Geekom A9 Max assessment: A mini PC with gargantuan AMD energy

Greatest Costs At the moment: Geekom A9 Max

Desktop PCs have been beneath my desk for nearly 30 years. Early final yr, after points with the Intel Core i9-14900KF, the CSL VenomBox was my first mini PC, and I haven’t regretted it.

As I wish to keep up-to-date with AI, I wanted an acceptable mini PC. I selected the Geekom A9 Max with the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor, which is a reasonable efficiency improve over the AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS within the CSL VenomBox, whereas additionally offering the mandatory AI help and up to date connectivity.

Geekom A9 Max: Specs

• Dimensions: 135 × 132 × 46.9 mm (W × D × H)
• Processor: AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370
• GPU: AMD Radeon 890M
• Reminiscence: 2 × 16 GB Wodposit Twin-Channel DDR5 5600MHz
• Inside storage: Lexar LNQ7A1X002T, M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 ×4 NVMe SSD
• SSD upgradeability: 1 × M.2 2230 PCIe 4.0 ×4 NVMe, as much as 4 TB
• Rear connections: 1 × USB 3.2 Gen 2 Kind-A, 1 × USB 2.0 Kind-A, 1 × USB 4.0 Kind-C DP-Alt-Mode / PD-In, 1 × USB 4.0 Kind-C DP-Alt-Mode, 2 × Ethernet RJ45 2.5 Gbit/s, 2 × HDMI 2.1 FRL, 1 × DC-In
• Entrance connections: 3 × USB 3.2 Gen 2 Kind-A, 1 × USB 3.2 Gen 2 Kind-A All the time On, 1 × 3.5 mm headphone jack, 1 × SD card reader 4.0
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
• Working system: Microsoft Home windows 11 24H2 (64-bit)
• Equipment: VESA mount (121.8 × 116.5 × 1.0 mm)

Geekom A9 Max: Design and options

The A9 Max mini PC, which has solely been obtainable for a couple of weeks, was unveiled at CES earlier this yr. Geekom packs the {hardware} into an attractively designed steel housing that’s supposed to resist as much as 200 kilograms of strain. We haven’t examined this declare, however we will attest to the excessive stability of the housing.

Christoph Hoffmann

With dimensions of 135 x 132 x 46.9 millimeters, the A9 Max matches simply on any desk. It may also be hooked up to the again of a monitor utilizing a VESA mount, which doesn’t make sense with my setup with three 27-inch displays on a single rail.

As is typical for a mini PC, there are connections obtainable on the entrance and rear, though the pc’s orientation on the desk doesn’t actually matter. The entrance is marked by the on/off swap. Geekom hasn’t been stingy with ports and leaves nothing to be desired: supporting as much as 4 displays with 8K, there are two USB4 ports with DisplayPort 1.4 every, plus two HDMI 2.1 ports.

Christoph Hoffmann

One spotlight is the 2 2.5 Gbit Ethernet ports, which develop into helpful when paired with a suitable router or swap and a NAS, such because the Ugreen DX4800 Plus (extra on this later).

Christoph Hoffmann

There are additionally further USB ports, totaling eight in numerous variations–from USB 2.0 and USB 3.2 Gen 2 to USB 4.0 Kind-C. This setup additionally permits storage gadgets to be related at excessive velocity.

Geekom A9 Max: Processor, GPU, RAM, and SSD

On the coronary heart of the Geekom A9 Max is the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, a high-end processor from the AMD Ryzen AI 300 sequence, developed for each laptops and desktops.

It has 12 cores (4 × Zen 5 and eight × Zen 5c) and helps as much as 24 threads due to SMT. AMD’s Radeon 890M graphics and an built-in AI engine ship as much as 80 TOPS in complete, 50 TOPS of which come through the NPU, which means the CPU is particularly designed for AI purposes and acceleration.

