Chatreey AM08 Pro (Ryzen 9 7940HS) mini PC review – Part 1: unboxing, teardown, and first run

Chatreey AM08 Pro (also known as AM08pro) is a mini PC based on AMD Ryzen 7940HS CPU with up to 64GB dual-channel DDR5 RAM, one PCIe Gen 4×4 M.2 2280 SSD socket, one SATA3 2.5” drive, WiFi 6E (8852BE) and Bluetooth 5.2, also 2.5GbE Ethernet, a full-fledged Type-C USB port, a 3.5mm audio jack and 4x USB 3.0 porta.

I have bought AM08 Pro from Aliexpress with an AMD Ryzen 7940HS (8C/16T, 4.0GHz up to 5.2 GHz), 16GB DDR5 RAM (2x8GB), and 512GB SSD. The review will be done following the usual procedure with the first part listing the specifications, checking out the package content, tearing down the system, and giving it a first try, before testing it more thoroughly with the pre-installed Windows 11 and Ubuntu 22.04 in the next parts.

AM08 Pro specifications

Model AM08 Pro
CPU AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS (8 Cores, 16 Threads, 16MB Cache, 3.2 GHz~ 4.75 GHz)
AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS (8 Cores, 16 Threads, 16MB Cache, 4.0 GHz~ 5.2 GHz)
GPU Integrated AMD Radeon Graphics 680M for 6900HX

Integrated AMD Radeon Graphics 780M for 7940HS

Memory Dual-channel DDR5-4800 SODIMM, up to 64GB
Storage 1x M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 4×4 SSD
1x 2.5” 7mm SATA HDD\SSD
Display 2x HDMI 2.0 ports
1x Thunderbolt 4/USB4 port
Up to three independent displays
Audio 3.5mm audio jack
Ethernet Realtek 2.5GbE LAN (VEN_10EC&DEV_8125)
Wireless Realtek 8852BE (Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2)
USB 4x USB 3.2 Gen1, 1x USB4 Type-C
Misc Kensington lock slot,
Power Supply 19V/6.3A via DC jack
Dimensions 54.3mm x 77.8mm x 77.8mm
Weight 836g
Price Highly varies depending on the country (because of AliExpress and taxes)

Unboxing

The mini PC comes with a 119.7W power adapter, an HDMI cable, and a generic user manual. Since the form factor of this mini PC doesn’t include the ability to be mounted, there is no need for a VESA mount.

AM08pro boxAM08 Content of the box

The front side has a power button, a rotary encoder to set the performance mode, a USB4 Type-C port, 2x USB 3.2 Type-A ports, and a 3.5mm combo jack for audio, while the rear panel comes with 2x USB 3.2 (Type A), 2x HDMI, a DC barrel and an RJ45 connector.

AM08 Front and back sides
Front and back views

The left panel has ventilation holes and the right panel can be taken off to get access to two SO-DIMM sockets, one M.2 socket, and one 2.5-inch SATA slot.

AM08 pro left side internal
Right side – 2x SO-DIMM, 1x M.2, and 1x 2.5″ SATA slot.

AM08 Pro Teardown

I already own the AMR5 that was torn down to this point (btw it’s still working even 1 year later, and I do take him everywhere with me since I’m using him + portable screen + power bank as UPS instead of notebook):

AMR5 teardown

 

The whole process is easy, you need to unscrew the screws marked as red and apply a bit of force with a flat screwdriver on the green zone (but just a bit).

AM08 pro teardown

 

The back of the motherboard itself has a LOT of free space, so there is enough space for a second M.2 slot, and I’m personally disappointed by the SATA slot. As expected the front side is taken by massive coolers (yeah, there are actually two coolers).

AM08pro dissemble 3

So the main purpose of this teardown – is it possible to carry just the motherboard and power AM08 with a 100W PD or does it require too much power and its size is too big? The answer for this will be in part 3 of the review with Ubuntu and a bit of a bonus using ESXi 8.0.

