GMKTec released a BIOS update on June 6. The GPU now actually hits 1200 MHz instead of 1000 MHz. I haven't noticed any difference in power draw or temperatures and it gave me a nice performance boost.
@@htwingnut If you want to, sure. Thank you for both of your videos on this mini PC by the way, it gave me the confidence to buy one and I'm really satisfied with it!
Silly question: can you power up that mini pc with a gan usbc charger? I am wondering if my ugreen 100w charger could power my phone and this pc together…
@@lbenegas Technically it should. as long as it can PROVIDE the necessary wattage OR MORE then you should be good. I ordered mine today, should be here tomorrow, will try it and let you know. Thanks @htwingnut for the great review
I've been impressed with the GMtek nucs, they make great little Linux boxes. I have bought 3 of them in two generations and their N100 system really handles Ubuntu well. I am impressed with their build quality. The Windows pro licenses are legit.
Perhaps the issue with that SSD USB adapter is that the USB port used wouldn't deliver enough power consistently to the SSD. I've had issues with NVME SSD USB adapters in this way in the past and usually using a powered hub would solve the issue.
The steps needed to access and replace the CMOS clock battery aren't great. However, I've seen plenty of builds that are far worse. Overall, I'd prefer a wider design (width of a 60% keyboard) with less height. Maybe I'm influenced by a love of cyberdeck designs.
I would have liked to have seen a benchmark/crystaldiskmark numbers on the NVMe drive. I think a lot of people buying this unit would grab the 256gb model and upgrade to a 1tb or 2tb NVMe if the drive read/write speeds are good.
I think cutting a hole at the top cover for better airflow will reduce a lot of CPU temp also by applying liquid metal. Having better heat transfer and airflow will reduce CPU peak temp underload. Also i think w/ 15W CPU OC since its only 3W there's not really a difference but for GPU +200Mhz OC might increase if there is enough temp headroom. I notice this during disassembly the fan is facing on a SOLID top cover w/ tiny bit of space which is why its termal throttling which reduces CPU & iGPU boost. Is the cold plate nickle plated copper? it might be aluminum since it doesn't make sense to sandwitch copper tube at the top if its nickle then liquid metal is a no cooper due to the fact that it eat's up aluminum.
EXCELLENT IN DEPTH REVIEW! Onle constructive criticism maybe dont use autofocus since the device wont move as much is not needed and will look better. Thanks!
Thanks, yeah, I'm looking into a better setup. Right now my camera is mounted on an articulating spring supported boom arm, and if I touch the camera to manual focus, it wiggles and takes a little bit to settle down. I need a better flexible boom arm solution that doesn't cost a fortune. Desk mounts don't work because the back of my desk has a solid metal plate running down. I'm open to suggestions.
Wow, even overclocking the n100 doesnt push it over 75c tops. Its funny how its a little slower but is close or matching performance. I bet the running of some games could be better though, obviously.
Great video, the disassembling process was very interesting. Can you tell us what Wi-Fi/BT card comes with the system and if this is a standard M.2 PCIe card or Intel CNVi/CNVio2? Another question about the power supply - this is 12V with a 3A rating, right? Did you try any other USB-C PD power supplies or power banks? Would be interested to know if this can easily powered by different means or requires a specific power supply. Thanks!
Excellent breakdown, as ever. I would love to know what the speeds of the 2280 M.2 SSD were. This is a very viable alternative to the N100. Shame about those MicroSD card speeds.
Awesome review, thanks a lot !! Did you see any possibility to enable wake-on-lan in the BIOS ? Hopefully it has WOL since it's a must for me for the use case I'm contemplating for this mini PC
Can confirm. Great for work! Drives 2x HD monitors very nicely indeed. Very strangely, no device will wake it from sleep, and I must touch the power button on the G5 to wake it up from a sleep.
