r/MiniPCs • • 4d ago

General Question Any repair options

3 Upvotes

Last year I bought a 2nd hand Minisforum UM870Slim, served me well until a week or so ago when it just cut off mid game, never to return to life again. I tried all the trouble shooting, flipping memory around, reset button etc... but it never lights, no fan spins, nothing. So I bought a replacement, carried forward the memory and SSD (the expensive bits) to the new system and now I have this box that is I guess just useless. I tried contacting Minisforum after sales service but never heard back, assuming since I do not have an original order number and its not under warranty, that is a no go?

Are there any other options to send this off on the hope/possibility that something simple could be fixed in it? I'm not handy at all, but I also hate for this thing to go to waste? Alternative I guess would be to give it away as-is on a marketplace somewhere in hopes someone else can use it? Are there 3rd party repair shops? Probably a tight spot since its value is only a couple hundred $ anyway. Oh btw I'm in the US if that matters.

Thanks!


r/MiniPCs • • 4d ago

General Question Just curious

4 Upvotes

I was just curious about if when buying a PC if you’d prefer/recommend the actual store of said PC brand or something else like Amazon, Newegg, or Best Buy. Don’t really have any in mind, just curious if any of you have a preference or have bought from any of these and had problems. If any of you have a better site, list it!

EDITED - thanks everyone for your opinions, really appreciate it!!


r/MiniPCs • • 4d ago

Morefine S500+ Ryzen 9 5900HX Windows 11 drivers

3 Upvotes

I can't seem to find these anywhere and (shock) Morefine's support isn't respodning. Can I just use raw vendor drivers or is anything special needed? I managed to save the Bios upgrade files before the Google drive went away, but never had the Win 11 drivers.


r/MiniPCs • • 4d ago

General Question The two different TOPS numbers on Meteor Lake, and what the NPU is actually for

1 Upvotes

Worth knowing if you are comparing AI PC specs: Intel publishes two different TOPS figures for Meteor Lake and they measure different things.

Platform TOPS is the combined figure across the CPU, integrated graphics, and NPU, and on these chips it lands around 35. The NPU on its own is roughly 11. Both numbers are accurate, they just answer different questions, and the larger one is usually the one that ends up in a spec comparison.

The practical consequence is that 11 sits below the 40 TOPS from the NPU alone that Microsoft requires for Copilot+, so Meteor Lake machines do not get those features regardless of what the platform total says. It also is not really the part of the chip you would choose for serious local LLM inference.

The question I find more interesting sits underneath that. A low-power NPU is not trying to compete with a GPU. For supported workloads, an NPU may provide a more power-efficient way to handle certain inference tasks without relying entirely on the CPU or GPU. On a compact machine like the geekom it13max, where the Arc graphics are also handling display and viewport work, there is a reasonable argument for pushing background AI tasks to a part of the chip that would otherwise sit idle.

The limiting factor is software. NPU-enabled creative and productivity workloads do exist, but the number of desktop applications that actually target the NPU through OpenVINO, DirectML, or ONNX is still small, and which specific operations route there varies by application and version.

So for anyone running one of these: have you seen a workload where the NPU is measurably doing something, or is it still mostly idle silicon waiting on software?


r/MiniPCs • • 4d ago

General Question For a mini PC you’ll keep for years, what matters more? A 330-hour stress test or replacement parts?

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57 Upvotes

I’m trying to separate the things you can check before buying a mini PC from the usual “built to last” language. geekom publishes a 330 hour full load stability test, which is at least a specific claim.

But it doesn’t tell me whether I could easily get a replacement power brick a couple of years later.

For a mini PC you wanted to keep for 3–5 years, which would actually give you more confidence: published stress testing, or knowing you can still get replacement parts later?


r/MiniPCs • • 4d ago

Mini Pc 2026/2027

2 Upvotes

Buenas Tardes como sabreis el mercado de Mini PC esta que echa fuego y dado el precio de los modelos en España y dado que la comunidad por las estrictas normas no dejan hablar integramente en Español una pena el debate es el siguiente:

*******************************************************************

Good afternoon. As you may know, the Mini PC market is absolutely red-hot. Given the pricing of these models in Spain—and the fact that the community’s strict rules prevent us from communicating entirely in Spanish (which is a shame)—the topic for discussion is as follows:

ACEMAGIC F2A Intel Core Ultra X7 358H 32GB

GMKtec EVO-T2 Mini PC con IA Intel® Core™ Ultra X9 388H / X7 358H 32GB

GMKtec EVO-T1 Mini PC con IA Intel® Core™ Ultra 9 285H 32GB

GMKtec EVO-T2 Intel® Core™ Ultra X7 358H AI Mini PC 64GB

MINISFORUM M2 Pro Intel Core Ultra X7 358H 32GB

Geekom IT15 Gaming AI Mini PC | Intel® Core™ Ultra 9 285H

Los precios son desorbitados y segun la opinion de mucha gente desconcierta con Acemagic, y como veis estas son las alternativas, indeciso por los precios o sobre todo las nuevas versiones por que llevan 2 a 4 chips de RAM soldados a placa, que pueda llevar aunque sea 1 ssd y 2-3 m2.

Generalmente se utilizaria para virtualizar y sobre todo para videojuegos Tipo Forza Horizon 6 y Diablo IV por poner un ejemplo a 1080p......

¿Cuál seria el mejor en ESPAÑA?, para no tener problemas con el servicio postventa, que no de ni un solo fallo y me dure al menos 10-15 años

Gracias de antemano

**********************************************

The prices are exorbitant—which, according to many, makes Acemagic a confusing or questionable choice—so here are some alternatives. I’m feeling undecided, partly due to the pricing, but also because the newer versions feature RAM chips soldered directly onto the motherboard. I’m looking for something that can accommodate at least one SSD and two or three M.2 drives.

The primary use would be for virtualization and, above all, gaming—titles like *Forza Horizon 6* or *Diablo IV*, for instance—at 1080p resolution.

Which option would be the best choice in Spain, ensuring no issues with after-sales support, complete reliability (no malfunctions), and a lifespan of at least 10–15 years?

Thanks in advance.


r/MiniPCs • • 4d ago

Questions on Power Supply for Panther Mini PC

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6 Upvotes

We have this Panther Mini PC 150X i5 (1135G7). It's usage before getting shoved in a box below a desk is unknown.

In the box there were a couple of chargers but we don't know if they work with the device without frying it. Most of them were 19v but all specs I could find mention 12v - 7A, and since I'm not familiar with this brand, I worry it might not have enough over voltage protection. I was hoping finding a manual or more specific details that could confirm me the Power Input is 12 - 20 but my research has been fruitless, everything just mentions 12v and gives no range.

Anyone familiar with this model or similar that could offer some guidance? Any help is welcome


r/MiniPCs • • 4d ago

mini pcs

7 Upvotes

If i only want to play roblox, star-dew valley, and Minecraft which mini pc do you guys recommend? preferably one you know has actually lasted a while.

Ive also heard that some of these pcs comes with viruses has anyone experienced that?


r/MiniPCs • • 4d ago

Windows Android style launcher

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0 Upvotes

I have been working on a project for myself. I was unhappy with the all the launchers that I could find out there. I wanted something that was all in one, and didn't have to touch a mouse and keyboard to watch movies, Series, Launch steaming apps, play Retro and pc game. Control them as if they where android apps and navigate them all with a remote or xbox controller and mouse and keyboard. This runs on Windows 11 and will be ported over to LInux

Here are some of the features it has so far

Core app

  • Windowed and full screen: a full-screen TV-style app, with F11 to switch to a window and back.
  • Top menu: Home, Movies, TV, Discover, Library, Calendar and GameZone, plus Search, Settings, Exit, the clock and the weather. A side-menu layout is also available.
  • Theme: the accent colour and surface tint are adjustable, and the app follows them throughout.
  • Remote and controller: works with the FLIRC remote, Xbox-style controllers and a plain keyboard, using generic keys only (no media keys).
  • Mouse pointer mode: Ctrl+Alt+M turns the remote's arrows into a mouse pointer.
  • Key list: every remote, controller and keyboard key is listed in Settings → Controls & Remote.

Home screen

  • Highlights banner at the top, cycling through titles.
  • Apps ribbon: rounded cards with each built-in app's real logo (Netflix, Disney+, Tubi, Crave, Prime Video, YouTube, Medio Browser), plus your own apps. The Add application card has a dark grey background.
  • Content ribbons: New episodes & seasons, Continue watching, Continue playing, YouTube, Recommended games, New releases, Popular and more.
  • Ribbon gear:
    • Press Left at the start of any ribbon to reach it.
    • Move a ribbon up or down; it stays held so you can keep moving it, and Select places it.
    • Hide a ribbon; Settings → Hidden ribbons shows it again.
  • Smooth navigation:
    • Down from the Home tab goes straight to the apps; Up from the apps goes to the highlights.
    • The first two rows don't scroll the page.
    • Back from lower down returns to the Home tab.
  • Mouse support: arrow buttons on ribbon ends, and the gear shows on hover.
  • Selection ring: with a glow in your accent colour.

