Wow, you always test the mini's I'm interested at and properly! Thanks. Would love to see an Aoostar GEM 10 review from you, either the 6800H or 7840HS. Curious to see whether the small package comes with a big hit in noise levels
AOOSTAR did offer the GEM10 at one point and said they'd send it out. Never heard back from them even after following up. I'll have to source it myself if there's going to be a review and I have trouble keeping up with the workload as is. Only one I did review was the GEM12 which was a nice mini PC.
Great deals on this on Aliexpress now, especially if using the black friday coupon. I have high hopes for this machine which will be equipped with 96gb RAM! Then put a slim line build of windows 10. Delectable :)
@@astronemir Should be on the home page, there's a list of coupons you just have to press "Collect" and then it would be automatically applied on checkout. I guess if you're asking maybe they don't have them in your country?
Hi Rob, thanks for the review. I ordered the K8 Plus and set it up yesterday with a WD SN770 and 24GB Crucial 5600 RAM. I put the BIOS to default and switched to the Performance Mode. After installing Win 11 Pro and all the drivers and set up maximum power plan i received UL 3D Mark benchmarks 20% lower than yours (steel nomad light and fire strike). Did you do any tweaks in BIOS to reach it or do you have any suggestion? Maybe the RAM is not the best choice? Thanks in advance
My aim was to dedicate 8gb to the GPU and 16 to the system, but my first thought now is that the system is not able to utilize the ram as it would with 2 16gb sticks. But any suggestion is welcome
Even if the RAM timings were worse, it wouldn't account for a 20% drop. I only see slight variances in the Radeon 780M scores between minis of a couple percent. All of the results are out of box testing. Only CPU gets tweaked in the BIOS.
@@Robtechi already contacted Gmktec, maybe they have a clue?! In the meantime i ordered 2x 16gb Kingston Fury 5600 cl40 to see if my 24gb Kit is the bottleneck. Luckily im living in Germany where we are allowed to return everything within 14 days :-)
Actually, that is the top fan. This mini PC has 2. 1 in the bottom and 1 on top...he didn't show the bottom one since he would have to open it from the bottom and there is no point in doing that unless you plan to replace the CPU.
Hi Rob thanks for reviewing this mini pc I was waiting for it. Seems to me performance mode is disappointing. I was considering to get this one or Aoostar Gem12 8845HS but I think you didn`t review Aoostar`s that exact model yet. That one has only 1 USB4 but as I checked from other videos performance is quite good and fan is super silent. Do you have any plans to review Aoostar soon?
Whenever I see the 3DMark graphics benchmarks for the Ultra APUs all I can think of is the song/meme "why you always lying" Do you know how much I like that you show games at more than just low settings? I am SO SICK of youtubers reviewing GPUs or any hardware and showing games only at low so that they get framerate at the 100s and then complain about it not being high enough. Yes I am not in a good mood, but they still piss me off. I mean fine do a low settings only, get your 80, 90, 100, framerate, but at least don't frelling complain about not getting a "high framerate experience" BSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. You are a breathe of fresh air. Thankfully there are a couple more who I follow who are like that, but it feels like the majority are just annoying me. Yes I know it's my problem. OK, perhaps I am in a really bad mood. CPU temp is... Good video no matter what.
the k8 plus currently being sold has slightly different front panel near where the oculink and type-c ports are. also the 2 usb 4.0 ports are stated to be 40ghz each. Is the model in the video slightly older?
Hi, thank you very much for the information you provide in this video. But I have a question: does the GMtec processor, Ryzen 7 8845HS, have an AI NPU? I don't understand why this mini PC is not promoted with AI features when GeeKom or Beelink are promoted with AI with the same processor. I would appreciate it if someone could help me with my question.
@@Robtech Thanks for your reply! I wouldn't use it for gaming. Would you recommend this mini pc for photo and video editing? (I work as a photographer)
If you're looking for something specifically for that purpose, I'd go with an Intel mini PC instead. One of my top picks is the Minisforum UH125 Pro th-cam.com/video/Gz_h8_MKw0o/w-d-xo.html
The time my Desktop rig dies hopefully in time for high performance APUS in a mini PC it'll be worth the money and way cheaper than building a full fledged desktop rig.
The Minisforum had lower fan noise and better CPU temp, but I couldn't get OCulink working on it. The K8 Plus has faster storage. Depends on price and what you're looking for.