You have never seen the Cubox? Referring of course only to the form factor or size of it. This is way better though. But 10 years ago I had a Cubox and fed an HDTV with it, pre-4k of course. I will be getting one of these this month! It comes with an OS! I wonder if it will also boot from a stick/chip.
i write this note with the same model of mini computers, i have the same problem whit one of my external m2 readers, (from multiple i've got) it's the power delivery in the USB port, from m2 128, 256, 512 and 1T, no problem with any, exep the 4t one… it is not the adapter i swap them with. it just the power. (usb digital tester) shows the 4t nearly needs a full amp to work. iv got 3 computers connected to my LG 55 screen, switch between them but use the mini most of the time…for the past years
Yes. I might spend a little more time with the fan profile and see if I can get it to improve thermals. Although setting TDP to 8W drops temps considerably, at the expense of a slightly slower clock speed.
@@htwingnut Fan profile is the way. I Stopped mine throttling in 1080p PS2 Emulation changing this. (basically run it flat out after 60c, its quiet enough for me) Worth mentioning that whilst, it gets hot, it cools down pretty fast also.
Great review anyway I have some questions. Can I use a 2242 Nvme SSD in the M.2 slot in the machine? And if I use my own SSD will I get a license when I reinstall windows 11 pro?
Yes @ 32:34 I show a 2280 NVMe because that's all I had, but NVMe works. And follow up video (th-cam.com/video/MhvLpwUEENM/w-d-xo.html) I show a clean Windows install at 5:55 that activates. If you update the BIOS it may give you fits, but it eventually activated just fine.
will you recommend this one over the other ones tested value wise? for the same price im between this and firebat am02(n100 ddr4) so probably not as fast as this one but looks better ventilated and have way more ports. also wonder why the single core perf is lower.
Depends on what you need. The Firebat has 2.5GbE port which is nice also supports 80mm M.2 SSD's. Unless you need/want an ultra compact form factor, I'd personally opt for the bigger version.
Excellent review and great presentation of specs, thank you very much for all your time on this video! I was wondering if anyone has tested using this device for streaming MQA music to a DAC and audio amplifier in terms of digital jitter, pops and clicks in the sound quality maintained by the USB ports?
Good review, I have a mini PC that is 3X as big, but hardly makes a difference. Mine is a Ryzen 5 ,16 GB I get 2X score in Cinebench R 23. I really don't see any value in it being as so small?
@@htwingnut Anyway, thanks for makin this video. I just finished putting it back together after a repaste and it dropped my temps 15c from themal throttling. They must use toothpaste from the factory.
I'd say comparable. There's not a lot of differences between thermal pastes these days. Although I'd be sure that the one you use doesn't require a certain amount of pressure to work properly on a mount like this PC (it's like a laptop CPU). But those are usually the exception not the norm. I look for the pastes that tend to not dry out quickly too, and this SYY paste I used seem to do well over time. I used to use IC diamond because it would last forever, although would scratch the die when you cleaned it up because of the diamond dust in it. But it seems it's no longer made.
I am planning to buy GMTek G5 but wonder if it works well/smothly on large data set spreadsheets (Excel)? working on financial modelling as financial analyst so wondering if it works well.
I have no idea how to play LoL but someone else asked before too. I started it up... here's a few minutes at the beginning... th-cam.com/video/96Urg1C0smU/w-d-xo.html
@ 27:55. The big black chip next to the CPU. It is soldered on the PCB. Samsung LPDDR5: K3LK2K20BM-BGCN. Here is an image: i.imgur.com/V41H5GU.jpeg. I also mention it at 30:26 after the fact as it dawned on me that was the RAM chip.
@@Twiszted Oh, sorry. Those posts are like hex nuts. I just found the adapter from my iFixit kit that worked with it. Let me see if I can find out exactly what tool it requires.
Looks like that ssd slot is a combo pcie slot meaning it will take both nvme and SATA ssd ... You still may need to select that option in bios though also! Ordered the pc will try an nvme in it tomorrow!