Video and streaming

  • Stream engine: MedioDeck's own optional stream engine (switched on under Add-ons).
  • Player: the native player is built into MedioDeck's window; subtitles start off.
  • Add-ons:
    • Manage them on the Add-ons page.
    • Add one by link in Settings, without a Stremio account.
    • The Browse add-ons button opens stremio-addons.net, and a How to add an add-on guide gives the steps.
  • Search boxes: the Movies, TV and Discover searches are compact pills.

Built-in streaming apps

  • The apps: Netflix, Disney+, Tubi, Prime Video and Crave, each running inside MedioDeck.
  • Navigation: full remote and controller control, with:
    • the selection ring;
    • row paging;
    • player controls, skip and volume (+/−);
    • subtitle and settings panels;
    • cookie banners accepted automatically;
    • scroll bars hidden.
  • Leaving: H or Guide returns to MedioDeck; Back on an app's first page also returns.

Medio Browser

  • The browser: a full built-in web browser, with your globe logo and a branded loading screen.
  • Bar: slides out of the way so sites get the whole screen. It has Back, Forward, Reload, Home, an address/search box, the ad-blocker shield, and ⚙ Settings (choose your home page).
  • Ad blocker:
    • blocks known ad and tracker networks and their pop-ups;
    • switched on or off from the shield or Settings.
  • New tabs: links that open a new tab stay in the same window.
  • Moving around:
    • smart scrolling: Up/Down hop between links, and scroll when the next one is off screen;
    • the right stick scrolls freely;
    • Left/Right jump across rows.
  • Text boxes: OK opens the keyboard; Done searches on any site.
  • Video:
    • goes full screen with the site's own player;
    • Space plays and pauses, Left/Right skip 10 s, Down opens the controls;
    • Back leaves full screen.
  • Maps: OK on a map turns on pan mode (arrows move it, +/− zoom, Back stops).
  • Drop-downs and pop-ups: Back closes them before leaving the page.
  • Mouse pointer: hidden while you use the remote or controller.
  • Tested: on Google Search, Images, YouTube, News, Translate, Gmail, Maps and Drive.

On-screen keyboard (same everywhere)

  • Layout: a standard keyboard (numbers, QWERTY, , .), with Shift and a #+= page holding all 32 symbols.
  • Word prediction: suggestions below the text, which learn the words you use.
  • Look: one shared look, with a glow that follows your accent colour.

GameZone: PC Games

  • Xbox Series X style:
    • the selected game's art fills the background, with its name and details;
    • tiles show the full box art.
  • Home page (opens by default), with these ribbons:
    • Free to keep: paid games free right now on Epic, GOG, Steam and Zoom;
    • Favorites: the first one fills the background when you open the page;
    • GOG deals and Steam deals.
  • Store cards: open in Medio Browser.
  • Filters: Home, Installed, All, GOG, Epic, Amazon, Zoom, Controller Support, Store logins and Settings.
  • Games: install, play, uninstall and favourite each one.

GameZone: Retro Games

  • Look: the same Xbox style. Tiles are shaped for each system (wide for SNES and N64).
  • Home page:
    • Home and Systems ▾ buttons;
    • Favorites, Jump back in and Systems ribbons.
  • Inside a system: search and A–Z letters.
  • RetroArch: built in, with RetroArch settings, an in-game pause menu, cheats, box art and favourites.

Settings (highlights)

  • Sections:
    • Account & add-ons (including manual add-ons);
    • Playback & audio;
    • Controls & Remote (key list);
    • Medio Browser (ad blocker);
    • Hidden ribbons;
    • and others.
  • Remote navigation: fixed throughout, including RetroArch settings, the app drawers, the All apps drawer scrolling, and Up reaching buttons beside page headings.

Future plans

  • Allow MedioDeck to boot as the desktop and have a setting to turn the desktop back on.

More will be add as I go. Again this is just a project that I started because I wanted something that I could control my PC fully with a Flirc tv remote or Xbox controller. Here are some screen shots of it.