I wonder if the 16G limit on GPU memory you showed in the BIOS is because your machine only has 32GB of memory installed. If 96GB were installed, I would hope you could assign as much as 64GB of memory to the GPU, and if so, this could be a killer test bench for larger LLMs. Not enough horsepower for quick responses maybe but should still be able to fit some of the larger models entirely in "GPU ram" which might make it feasible. Does anyone know if this is possible?
Which one do you recommend, I'm eying on hx99g/100g but it's a bit more pricy than this unit. could you help me decide? I will use it for gaming dota 2, cod modern warfare and light video editing. TIA 🙏🏻
What would you recommend the gmktec k8 plus or the ser8 mini? Ive mainly been looking at the ser8 but the price is nice foe the gmktec. Any recommendations?
This machine has the best port selection compared to competition. 2 usb ports of each standard, the 4.0 ones are 40ghz. You need USB 2.0 for wireless dongles!
@@Everything_Comes_And_Goes Sorry but that might be the most tech illiterate comment I've read in a while. That's like something my 76 year old uncle would say. 😁
It depends on what you prefer. Alloy 9 has a better design and slightly better performance, but the K8 Plus has the better port selection and faster SSD. They're pretty similar in fan noise, but the Alloy 9 has a lower max CPU temp by around 10 degrees. Might be best to wait until Black Friday sales and see which one has the better price and go from there (if the sales are available in your region).
"Ditching plastic for metal ..." and complains about WIFI range ... get the antennas out of the chassis and check again ... metal cases are usually the issue for wireless if the antennas are not place properly.
This is not an excuse for poor WiFi performance. Many people are buying this as secondary PC sitting somewhere near TV or in a study. And if router is not nearby, this mini will suck big time.
Anybody able to source the W11 drivers ? Those amateurs use Google Drive as their public source of drivers (WHO DOES THAT ??) and the rar file is un-download-able because of quotas. The "make a copy" workaround does not work either ; I have 2 dead ethernet ports because I do not have the drivers. (yes I got it bare, the only way to have decent SSDs and 64GB RAM CL40 in it)
You can find it by searching the hardware ID in Google. learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/install/hardware-ids or use something like AVG driver installer which is free for a short period after install
I manage to source those drivers from their .cn website with some translations. Btw the i226v ethernet drivers provided are outdated for W11 24H2, you are better off with the Intel website. as always for those little devices, support is appaling.
I have a firebat kamrui AK2, mostly for CAD (autocad and Revit). I also play Emulations games up to ps2, however for more modern games it has a poor performance, bannerlords 2 was unplayble
Bro do you have any video about how we can upgrade the ram and rom? Or how we intsall the modules if we bought a mini without them😮😮😮😮 i liiked your video🎉 bro
(What's going on with the youtube algorithm randomly deleting my comments?🙄 ).... anyhow, all i said was that i got this off of amazon for $400 (with instant coupon and rebates). however, if you already have ram and storage handy from a previous pc then you can get the barebones version from aliexpress for $389.... Also you showed opening the lid pretty easy but i struggled to open it as it was too tight. it must have taken me about 5 min to open it cause at times it felt like the lid was about to break. i'm guessing you had it preopened so as not to show the struggle....i'm thinking about adding a small led strip since the lid is translucent. as far as performance goes, i'm coming from a beelink ser4 so this is definitely a better upgrade.... in these gaming reviews or tests, i'm curious why just about everyone tests these on 1080, which is fine but what about those that have monitors that can go up to 4k? why not show the difference with 1080, 2k, then 4k?...i would think that if a game is running at 80 frames in 1080 med. then it may run at 40-50 frames at 2k? if so, that would be a compromise i could live with. (maybe not for serious gamers though).
Possible faulty memory. Try running Memtest off a USB drive and see if it passes without errors. Another thing you can try is doing a Windows reset and using the Cloud Install option in case Windows is corrupted on the SSD.
Me, I'm probably not buying Intel any time soon. You get so much more for your money with AMD. I think I've been in some kind of protective Intel bubble all these years. Last AMD I had was Athlon 750mhz if memory serves :D
![Incredible Performance & Value from $389! [GMKtec NucBox K8 Plus REVIEW]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/OkaSLBVLPp0/mqdefault.jpg)
Just bought it today love it
Glad you put this up, I was just looking at Aliexpress at this exact model, excellent timing lol.