Silly question: can you power up that mini pc with a gan usbc charger? I am wondering if my ugreen 100w charger could power my phone and this pc together…
I am confused (just a bit)…can you remove the stock SSD and install another with a different OS? I don’t want to overwrite the Window 11 OS but would like to have the option to swap over to Linux Mint, as needed…
not having to create and sign in to install windows is concerning. they could have modified it and install viruses like ace magic. I just purchased this exact one and i'm wiping any partition and doing a clean install
@@RougeRaid Of course it's always best to be cautious. But anyone can modify an installation package. It's not that difficult, really. Visit ntlite.com. Or you can just do a clean installation with an ISO from Microsoft if you're concerned, and can easily bypass the network requirement during Windows install by pressing "Shift-F10" then type "oobe\bypassnro" and then it will reboot and then it will allow you to skip internet connection and create a local account. I did a full scan of the GMKtec Windows package with multiple scanners and it came back clean. But personally I always do a clean installation with the ISO from Microsoft anyhow.
Silly question: can you power up that mini pc with a gan usbc charger? I am wondering if my ugreen 100w charger could power my phone and this pc together…
@@artyvoska2724 i used this mini pc to build an arcade (mame), and works great. I tested it with windows and apps, and performs decent for rutine activities like web surfing, office work, email, media content.
@@rainbowbudz4017 I have no idea how to play, and only had a few minutes to try. But I did a quick video here starting the tutorial. Default settings at 1080p then 720p at the end. looks like it manages 90-100 FPS at 1080p. Of course I'm not sure how it manages the game in intense battles: th-cam.com/video/96Urg1C0smU/w-d-xo.html
It's not non-standard. You can always install your own Windows 11 from Microsoft directly and it should detect the hardware and use the key associated with it just fine. I just think however they received the key might be questionable.
Not that I actually think my PC phones home but because I'd heard this many times about these Shenzhen Mini PCs I went through the trouble twice, first reinstalling a clean Windows 11 and then realizing I hate everything they added in 11 and did a clean install of Windows 10 😂 I suppose in the event of a world war I would be concerned about my computer being able to be remotely bricked if it's got some sort of remote connection, but in peacetime I don't really care if the CCP can watch me play another hundred hours of Morrowind on my Mini PC.
@@TheCrystalJules No it doesn't matter if they watch you playing Morrowind but it might if it is phoning home your email address and passwords and your banking login details !!! Trust nothing when you are transacting online.
@@regwatson2017 I thankfully have other, more secure devices I use for those services. My mini PC is for low-stakes computing when I need an x86 processor.
sbc and mini-pc are different use cases. Although I do agree that devices like this are killing the "mini linux server" use case for sbc market. By the time you add PSU, case, cooling & storage - this device comes out cheaper than leading sbc models and it's considerably more powerful.
I bought this Mini PC a couple weeks ago before any of the reviews were out so I really appreciate how in-depth this video is. I hope they do something about being able to actually set the iGPU clock and the power consumption in the BIOS but I'm amazed to find out that the M.2 slot supports NVME! I'd be curious about what speed it runs at, but this makes me much happier with my purchase. I was already going to buy an NVME enclosure and drive and just run it over one of the USB ports but I was curious about the off chance that I could put the NVME drive right on the board and lo and behold it would actually work! Thank you for the video, enjoy the subscription!
Thank you. I did email the vendor about the iGPU clocks, but they said it's normal behavior. My experience with iGPU clocks are usually if they can get enough power and aren't overheating, they will run at their max boost clock. Or we'd at least see some sign of the clocks jumping to that boost speed, but it never exceeded 1000MHz.