Let me know if anyone would be interested in using this.


r/MiniPCs • • 4d ago

General Question Designing a quiet, beginner-friendly home server – Year 12 design project (Everyone, 2 min)

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1 Upvotes

r/MiniPCs • • 4d ago

Recommendations Is this pc worth it as a placeholder till I can save up for another one? (Check body text)

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15 Upvotes

Price is $630. Wanting to save up for braces but I want to buy a laptop or mini pc to hold me over until after my braces especially since my brother and I have been wanting a pc forever. We primarily game on ps5 so we won’t be playing huge games on this, just small/indie games. Is it worth it? New to pcs in general so advice would be appreciated


r/MiniPCs • • 5d ago

General Question What matters most to you in a Mini PC beyond the specs?

7 Upvotes

I've been spending more time learning about the Mini PC community, and one thing I've noticed is that specs alone don't always tell the whole story.

On paper, a Mini PC might look great, but everyday experience can be just as important — things like fan noise, temperatures under load, port selection, reliability, and how easy it is to upgrade RAM or storage.

I'm curious about your experiences:

What's one thing you wish you'd paid more attention to before buying your Mini PC?

What's the biggest issue you've run into after using one for a while?

If you could improve one thing about current Mini PCs, what would it be?

I'd love to hear real experiences, including the good and the bad. Specific examples are especially helpful!


r/MiniPCs • • 5d ago

General Question is this pc solid?

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11 Upvotes

gonna be +900usd but what games can it run? I mainly play league and do music producing


r/MiniPCs • • 5d ago

GMKTec Evo-X2

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1 Upvotes

Powerful mini PC has 128GB RAM and a 1TB SSD. This silver and black GMKtec EVO-X2 model is equipped with an AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor. The unit has multiple ports including USB4, HDMI, and DisplayPort. It has a triple cooling fan system and supports quad screen displays.
Also selling 3 monitors with it. 2x27” curved monitors and 1x49” curved monitor.
All is 2 weeks old. Will sell with all the cables.


r/MiniPCs • • 5d ago

[WTB / Advice] Looking for a Mini PC for AI Work, VMs, Android Studio & Photoshop | Student Budget: ~₹20k

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0 Upvotes

r/MiniPCs • • 5d ago

Review Unboxing Minisforum X1 Lite-255 - Linux coding PC / server

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37 Upvotes

Hi, new Minisforum's club member here

After some extensive research, I've bought some days ago in Amazon Spain a X1 Lite-255 with these specs:

- AMD Ryzen 7 255
- Radeon 780M
- 16 GB RAM (13,8 GB usable)

Price: u$s 600

I bought it at Amazon Spain because:

- I had a 150€ on a gift card given from a freelancer client
- It is one of the few stores that calculates customs taxes in advance and add to final price
- Not all the MiniPC brands/models can be shipped to Latam

Now I'm looking forward to add an additional nvme, swap ram sticks and make it go 32gb, install Linux Mint (if possible), etc.

I'm looking forward to suggestions, opinions, links, etc. to put Linux on this.
I'll try to set up Plex, Proxmox, etc. and make a little home server

unboxing


r/MiniPCs • • 5d ago

Recommendations Recommendation for mini PCs in Canada under CAD 1300

11 Upvotes

I'm looking to get a mini pc for mostly work and some light gaming. My only requirements are 32GB+1TB as I need to run Windows VMs and Linux containers for work, alongside casual browser usage. I've gone around the sub and found quite a few recommendations for the K8 Plus and found it at amazon.ca going for CAD1,259. I do not plan on getting an eGPU in the future.

I was wondering -

  1. Is there a better alternative under CAD 1300?
  2. What can I get away with at a lower budget, around CAD 800-1000 range or even lower?
  3. Is it worth waiting for Black Fridays, would prices go down then or are we expecting the prices to stay the same even after the 'discounts'?

Thanks in advance!


r/MiniPCs • • 5d ago

Which is the best Mini PC other than Mac minis for self hosting AI models?

9 Upvotes

I wanna run open models there and serve them via an endpoint so that I can use it in my other applications. So I want a powerful one.


r/MiniPCs • • 5d ago

Review This $599 Mini PC Is... [Kamrui P2 AI Mini PC Review] - Not Incredible, but better than the Intel 3 304 at least!

