Beelink GTR5 Review – An AMD Ryzen 9 mini PC tested with Windows 11, Ubuntu 20.04

Beelink GT5 Review AMD Ryzen 9 mini PC

Beelink’s GTR5 is their most powerful mini PC to date and has been released as part of their ‘GT’ series of slightly larger mini PCs that are notable for expandable storage configurations together with multiple ports and characterized by the inclusion of a fingerprint scanner. Featuring an AMD Ryzen 9 mobile processor with Radeon Graphics, Beelink kindly sent one for review and I’ve looked at performance running both Windows and Ubuntu. Hardware Overview The Beelink GTR5 physically consists of a 168 x 120 x 39mm (6.61 x 4.72 x 1.54 inches) rectangular metal case. As an actively cooled mini PC, it uses AMD’s ‘Zen 3’ Ryzen 9 5900HX processor which is an eight-core 16-thread 3.3 GHz mobile processor boosting up to 4.6 GHz together with Radeon Graphics. The front panel has an illuminated power button, a ‘CLR CMOS’ button, a USB 3.1 port, a Type-C USB 3.1 port, and a […]

CHUWI LarkBox X mini PC is powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 3700U mobile processor

Chuwi Larkbox X

CHUWI LarkBox X is an affordable mini PC based on a 15W AMD Ryzen 7 3700U mobile processor coupled with 8GB of RAM, a 256GB NVMe SSD, dual Gigabit Ethernet, 4K video output, and more. Contrary to the earlier Celeron-based LarkBox and LarkBox Pro palm-sized mini PCs, the LarkBox X comes with a larger form factor providing additional ports and possibly better cooling for the more performant AMD processor. LarkBox X specifications: SoC – AMD Ryzen 7 3700U quad-core/eight-thread processor @ 2.30GHz / 4.0GHz (Turbo) with Radeon RX Vega 10 Graphics; 15W TDP System Memory – 8GB DDR4, dual channels via 2x 260-pin DDR4 SO-DIMMs (upgradeable up to 32GB RAM) Storage – 256GB NVMe M.2 2280 SSD (PCIe 3.0) upgradable up to 2TB Video Output 1x HDMI 2.0 up to 4Kp60 1x DisplayPort up to 4Kp60 1x USB Type -C up to 4Kp30 with DisplayPort Alt. mode Three independent displays […]

LIVA Q3 Plus pocket-sized AMD Ryzen Embedded mini PC sells for $242 and up

ECS LIVA Q3 Plus pocket-sized mini PC

ECS LIVA Q3 Plus is another one of those pocket-sized mini PC’s we’ve seen in the past like the ECS LIVA Q2, Chuwi Larkbox, GMK NucBox, and others. Most of those mini PCs are based on Intel Apollo Lake or Gemini Lake mini PC, but LIVA Q3 Plus comes with a twist as it is powered by a 15W AMD Ryzen Embedded V1605B or R1505G processor making it, according to the Taiwanese company, the world’s smallest 15W AMD mini PC. ECS LIVA Q3 Plus specifications: SoC (one or the other) AMD Ryzen Embedded V1605B quad-core processor @ 2.0GHz up to 3.6GHz; TDP: 15W AMD Ryzen Embedded R1505G dual-core processor @ 2.4GHz up to 3.3GHz; TDP: 15W System Memory – 4GB or 8GB DDR4 2400 MT/s Storage – 64GB or 128GB eMMC  flash, MicroSD card slot Video Output 1x HDMI 2.0 port up to 4Kp60Hz with CEC function 1x mini DisplayPort […]

AMD Ryzen V1000/R1000 Mini-ITX board is made for game arcades, slot machines

Axiomtek GMB140 Ryzen R1000/V1000 mini-ITX board

Axiomtek GMB140 is a compact Mini-ITX motherboard powered by AMD Ryzen Embedded V1000/R1000 processor and mostly designed for gaming applications, as well as medical imaging, interactive kiosks, control rooms, and video surveillance. But when we’re not talking about your kids playing games at home here, but instead slot machines, arcade systems, and electronic gaming machines (EGM) powered by the GMB140 board with a PCIe interface for gaming I/O modules, and optional support for a 9-bit serial port for the SAS 6.02 protocol. Axiomtek GMB140 mini-ITX board specifications: SoC – AMD Ryzen Embedded V1000/R1000 quad-/dual-core “Zen” processor with Radeon Vega graphics either: AMD Ryzen Embedded V1807 w/ VEGA 11 graphics AMD Ryzen Embedded V1756 w/ VEGA 8 graphics AMD Ryzen Embedded V1605 w/ VEGA 8 graphics AMD Ryzen Embedded V1202 w/ VEGA 3 graphics AMD Ryzen Embedded R1606 w/ VEGA 3 graphics AMD Ryzen Embedded R1505 w/ VEGA 3 graphics System […]