BIOS

The BIOS itself is typical for a mini PC with a few debug options, some of which are shown below.

The Main screen shows BIOS information, CPU information, memory information, and a few default strings since no one cares about actually filling them.

AM08pro BIOS 1
Main

The Advanced tab shows options for TPM/DTPM Computing (since well, you can’t actually have Windows 11 without a TPM module inside), and for this mini PC, the TPM is inside the CPU.

AM08pro BIOS 2
Advanced

The only interesting options are AMD CBS since it allows you to select what to do on AC power loss and how much memory should be reserved for the GPU.

AM08 BIOS AMD CBS
AMD CBS

AM08pro BIOS south bridge north bridge

The Chipset section has only two options:

  • South Bridge, where there is only one option SB USB configuration that allows to control XHCIO for every port.
  • North Bridge, where there is only one option – Socket 0 Information that shows current memory topology

AM08pro BIOS 4

The boot – is well, just used to select from where you will boot and whether to enable the Fast & Quiet boot option. Sadly, there’s no CMS support for a Windows 7 install like it was available in the AMR5 mini PC.

First run

After connecting an RF dongle for a wireless keyboard and mouse, I powered the device for the first time and went through the usual Windows 11 Pro wizard selecting the language, and then I discovered that you can’t skip Network connection any longer, which I prefer to skip, so I pressed Shift + F10 and run the following command: oobe\BypassNRO. In case you want to connect to the network – the drivers are already there for the pre-installed images.

After I finished installation – I have checked System->About:

AM08pro Windows 11
System – About

The Windows was activated by VOLUME_MAK key, as any other Mini PC with preinstalled software.

AM08pro Windows 11 license

But oh well, since this Windows is installed on a Gen3 NVMe SSD – which doesn’t allow me to test Gen4 M.2 – Windows will be reinstalled. Spoiler – for a PCIe Gen4  SSD you WILL need a heatsink, and the Windows 11 license was reactivated successfully after reinstallation.

Continue reading:

  1. Chatreey AM08 Pro (Ryzen 9 7940HS) mini PC review – Part 2: Windows 11 Pro
  2. Chatreey AM08 Pro (Ryzen 9 7940HS) mini PC review – Part 3: Ubuntu 22.04 and ESXi 7.0U3c
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6 Comments
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Bart Cleymans
Bart Cleymans
11 months ago

Really curious for this platform as a home server for virtualizing/containerizing services.
Especially the stability compared to the reports about the Minisforum counterparts.

Richard Crook
Richard Crook
11 months ago

You write, “I’m personally disappointed by the SATA slot.”

I do not understand this statement as there is no explanation.

Why did you take it personally and be disappointed by the SATA slot?

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)
Admin

The text before provides some contexts “so there is enough space for a second M.2 slot, and I’m personally disappointed by the SATA slot”. As I understand it, he’d like to have a second M.2 slot instead of a 2.5-inch SATA slot.

Richard Crook
Richard Crook
11 months ago

Thank you for the clarification.

Sorry for the further dumb question but would the motherboard specific to this model actual support a second M2 NVMe rather than just a SATA disk?

Vladislav
Vladislav
11 months ago

Hello,
The chip itself have 20 lines pcie 4.0, which is more than enough for 2x m.2 (there is actually enough lines for even 4 m.2 slot, since communication between cpu and motherboard takes 4 lines).

Even amr5 which is based on 5600U have 2x m.2, but in case of am08 the problem is link integrity and heat from m.2, even one m.2 without heatsink were going like 71 degree centigrade (with heatsink – 50), but it’s still disappointment for me that pcie slot were replaced with sata

Richard Crook
Richard Crook
11 months ago

Thank you so much for the answer to my question and for your explanation.

It is good to know about the heating effect (and thus a limiting facet) of the M2 solid state disk.

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