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August 15, 2026August 15, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

GEEKOM IT13 Max Review – Part 3: Ubuntu 26.04 on an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H mini computer

GEEKOM IT13 Max Mini PC review Ubuntu 26.04 Linux

We’ve already checked out the hardware with an unboxing and a teardown of the GEEKOM IT13 Max in the first part of the review, before testing the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H mini PC with Windows 11, so it’s now time to test Linux on the mini computer using Ubuntu 26.04. In this review, we will report our experience running Ubuntu 26.04 on the GEEKOM IT13 Max, after going through feature testing, running system benchmarks and AI benchmarks on the CPU, GPU, and NPU, checking out storage and USB performance, testing 2.5GbE and WiFi 6/7, stress testing the mini PC, and measuring the Meteor Lake mini PC’s fan noise and power consumption. Installing Ubuntu 26.04 We installed Ubuntu 26.04 alongside Windows 11 in dual boot configuration. We first shrank the Windows partition (C:) size by approximately half, before inserting a USB flash drive with Ubuntu 26.04 to start the installation […]

August 11, 2026August 15, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

GEEKOM IT13 Max review – Part 2: An Intel Core Ultra 9 185H mini PC tested with Windows 11 Pro (in 2026)

We previously checked out the hardware of the GEEKOM IT13 Max mini PC with an unboxing and a teardown of the 16-core Intel Core Ultra 9 185H mini PC in the first part of the review, before booting it up to Windows 11 Pro. We’ve now had time to test it in more detail. So we will report our experience with the GEEKOM IT13 Max on Windows 11 Pro, covering feature testing, system performance benchmarks, AI benchmarks, YouTube 4K and 8K video playback in Firefox, 2.5GbE and Wi-Fi 6 network performance testing, and thermal performance, as well as measurements of fan noise and power consumption. Since we had already reviewed the GEEKOM GT1 Mega mini PC with the same Intel Meteor Lake CPU in 2024, we’ll compare the results to report any improvements or regressions since then. Software Overview and Feature Testing The System->About window confirms we have an “IT13_Max” […]

July 19, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Beelink EQi 304 review – Part 3: Ubuntu 26.04 on a Wildcat Lake mini PC

Beelink EQi Wildcat Lake mini PC Ubuntu 26.04 review

After checking out the hardware with an unboxing and a teardown of the Beelink EQi Wildcat Lake mini PC, we reviewed the Intel Core 3 304 computer with Windows 11 in detail. We’ve now had time to test the Beelink EQi mini PC running Ubuntu 26.04 with Linux 7.0/7.1 kernels. We’ll report our experience with feature testing, benchmark results, 2.5GbE, 10GbE, and WiFi 6 networking evaluation, storage and USB/Thunderbolt tests, and more, including power consumption measurements. Ubuntu 26.04 installation and system information I’d usually resize the Windows partition to install Ubuntu alongside it in dual boot configuration. However, since the Beelink EQi mini PC also comes with two PCIe Gen4 x1/x2 sockets, I installed Ubuntu 26.04 on a 256GB NVMe (PCIe Gen3 x4) SSD fitted into the PCIe x2 socket and left the Windows 11 partition on the UFS storage alone. Despite the Intel Core 3 304 chip being a […]

July 12, 2026July 19, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Beelink EQi review – Part 2: An Intel Core 3 304 “Wildcat Lake” mini PC tested with Windows 11 Pro

Beelink EQi Wildcat Lake Core 3 304 Windows 11 mini PC review

We’ve already checked out the specifications and hardware of the Beelink EQi Wildcat Lake mini PC in the first part of the review, with an unboxing and a teardown, before booting the mini PC into the pre-installed Windows 11 Pro for a first quick look. We’ve now had time to test the Intel Core 3 304 mini PC in more detail on Windows 11 Pro, so we’ll report our experience. The review includes feature testing, benchmark results, 4K and 8K YouTube video playback, 10GbE, 2.5GbE, and WiFi network performance evaluation, cooling performance, and measurement of fan noise and power consumption. Software Overview and Feature Testing After fully updating Windows 11 Pro and drivers to the latest version (excluding previews), I went to System > About window again. We still have a 1.50 GHz (base frequency) Intel Core 3 304 processor with 16GB 6400MT/s memory, and 834GB of storage from the […]

