REVIEW – Mini PC’s are seemingly increasingly widespread, judging from the sheer quantity of latest fashions dropping yearly. We’ve reviewed a minimum of a few dozen of them right here at The Gadgeteer, they usually’re helpful for all kinds of purposes, from common house PC use to media modifying to gaming and every part in between. The Geekom AE7 mini PC I’m reviewing right this moment lands on the upper finish of the mini PC spectrum with a robust CPU and first rate GPU, a minimum of on paper. Precise actual world efficiency will closely depend upon the power of this mini PC to take care of warmth, so with out additional ado…
What’s it?
The Geekom AE7 mini PC is a mini PC that provides loads of computing energy for gaming and video modifying or information heavy duties. It appears like Geekom goes to supply totally different configurations, however it seems that all will rock the AMD Ryzen™ 9 7940HS 8-core processor paired with an AMD Radeon™ 780M graphics processor. The model despatched to me to evaluate included a 1 TB SSD and 32 Gigs of RAM.
What’s included?
- Geekom AE7 mini PC
- AC energy provide
- VESA mount
Tech specs
Click on to broaden
- AMD Ryzen™ 9 7940HS | 8 cores/16 threads | 5.2 GHz max increase clock | 16 MB L3 cache
- AMD Radeon™ 780M Graphics | RDNA 3 | 2.7 GHz
- Twin-channel DDR5 5600MT/s, as much as 64GB (32GB as examined)
- M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 4 x 4 SSD, as much as 2TB (1TB as examined)
- Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth® 5.2, LAN 2.5 Gbps
- Home windows 11 Professional
- Dimensions: 112 x 112 x 37 mm (4.4 x 4.4 x 1.5 inches)
- Weight: 450 grams
- Entrance Ports: 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Sort-A, 3.5 mm audio
- Rear Ports: 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Sort-A, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Sort-C, 1 x USB 4 Gen3 Sort-C (40 Gbps), 1 x USB 2.0 Sort-A, 2 x HDMI 2.0, RJ45 (as much as 2.5 Gbps), Energy enter
- Facet SD card reader
- Kensington Lock
Design and options
The surface of the Geekom AE7 mini PC is a pleasant silver shade with rounded edges. The entrance sports activities a pair of USB 3.0 kind A ports and a 3.5 mm headphones/audio-out port subsequent to an influence button with LED gentle indicator.
On the left facet of the gadget we’ve got air flow ports and a full sized SD card reader.
The again of the unit has beneficiant connectivity for such a small type issue. From left to proper and high to backside, we’ve got: DC energy enter, USB 4 Gen 3 Sort C, HDMI 2.0, RJ45 2.5 Gbps ethernet port, USB 3.2 gen 2 kind A, USB 2.0 kind A, USB 3.2 Gen 2 kind C, and HDMI 2.0. The USB-C ports do assist DisplayPort enter.
On the suitable facet we’ve got extra air flow and a Kensington lock port.
The underside of the gadget consists of a detachable metallic plate which is eliminated by unscrewing the 4 mixture screws and rubber toes. A VESA plate included within the field permits for mounting the PC on the again of a monitor or another stand or mounting plate you’d like, so long as it’s VESA sized.
Eradicating the underside is simple, and there’s no cables to fret about like on some mini PCs. There’s quick access to the RAM and SSD slot, and it appears like there’s room for a 2.5” laborious drive on the underside plate itself, however I’m not seeing any apparent connection on the motherboard for a tough drive. It is perhaps hidden beneath one thing, I didn’t pull anything out.
Meeting, Set up, Setup
Setup is as straightforward as plugging in your monitor, mouse, and keyboard. Home windows Skilled 11 is preinstalled and I didn’t discover something out of the odd by way of info gathered or preinstalled apps.
Malware Scan
I scanned this mini PC instantly after setup (and Home windows Updates) utilizing Microsoft Defender’s full disk deep scan characteristic. No threats had been discovered.
Efficiency
I ran Geekom AE7 mini PC by way of a number of gaming and video modifying benchmarks, with respectable scores throughout the board (a minimum of for brief bursts). When a heavy load taxed each the CPU and GPU (similar to with Complete Conflict: Warhammer III) the mini PC would thermal throttle after 20 seconds or so after which run at a ~20-30% diminished pace. Video games had been nonetheless very playable (and most laptops/mini-PCs thermal throttle to some extent), nevertheless it’s one thing to concentrate on. The fan was quieter than most laptops I’ve used, even beneath heavy load. Possibly if Geekom used the next RPM fan we’d see a bit higher efficiency at the price of extra fan noise.
Lighter video games like Fortnite and Roblox ran at 100+ FPS, so the Geekom AE7 may be very able to taking part in almost something at 1080P, although you may need to tweak settings to decrease ranges for the most recent AAA video games. The 780M graphics card is roughly 25% quicker within the 3DMark Timespy benchmark than the earlier gen 680M that I reviewed on the Geekom AS6. In Cinebench, the processor was about 25% quicker as nicely.
For common use, the {hardware} is greater than sufficient for most individuals. Throughout internet searching, media consumption, and common workplace productiveness work this mini-PC felt buttery quick. The 32 gigs of reminiscence does a terrific job dealing with RAM-intensive applications or the handfuls of browser tabs you would possibly throw at it.
The networking card on this PC appears glorious, it related to my wi-fi router and maxed out my ISP speeds (1 Gigabit fiber) over WiFi.
What I like in regards to the Geekom AE7 mini PC
- Good all-around {hardware} for many customers wants
- Quick access to SSD and RAM, person upgradeable
- Small footprint and VESA mount included within the field
- Good IO choices, together with USB4
What must be improved?
- Thermals could possibly be higher, beneath full load it undoubtedly throttles slower
Closing ideas
After reviewing the Geekom AE7 mini PC, I plan on changing my present media server with this PC. The highly effective processor, ample RAM, and first rate GPU ought to simply deal with a number of 4K streams to family and friends. As an added bonus, I can simply seize this and use it as an additional gaming PC for LAN recreation nights with niblings or mates. I’ll tear into the cooling system and re-paste issues sooner or later as that appears to be the weakest a part of this bundle. I’ll replace the evaluate if I get the time for that undertaking sometime!
Value: $699 for the configuration examined
The place to purchase: Geekom and Amazon (Save 5% with code: GKGADGAE7)
Supply: The pattern of this product was supplied without cost by Geekom. Geekom didn’t have a closing say on the evaluate and didn’t preview the evaluate earlier than it was revealed.