The system in contains 32 GB of DDR5 RAM (5,600 MT/s) in two 16 GB modules. A single 32 GB module would have been extra favorable for a future improve to 64 GB, since each modules would in any other case have to be changed. The producer is Wodposit Expertise from Shenzhen, China–little is thought in regards to the firm itself, nevertheless it has been a {hardware} associate of Geekom for a while.

Christoph Hoffmann

The NVMe SSD put in in our A9 Max has a 2 TB capability and comes from Lexar, labeled LNQ7A1X002T. It’s additionally attainable that SSDs from different producers are utilized in different A9 models.

Christoph Hoffmann

There’s a quick M.2 interface (M.2-2230) for a further SSD, although the selection of suitable drives is restricted. For our improve, we opted for the Essential P310 SSD 2 TB M.2.

Geekom A9 Max: Home windows 11 model 24H2 comes pre-installed

The A9 Max comes with a hardware-bound license for Home windows 11. When booting the mini PC for the primary time, the Home windows set up begins, the Home windows set up begins and takes round 50 minutes. Updates are loaded in the course of the set-up, however Home windows provides additional updates in a while.

In our take a look at setup, a 27-inch Dell monitor is related to the A9 Max, together with a wired Cherry keyboard and a Microsoft mouse with dongle. The mini PC is related to the community through an Ethernet cable to the two.5 Gbit/s BrosTrend 8X swap.

We received’t go into additional element about Home windows, however we noticed that lots of the working system’s AI options are supported.

Geekom A9 Max: Efficiency

Given the sturdy {hardware} for a mini PC on this worth vary, we had been desperate to see the efficiency take a look at outcomes. We used the PCMark 10 benchmark take a look at to judge precise efficiency, which gives real looking values by operating on a regular basis duties sequentially.

Scoring 7,976, the A9 simply lands within the high shirt. For comparability, the Asus ZenBook 14 OLED with its Ryzen 7 7730U processor scores a complete of 6,722 factors. This exhibits simply how the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 stacks up towards Qualcomm and Intel CPUs.

Christoph Hoffmann

The Geekom A9 Max scores 3,279 factors in 3DMark’s Metal Nomad Mild benchmark, putting it within the “good” vary and barely above common. It additionally performs solidly within the Time Spy benchmark, with 3,701 factors.

Christoph Hoffmann

The M.2 NVMe SSD from Lexar delivers a learn velocity of 6,242 MB/s and a write velocity of 5,423 MB/s within the Crystal Disk Mark benchmark. That is an above common worth for a PCIe 4.0 SSD. By comparability, the retrofitted Essential P310 SSD 2 TB achieves even larger speeds, with 7,000 learn and 4,614 MB/s write.

Christoph Hoffmann

One other focal point is the twin Ethernet setup with 2 x 2.5 Gbit/s ports. Briefly, there’s no velocity increase type utilizing a single LAN port; the primary benefit is the flexibility to hook up with two wired networks in parallel.

Concerning velocity, we related the A9 Max to the community utilizing two class eight community cables and used Home windows File Explorer to repeat a video file of almost 5.8 GB to and from the Ugreen NAS DX4800 Plus, which additionally has two 2.5 Gbit/s ports.

The typical bandwidth was 278 MB/s, whether or not one or each Ethernet ports had been related. The NAS Efficiency Tester produced comparable outcomes, recording common speeds of 276.04 MB/s for studying and 289.09 MB/s for writing.

Christoph Hoffmann

Geekom A9 Max: Conclusion

The Geekom A9 Max is an efficient alternative for customers in search of AI capabilities and above-average efficiency. With its complete options and multi-monitor help, the mini PC is well-suited for workplace use and likewise appeals to builders and graphic designers.

Geekom’s pricing coverage, nevertheless, is considerably unlucky. Within the U.S., the A9 Max is at the moment goes for $999, which is down from its authentic $1,199. That’s not a foul low cost proper there, however you might even see the worth fluctuate because of the occasional promotion on Geekom’s web site.