x3d CPU's that may take better advantage of the lower TDP but keep the same performance?
Yesterday, the link worked and I added the MS-A1 to my list to purchase today. However, no AMD models are listed....ANYWHERE!! Does anyone know what happened? Have they pulled this model from the US market? How can I get one? Great content and love your videos!!!
MS-A1 is Ryzen, MS-01 is Intel
Maybe a 9000 series cpu would be better as they use less power for roughly the same performance which should help with heat
I dont think you would gain that much between a 7950x or a 9950x. At most 10% improvement at these TDP levels. At current prices, you pay a premium for the 9950x for 10% at most performance gain.
My MS-A1 doesn't arrive until next week, and the eGPU dock is supposed to be the following week. I bought the barebones kit because there was a great deal on the 8700G, which made the barebones route much less expensive. I want to test my 3090 over Oculink.
And with amd 3d? And Dante card on occulink for audio?
Imagine if they have a pcie 16x that would be amazing ❤
no dual usb4 is a step down - needs a bios to 105w
One major downside, especially for those using a Ryzen 7000 series, is that the USB4 port reverts to a standard USB port. USB4 support is only available on Phoenix models.
i wonder how this would fare in games if you chucked a 7800x3d in there and connected an external gpu through oculink. could it challenge a desktop while being so much smaller than one?
Wait, this also have Oculink port at the back rite? Why not test external gpu 4090 using oculink port, I'm curios about the performance on Blender and DaVinci :)
Oculink can provide up to 32 Gbps in connection within a four-lane configuration right?
What's the point of eGPUs I wonder? Minipc+power brick+egpu+egpu PSU... That's not compact at all, and since it's not compact, why not go with a desktop?
@kh4irulanwar: Oculink 2.0 (based on PCIe 4.0) can reach speeds up to 64 Gbps with 4 lanes.
@@BoraHorzaGobuchulyea people lose the plot in these small machine. Once you add an egpu the purpose of a mini pc is defeated. A laptop off sff is easily a better answer. Especially since a laptop closed in a vertical stand closed takes up much space
I still think I can beat this. I have a ThinkStation P3 Ultra with i9-13900T and discrete RTX A2000. The PC is slightly bigger at 3.9l, but I have discrete graphics, a 24c/32t processor @ 35W TDP and a PCIe slot. It also has ECC RAM support. It is more expensive yes, but I challenge someone to find me these specs or better in a smaller package 😉 (Sep 2024)
I have something similar, with the Dell 3260 Compact - i7 13700 (non T), RTX 4000 SFF ADA, also with ECC support, currently 64GB. Also a bit pricey but I wanted a second machine away from my main machine for AI experimenting and other random stuff.
Would this run Linux with all hardware being compatible
now put the 9950x inside of it and to a various amount of benchmarks and even do a gaming test
170w tdp in this?
@@tendosingh5682 it would be tdp locked to around 65w from the bios
The 7950x ECO mode 105W only looses marginal performance. This is in my view the sweet spot. Unfortunately, capping to 100w is a dissapointing approach. As of now there is no BIOS update to even enable 100W option for dual CCDs.
Pair it with an Oculink setup for the graphics...
let's up the ante - how about ryzen 9 9950x?
Why are those VRM's running at +90c on idle? That's scary.
I'm fighting for a 3rd rma. They have tons of expired keys and I'm fairly certian the tpm is completely fake imo. I think it is a 2.0 but the certs are all expired. Won't help me on cs I got a legit rootkit i cannot flash bios on anything. And good luck if you need to reinstall windows. You cant. You have to beg them for the dism iso from the factory
Can companies just start making mini ITX's please. This is ridiculous.
They have mini pc's they have regular and mid size towers and they have accessories to make mini pc's larger.
Why not just start building ITX pcs across the board. Save people money and time.
No vPro remote management?
This would be perfect for the 4070-class Strix Halo APU.
Regarding the idle power consumption - the reason the 8700G idles so much lower than you're used to relative to other ryzen CPUs is that it's monolithic rather than MCM/chiplet like the non G/F series SKUs. Rather than having 1 or 2 CCDs both connecting to an IOD via fabric, it's one piece of silicon with all compute and IO on die. Think of it like a 7840HS laptop SOC with a higher power limit and socketed rather than a 7700X with better graphics. Relative to the 7700X it also only has half the L3 cache.
So 9950x would be right at home here?
Yep!
Can be dual edge TPU installed in m.2 slot? And registering both TPUs?
This kind of stuff makes me wish companies would just put out CPUs and GPU's and PCIE expansion slots as 3 separate blocks. PC cases where you have to open the whole case to do anything are kind of annoying imo.
test the 9950x
i am building one, waiting for ram and storage.
Imagine putting a 7800x3D and trying valorant or Spectre Divide, i am sooo sooo curious
How? No GPU....unless you opt for an external GPU via oculink but even in this scenario you wouldnt maximize the 3D cache to its fullness due to the oculink loss of performance. 8 am not convinced this setup is suitable for these 3D based chips for gaming.
this would be good in a motor home with separate graphics plug in
@theTechNotice I do not get the part about how much you can push the Ghz. I'm thinking buying this setup for intense audio editing where high single core CPU values and Ram are most important. Can I push the 7950X to 5.7Ghz on this setup? Or is the a better mini PC route then this? Thank you sooo much for all your valueable videos!!! Hope some can help?
