ReviewsSystems

Minisforum UM690 (6900HX) Review

Today the UM690 follows up on our previous reviews of Minisforum mini PCs.  Unlike the previous two reviews, we now have RDNA2 graphics and Zen 3+ CPU cores, which should offer a significant uptick in performance across the board.  As you may recall from the UM480 review, I was not particularly impressed with the chassis that Minisforum picked for that PC.  That chassis makes an appearance again today with the UM690, albeit with a more powerful 120W power supply.  Keeping in previous themes of comparing these mini PC’s with equivalent ITX APU builds, I will be benchmarking the UM690 against …
ReviewsSystems

Minisforum UM480 (4800U) Review

Recently we took a look at the HM90 mini PC, today we’re taking a look at a smaller, cheaper, and probably less powerful UM480 from Minisforum.  Minisforum released this last fall, but it was overshadowed by bigger news such as the UM690.  It shares the same design, but it is built to a much lower budget.  Despite this, it might be possible that it matches the HM90 we reviewed earlier, as it does have TDP limits unlocked in BIOS. SPECS & PORTS Like the HM90, the UM480 is using a 4000 series Ryzen mobile processor.  The chassis is smaller than …
ReviewsSystems

Minisforum HM90 (4900h) Review

Over the next few months I will be releasing a series of Mini PC reviews.  Today I’m starting with one that I’ve been sitting on for awhile, over a year in fact.  It is the Minisforum HM90, powered by a somewhat dated but still powerful Ryzen R9 4900H mobile APU.  Like most mini PC’s, this means you cannot upgrade the CPU, but you can upgrade the RAM, SSD, and WiFi card.  PC’s like the HM90 are quite a bit smaller than even the smallest ITX builds, and could easily be mistaken for something like a Thunderbolt dock.  While the HM90 …
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AMD’s Ryzen 7000X3D Series to Launch on February 28, Prices Revealed

Source: TechPowerup Two thirds of the next generation of AMD’s X3D processors will be available at retail on February 28. If you are (somewhat) budget minded, you’ll have to wait until April 6th – a significant wait and likely AMD cashing in on early adopters. The first batch start at US$599, and the base CPU is priced at US$449 MSRP. The 5800X3D was a formidable processor, so we’re excited to see how this new Zen-4 based series performs. The ‘base’ model, the 7800X3D is a 8 core, 16 thread chip, with a base clock of 4.2GHz, boost up to 5 …
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Lower Cost, AMD A620 Chipset Boards Coming Soon

Source: TechPowerup As part of the AMD CES Keynote this year, AMD’s A620 chipset was unofficially paper launched (“entry-level AM5 motherboards”), promising cheaper boards, hoping to sway folks building new systems over to the new AM5 platform. Moving to AM5 from an existing older system is relatively cost prohibitive, with no DDR4 support and pricier processors. AMD hopes this bottom end chipset will help lower the barrier to entry. A620 is quite different from B650, with no overclocking, fewer PCIe Gen 3 lanes, and no PCIe Gen 5 lanes for GPU and M.2 slots. I do wonder if undervolting will …
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MINISFORUM HX99G 6900HX + RX 6600M Mini PC Launched

Press Release: When an article is marked as such, it is posted verbatim from a Manufacturer’s text, and does not reflect the views or opinions of SFF.Network.  Minisforum introduced a new variant called HX99G in its Neptune portfolio today. It is an upgraded version of the first member, the HX90G (5900HX processor + RX6600M GPU), which was announced in May 2022 before going up for sale in September 2022. The Neptune HX99G looks practically identical to the HX90G. Measuring 205 x 203 x 69 mm (8.1″ x 8″ x 2.7″), both models feature 45 watts, 8-cores/16-threads graphics and the same …
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Thermalright’s SI-100 Is An All-White (and RGB) CPU Cooler

Thermalright, a long standing player in the cooling market, has released a new cooler – the SI-100. This top-down cooler eschews the usual dark or metallic aesthetic for a bright while coating. If you’re building a system in a lighter colour scheme, this could be a good choice for you. With a 120 x 25mm aRGB fan (as always, RGB can be turned off), this is a valid cooling choice for today’s… toasty… processors. Speaking of this, the cooler supports Intel’s LGA115x, 1200, 1700, 2011 and 2066 platforms, as well as AMD’s AM4 and AM5. Overall, the cooler measures in …
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AMD to Refrain From Using 12HVPWR Connector for RX 7000 Cards

With the impending clusterf*ck of the 12HVPWR connector situation on NVIDIA’s current generation cards, it’s good to hear that AMD will be refraining from using the aforementioned connector on the RX7000 series. In a tweet from industry veteran Kyle Bennett, we have confirmation that neither AMD, nor their AIB partners, will use the connector. After the @NVIDIAGeForce melting drama, I have verified through multiple sources that @Radeon Navi 31 ref cards will NOT use the 12VHPWR power adapter, and I could not verify any AIBs using 12VHPWR on N31 either. Picture in case you don't know what a smoked 12VHPWR …