In the case of ultra-compact gaming efficiency, the AtomMan X7 TI from Minisforum is one thing of an enigma. On the one hand, it options Intel’s present top-tier cellular chip, the Core Extremely 9 185H, joined on the hip with what can rightly be thought of a step-change within the firm’s built-in graphics processors. Intel Iris Xe is useless: lengthy stay Intel ARC.
In lots of video games, it proves to be a extremely competent APU double-act, able to matching and even trouncing AMD Ryzen/Radeon duets in some conditions.
On the opposite, there appears to be no rhyme or motive as to which video games it would flatter, which it won’t, and which will likely be subjected to an Uzi-spray of 1%-low stutters, rendering them unplayable. It is baffling. However let’s take a step again for a second and have a look at the entire package deal.
The AtomMan X7 Ti is a contact bigger than most of its mini-PC stablemates, however solely a contact. You’ll be able to bag it preloaded with 32 GB DDR5 and a 1 TB M.2 drive, or go for the barebones model. That is the higher deal right here, because it’ll prevent a few hundred on the unit value to be able to store round for cheaper RAM and storage.
AtomMan X7 Ti specs
CPU: Intel Core Extremely 9 185H
iGPU: Intel ARC
Reminiscence: 0GB/32GB DDR5 5600
Storage: 0TB/1TB PCI-E Gen4 M.2 SSD
Wi-fi: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3
I/O: 2x USB4C Thunderbolt, 2x USB 3.2, 1x USB 2.0, SD card reader, 3.5mm audio, 2x 5G LAN, 1x HDMI 2.1, 2x DP 2.0
Worth: £829/$849 absolutely loaded, £649/$669 barebones
The case incorporates a tidy design with a shiny 4-inch touchscreen adorning the highest (which turns into the face, if you happen to select to make use of the thoughtfully-supplied vertical aluminium stand). The display screen shows complete hardware-monitoring for the CPU, GPU, RAM, storage, community site visitors, and fan, enabling you to regulate the display screen brightness and system quantity, swap the show language, enumerate all of the units you’ve gotten plugged into it, and alter the display screen format. It additionally permits you to flip between the machine’s three efficiency modes of energy-saving (54 W), balanced (60 W) and efficiency (65 W).
That is nice for the energy-conscious consumer, however truthfully, sticking it in efficiency mode and leaving it there brings no significant downsides. Minisforum is aware of the right way to cool mini-PCs successfully and quietly, and the X7 Ti is not any exception. Its ‘Chilly Wave’ phase-change liquid metallic CPU cooler does absolutely the enterprise, and even when the fan spins up beneath load, it is fairly conservative. It is a windy sound, not a whizzy one, and it merely would not peck at your head just like the frequencies generally emitted by small-diameter followers beneath load. I inform you, gaming laptop computer producers might be taught a factor or two from these guys.
The Core Extremely 9 185H is a stonking little chip, and poster-boy for Intel’s present have-your-cake-and-eat-it philosophy in chip design. There are two ultra-low energy cores (1 GHz-2.5 GHz) for idling and easy duties, eight effectivity cores (1.8 GHz-3.8 GHz) for frequent productiveness, and 6 efficiency cores (2.3 GHz-5.1 GHz) for the chunky jobs, bringing us to a grand whole of 16 cores and 22 threads.
In efficiency mode, our check unit’s CPU idled at round 1.3 GHz whereas nibbling a mere 6 W morsel. With the CPU and ARC iGPU synthetically turbo-maxing (Prime95 and Furmark 2, killer combo), it drew 65 W to hit its 5.1 GHz high pace. It then sat regular at 94 C°,16 levels beneath the chip’s TJMax, even after an prolonged interval beneath load. The X7 Ti’s Chilly Wave cooling merely handled it, competently and at acceptable sound ranges. And let’s face it, no gaming load goes to emphasize the machine anyplace close to that arduous.
The remainder of the specs are good. No scratch that, they’re nice. Inside, you get twin SODIMM slots which help as much as 96 GB DDR5 5600, a pair of M.2 slots and a Wi-Fi 7 module, although you may want a appropriate right-now router—and a actually fats pipe—to learn from Wi-Fi 7’s insane 46 GB/s speeds. On the skin you get a pair of USB4 Sort-C Thunderbolters, two USB 3.2 ports and a single USB 2.0, twin 5 GB LANs, one HDMI 2.1, one DP 2.0, an SD card reader and… an Oculink port.
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Really, it is a god-tier spec sheet for this class of machine. And that Oculink slot makes issues very fascinating certainly. In the event you’re not conversant in the interface, then think about your self completely regular, because it’s vanishingly uncommon to see it in off-the-shelf machines. Which is disgrace, as a result of it has the bandwidth potential to supercharge issues with an exterior GPU in a means that the eGPU bins of yore did not do.
Turbo side-quest: let’s speak eGPUs. They’re good in precept, however invariably finicky to arrange, and lossy in execution. The most recent ones join through Thunderbolt 4, which faucets out at 40 GB/s, and that is simply sufficient bandwidth to get nearly full efficiency out of mid vary GPU, however presents quickly diminishing returns with greater playing cards.
Oculink plugs into the broad estuary of your PCI-Categorical bus, somewhat than the babbling brook of USB, which brings a meaty bandwidth-jump to 64 GB/s. This gives one thing a lot nearer to lossless efficiency for high-end GPUs.
