The Mini PC has change into much more common for the reason that Intel twelfth and thirteenth technology laptop computer processors appeared, and AMD countered with its newest cellular Zen 3 and 4 structure chips. These chips can ship desktop processor efficiency however with frugal energy administration and minimal fan noise.
Nevertheless, to get the extent of efficiency that the Minisforum Neptune Sequence HX77G affords, it wanted a bigger enclosure than a typical NUC, making this machine extra of a small desktop than a real Mini PC.
The place issues get fascinating is what Minisforum did with that additional quantity. It allowed the engineers liable for the HX77G to unleash the complete potential of the AMD CPU and its chipset, with loads of area for exterior ports and inner growth.
When you’re in search of a small-ish system with out all of the caveats related to Mini PC techniques, then the Minisforum HX77G is perhaps excellent for you.
Minisforum Neptune HX77G: Value and availability
Obtainable now within the UK, the Neptune FX77G is available in three flavours, beginning with a barebones system (no reminiscence or storage) for £629. Above that may be a £759 possibility with 32GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, and £799 to extend that drive area to 1TB.
For American prospects, these three SKUs are $629, $779 and $779. As well as, US prospects get an additional 64GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD mannequin might be purchased for $879.
It will also be discovered on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.
Minisforum Neptune HX77G: Design
| Function | Specification |
|---|---|
| CPU: | AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS (8-core, 16-thread) |
| GPU: | AMD Radeon RX 6600M (GDDR6 8GB) |
| RAM: | 32GB DDR5 Twin channel (SODIMM Slots×2) |
| Storage: | 1TB NVMe M.2 2280, unused M.2 2280 |
| Ports | RJ45 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet Port ×1 USB3.2 Gen1 Sort-A Port ×1(In Entrance) USB3.2 Gen2 Sort-A Port ×1 USB3.2 Gen1 Sort-A Port ×2 USB3.2 Gen1 Sort-C Port ×1(In Entrance) USB4 Port ×2(In Again) HDMI2.1 ×2 Clear CMOS ×1 Microphone Jack ×1 Headphone Jack ×1 |
| Networking: | 2.5GbE LAN, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 |
| OS: | Home windows 11 Professional (pre-installed on techniques that are not barebones) |
| PSU: | 19V 13.8A |
| Dimensions: | 205*203*69.3mm |
| Weight: | 1.21 kg (2.67 lbs) |
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From the outset, the HX77G diverges from most Mini PC designs as a result of it isn’t super-small, no less than twice the dimensions in each dimension of a typical NUC. The place these techniques use a 4-inch motherboard, the one right here is no less than 8-inches sq., offering loads of area for mounting additional expertise and air flow.
The frilly carbon fibre adorned enclosure can both lay flat on two rubber strips on the underside or be positioned vertically on an included wedge-shaped foot. Sadly, this machine is simply too huge to be VESA mounted.
The back and front present an abundance of exterior ports. This choice contains at least seven USB ports, with two which can be USB 4.0/Thunderbolt flavour. Alongside the USB are two HDMI 2.1 video outs and a 2.5Gbps Ethernet LAN port, making this a doubtlessly supreme alternative as a media centre system or a central file retailer.
However, the place NUC techniques usually disappoint is with restricted improve potential, and the HX77G has that requirement coated.
Eradicating 4 screws hidden beneath the rubber toes makes it doable to take away the highest of the HX77G after which take away a steel body to have full entry to the mainboard. Our evaluate system got here with 32GB of Corsair branded DDR5, however these 16GB modules might be eliminated to improve this machine to 64GB if required.
However the improve possibility we genuinely preferred was a totally unoccupied M.2 2280 slot, permitting a simple means to clone the prevailing 512GB storage to a different M.2 gadget or add further inner storage.
What isn’t straightforward to entry is the graphics card. Not like a standard PC, this {hardware} is one other layer beneath the mainboard and related by a customized PCIe bridge.
The bodily separation of the first system and graphics modules permits air to circulation via the case simply, with it being pulled in via the perimeters and vented via a hexagon lattice on the highest.
General, some appreciable thought went into the design of the HX77G, the way it is perhaps used and what homeowners would possibly wish to do with it.
Minisforum Neptune HX77G: Efficiency
As a result of a technical issue, we could not benchmark the HX77G, one thing we actually wished to do. What this method guarantees is the computing efficiency of the AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS, an eight-core hyperthreading CPU mashed with the video processing functionality of the AMD Radeon RX 6600M.
We have seen the Ryzen 7 7735HS earlier than in different Mini PCs, and it is a very spectacular processor providing eight cores and sixteen threads and a default TDP vary of 35 to 54W. As this is not a laptop computer with a battery, this model will get to make use of its full 54W envelope, and it additionally will get the good thing about not utilizing the Radeon 680M built-in GPU however the independently powered RX 6600M.
The RX 6600M is a Navi 23 chip (RDNA 2 structure) that includes 1,792 cores, 28 compute models and 8GB of quick GDDR6 reminiscence for its computations and show. Even when this had the identical GPU energy because the Radeon 680M, it could benefit the system by utilizing its personal impartial reminiscence, not impacting predominant reminiscence bandwidth, permitting for significantly better parallelism.
Nevertheless it’s no less than twice as quick as its built-in counterpart, and in some situations, it may be even sooner. The place the Radeon 680M would possibly wrestle with having many visible enhancements energetic on a sport at 1080p, the RX 6600M ought to be playable at these resolutions on many titles and with out the element settings compelled to the bottom stage.
Nevertheless, it is important to acknowledge that the RX 6600M is not an identical to the desktop RX 6600 GPU, which is no less than one other 10% faster. And AMD has outmoded this design with the RX 7600M. That design is marginally faster but additionally makes use of the RDNA 3 structure.
The one draw back on this context to the RX 6600M is that its energy calls for are a lot better than the remainder of the system, and Minisforum provides a really giant PSU rated for a most output of 262.2W.
General, this machine will carry out significantly better than any AMD or Intel cellular platform with an built-in GPU, although true players will nonetheless wish to think about using a system with a card slot to improve their GPU over time.
Minisforum Neptune HX77G: Early verdict
We have seen loads of manufacturers brandishing the phrase ‘Recreation’ for Mini techniques after they’ve solely built-in GPUs. And whereas these have been getting progressively higher, they do not but compete with even the bottom rung on the discrete graphics card ladder.
With the RX 6600M GPU, the HX77G has the potential to double the efficiency of one of the best techniques with an built-in GPU. That GPU is well-suited to work with a CPU just like the AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS, a extremely environment friendly design that exploits its Zen3+ structure and TSMC 6nm FinFET fabrication. All this comes collectively in an expanded enclosure, permitting for comparatively straightforward upgrades and plentiful exterior ports, making the HX77G a extremely versatile resolution.
The place it may need been higher is that getting inside is not as straightforward as it may be on some techniques, it attracts way more energy than a typical NUC, it takes up extra desk area, and the price of the GPU provides about $100 to that of a NUC with the identical CPU, RAM, and storage.
Minisforum ought to be recommended for creating one thing that is not one other by-the-numbers NUC, and the HX77G may discover favour with those that need a small system with discrete GPU efficiency.
