GMKtec Mini PC Intel Core i7-1195G7 (up to 5.0 GHz) 32GB DDR4 1TB SSD Desktop Mini Computers WiFi 6, BT 5.2/ DP, HDMI/RJ45 2.5G/USB4.0

The media could not be loaded. GMKTEC K9 Mini ComputerBASIC SPECS:Intel Core Ultra 5 125H up to 4.5Ghz 14 Core 18 threads.Intel Arc Graphics Meteor Lake IGPU Enhanced Graphics32GB of DDR 5 5600 Dual channel RAM configured in 2 x 16GB laptop sized modules.(Upgradeable to 96GB)M.2 Lexmar NVMe PCIe 4.0 1Tb SSD drive with heat sink. (Upgradeable to 4Tb in two NVMe slots.)2 x 2.5 Gigabit LAN PortsOne HDMI and one Display Port video outUSB 3.2 10Mbs x 4 (2 in front-2 in back)USB 4.0 Type CMy set up uses a 30 inch Samsung monitor, and an HP 25 inch monitor each 1920 x 1080 60hz.I use this for business, word processing, internet and audio processing of larger files, typically Wav files 90 to 180 minutes long.(600Mb to 1500Mb)as well as VST virtual instruments and music composition.INSTALLED APPS BY ME:1) ATTO (Disk Benchmark Utility)2) CrystalDiskInfo9_3_1 (Disk Benchmark Utility)3) Office 2021 Pro Plus (Excel Word Power Point etc)4) Firefox (Web Browser)5) Nuance PaperPort Professional.14.5.15168.1450 (Scan and Document App)6) Thunderbird (Email Client)7) WinRAR 6.3 x64 (File Compression and Archiving)8) Stardock Fences (Desktop Organizer)9) VLC (Media Player & More)10) Adobe Audition 3 (Audio Multitrack Recording)11) Virtualbox 7.0.18 (I use a Virtual XP 32 Bit to run archaic 16 Bit Apps)12) 7-Zip (File Compression and Archiving)13) Shadow Protect 3.5.0.3570 (Archaic 20 year old backup software)14) Team Viewer (Remote View Other Computers)15) Auto Hotkey (Script writing tool to automate functions in Windows and in other programs)16) jv16 Power Tools (A Suite of Admin Tools for Registry, Uninstalling, File management, Performance Monitoring, and much more)17) Canon MG600 Printer-Scanner18) Scan Utility From Microsoft19) Speedtest (Utility to test internet bandwidth speed)20) Adobe Acrobat Reader21) Coretemp (CPU Temperature Monitor Utility)22) Macromedia Fireworks MX 2004 (Old Graphics Program)23) Macrium Reflect (Modern Current Backup Software)24) Easeus Partition Manager Free Version 18.5.025) Cubase 5.1 (Older MIDI Music composition software)UNBOXING:5in x 5in x 2in (approx.)120W power supply. (A little bulky but still OK...like a typical laptop power supply)Power supply seems to have adequate head room to power all my peripherals (i.e. mouse / keyboard / External Drives etc.)HDMI cable and mounting bracket included.Upgrading is easy...The top cover pries off. Then 4 screws on each corner allows removal of the chassis fan. (Be careful to note the fan has a power cable that can be inadvertently yanked.)This exposes the NVME and RAM slots.SEE Photo #1 / Photo #2 / Photo #3BOOT TIME AFTER ALL INSTALLS:Initially, boot time from pressing power button to fully loading all processes was 19 seconds. 