I have ordered the MS-A1 backbone and will pair it with a 7950x. Based on GamerNexus the 7950x single thread performance in 65W and 105W ECO mode matches the 7950X at stock. You will lose substantial multithreading oerformance, though. From GamerNexus findings, 65W you loose around 30% and 105W you lose 10% in multithreading. The only caveat is temps, but as this video shows temps are pretty low, so single thread should be close to 7950x stock.
@@paulosousa1973 sorry I'm a noob. What do you mean by 7950x stock? 5.7Ghz? Thanks a lot for helping me out! 🙌
Can it support the EPYC 4004?
you should have added ssds in it
powerbrick this size is a no go for me
Dang, that is actually a power "brick".
why no 10gb ports?its not good for nass
It would be amazing if I could get a GPU with 20GB+ VRAM in that little machine for local LLMs...
i think ADA SFF can help out in such a quest.
All these mini pc's are simply laptops without the screen and battery. Simply cool
which keyboard is that ?
so..... Lenovo sponsored a video about a minisforum PC? i am Jack's utter confusion.
wow, ok its official it can run even the top tier ryzen X SKUs. so it should be working perfect with every single 65 watts ryzen AM5 CPU out there. i mean, "8 watts idle power consumption"?, try to top that with any desktop PCs. performance and efficiency in SFF. yeah its insane. and they could just update the BIOS support with more wattage option for the CPUs.
what i still wondering is, can it work using the F SKUs? like 7500F or 8400F or the 8700F? and if anybody thinks "why would you go without an iGPU?", i meant in configuration where the monitor will be connected to the GPU on minisforum DEG1 dock and the dock constantly connected to the MS-A1 through oculink as an integrated system, boot up, and boot off. which will theoritically simplifies GPU "compatibility" issues in LINUX installation if you are going to use an RTX card.
somebody better test that one out. MS-A1 with a ryzen F SKUs inside and desktop GPU docked to the DEG1.
Is the RAM swappable? 7000mhz?
Yes, ram is swappable!
Yes, the RAM is swappable, but limited to just two sticks. I doubt you’ll be able to reach 6000MHz, let alone 7000MHz.
Imagine if amd add more powerful graphics and then used it like Quicksync and then have x3d cache on the cpu. You have the best aio cpu ever made. Or more like the best aio cpu amd will definitely fumble on.
The 780M is already like the best integrated GPU to ever exist. Compares to the 1660, which sounds bad, but it overshadows almost any other iGPU i know of.
@@commander3494780M has the best iGPU on a part available to PC manufacturers, but not the best iGPU in general since the PS5's iGPU is mostly spec equivalent to the RX 6700
The AMD CPUs have VCE encoder. But some programs only work with Quicksync, and not VCE or NVEnc encoders.
Booth Quicksync and VCE can produce large videos with good quality.
We can add Quicksync to the PC with Intel GPUs. We aren't restricted to use only Intel CPUs for Quicksync.
Pls review Lenovo Yoga Portal😅
16000 points in R23 is actually lame. The 7945HX from the BD790i has about 34000 points.
I think the atomman g7 pt is Good😊
Aside from the spiderweb theme, they could have explored other design options.
Oculink for a GPU defeats the purpose of a mini-pc for a lot of people. I don't understand why they didn't just copy of the design philosophy of the ms-01 even if that meant going very slightly bigger or using a soldered chip like the 7745HX or 7945HX.
can it run linux and ai?? if yes i have a new pc to buy :D ah okay at gebin it has 8700g it workes fine :D
It definitely can run Linux
why didn't you use a 9900x?
No bios support yet. I have this same pc with 8700G. Doesnt even turn on with a 9700x
@@shadykillerpromax Do you need a CPU installed to update the bios?
@@eryx7494 Did you find this out? I mean, they don't even have a BIOS update on the website to work with either at the moment...
@@eryx7494 I tried my 9900x on a barebone build today, it dodn't boot. Not sure if that's why, I'm investigating.
Bought the 9900X to use with this thing, but they say these CPUs are "supported through a BIOS update" and there's no BIOS updates in the support section of their website...That was maybe not the best choice on my side
I just got mine and it has a newer bios installed. I only installed a 7900X.
@@curtistokarski2514 My 9900X build doesnt' boot...It's not a good start. 7900X is supposedly ready to be used. I bought a 7800G to try, let's see how it goes.
@Hack3r91 what bios is on yours? I think mine is 1.06 I'll have to double check that.
@@curtistokarski2514 I couldn't access the BIOS, I either have a defective unit or the 9900X is not compatible with my version (built from a barebone)
@@Hack3r91 okay
All ports at the back are turned upside down. How could this happen at a special designed PC? This very annoying, as you are not able to see the activity LED of your USB-Stick and turning the plugs several times in the dark, with little of space, trying connect them to this PC😮
I wanna see the 4k gaming performance of this without a gpu.
It will be like 10 fps Radeon 870m is equivalent to to a gtx 950,
Don't even dream of that resolution on an APU, at least for now. Anyway, whoever has a 4K monitor can afford a discrete GPU... I have that processor, and the 780M GPU runs Battlefield 2042 at a stable 60 FPS with high graphics settings, but at HD resolution (1280x720).