June 27, 2026July 19, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

GEEKOM A7 2026 Edition Review – Part 3: Ubuntu 26.04 on an AMD Ryzen 5 7545U mini PC

GEEKOM A7 2026 Edition Review Ubuntu 26.04 Linux

We’ve just reviewed the GEEKOM A7 2026 Edition mini PC on Windows 11 after having checked out the hardware with an unboxing and a teardown in the first part of the review. We’ve now had time to review the AMD Ryzen 5 7545U mini PC on Linux using Ubuntu 26.04 distribution. The Ubuntu 26.04 review includes feature testing, benchmarks, storage and networking (2.5GbE and WiFi 6) tests, and measurements of CPU temperature under stress, fan noise levels, and power consumption of the mini PC under various workloads. Ubuntu 26.04 installation We decided to install Ubuntu 26.04 alongside Windows 11 in dual boot configuration. To do so, we shrank the Windows (C:) partition to approximately half its size. We then inserted a USB drive flashed with the Ubuntu 26.04 ISO and began the installation process by entering the BIOS and selecting the drive. From there, the installation went smoothly, and we got […]

June 22, 2026July 11, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

GEEKOM A7 2026 Edition Review – Part 2: AMD Ryzen 5 7545U Mini PC tested with Windows 11 Pro

GEEKOM A7 2026 Edition Windows 11 Pro review

We have already checked out the GEEKOM A7 2026 Edition mini PC’s hardware with an unboxing and a teardown in the first part of the review, before quickly trying the pre-installed Windows 11 Pro. We’ve now had time to test the AMD Ryzen 5 7545U mini PC more thoroughly in Windows 11, and we’ll report our experience, including feature testing, benchmark results, 4K and 8K YouTube video playback, 2.5GbE and WiFi 6E network performance evaluation, and cooling performance, as well as fan noise and power consumption measurements. Software Overview and Feature Testing – GEEKOM A7 2026 Edition The System > About window confirms we have an A7 computer equipped with a 3.2 GHz (base frequency) AMD Ryzen 5 7545U processor with Radeon 740M graphics, 16 GB of RAM, and 466 GB of storage preloaded with Windows 11 Pro 25H2. HWiNFO 64 provides additional details about the AMD Ryzen 5 7545U […]

June 8, 2026June 11, 2026 by Sponsored Post - No Comments

GEEKOM A6 AMD Ryzen 7 6800H Mini PC is now off by 20% for a limited time (Sponsored)

The GEEKOM A6 mini PC, pairing an AMD Ryzen 7 6800H octa-core CPU with up to 16GB DDR5 and a 1TB SSD, is now offered at a 20% discount, dropping the price to $479 from $599 MSRP. This promotional price is expected to be lower than the A6’s pricing during the June 2026 Prime Day event, making it the best time to buy. To enjoy the discount on the Windows 11 Pro mini PC, simply enter the coupon code CNXGKA620 on the GEEKOM store or Amazon before June 21. Here’s a reminder of the GEEKOM A6 specifications: SoC – AMD Ryzen 7 6840HS 8-core/16-thread processor up to 3.2 GHz / 4.7GHz (Turbo) with 16MB L3 cache, AMD Radeon 680M Graphics; TDP: 45W System Memory – 16GB dual-channel DDR5-4800 via SODIMM sockets Storage 1TB NVMe 2280 SSD via M.2 Key-M socket (PCIe x4 Gen 4 or SATA) M.2 Key-B socket (SATA […]

May 9, 2026May 9, 2026 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Review of Rikomagic DS08 Android 13 digital signage player

Rikomagic has sent me a sample of their DS08 digital signage player for review. It’s based on a Rockchip RK3588 SoC paired with 8GB of RAM and a 128GB eMMC flash, and offers two HDMI 2.1 ports, gigabit Ethernet, WiFi 6, and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity, as well as several USB ports, optical S/PDIF audio output, and more. I was initially not sure I could receive a sample, as Thailand is pretty strict with licenses for this type of hardware, but Rikomagic told us that it would not be a problem when using DDP (delivered duty paid), and the courier handles all paperwork. And indeed we did receive the parcel without issue. Since Rockchip RK3588 is now a mature platform, we won’t run benchmarks in this review, but instead go through an unboxing and a teardown, and focus on digital signage features such as video playback, RTC support, and display orientation […]