I've become a fan of GMKtec mini PCs ever since I purchased the G3 N100 model. It must be that power button.
52. The biggest surprise Gmktec can give if they actually have a honest customer service department. Don’t but Gmktec!
Wow, you always test the mini's I'm interested at and properly! Thanks.
Would love to see an Aoostar GEM 10 review from you, either the 6800H or 7840HS. Curious to see whether the small package comes with a big hit in noise levels
AOOSTAR did offer the GEM10 at one point and said they'd send it out. Never heard back from them even after following up. I'll have to source it myself if there's going to be a review and I have trouble keeping up with the workload as is. Only one I did review was the GEM12 which was a nice mini PC.
@@Robtech Thanks for attempting. I read your positive GEM12 6900HX review. Keep up the good work (and I hope your channel will grow!).
Great deals on this on Aliexpress now, especially if using the black friday coupon. I have high hopes for this machine which will be equipped with 96gb RAM! Then put a slim line build of windows 10. Delectable :)
Max ram for this unit is 64gb
Pretty sure it's 96GB.
What’s the coupon?
@@astronemir Should be on the home page, there's a list of coupons you just have to press "Collect" and then it would be automatically applied on checkout. I guess if you're asking maybe they don't have them in your country?
Hi Rob, thanks for the review. I ordered the K8 Plus and set it up yesterday with a WD SN770 and 24GB Crucial 5600 RAM. I put the BIOS to default and switched to the Performance Mode. After installing Win 11 Pro and all the drivers and set up maximum power plan i received UL 3D Mark benchmarks 20% lower than yours (steel nomad light and fire strike). Did you do any tweaks in BIOS to reach it or do you have any suggestion? Maybe the RAM is not the best choice? Thanks in advance
Running 2x 12GB? Does Windows shows 5600 as the speed in Task Manager?
@@Robtech yes and yes
My aim was to dedicate 8gb to the GPU and 16 to the system, but my first thought now is that the system is not able to utilize the ram as it would with 2 16gb sticks. But any suggestion is welcome
Even if the RAM timings were worse, it wouldn't account for a 20% drop. I only see slight variances in the Radeon 780M scores between minis of a couple percent. All of the results are out of box testing. Only CPU gets tweaked in the BIOS.
@@Robtechi already contacted Gmktec, maybe they have a clue?! In the meantime i ordered 2x 16gb Kingston Fury 5600 cl40 to see if my 24gb Kit is the bottleneck. Luckily im living in Germany where we are allowed to return everything within 14 days :-)
Thanks for the review, just ordered one myself. Barebone in Thailand for about 300 euro
@@Just_Mike64 where did you find one in Thailand?
@@SeanClarkelazada 11.11 discount
@Just_Mike64 cheers.
oh man thats a nice fan at the bottom would of been nice if there was one at top for really good cooling
Actually, that is the top fan. This mini PC has 2. 1 in the bottom and 1 on top...he didn't show the bottom one since he would have to open it from the bottom and there is no point in doing that unless you plan to replace the CPU.
Hi !
Why loney ? :) - I watch almost every mini-pc review you issue. Wee need your reviews. Nice work and have a good evening from Slovakia :)
I much applause the easy way of opening and the quality components and modern ports. Shame it gets so hot.
Hi Rob thanks for reviewing this mini pc I was waiting for it. Seems to me performance mode is disappointing. I was considering to get this one or Aoostar Gem12 8845HS but I think you didn`t review Aoostar`s that exact model yet. That one has only 1 USB4 but as I checked from other videos performance is quite good and fan is super silent. Do you have any plans to review Aoostar soon?
Whenever I see the 3DMark graphics benchmarks for the Ultra APUs all I can think of is the song/meme "why you always lying"
Do you know how much I like that you show games at more than just low settings? I am SO SICK of youtubers reviewing GPUs or any hardware and showing games only at low so that they get framerate at the 100s and then complain about it not being high enough. Yes I am not in a good mood, but they still piss me off.
I mean fine do a low settings only, get your 80, 90, 100, framerate, but at least don't frelling complain about not getting a "high framerate experience" BSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.
You are a breathe of fresh air. Thankfully there are a couple more who I follow who are like that, but it feels like the majority are just annoying me. Yes I know it's my problem.
OK, perhaps I am in a really bad mood.
CPU temp is...
Good video no matter what.
