GMKtec Mini Gaming PC, 1TB SSD 32GB RAM, AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS(Up to 5.1GHz), Mini Desktop Computer, Oculink, Dual RJ45 2.5G, NucBox K8 Plus

I purchased this mini PC to replace a failed Linux SBC running services on my network. I opted to go with something significantly higher performance in order to run more services as well as for the much faster storage and connection options it provides (2.5Gbe, NVME, USB4, etc…). The PC itself is a fairly nice package which fits comfortably on a desk of any size. A majority of the high speed IO is present on the front of the machine, which for me is a bit annoying (as this machine is going to be a server with fairly permanently attached high speed IO). But for actual use as a PC everything you would need easy access to is right there on the front of the machine. I tested the original Windows 11 pro install out of curiosity, copying over a few DRMless games from my steam library just to see how it preformed. The Windows install itself was completely bare aside from drivers, though I did not do a deep virus scan (I would still recommend a reinstall of Windows just to be safe. Malware is frequently snuck onto PC's like this). The few indie titles I tested all ran fairly well at 1080P, 50-60fps at medium to high settings depending on game. I would not expect much more out of the base computer though, current AAA titles will very likely struggle even at low settings and any resolution higher than 1080p is only going to work with 2D games or perhaps emulation. (Older AAA titles and Esports games are more likely to run well). If you want more in depth benchmarks of specific games you are going to have to look for some proper reviews, I only tested what I could get to run without fully installing Steam. The basic Windows desktop experience was completely fine, exactly what you would expect from a modern higher end workstation laptop. The Windows install did take an hour or two to update but I can't exactly blame the PC for that. This machine has a number of options for adding an eGPU, and while I didn't have any of them on hand at the moment to test out how well it was supported, I did have a USB4 10Gb NIC handy. Both USB4 ports drove this NIC perfectly fine under Linux and I would imagine they would run a GPU just fine. The occulink port being on the front is a bit annoying for my own use case, but the PCIE adapters for it are far cheaper than USB4, so I would recommend anyone trying to add an eGPU look into that option first. (I will likely end up using it to add a proper 10Gb NIC card to this server at some point). This little machine is going to work great for my server use case, but I can certainly see how it would also be great as an actual desktop PC in places where size or power consumption actually matter. I would 100% recommend it for either use case, though if you are interested in gaming I would recommend budgeting for an occulink GPU dock and a used GPU (an NVIDIA 30 serious card would likely go great with this thing).

I bought this gaming pc specifically so I can play sims 4 🙂‍↕️ and let me tell you it's worth it, the fan is quiet and not as loud as previous pcs I've had and my game runs very smoothly, I highly recommend if you only play stimulation games.