I discover that VERY thrilling. There is a neighborhood of enterprising fans on the market, armed with cheap-and-cheerful Oculink connectors and GPU mounts sourced from Ali Categorical, plugging fats GPUs instantly into their PCIE buses through M.2 storage slots. The draw back of all that is the chaos it introduces to your desk.
An Oculink setup requires a PCI-Categorical dock to mount your GPU in, which then connects through an Oculink cable to your PC. And if you do not have an Oculink slot in your PC, you want to discover—or drill—a gap in your chassis to entry an inner M.2 slot. Plus, your GPU and dock require their very own PSU.
The top result’s a buck-ass nude PSU and GPU in your desktop, and a veritable snakes’-wedding of cables. That is the issue that eGPU bins such because the Razer Chroma X solved years in the past by enclosing the dock, PSU and GPU in a single unit. I might like to see a producer decide that up once more with Oculink and run with it. Although one imagines it might require motherboard distributors to start out including Oculink ports to their boards as normal to make it commercially viable.
Minisforum is midway there, no less than. Whenever you purchase direct from Minisforum’s website, you may give the AtomMan X7 Ti a sidekick within the type of their DEG1 eGPU docking station. It is a surprisingly low-cost bolt-on and by far essentially the most elegant Oculink dock on the market, however it nonetheless requires a devoted PSU to energy each the dock and the GPU, so it would not fully conquer the gnarly desk-kraken conundrum. Sadly, Minisforum did not have any DEG1 samples prepared for cargo once we requested an X7 Ti unit for this assessment. So there isn’t any proof till we pay money for one and run some benchmarks, however I think this machine would run video games at full-fat desktop speeds and excessive resolutions if you happen to give that Core Extremely 9 an Oculink dock and a discrete GPU to play with.
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And so we come full circle to the Core Extremely 9’s ARC built-in graphics. There’s simply one thing funky happening beneath the hood, and It is onerous to know whether or not that is right down to the {hardware}, the drivers, or a mixture of the 2. We have additionally been testing Minisforum’s Venus UM790 Professional mini-pc, which is armed with a Ryzen 9 7940HS and Radeon 780M iGPU, so we’ve got some comparative benchmarks to work with.
In the case of indie and older video games, the X7 Ti does very properly. The next titles had been all run at 1080p with medium graphics settings, and each the Core Extremely 9 185H and the Ryzen 7 7940HS hit near-identical framerates. In Stray, the X7 Ti achieved 50-65 fps, Bioshock Remastered ran at a simple 140-220 fps and Subnautica noticed a lovely 50-60 fps. The place the ARC iGPU excelled was Soulstone Survivors, beating the Radeon 780M’s 45-90 fps with a rating of 55-120 fps. To date so good.
Conversely, extra demanding titles appear to put a a lot heavier burden on the ARC iGPU than the Radeon 780M. Whereas the AMD chip achieves 47 fps in Forza at 1080P medium, the Intel core solely manages 30 fps on the similar settings. Identical take care of Cyberpunk—whereas the Ryzen averaged 48 fps, the Core Extremely 9/ARC combo averaged 35 fps. Homeworld 3’s benchmark is an equal-opportunities destroyer, and the Core Extremely 9 scored 39 fps in comparison with the Ryzen 7’s 40 fps.
Purchase if…
✅ You need a compact all-rounder: Extremely specced in all areas, and with Intel’s flagship cellular chip at its coronary heart, the X7 Ti can flip its hand to something.
✅ You admire silent service: Minisforum’s proprietary cooling is each highly effective and quiet.
Do not buy if…
❌ You are in search of the most effective built-in graphics efficiency: Whereas the X7 Ti knocks it out of the park with many titles, efficiency may be unpredictable.
❌ You are on a shoestring: That superior spec-sheet comes at a value, and there are machines in its class which may run video games higher for much less.
The worst instance was Warhammer 3; whereas each chips made 30 fps within the marketing campaign benchmark, the battle engine noticed the Core Extremely 9 hit 33 fps, which is 5 fps behind the Ryzen 7. No nice shakes to make certain, however the expertise was completely riddled with frequent and fixed 1% lows, rendering it unplayable. This stuttering was obvious to a lesser diploma in Warhammer 3’s marketing campaign benchmark, and occurred variously in all of the AAA video games I examined. In some it is simply the odd hitch, however in others it is extra pronounced.
With their discrete GPU releases over the past couple of years, it is clear that Intel is stepping up within the graphics enviornment, and there isn’t any query that the ARC iGPU is a leap ahead for them within the APU house. And like their discrete GPU’s, It is conceivable that the gaming efficiency of the ARC iGPU will clean out over time with driver help – however that is inconceivable to ensure.
As for the AtomMan X7 Ti, there isn’t any query that it is a superb, cool-running, quiet, and highly effective machine. It is pricier than your common mini PC, however with that premium comes glorious general-use computing efficiency and a killer spec-sheet. With out query, it might probably match and, in some circumstances, outperform its friends by way of uncooked rendering energy, as our Blender and Cinebench 2024 multicore checks show. However whether or not it’s going to do the identical, higher or worse in heavier-duty video games versus the competitors… that is a little bit of a dice-roll I am afraid.