Silly question: can you power up that mini pc with a gan usbc charger? I am wondering if my ugreen 100w charger could power my phone and this pc together…
@@lbenegas So as I understand it, it has to put out 12 volts as one of the option, and this mini PC says the charger is 12v 3A. I've seen some chargers that advertise this voltage and amperage spec, and others that don't. I will update this again when I've actually confirmed this works with a normal charger that advertises 12v 3A edit: I finally bought a regular USB-C charger. It lists 12v 3A as one of the available charging specs and the mini PC powers up when plugged into it. I will say to watch out because this and most other USB-C chargers I've tested briefly shut off power every time a new accessory is plugged/unplugged from the charger. So let's say I have my mini PC and my iPad both plugged in, and I unplug my iPad, then my mini PC is going to lose power and shut down.
Thank for the disassembly. I will re-peaste it with ARCTIC MX-4, i hope i will have less spikes with that (right now during a game sometimes the cpu is above 90C, and a the frame rate is dropped for a few sec.
![This Intel N97 Mini PC Is the New Budget King! 😱 [GMKtec NucBox G5 REVIEW]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/9-JK0-oR1M0/mqdefault.jpg)
![This Intel N97 Mini PC Is the New Budget King! 😱 [GMKtec NucBox G5 REVIEW]](/img/tr.png)
I got it because of your review. I am super happy with it and very impressed by it still. Thank you so much!
GMKTec released a BIOS update on June 6. The GPU now actually hits 1200 MHz instead of 1000 MHz. I haven't noticed any difference in power draw or temperatures and it gave me a nice performance boost.
Oh wow, great to know. I'll have to take a look!
are you ok if I mention your username in a video? I'm going to do an update on the BIOS.
@@htwingnut If you want to, sure. Thank you for both of your videos on this mini PC by the way, it gave me the confidence to buy one and I'm really satisfied with it!
Silly question: can you power up that mini pc with a gan usbc charger? I am wondering if my ugreen 100w charger could power my phone and this pc together…
@@lbenegas Technically it should. as long as it can PROVIDE the necessary wattage OR MORE then you should be good. I ordered mine today, should be here tomorrow, will try it and let you know. Thanks @htwingnut for the great review
Kudos for including comparative benchmark graphs against other brands. Very few "reviewers" bother to include them
Very detailed and professional review. Thank you sir.
I've been impressed with the GMtek nucs, they make great little Linux boxes. I have bought 3 of them in two generations and their N100 system really handles Ubuntu well. I am impressed with their build quality. The Windows pro licenses are legit.
Really great, thorough review. Nice work!
Excellent review! Detailed and good practical, comparative testing.
Best review I've seen of this device, much better than other more popular channels. Well done sir. Subscribed.
Thank you so much for the kind words and subscribing.
Excellent review. Thank you. (I bought one)
Perhaps the issue with that SSD USB adapter is that the USB port used wouldn't deliver enough power consistently to the SSD. I've had issues with NVME SSD USB adapters in this way in the past and usually using a powered hub would solve the issue.
Thanks for the great review. Would be nice to know how much faster the NVME SSD is (boot etc) and whether it's worth it to swap.
Perfect review, thank you
“Name brand that I’ve never heard of before” makes my brain hurt…
Thank you for metric measures.
The steps needed to access and replace the CMOS clock battery aren't great. However, I've seen plenty of builds that are far worse.
Overall, I'd prefer a wider design (width of a 60% keyboard) with less height. Maybe I'm influenced by a love of cyberdeck designs.
I would have liked to have seen a benchmark/crystaldiskmark numbers on the NVMe drive. I think a lot of people buying this unit would grab the 256gb model and upgrade to a 1tb or 2tb NVMe if the drive read/write speeds are good.
Sure. I can do that. My guess is it's a PCIe 3.0 x1 lane so max 1000MB/sec but reality abouit 700-800 MB/sec. I'll give it a try.
I think cutting a hole at the top cover for better airflow will reduce a lot of CPU temp also by applying liquid metal.
Having better heat transfer and airflow will reduce CPU peak temp underload.
Also i think w/ 15W CPU OC since its only 3W there's not really a difference but for GPU +200Mhz OC might increase if there is enough temp headroom.