Using MangoHud to check FPS, CPU & GPU usage on a ‘hackendeck’

MangoHud

Previously I followed Valve’s documentation to build a ‘hackendeck’ using a mini PC to emulate their highly anticipated Steam Deck. Interestingly the ‘hackendeck’ uses a Linux OS, specifically Manjaro, as whilst Valve based their earlier version of Steam OS on Debian, they have now switched to being based on Arch. If the ‘hackendeck’ had just been Steam on Windows then to review gaming performance I’d just use MSI Afterburner. Until now, however, for Linux, I’ve always had to estimate the average FPS as I’ve not been aware of a good reliable equivalent. Fortunately several ‘commenters’ recommended using MangoHud, a Linux open-source Vulkan/OpenGL overlay for monitoring FPS, CPU/GPU usage, and temperatures similar to MSI Afterburner. So now I’ve been able to capture the average frame rate for the games I previously tested and I’ll present them below. MangoHud Installation and configuration The installation of MangoHud was extremely simple. First I installed […]

Beelink SER3 Review – A good AMD Ryzen 7 mini PC… after tweaks

Beelink SER3 Review

Beelink has just launched a new mini PC called the SER3. It is another ‘new’ mini PC using an older CPU, in this case, an AMD mobile processor. However, the performance is surprisingly good once a few tweaks are made to the stock configuration. Beelink kindly sent one for review and I’ve looked at performance running both Windows and Ubuntu together with using an eGPU. Hardware Overview The SER3 physically consists of a 126 x 113 x 40mm (4.96 x 4.45 x 1.57 inches) square metal case. As an actively cooled mini PC, it uses AMD’s older 12 nm Zen+ Ryzen 7 3750H Picasso processor which is a quad-core 8-thread 2.3 GHz mobile processor boosting to 4.0 GHz with Radeon RX Vega 10 Graphics. The front panel has an illuminated power button, dual USB 3.0 ports, a Type-C USB 3.0 port with Alternate Mode, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a […]

iBASE MI989 – 5G-ready Ryzen V2000 Mini-ITX motherboard offers PCIe x16 & M.2 expansion

iBASE MI989

We’ve written about Ryzen Embedded V2000 mini-ITX motherboards in the past, but here’s another one with iBASE MI989 equipped with four 4K-capable DisplayPort 1.4 video output, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, three M.2 sockets including a 5G-ready M.2 3052 socket, and a PCIe x16 slot for expansion. iBASE MI989 also supports up to 64GB ECC memory, one SATA III port, multiple USB 3.1/2.0 ports, four serial ports, and more, for embedded applications in retail, healthcare, industrial automation, casinos, and smart cities. iBASE MI989 specifications: SoC – AMD Ryzen V2000 Series Processors either: AMD Ryzen Embedded V2748, 8C/16T up to 2.9GHz (4.25GHz) with 4MB cache, 7 CU Radeon Vega graphics; 45W TDP AMD Ryzen Embedded V2718, 8C/16T up to 1.7GHz (4.15GHz), with 4MB cache, 7 CU Radeon Vega graphics; 15W TDP System Memory – Up to 64GB dual-channel DDR4-3200 (ECC/non-ECC) via 2x SODIMM sockets Storage – 1x SATA 3.0 (up to 6GB/s) […]

Low-cost AMD Mini PC offered with AMD 3020e APU or Ryzen R1305 embedded processor

Low-cost AMD Mini PC

While there’s a fair amount of AMD mini PC’s, few target the low-cost segment of the market. Maxtang MTN-FP50 offers a cheaper option with either AMD 3020e dual-core APU or AMD Ryzen Embedded R1305 dual-core processor, and pricing starting at around $250 shipped with 4GB RAM and 128GB storage. The mini PC is equipped with two HDMI ports for dual 4K monitor setups, Gigabit Ethernet, five USB 3.0/2.0 ports, and can be upgraded in various ways thanks to SO-DIMM sockets for up to 64GB RAM, M.2 socket for SSD, SATA port for a 2.5-inch drive, and another M.2 slot for the wireless module. Maxtang MTN-FP50 specifications: SoC Mobile processor – AMD 3020E APU with 2-core/2-thread processor @ 1.2GHz / 2.6 GHz (Max Boost frequency, 3x CU Radeon Vega 3 graphics @ 1.0 GHz ; 6W TDP (The manufacturer offers optional AMD 2500U or 3500U 15W processor) Embedded processor – AMD […]