14 sec to desktop fully revealed.This settled into a consistent 17 seconds and 12 seconds to fully revealed desktop.See Video #1 and Photo #4 / Photo #5BIOS:An interesting BIOS feature that I could not figure out to configure was RAM disk.The high performance of this computer and the large amount and speed of RAM would make a RAM disk likely not worth the effort for most people.Researching RAM disk issues on line shows a significant number of computer enthusiasts with this sentiment.The Power Mode parameter in BIOS on the Advanced tab has 3 settings: Quiet / Balance / PerformanceI chose performance.Other BIOS categories are shown in photos.See Photo #6 / Photo #7CPU THERMAL:My CPU temperatures rarely got above 60C to 65C and on a very few occasions into the 70's.Typical idle temperatures are between 35C and 40C.Fan cooling seems to be dynamic so that fan speed ramp up as temperature rises.My chassis fan never ramped up enough for me to even hear it. I had to open the case to confirm it was spinning at a low RPM.See Photo #8NVME DISK BENCHMARK Lexmark 1TB PCIe 4.0 :I did two benchmark tests with ATTO and CRYSTAL DISK utilities.ATTO scores were slightly lower overall but it is safe to say this drive reads at 4.8 - 5 GB/s and reads at 4.3 to 4.5 GB/sec.This is a reasonable exploit of PCIe 4.0 potential.See Photo #9 / Photo #10PRACTICAL TESTS:To give you an idea of just how fast this computer can be:I have a 2TB NVMe drive in an enclosure as an external drive for computer backups. I use Macrium Reflect backup software. On the USB 4.0 Type C port, my Macrium Reflect backup of this computer took 1 minute and 3 sec to create a 53GB backup image. Keep in mind though that the data transfer here is from an NVMe drive to another NVMe drive on a USB 4 port.I also tried opening 15 Excel spreadsheets at once and they all loaded in less than 10 seconds.GRAPHICS:I do no gamimg so I cant say too much but the Display Port supports 4K @ 144Hz so some gaming is definitely possible. There are certainly sufficient computing resources here for gaming though.I streamed 1080p for long periods with absolutely no problems.CONCLUSION:When travelling (which I do frequently) I used to bring a copy of all desktop files with me on an external drive and then work from a laptop where I would migrate email and internet browser profiles to the laptop and then resync everything from laptop back to desktop when I got home but I can now just bring this computer with me and a small monitor. Furthermore, I used to have a desktop in my office and one in the bedroom. Now I just carry the K9 from room to room as needed since I have keyboards and monitors in both places.With the fast NVMe drive and the huge amount of fast RAM I can't find any downside to this machine. Its performance rivals any desktop that I've ever used and it's portability means that I can pack it up and bring it with me anywhere. There are enough USB Ports to cover peripherals like printers, portable optical drives, hard drive docks etc. It is a completely adequate full desktop replacement..... a mini power house. Whether it is audio or video editing, music composition and multitracking, VST instruments, a gazillion internet tabs opened at once, there are adequate resources to do anything I can think of.I can't think of a downside to this computer with regard to performance. You may need USB extenders to provide clearance when using many peripherals because it can get a little crowded with some ports configured close together but it isn't any worse than what you would find in a laptop.This machine shows an impressive performance for a computer of any size.I am very happy with it and do not regret this purchase.