I notice this during disassembly the fan is facing on a SOLID top cover w/ tiny bit of space which is why its termal throttling which reduces CPU & iGPU boost.
Is the cold plate nickle plated copper? it might be aluminum since it doesn't make sense to sandwitch copper tube at the top if its nickle then liquid metal is a no cooper due to the fact that it eat's up aluminum.
EXCELLENT IN DEPTH REVIEW! Onle constructive criticism maybe dont use autofocus since the device wont move as much is not needed and will look better. Thanks!
Thanks, yeah, I'm looking into a better setup. Right now my camera is mounted on an articulating spring supported boom arm, and if I touch the camera to manual focus, it wiggles and takes a little bit to settle down. I need a better flexible boom arm solution that doesn't cost a fortune. Desk mounts don't work because the back of my desk has a solid metal plate running down. I'm open to suggestions.
Wow, even overclocking the n100 doesnt push it over 75c tops. Its funny how its a little slower but is close or matching performance. I bet the running of some games could be better though, obviously.
Great video, the disassembling process was very interesting. Can you tell us what Wi-Fi/BT card comes with the system and if this is a standard M.2 PCIe card or Intel CNVi/CNVio2?
Another question about the power supply - this is 12V with a 3A rating, right? Did you try any other USB-C PD power supplies or power banks? Would be interested to know if this can easily powered by different means or requires a specific power supply. Thanks!
I have one and tested it working with a usb-c charger that's 18w 12V@1.5a but strangely not one that's 12V@1.67a
Excellent breakdown, as ever. I would love to know what the speeds of the 2280 M.2 SSD were. This is a very viable alternative to the N100. Shame about those MicroSD card speeds.
Thanks. It is PCIe 2x Speed (~ 1800 MB/sec) see follow up video here: th-cam.com/video/MhvLpwUEENM/w-d-xo.htmlsi=e8HP_6t3q8diDjvg&t=544
@@htwingnut That is good.
Glad I stayed till the end to see the Ubuntu test. These PCs are worthless to me if I can't wipe W11 and install Linux, so great to know.
Awesome review, thanks a lot !! Did you see any possibility to enable wake-on-lan in the BIOS ? Hopefully it has WOL since it's a must for me for the use case I'm contemplating for this mini PC
WOL settings are in the bios but, i can't confirm they work or not.
Is this capable of streaming 4K HDR content from netfilx and the like?
Absolutely. No issues.
@@htwingnut Thanks👍
I ordered one for work. It'll be great.
Can confirm. Great for work! Drives 2x HD monitors very nicely indeed.
Very strangely, no device will wake it from sleep, and I must touch the power button on the G5 to wake it up from a sleep.
@@Chris.Daviesbro came back with a review thanks man!
You have never seen the Cubox? Referring of course only to the form factor or size of it. This is way better though. But 10 years ago I had a Cubox and fed an HDTV with it, pre-4k of course. I will be getting one of these this month! It comes with an OS! I wonder if it will also boot from a stick/chip.
I'd love to see this in a cluster.
i write this note with the same model of mini computers, i have the same problem whit one of my
external m2 readers, (from multiple i've got) it's the power delivery in the USB port, from m2 128, 256, 512 and 1T, no problem with any, exep the 4t one… it is not the adapter i swap them with. it just
the power. (usb digital tester) shows the 4t nearly needs a full amp to work. iv got 3 computers connected to my LG 55 screen, switch between them but use the mini most of the time…for the past years
Did you check for any spyware/malware/tojans in the windows install? Yes, I know Windows 11 is essentially spyware too.
Scanned but I found none.
wonder if that NVME USB adapter is using just a tad too much power for that mini's USB port 🤔
Could be. It only affected the Samsung SSD though. Just thought it was an oddity.
@@htwingnut I know they had power isolators for USB2, not sure about 3; perhaps a good USB3 powered hub might be a way to test the power theory 🤔
Runs really hot
Yes. I might spend a little more time with the fan profile and see if I can get it to improve thermals. Although setting TDP to 8W drops temps considerably, at the expense of a slightly slower clock speed.
