The Best AMD Ryzen Mini PC

We take a look at the ASRock 4x4 BOX-8840U and the Beelink SER8. Both Mini PCs feature AMD Ryzen 7 processors with Radeon 780M graphics and Ryzen AI XDNA NPUs. They are at a similar price point but optimize for different markets, making this a neat comparison.

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Timestamps
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00:00 Introduction
01:51 ASRock Industrial 4x4 BOX-8840U
06:09 Beelink SER8
10:41 Performance
11:45 Power Consumption and Noise
14:33 Key Lessons Learned

[peterboil]

I will never complain about screws, as manufacturers probably think the next best thing would be to glue everything together, like phones, which are a nightmare to repair.

[npgatech]

I don't understand the thumbsdown for screws. I prefer secured parts with screws vs. cheap abs plastic clips that break or the whole thing creaks when you bend it. Screws are far superior.

[FragEightyfive]

These mini PC's the last few years are nuts. I don't think people realize how crazy they are. You're getting the equivalent to a upper-mid to lower high end laptop for 1/2 or 1/3 the price. You can still throw one of these in a small bag or mount on the back of a monitor. If these were available with professional GPU's (for better CAD support), I would be looking at them for work instead of expensive laptops.

[RogSon]

Loved this video. No wasted time seeing examples of video games being played. Please do more AMD comparisons between different manufacturers.

[denm]

Is there any upcoming TinyMiniMicro reviews? All these mini PCs are great but kinda miss the old TMM form factor.

[ewenchan]

Great video!

I LOVE the direct comparison between two similar units and how you laid out the pros and cons of each.

This is awesome!

[JMartinni]

I just do not get the complaints about screws in tech products. Have fun with plastic clips that break all the time and hard to repair products, I guess.

[OStuxbird]

My comments are for anyone working for companies making mini-PCs (Beelink, Minisforum, etc). I prefer larger chassis versus smaller. More connectivity options for I/O and video. Use case would be two USB 2.0 ports with USB A interface (for external mouse and keyboard); at least two USB 3.2 Gen 2x1 (10Gbps) ports with USB A interface (for USB external SSDs & USB keys); at least one USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20Gbps) port with USB C interface; at least one USB 4 (40Gbps) port with USB C interface; at least one full size DP 2.0 and one full size HDMI 2.1 video ports. An external AD/DC power brick of at least 250W (the Dell Alienware 18 series and Asus G751 series have 300W power bricks so perhaps don't stop at 250W and go all the way to 300W for power to spare). For networking there should be two 10Gbps RJ-45 ports (SFP+ can be on top of the RJ-45 )🙂 and one WiFi-6. That would provide a highly flexible and powerful mini-PC platform that would be better than Intel based mini-PCs that frequently have far more I/O than most AMD based mini-PCs.

[kelownatechkid]

You guys are at the top of the game for small-form factor reviews! 😄

[ostraca]

Asrock industrial has the BEST support. They've taken the time in the past to make a custom bios for me when I couldn't get my ECC ram to work and the bios they sent me fixed all the issues. They just need to release a better system to be used as a router, so x2 2.5g or x2 10g, or x2 sfp+.

[Pressbutan]

I recently swapped out my BeeLink EQ12/N305 for an SER6/6900HX and I adore it. Super good little box.

[marble_wraith]

Totally diggin the "better cooling" argument. Being able to stick a standard 120mm or 140mm fan in there would not only improve cooling, but makes it more repairable with greater access to parts, and could also give greater options eg. if consumers have a preferred / existing fan vendors could sell fanless and save on cost / cut price.

[whothefoxcares]

Granny Award Audio Professionals require *1/4" audio jacks* on their smart phones and puny PCs.

[pierremartinow]

I really love your tiny pc content. I was wondering if you could start a tiny server content series, especially for energy efficient and AMD-based DIY systems

[MrBilliam]

Just a minor observation on the current AMD Mini PC offerings in general. Has anyone noticed that DisplayPort monitor connections seem to be somewhat second class citizens on many of these machines? Not all certainly, but definitely a pretty noticeable percentage. There just seems to be quite a few of them that force you to USB4 on the fronts of the sytems for DP connections.

I know it may sound quite nit-picky, but I really prefer DisplayPort when I can and I do not want my permanently connected monitor cable going into the front of my system when it's as small as a mini PC.

[mvadu]

You look really rested for a new dad! One of those blessed ones

[roysigurdkarlsbakk]

The filming and all reminds me of a movie - that trainspotting interview scene ;)

[gerakore]

i got the 8845hs gmktec version and first thing i did is add a 4tb 990 and 96 gb of ram. love it so far kina bummed i left it at the office and want it back

[MaxPower-]

I think the “game changer” with respect to these mini PCs is going to arrive with the upcoming AMD CPUs that include the 890M iGPU. For the first time, an integrated GPU will have as much graphics horsepower as entry-level discrete GPUs.

[Mom]

What nic is used in the beelink one? I like that you mentioned what the ASRock one uses but I miss that information on the Beelink unit. Especially with drivers and reliability issues, it could be a decision for a purchase or not :O