My wife’s laptop is old and SLOW. I decided to buy a better unit, not bigger, to handle some additional tasks and “gift” my other unit to her. The older unit is a GMKtec also and is still working well and still does all the basic things and is 10 times faster than her laptop which is all she needs. I am moving to do some video editing and picture manipulation and some CAD drawing, so I wanted something with a little more “kick”. This unit seemed to fit the bill and the price was reasonable considering the extra speed, storage and expansion capabilities, and after putting it through its paces – it fits better than expected! As always, my goal is to try everything I can as quickly as I can to try to see if I can find any issues that would cause me to return it or to have to contact the manufacturer. The harder I tried the more I liked the unit, I tried things like playing 4K Video (need to get more of that). 3D modeling and rotating the objects, standard CAD drawings, picture editing and storage, all without any issue and I noticed a distinct increase in the speed from my other units. This will be the third GMKtec unit I have purchased. Because of that I can heartily recommend their products and service. I had one issue with my first unit, and they took care of it quickly and answered all my questions.The unit came nicely packaged in a clean box. Everything came out easily and I have a picture of all of the components attached to this review. I followed the startup instructions and plugged everything in and turned it on, went through the startup process with windows and was on my way. One thing to consider with a minicomputer is that it doesn’t come with peripherals, specifically a monitor and keyboard and mouse. I already have a minicomputer, so I already have these. When my wife moves to the older box we will need to get replacements for her. I will buy a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse to minimize USB port use.This unit comes with 32 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD, and the unit is expandible to 4 TB. On my other units I quickly upgraded the RAM and Storage to what this one comes with so at this time I don’t see the need to add more which is a savings in time and money. I am now a fan of disconnected peripherals, keyboard, mouse, screen, portable drives, etc. it gives me the flexibility to disconnect and move them as I see fit or carry them with me while I travel.After I got the unit up and running, I started loading software and setting it up the way I like. There were no difficulties and it seemed to load and execute the installations faster than I am used to. I did do some speed tests and I know the modem has a lot to do with speed, but I was getting 96 mbps upload and download connected to the LAN with a cable and 94 mbps upload and download using the Wi-Fi connection. Plenty fast for my needs.I hooked up a pair of older speakers that use usb power and the earphone jack and they worked fine. Shows that it is downward compatible with older equipment.I left the computer on overnight to ensure there were no problems. It went to sleep and woke up without any issues. Earlier models had an issue with this, and I wanted to make sure it wasn’t there.I played avatar on the computer monitor and it worked great no lag no hesitations beautiful color. I figured 4K would test its graphics capability and my living room TV is 4K compatible. I hooked it up to the TV using the HDMI and found some 4K sample videos to play. They worked without a hitch, no hesitation, no buffering, and beautiful color, quite stunning I should add. I might start looking for more 4K stuff to play on the TV.I Downloaded Freecad which is a 3D modeling software, again flawless. I was able to reorient the 3D picture as fast as I could, and it looked like a movie. Along those lines I used a CAD drawing program also with no issues.Decided to do some graphic manipulation for a sales project I’m working on and edited pictures and moved them around again. It worked beautifully.Lastly as a graphics / speed trial I downloaded the starcraft game and played for a while. No issues.Other software I downloaded and used: Quicken, iTunes, Sonos (we have a system in the house), DropBox, Microsoft 365, PumbleSo, this computer will take me to the next level I am looking for with speed, processing power, graphics and more. I had no trouble setting it up, using it and there were no manufacturing defects or problems. Since I have 3 GMKtec units now I can wholeheartedly recommend their products, and based on the interactions I have had they stand behind their products and provide support as needed to help. They are based out of China, so email has been my communication tool of choice even though there is a delay due to the time difference, but they have been very quick and responsive to my questions as their literature says “no question to big or small”

Right out of the box, I kicked out the m.2 stick and the RAM that came with it and replaced them with two 2tb WD black SSDs and plugged in two sticks of Crucial 48gb, giving the little monster a total of 4tb storage and 96gb RAM. I loaded up tiny10 (a de-bloated version of Windows 10) and set it up from there. Ever since then it's been an absolute dream. A friend who works with a government contractor tinkered with it and got quite angry that it has three times more RAM than her rather respectable work computer and a better CPU that doesn't suffer from the microcode glitch previous Intel CPUs suffer from. It is fast.It hasn't overheated. The noise of the fans is more or less what you'd expect, comparable to your car A/C, just an unobtrusive bit of white noise in the background. If you want dead silence for whatever reason, sorry. It makes some sound.I don't use it for gaming. Mine is a working machine for writing code, browsing the web and using programs and processes that consume heavy resources. I have no idea what the onboard graphics are capable of. It can probably run Minecraft like an absolute maniac.Overall, after some minor (and extremely easy upgrades, omg it was so simple to swap out the SSD and RAM), this is a mini PC that probably makes your IT department head's PC look like pure, unadulterated jank.