@@htwingnut Fan profile is the way. I Stopped mine throttling in 1080p PS2 Emulation changing this. (basically run it flat out after 60c, its quiet enough for me) Worth mentioning that whilst, it gets hot, it cools down pretty fast also.
@@PiManiac Thanks, yeah I've done a little bit of playing with the fan profile. 100% speed is a bit loud, but not too awful.
It's hot but it is not out of specs, so no problem running it at that temp.
By default C states are disabled in BIOS, will run a bit faster with them enabled.
They were enabled.
Great review anyway I have some questions.
Can I use a 2242 Nvme SSD in the M.2 slot in the machine?
And if I use my own SSD will I get a license when I reinstall windows 11 pro?
Yes @ 32:34 I show a 2280 NVMe because that's all I had, but NVMe works. And follow up video (th-cam.com/video/MhvLpwUEENM/w-d-xo.html) I show a clean Windows install at 5:55 that activates. If you update the BIOS it may give you fits, but it eventually activated just fine.
Great video.
will you recommend this one over the other ones tested value wise? for the same price im between this and firebat am02(n100 ddr4) so probably not as fast as this one but looks better ventilated and have way more ports.
also wonder why the single core perf is lower.
Depends on what you need. The Firebat has 2.5GbE port which is nice also supports 80mm M.2 SSD's. Unless you need/want an ultra compact form factor, I'd personally opt for the bigger version.
Excellent review and great presentation of specs, thank you very much for all your time on this video! I was wondering if anyone has tested using this device for streaming MQA music to a DAC and audio amplifier in terms of digital jitter, pops and clicks in the sound quality maintained by the USB ports?
Hey thanks for the review. I wonder if I can powered it with a good power bank. I always wanted to make a handheld pc from a mini pc.
Good review, I have a mini PC that is 3X as big, but hardly makes a difference. Mine is a Ryzen 5 ,16 GB I get 2X score in Cinebench R 23. I really don't see any value in it being as so small?
Any chance you could run 3dmark again with the updated bios 1.01, which enables the 1200Mhz GPU? You should see an improve in performance
25:44 you cut out how you managed to get this out. did u just yank the ribbon cables off???
They just detached. It's a snap on hat type connector. I wouldn't yank, just pull gently straight up.
@@htwingnut After pulling on it and fighting I found it easier to disconnect them from the top😅
@@htwingnut Anyway, thanks for makin this video. I just finished putting it back together after a repaste and it dropped my temps 15c from themal throttling. They must use toothpaste from the factory.
awesome review. you even included nvme test. Great! one thing, if you can talk slower, that's even better!
Thanks for the feedback. LOL, I always feel like I need to talk faster.
the usbc adapter can damage your other devices if you use it on them
how does the thermal paste you use compare to arctic mx4 ?
I'd say comparable. There's not a lot of differences between thermal pastes these days. Although I'd be sure that the one you use doesn't require a certain amount of pressure to work properly on a mount like this PC (it's like a laptop CPU). But those are usually the exception not the norm. I look for the pastes that tend to not dry out quickly too, and this SYY paste I used seem to do well over time.
I used to use IC diamond because it would last forever, although would scratch the die when you cleaned it up because of the diamond dust in it. But it seems it's no longer made.
Does the GMKtec NucBox G5(Intel N97) product support HDCP 2.2 ?
I am planning to buy GMTek G5 but wonder if it works well/smothly on large data set spreadsheets (Excel)? working on financial modelling as financial analyst so wondering if it works well.
No reason it shouldn't. If you can provide an example of what you want to do or a benchmark I can try.
@@htwingnut have you tried using it to play league of legends (full hd, low settings) is the experience smooth? and how much fps would you get?