Since I'm often reviewing the same CPU, I try to vary it up with a new test each time. Maybe 1440P low next.
@@Robtech Why not more indeed. Though IMO a 1080p test of some sort should be there no matter what, but that's just me.
5:57 GTA: SA 2008 vibes right here
the k8 plus currently being sold has slightly different front panel near where the oculink and type-c ports are. also the 2 usb 4.0 ports are stated to be 40ghz each. Is the model in the video slightly older?
What's the link?
Great video 👍
Best player on the mini PC market 4:40 😂💥
Hi, thank you very much for the information you provide in this video. But I have a question: does the GMtec processor, Ryzen 7 8845HS, have an AI NPU? I don't understand why this mini PC is not promoted with AI features when GeeKom or Beelink are promoted with AI with the same processor.
I would appreciate it if someone could help me with my question.
It does. I'd say it's not promoted because most don't care about features like Windows Copilot. It's gaming features are a bigger selling point.
@@Robtech Thanks for your reply! I wouldn't use it for gaming. Would you recommend this mini pc for photo and video editing? (I work as a photographer)
If you're looking for something specifically for that purpose, I'd go with an Intel mini PC instead. One of my top picks is the Minisforum UH125 Pro th-cam.com/video/Gz_h8_MKw0o/w-d-xo.html
In bringing the CPU temperature down, what would you recommend? small desk fan?
The time my Desktop rig dies hopefully in time for high performance APUS in a mini PC it'll be worth the money and way cheaper than building a full fledged desktop rig.
Which do you prefer as an all around mini PC -- the K9 Plus or the Minisforum UM 890 Pro?
The Minisforum had lower fan noise and better CPU temp, but I couldn't get OCulink working on it. The K8 Plus has faster storage. Depends on price and what you're looking for.
I wonder if the 16G limit on GPU memory you showed in the BIOS is because your machine only has 32GB of memory installed. If 96GB were installed, I would hope you could assign as much as 64GB of memory to the GPU, and if so, this could be a killer test bench for larger LLMs. Not enough horsepower for quick responses maybe but should still be able to fit some of the larger models entirely in "GPU ram" which might make it feasible. Does anyone know if this is possible?
16GB seems to be the limit as even with 64GB it still shows 16GB.
@@Robtech That is...unfortunate. Thanks for the reply though. Enjoyed the review.
Which one do you recommend, I'm eying on hx99g/100g but it's a bit more pricy than this unit. could you help me decide?
I will use it for gaming dota 2, cod modern warfare and light video editing.
TIA 🙏🏻
HX99/100G has far more graphics power than integrated graphics. If you're planning to game and not using OCulink, I'd go with the HX
What would you recommend the gmktec k8 plus or the ser8 mini? Ive mainly been looking at the ser8 but the price is nice foe the gmktec. Any recommendations?
If you don't need OCulink, the SER8 has the advantage in cooling, CPU temp and fan noise.
I'm waiting for them to bring out a box that is USB-C only. The sooner we ditch out dated USB-A ports the better.
It would be nice but almost no keyboard and mice have USB-C?
No point in limiting compatibility and forcing people to use dongles or limit their choice in peripheral devices.
This machine has the best port selection compared to competition. 2 usb ports of each standard, the 4.0 ones are 40ghz. You need USB 2.0 for wireless dongles!
@@Everything_Comes_And_Goes Sorry but that might be the most tech illiterate comment I've read in a while. That's like something my 76 year old uncle would say. 😁
Huh? care to qualify your comment? what was illiterate for you?
I'm considering this or the Reatan Alloy 9. They're about the same price for the 32gb/1tb specs. Which would you recommend?
It depends on what you prefer. Alloy 9 has a better design and slightly better performance, but the K8 Plus has the better port selection and faster SSD. They're pretty similar in fan noise, but the Alloy 9 has a lower max CPU temp by around 10 degrees. Might be best to wait until Black Friday sales and see which one has the better price and go from there (if the sales are available in your region).
@ Amazing. Thanks for the reply!
Also my updated top 5 video is coming up next 🤫
I bought the 64GB/2TB version for 550 euros on black friday. A good deal?
Is this better than the GEM12? Somehow, this one with the 32gb and 1tb, is much cheaper with the same CPU configuration.
GEM12 has lower fan noise and CPU temp. This one has a faster SSD. GEM12 is my pick for an OCulink mini at the same price.
