Vortex Gaming

· The Minisforum AI X1 Pro is a clone of the Mac Mini design for the PC market, now released with an AMD CPU.
· It's similar to the previous Mac Mini design but slightly taller, with a larger plastic base. It includes a stand for vertical placement and can also sit on a desk.

· The updated AI X1 Pro is equipped with the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX470 processor, offering 12 cores, 24 threads, and Radeon 890M graphics. This is an overclocked version of the previous HX370.
· It has a built-in power supply, so you only need to connect the power cord. Included accessories are an HDMI cable, spare thermal pads and heatsinks for M.2 SSDs, a monitor mount, and a vertical stand.
· The front features two USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) ports, one USB 4 (no USBC PD support), an audio jack, and a Windows C-Pilot button. The top has a fingerprint sensor for Windows Hello support.
· The side includes an SD card reader and supports the built-in Wi-Fi 7 chipset and Bluetooth.
· The rear has a USB 2.0 port, Oculink, USB 4 (with USBC PD support), a DisplayPort, an HDMI port, dual Realtek 2.5Gbps LAN ports, and a CMOS reset button.
· The built-in microphone and speakers can be used for calls or listening to podcasts, but the audio quality isn't great, so using separate audio devices is recommended.

· Minisforum offers the AI X1 Pro in both Barebones and Pre-built configurations.
· The Barebones version is reasonably priced at around $720, while the $1300 Pre-built configuration is on the higher side.

· Disassembling the AI X1 Pro is a bit cumbersome. Besides the four external screws, you need to remove one hidden screw under a sticker and then detach the bottom case secured by plastic clips.
· Inside, after removing the heatsink secured by several screws, you can access the memory and storage.
· Unfortunately, it comes with a single 32GB RAM stick, which can impact performance. However, it offers three M.2 slots, which is a plus. Two slots support Gen 4 x4, and the remaining one supports Gen 4 x1.

· The pre-built model comes with Windows 11 Pro pre-installed, and malware and rootkit scans came back clean.
· It also worked fine with the latest version of Ubuntu Linux.

· In Cinebench tests, the AI X1 Pro performed as expected. The performance mode and dual-channel memory configuration didn't make a huge difference in benchmarks. Increasing the power limit in the BIOS improves multi-core performance.
· The Geekbench 6 single-core benchmark is affected by memory speed; the default configuration showed slightly lower performance, but it improved with the performance mode and dual-channel RAM configuration.
· Multi-core performance was somewhat low in the default configuration but improved with the performance mode and optimized RAM setup. However, it still scored lower than the previous HX370 model.
· H.264 video encoding performance was poor in the default configuration but improved with setting changes. It showed better results in AV1 codec tests but lagged behind other HX470 mini PCs.
· Encoding tests using the iGPU also showed poor performance in the default configuration, but it improved with the performance mode and optimized RAM setup.
· In Geekbench AI CPU and GPU tests, it showed similar or slightly lower performance compared to other HX470 mini PCs.
· In Fire Strike and Time Spy graphics benchmarks, performance decreased with the single RAM stick configuration but significantly improved with the dual-channel setup.
· Similar results were observed in the Steel Nomad Light test. The single RAM stick configuration is identified as the main cause of performance degradation.

· The importance of RAM configuration was also evident in gaming workloads. Performance significantly improved with the dual-channel RAM setup.
· When using an external graphics card (eGPU), the RAM bottleneck is reduced, and performance differences between USB4 and Oculink interfaces were compared.

· For coding tasks, the HX470 demonstrates excellent mobile CPU performance.
· Adobe Photoshop performance was somewhat low in the default configuration but improved with optimization. However, it was still less performant than other HX470 mini PCs.
· Adobe Premiere performance was also low in the default configuration but showed impressive results after optimization.

· The included Kingston SSD supports Gen 4, but its benchmark results were below expectations. The SSD controller tended to get quite hot under load.
· Bluetooth and wireless (Wi-Fi 5G) range were excellent.
· Idle power consumption was very low at 7W, and maximum power consumption increased by about 10W when using performance mode.
· CPU temperatures were generally well-maintained, rising by about 5°C when using performance mode.
· Fan noise was average, increasing slightly when performance mode was active.

· The AI X1 Pro is larger than other mini PCs, making its portability somewhat limited.

· BIOS settings allow customization of power limits, onboard devices (including RAID options), fan curves, VRAM limits, and Wake-on-LAN functionality.
· You can manually set power limits via SMU options, allowing users to adjust performance as desired.

· The top of the case is metal, and the overall build quality is good.
· The Barebones option offers a decent configuration for the price, but the pre-built option with a single RAM stick is a bit expensive.
· The built-in power supply is convenient but difficult to replace.
· The disassembly process for RAM and SSD access is cumbersome due to the number of screws.
· The three NVMe slots are a significant advantage in terms of expandability.
· Performance with the default RAM configuration is low but improves with a dual-channel setup. However, performance might be slightly lacking compared to other HX470 mini PCs.
· Cooling performance is generally good, but the SSD controller temperature was somewhat high.
· Bluetooth and wireless range are excellent, and fan noise is at an acceptable level.
· Minisforum provides BIOS updates, driver downloads, and a 2-year warranty.

· The AI X1 Pro is a good mini PC with various features, but AMD's refreshed HX470 CPU doesn't offer a significant performance leap over the previous HX370.
· You might consider buying the previous model if it's cheaper.
· If you need an Oculink port but can tolerate slightly lower performance, it's worth checking out the Minisforum UM880 Plus review.