I have no idea how to play LoL but someone else asked before too. I started it up... here's a few minutes at the beginning... th-cam.com/video/96Urg1C0smU/w-d-xo.html
Is the power supply reducing the USB C voltage to 5 V? Can I use a USB C power-bank for portability?
If you IPTV stream give it a miss as the quality is low.
Where the ram located?
@ 27:55. The big black chip next to the CPU. It is soldered on the PCB. Samsung LPDDR5: K3LK2K20BM-BGCN. Here is an image: i.imgur.com/V41H5GU.jpeg. I also mention it at 30:26 after the fact as it dawned on me that was the RAM chip.
what is that tool at 25:33? i cant unscrew that four screw
Just a standard phillips head.
@@htwingnut hmm, i cant do that :D when i put it in the hole nothing happens
@@Twiszted Oh, sorry. Those posts are like hex nuts. I just found the adapter from my iFixit kit that worked with it. Let me see if I can find out exactly what tool it requires.
@@Twiszted It's a 4.0mm Hex Socket tool: imgur.com/a/pskitly
@@htwingnut thanks!!
Looks like that ssd slot is a combo pcie slot meaning it will take both nvme and SATA ssd ... You still may need to select that option in bios though also!
Ordered the pc will try an nvme in it tomorrow!
No need to select in BIOS. I show installing an NVMe drive at 32:30 in video.
Thanks just got yourself a new sub 😊
@@mindbender50 😳Thanks! Have fun with yours!
Silly question: can you power up that mini pc with a gan usbc charger? I am wondering if my ugreen 100w charger could power my phone and this pc together…
I am confused (just a bit)…can you remove the stock SSD and install another with a different OS? I don’t want to overwrite the Window 11 OS but would like to have the option to swap over to Linux Mint, as needed…
Yes, you can replace the SSD. See my follow up video in the description.
@@htwingnut are there one or two slots available for the SSD?
@@TheDouglasOxford Just one. And it has to be a 2242 form factor.
not having to create and sign in to install windows is concerning. they could have modified it and install viruses like ace magic. I just purchased this exact one and i'm wiping any partition and doing a clean install
You can modify the oobe configuration for a Windows installation to bypass things like that. OEM's do it all the time.
@@htwingnut but those companies that modify are reputable big companies
@@RougeRaid Of course it's always best to be cautious. But anyone can modify an installation package. It's not that difficult, really. Visit ntlite.com.
Or you can just do a clean installation with an ISO from Microsoft if you're concerned, and can easily bypass the network requirement during Windows install by pressing "Shift-F10" then type "oobe\bypassnro" and then it will reboot and then it will allow you to skip internet connection and create a local account.
I did a full scan of the GMKtec Windows package with multiple scanners and it came back clean. But personally I always do a clean installation with the ISO from Microsoft anyhow.
Silly question: can you power up that mini pc with a gan usbc charger? I am wondering if my ugreen 100w charger could power my phone and this pc together…
did you find out if this is possible? i am also interested in doing this
@@artyvoska2724 yes, you can. I used the 65w and 100w ugreen power sources, and they work great with this mini pc.
@@lbenegas well then that concludes it, im gonna buy it thanks
@@artyvoska2724 i used this mini pc to build an arcade (mame), and works great. I tested it with windows and apps, and performs decent for rutine activities like web surfing, office work, email, media content.
Super small 😮
Dave x Microsoft employe?
Are you asking if I am Dave, ex Microsoft employee? No. Unfortunately.
Can this run league of legends?
I don't play LoL, but I will try to fire it up on there and see how it goes.
@@htwingnut much thanks bud!!
@@rainbowbudz4017 I have no idea how to play, and only had a few minutes to try. But I did a quick video here starting the tutorial. Default settings at 1080p then 720p at the end. looks like it manages 90-100 FPS at 1080p. Of course I'm not sure how it manages the game in intense battles: th-cam.com/video/96Urg1C0smU/w-d-xo.html
@@htwingnut thank you so much! Will definitely be getting it!!!