Do you have the ability to test if RAID is supported by BIOS? Will likely require installing two NVMe drives to enable.
No RAID support.
Thank you!
Honestly, be suspicious of hardware raid in this day and age.
What’s the difference between the K8 be the K8 plus with the same CPU, ram, and ssd?
New design (metal case over plastic). Bigger fan on top and less fan noise. OCulink port added to the mix.
About to return mine after having constant issues with the wifi
Ser8 or K6 or K8 plus for overall?
SER8 if you don't care about OCulink. Otherwise K8 Plus.
@Robtech Ok.What about Geekom A8 8945HS?
Nope RAM overheats
That M. Night Shyamalan comment. wow. 🤣
"Ditching plastic for metal ..." and complains about WIFI range ... get the antennas out of the chassis and check again ... metal cases are usually the issue for wireless if the antennas are not place properly.
This is not an excuse for poor WiFi performance. Many people are buying this as secondary PC sitting somewhere near TV or in a study. And if router is not nearby, this mini will suck big time.
How come Intel got it right with its NUC?
@rochellerochelle1488 where are the antennas placed?
3 of the top 5 performers in Wireless range are metal and Intel NUCs solved it from the first generation. So no, metal cases are not a problem.
Any option to raid the two nvme drives in bios?
why would you raid them? theres no much point in that
No RAID options. Don't remember seeing it on any mini lately.
Too late to change my mind now, I already ordered one two days ago
Anybody able to source the W11 drivers ? Those amateurs use Google Drive as their public source of drivers (WHO DOES THAT ??) and the rar file is un-download-able because of quotas. The "make a copy" workaround does not work either ;
I have 2 dead ethernet ports because I do not have the drivers. (yes I got it bare, the only way to have decent SSDs and 64GB RAM CL40 in it)
You can find it by searching the hardware ID in Google. learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/install/hardware-ids or use something like AVG driver installer which is free for a short period after install
I manage to source those drivers from their .cn website with some translations. Btw the i226v ethernet drivers provided are outdated for W11 24H2, you are better off with the Intel website.
as always for those little devices, support is appaling.
Is this the best mini PC yet and if not what is better than this?
Depends what you're looking for.
I have a firebat kamrui AK2, mostly for CAD (autocad and Revit). I also play Emulations games up to ps2, however for more modern games it has a poor performance, bannerlords 2 was unplayble
Bro do you have any video about how we can upgrade the ram and rom? Or how we intsall the modules if we bought a mini without them😮😮😮😮 i liiked your video🎉 bro
You mean a beginner's guide to build one from a barebones? No. I'll have to add it to my list of tutorials once I have a bit more time.
Just get Beelink just more refined.
(What's going on with the youtube algorithm randomly deleting my comments?🙄 ).... anyhow, all i said was that i got this off of amazon for $400 (with instant coupon and rebates). however, if you already have ram and storage handy from a previous pc then you can get the barebones version from aliexpress for $389....
Also you showed opening the lid pretty easy but i struggled to open it as it was too tight. it must have taken me about 5 min to open it cause at times it felt like the lid was about to break. i'm guessing you had it preopened so as not to show the struggle....i'm thinking about adding a small led strip since the lid is translucent.
as far as performance goes, i'm coming from a beelink ser4 so this is definitely a better upgrade....
in these gaming reviews or tests, i'm curious why just about everyone tests these on 1080, which is fine but what about those that have monitors that can go up to 4k? why not show the difference with 1080, 2k, then 4k?...i would think that if a game is running at 80 frames in 1080 med. then it may run at 40-50 frames at 2k? if so, that would be a compromise i could live with. (maybe not for serious gamers though).
Next mini with the same CPU will be tested at 1440P low.
I need a new NUC
this has no wifi?
It has Wifi.
Looks good but I'll never buy AMD again. My K6 boots with a blue screen 40% of the time, especially after Windows updates
"K6"? Are you posting from 1998?
@malcaniscsm5184 the unit was bought in July. They don't just sell the latest model
Possible faulty memory. Try running Memtest off a USB drive and see if it passes without errors. Another thing you can try is doing a Windows reset and using the Cloud Install option in case Windows is corrupted on the SSD.
Me, I'm probably not buying Intel any time soon. You get so much more for your money with AMD. I think I've been in some kind of protective Intel bubble all these years. Last AMD I had was Athlon 750mhz if memory serves :D
huh huh huh huh