GMKtec NucBox K3 Professional: 30-second overview
To the informal observer, the GMK K3 Professional appears to be like similar to the AMD K2 that was lately launched, because it makes use of the identical neat enclosure.
All of the adjustments listed here are inner, with the K3 Professional utilizing a Twelfth-generation Alder Lake cell CPU utilizing Intel 7 fabrication. This processor first appeared in early 2021 and has since been outmoded by higher Thirteenth-generation components.
It provides a fairly power-efficient ten-core CPU with six efficiency and 4 effectivity cores with a baseline energy consumption of 45W, boosting to 115W in Turbo mode.
Subsequently, contemplating the tiny NUC enclosure that it lives in, this can be a fairly highly effective platform that, together with DDR5 reminiscence and NVMe storage, delivers a system that’s extra highly effective than a typical workplace desktop PC.
Even being so small, the K3 Professional nonetheless finds room for 5 USB ports, one in every of which is USB 4.0 specification, 2.5GbE LAN, twin HDMI, and a 3.5mm audio jack.
Bodily connectivity is augmented additional with WiFi6 and Bluetooth 5.2, nevertheless it doesn’t supply WiFi6E, sadly.
Whereas reminiscence is proscribed to the 24GB pre-installed, storage will be uprated, and GMKtec sells the K3 Professional as a barebones answer with out an SSD for these eager to supply that half themselves. Nevertheless, that mannequin doesn’t include a Home windows license.
A extra important difficulty right here is that at round $680 for the 1TB NVMe mannequin, this machine is $100 greater than the K2 equal, and that’s a extra highly effective machine than the K3 Professional.
GMKtec NucBox K3 Professional: Value and availability
- How a lot does it price? Ranging from $640
- When is it out? Obtainable now
- The place are you able to get it? You will get it straight from GMKtec or from Amazon
The GMKtec K3 Professional is barely uncommon as a result of it comes with 24GB of pre-installed reminiscence, even on its barebones possibility. The most affordable SKU is $640 straight from GMKtec, and that comes with zero storage and no Home windows license accordingly.
One other $40 will get you that license and 1TB of NVMe storage, and the third possibility is 2TB of storage for a complete worth of $720.
However the 1TB possibility will be discovered on Amazon.com for $600.
That makes those with storage pre-installed higher worth, however that you could’t set up reminiscence is much less compelling.
In contrast with what different mini PC makers supply, this may appear costly. Geekom has the Mini IT12, which makes use of the identical processor however solely DDR4 reminiscence, and asks solely $550 for the mannequin with 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.
Alternatively, Beelink has the SER6 MAX that features the Ryzen 9 6900HX processor, 32GB of RAM and 1TB of PCIe 4.0 NVMe storage for less than $640.
In brief, these searching for a robust NUC will discover AMD-powered machines supply extra energy for much less cash than this, even from GMK.
GMKtec NucBox K3 Professional: Specs
| Merchandise | Spec |
|---|---|
| CPU: | Intel Core i7-12650H (10 cores 16 threads) |
| GPU: | Intel Iris Xe(96 EU) |
| RAM: | 24GB LPDDR5 (expandable to 64GB) |
| Storage: | 1TB Vaseky V900 Gen 3 NVMe M.2 2280 |
| Ports: | 2x USB 3.2 Gen2 Kind-A, 1x 4.0 Kind-C, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Kind-A, 1x USB 2.0, 2x HDMI 2.0, 1x common audio jack |
| Networking: | 2.5GbE LAN, WiFi 6 (AX201), Bluetooth 5.2 |
| OS: | Home windows 11 Professional (pre-installed) |
| Base Energy: | 45W |
| Max Turbo Energy: | 115W |
| PSU: | 19V 6.32A |
| Dimensions: | 105*105*45mm |
GMKtec NucBox K3 Professional: Design
- Hey K2 enclosure once more
- Quick access
Externally, this is similar enclosure because the K2. It’s a well-considered design that has a cool-to-the-touch steel pores and skin on the perimeters and plastic finish caps on the highest and backside.
The lid is well detachable with a plastic spudger, and inside is entry to the M.2 slot. There is just one slot, disappointingly. Subsequently, any upgrades to the set up would require a USB to M.2 caddy to realize.
Reminiscence isn’t accessible, and we assume it’s straight mounted to the board somewhat than socketed. The 24GB of LPDDR5 4800 MT/s is a barely odd quantity, however even when you can’t add extra, that’s sufficient for many makes use of. In comparison with the K2, the enclosure leaves the house occupied by the reminiscence slots empty, which appears to be like odd.
This enclosure has a structure the place air is pulled from the perimeters after which vented on the rear beneath the I/O space. This structure is the reverse of what’s regular, ensuing within the ejected heat air warming the linked cables, however to not the diploma that it’d turn into a problem.
Total, the K3 Professional is of the excessive engineering high quality we’ve come to count on from GMKtec and considerably higher than among the cheaper plastic NUC designs we’ve seen from different manufacturers.
GMKtec NucBox K3 Professional: Options
- 12h Gen Core i7
- DDR5 reminiscence
- USB 4.0
The issue with Intel Twelfth technology cell components is that the Thirteenth that got here later are noticeably higher, which is fascinating as a result of these Alder Lake chips have been a genuinely new product and never a refresh.
