The Mac Mini Killer? GEEKOM A7 Review

In this video we take a look at the GEEKOM A7 mini PC. This one features the Ryzen 9 7940HS with Radeon 780M graphics. Featuring a nice looking metal case and plenty of storage, the GEEKOM A7 is an interesting high end mini PC pitched as a Mac mini alternative.

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00:00 - Windows Mini
01:46 - New Features
03:03 - Opening It Up
04:00 - Benchmarks
05:12 - Games & Emulators
09:03 - Video Editing
09:33 - BIOS, Power, Temps & Noise
10:54 - Conclusion

[GEEKOMPC]

Thank you for reviewing our product. Your feedback on GEEKOM products is highly valuable to us!😉

[CaffeineLoaded]

Great video! Your mini PC reviews are so much more thorough than ETA Prime’s.

[charlievarley]

A really great overview and comparison as usual. It would be interesting to see how it fairs with Apples Mac Mini.

[screenplayhouse]

Hey Rob. Now that I won't even be looking at new Minis for 3 years I almost have no reason to visit this place. But then you're a good bloke and it's fun to see Minis advance, so Hiya and an observation. A Mini PC this price triggers something most Mini's need not panic about: being stolen. Stealing an old school $750 tower takes work, but sticking this Geekom behind a jacket or in a pair of sweats -- lol -- isn't impossible. Hmm...

[-iIIiiiiiIiiiiIIIiiIi-]

So it's not as good as the Alloy and still doesn't come with AI functionality that AMD advertises with this chip? Hard pass.

[dave_r]

I was looking forward to this review and really wanted to like the A7, but not without more cooling and at least a second nvme drive. (Yes 2TB is nice but having gotten used to Every Other Mini I've got supporting 2 drives (albeit one SATA), this just doesn't cut it, given the price. I like the nice case, but you'd think that having watched other mini makers add secondary cooling, that makers of expensive units would try that: most people buying low-end minis won't be affected as many of them are using them in low-demand ways, but most people buying the more expensive units would, I think, have issues with this. On the upside (and this feels like damning with faint praise), I found, in the video anyway, the fan noise in high-performance mode to be more pleasant than most minis.)

[yissnakklives]

Awesome review! Maybe you could start having charts for gaming too for a straight numbers comparison, but THANK YOU for doing the 1440p testing! Also, I think the Reatan systems look to be the same as Minisforum.

[Bdawg]

Does it support a 1440p 144Hz monitor?

[TrusteftTech]

I just don't understand them. Why, since we are talking about mini desktop computers, don't they just make the cooling a bit better with a bit increase of size? They can make them look better even if they are thiccer by just employing better vibrant colors or other shapes.
Going for the Mac Mini look and trying to make them as small as possible serves no one, not even themselves.

FFS.


PS. In general I do prefer seeing the temps in these benchmarks/games.

PS2. No sleep mode sounds so stupid. I hope they fix it.

[Ntigen]

Hi
Do
Ryzen z1 extreme is equal to Ryzen 9 7940hs.
Both have same specs
😮

[nadavrot]

The Ubuntu test really soured the deal for me. What kind of lousy drivers does it have that wifi doesn’t work out of the box on Linux??

[cmathieu]

Whilst this Mini PC and the ones from Minisforum are really great for packing so much in a tiny form factor, I can't wait for the day when they can achieve the same power efficiency as the Apple Silicone Mac Minis until then, I can't justify the difference in power consumption as I run my M2 Mac Mini which also runs a Windows 11 VM 24 x 7

[thegrave]

Something that bugged me in your review - you mentioned that this CPU does not support hardware decoding of video. This is normally coming from the integrated graphics card. How is 780M different than the Intel iGPUs in that matter? I thought they are on par feature and performance-wise with Intel in this regard. Don't tell me AMD-based machines decode video in software in 2024?

[ricardofarinha]

When you remove the base from it, it is you have another plate inside, isn't those 4 screws in that plate for VESA mounting?

[ZeronicMatrix]

I can't believe how expensive this is over one of the Minisforum models with dual m.2 and an active nvme and ram fan. I'm loving my UM790 Pro for a Home Theater PC. Plus the kids can play some lighter games on it. And I can always do Steam Steaming from a desktop.

[avidwriter]

Do they really need to have 32GB for the R9 only? I think a 16GB 1TB option for the R9 would have been fine also. At the same time give the R7 the 32GB option? I guess it comes down to manufacturing.

[akin]

Arguably the best mini-PC for those that want to use it for work and 1080p PC gaming.

[wakkip]

Wish we could see Valorant results with higher configs. If we can get such a high FPS with low settings, why not test it with medium or high so we can see the performance?

[kcarson]

another great video, thanks. Q: how did you find the cooling? Thank you

[karlgreene]

Hello thank you for the review but I would be grateful if you could compare this in another review with similar products from different manufacturers.