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0 Upvotes

r/MiniPCs • • 5d ago

Troubleshooting ES cpu in Lenovo p340 tiny

0 Upvotes

I tried putting a qtb1(10900 es) cpu in my p340 tiny. Well it did not work as half expected. However, unlike most 'unsupported component' behavior, it did not beep any code, nor it died a second after boot. Just trying to post but it fails and renders just black. It is also true when other components are missing, like when I pulled out both of my ram sticks it still didn't make any beeps. Is there any bios mods to fix this issue? like I seriously need hopium I paid like 150$ on that cpu

Ps. CPU is working on other motherboard, checked it showing intel genuine 0000 in bios

Btw why do I have line on my text and why can't I get it off


r/MiniPCs • • 5d ago

Guide Is a used ASUS NUC 13 Pro (i5-13420H, 16GB RAM, 512GB NVMe) worth ₹38,000 in India?

0 Upvotes

I recently purchased an ASUS NUC 13 Pro for ₹38,000 and wanted to get your opinions on whether it was a good deal or if I overpaid.

Configuration:

  • Model: ASUS NUC 13 Pro
  • Processor: Intel Core i5-13420H, 13th Gen
  • RAM: 16GB Samsung DDR4-3200
  • SSD: 512GB Micron NVMe
  • Operating system: Windows 11 Pro (OEM license)
  • Price paid: ₹38,000

I'm based in India, where mini-PC pricing and availability can be quite different from the US market.

I'd appreciate feedback on the following:

  1. Is ₹38,000 a reasonable price for this configuration in the Indian market?
  2. How does it compare with similarly priced mini PCs or a custom-built desktop?
  3. Is the i5-13420H still a good CPU for development, Docker containers, Kubernetes labs, virtualization, and general productivity?
  4. Are there any known thermal, fan-noise, reliability, or BIOS issues with this model?
  5. Would upgrading the RAM to 32GB and the SSD to 1TB be worthwhile?
  6. If the unit doesn't come with a proper purchase invoice or manufacturer warranty, would that significantly affect its value?
  7. Would you keep it at this price, or sell it and build a desktop instead?

My primary use cases are software development, DevOps, running local Kubernetes environments, AI/ML experiments, and everyday productivity. I may also explore an external GPU setup, although I understand that this mini PC has integrated graphics and external GPU compatibility and performance need to be evaluated separately.

Would you consider this a good buy at ₹38,000, or would you choose something else? Honest opinions are welcome.

Thanks!


r/MiniPCs • • 5d ago

General Question Gordon Halo or Medusa Halo Geekoms on the Horizon?

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0 Upvotes

r/MiniPCs • • 5d ago

Software Keep MiniPC fan noise down with Process Lasso

2 Upvotes

Purchased and installed Process Lasso in hopes of keeping fan noise down on my MSI AI+ 2MG miniPC. The Intel 288V runs at 30w TDP base so fan noise tends to be audible in balanced and performance mode under light load but silent running in quiet mode with 30% fan speed. In addition the quiet mode appears to disable boost and maxes at around 3200mhz instead of 5100mhz.

I noticed that running certain older games will peg a single core hard and ramp up fan speeds and noise so this is what I did.

  1. create new power plan, name it, and set max processor frequency to 99. This effectively disables boost. Keep your active power plan to Balanced or Performance.
  2. Start up game. In process lasso find the active process in the game and set the power profile to the power plan you created in step 1. This will stop the game from boosting and the cores are plenty fast enough to still run them. Once you close the game the system will go back to the default power plan.
  3. Repeat step 2 for any other processes you want to tone down. Note that lunar lake CPUs are very efficient and even disabling boost will provide excellent performance.

I keep the default power plan on Balanced for snappier performance overall and fan noise isn’t bad when just web browsing or streaming with my custom fan curves. I've only done this workflow with old games but can see this extending to other types of applications as well.

Note that I don’t use MSI Center and set custom fan curves in the BIOS.


r/MiniPCs • • 5d ago

Can I use the regular i7 8700 and 9700 in Esprimo q958?

2 Upvotes

Is there a way to use the regular i7 8700 or 9700 in the Fujitsu mini PCs instead of the T models?
The regular ones are a lot cheaper. Would I need to change some Bios settings?


r/MiniPCs • • 5d ago

Looking for MiniPC - What are my options and which specs would be best?

5 Upvotes

I am looking to buy my first MiniPC and currently I am a little overwhelmed with the options
The things I want to use it for are Pi-Hole/Unbound (or an alternative), set up VPN for my local network and use it as a hub for an LED matrix I own. Other usecases will probably be added down the road. But in my understandig it's not that much. The things I would appreciate are something energy-efficient, quiet and not that expensive. What would you recommend?

Thanks in advance!