A non standard Windows distro from China. No thanks. Who knows what info could be being phoned home ?
It's not non-standard. You can always install your own Windows 11 from Microsoft directly and it should detect the hardware and use the key associated with it just fine. I just think however they received the key might be questionable.
You and your stupid conspiracy theory! Geez!
Not that I actually think my PC phones home but because I'd heard this many times about these Shenzhen Mini PCs I went through the trouble twice, first reinstalling a clean Windows 11 and then realizing I hate everything they added in 11 and did a clean install of Windows 10 😂
I suppose in the event of a world war I would be concerned about my computer being able to be remotely bricked if it's got some sort of remote connection, but in peacetime I don't really care if the CCP can watch me play another hundred hours of Morrowind on my Mini PC.
@@TheCrystalJules No it doesn't matter if they watch you playing Morrowind but it might if it is phoning home your email address and passwords and your banking login details !!! Trust nothing when you are transacting online.
@@regwatson2017 I thankfully have other, more secure devices I use for those services. My mini PC is for low-stakes computing when I need an x86 processor.
it's time for raspberry and other crappie sbc engineer should be looking another real future job.
sbc and mini-pc are different use cases. Although I do agree that devices like this are killing the "mini linux server" use case for sbc market. By the time you add PSU, case, cooling & storage - this device comes out cheaper than leading sbc models and it's considerably more powerful.
"Nuhk" box? Blahahahaha
Follow up video posted here: th-cam.com/video/MhvLpwUEENM/w-d-xo.htmlsi=rY6tS0VOU4OlOaHQ
I bought this Mini PC a couple weeks ago before any of the reviews were out so I really appreciate how in-depth this video is. I hope they do something about being able to actually set the iGPU clock and the power consumption in the BIOS but I'm amazed to find out that the M.2 slot supports NVME! I'd be curious about what speed it runs at, but this makes me much happier with my purchase. I was already going to buy an NVME enclosure and drive and just run it over one of the USB ports but I was curious about the off chance that I could put the NVME drive right on the board and lo and behold it would actually work! Thank you for the video, enjoy the subscription!
Thank you. I did email the vendor about the iGPU clocks, but they said it's normal behavior. My experience with iGPU clocks are usually if they can get enough power and aren't overheating, they will run at their max boost clock. Or we'd at least see some sign of the clocks jumping to that boost speed, but it never exceeded 1000MHz.
Silly question: can you power up that mini pc with a gan usbc charger? I am wondering if my ugreen 100w charger could power my phone and this pc together…
@@lbenegas So as I understand it, it has to put out 12 volts as one of the option, and this mini PC says the charger is 12v 3A. I've seen some chargers that advertise this voltage and amperage spec, and others that don't. I will update this again when I've actually confirmed this works with a normal charger that advertises 12v 3A
edit: I finally bought a regular USB-C charger. It lists 12v 3A as one of the available charging specs and the mini PC powers up when plugged into it. I will say to watch out because this and most other USB-C chargers I've tested briefly shut off power every time a new accessory is plugged/unplugged from the charger. So let's say I have my mini PC and my iPad both plugged in, and I unplug my iPad, then my mini PC is going to lose power and shut down.
@@lbenegas Ok I used a 12v 3A USB-C charger and it worked to power the mini PC. Updated my other comment with my experiences with it.
Thank you for this, very detailed review
Thank for the disassembly. I will re-peaste it with ARCTIC MX-4, i hope i will have less spikes with that (right now during a game sometimes the cpu is above 90C, and a the frame rate is dropped for a few sec.
Good luck, hope it works for you. This isn't the best choice for gaming, but will do OK with older games.
@@htwingnut Thanks, i have a gaming pc, but i love to play with these budget SoCs :D
@@Twiszted Same! I always find it interesting how these compact devices can actually manage gaming, even if older titles.
Mine sits around 77°C during stress test after repaste
Great video, very detailed!