The processor within the K3 Professional is the i7-12650H, a CPU with an inventory worth of $502 when you imagine something on the Intel web site. This can be a middle-order CPU from this technology and the primary rung on the Core-i7 fashions, with the 12800H and 12700H above it. Each of its massive brothers include eight effectivity cores, however the 12650H solely will get half of these. It’s additionally minimize down within the variety of Execution items the Iris Xe has, with solely 64 of the everyday 96 or 80.
What’s much more head-scratching is that the chip beneath this, the Core-i5 12500H, may solely have 4 efficiency cores, two lower than the 12650H, nevertheless it has all eight effectivity cores and 80 Execution Models on the GPU. In lots of duties, this may make it quicker, particularly contemplating it additionally has quicker base and turbo clock speeds.
The one distinguished characteristic this chip has going for it’s a 24MB Sensible Cache that it shares with the high-end choices, however in most respects, it has the distinct define of a sheep in wolf’s clothes.
The place the processor will get a bit of assistance is that GMKtec did no less than select DDR5 reminiscence. The extra bandwidth helps in processing duties and enhances the GPU that shares the principle reminiscence.
It’s solely 4800 MT/s DDR5, whereas AMD makes use of 5300 MT/s modules, and Apple has moved as much as LPDDR-6400 on their M1 platform. Utilizing DDR5 does present a lift over Twelfth-gen silicon wired to DDR4, nevertheless it’s not sufficient to beat among the different deficiencies we’ve beforehand talked about.
Put in in our overview machine was a 1TB NVMe drive branded as a Vaseky V900. GMKtec states on its web site that the K3 Professional comes with a PCIe 4.0 M.2 module, however the V900 is patently a PCIe 3.0 drive based mostly on its label, and our benchmarks show that.
The opposite notable side of this {hardware} is that it has a single USB 4.0 port that’s rated to help 40Gbps knowledge transfers. There appears to be some confusion about whether or not USB 4.0 constitutes Thunderbolt 4.0, and the reply to that’s most likely ‘no’. However in our checks, it did work within the 40Gbps mode with some hybrid TB4/USB 4.0 units, so relying in your state of affairs, that may not matter.
GMKtec NucBox K3 Professional: Efficiency
- Overwhelmed by K2
- Kneecapped GPU
- Poor NVMe drive
|
Benchmark |
Take a look at |
K3 Professional Rating |
K2 Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3DMark: |
WildLife: |
10,949 |
16,647 |
|
Fireplace Strike: |
4,155 |
6,067 |
|
|
Time Spy: |
1,446 |
2,758 |
|
| Cinebench R23: |
Single core: |
1,450 |
1,501 |
| Row 4 – Cell 0 |
Multi core: |
8,912 |
11,451 |
| Row 5 – Cell 0 |
Ratio: |
6.15 |
7.56 |
| GeekBench 5: |
Single core: |
1,729 |
1,550 |
|
Multi core: |
9,334 |
9,300 |
|
|
OpenCL: |
14,000 |
29,955 |
|
| CrystalDiskM.: |
Sequential Learn: |
2.134 MB/s |
3,560MB/s |
|
Sequential Write: |
727MB/s |
2.353 MB/s |
|
| PC Mark 10: |
Workplace Take a look at: |
5,855 |
6,760 |
| WEI: |
Rating: |
8.3 |
8.2 |
Usually we’d current a machine in isolation, and if we did that then the K3 Professional appears to be like like a good system. Nevertheless, on this context, we positioned it towards an alternate NUC from the identical model that makes use of the identical enclosure.
In brief, the K3 Professional managed to squeeze a couple of minor victories towards its K2 brother however finally misplaced this warfare.
It’s decidedly lacklustre in general GPU efficiency because the 64 Execution Models aren’t a match for the Radeon 680M within the K2, and even shut.
However the worst efficiency result’s the Veseky V900, with a write pace of solely 727MB/s, simply one of many slowest PCIe 3.0 NVMe drives we’ve ever examined.
When you purchase one in every of these and it comes with one, clone it to a PCIe 4.0 half and bin the V900 pronto.
On condition that the K2 is $100 cheaper, there isn’t any good cause why you’ll choose the K3 Professional over it except you completely should have Intel {hardware} for some idiosyncratic cause.
GMKtec NucBox K3 Professional: Verdict
The highlights of this design are that it’s well-made and runs cleanly, and GMKtec didn’t get tempted by together with a lot bloatware on its Home windows 11 set up.
What is far much less compelling is the comparatively excessive price for a machine that fails to raised both the NucBox K2 mannequin or the NucBox M2. These are cheaper machines, and the latter makes use of an Intel eleventh Gen CPU and DDR4.
Trying deeper on the specs, Intel did a selected quantity on the Core-i7 12650H after they restricted its clock pace and kneecapped its Iris Xe GPU.
In brief, there isn’t a good argument for this machine over the K2 except you’re obsessive about having Intel inside.
Must you purchase a GMKtec NucBox K3 Professional?
| Worth | It’s costly when put next with different Mini PCs from the identical supply and different manufacturers. | 3/ 5 |
| Design | Identical enclosure because the K2, however zero reminiscence upgrades on this machine. | 4 / 5 |
| Options | Good port choice and straightforward inner entry. However the NVMe SSD is just PCIe 3.0, and the USB 4.0 port isn’t Thunderbolt. | 4 / 5 |
| Efficiency | One of the best AMD-power NUC efficiency till new Zen4 chips come to this sector | 3 / 5 |
| Total | Underwhelming for a Core-i7. The GPU struggles greater than it ought to, and the DDR5 doesn’t assist a lot. A really sluggish NVMe drive. | 3.5 / 5 |
Purchase it if…
Do not buy it if…
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