China-based Mini PC manufacturer Minisforum has just globally launched the MS-R1, the company's first foray into the ARM market, with a compact yet powerful device. Building on the interest in Nvidia's DGX Spark, the ongoing AI boom has made desktop-class ARM systems a hot topic, and Minisforum's MS-R1 differentiates itself by including support for dedicated GPUs and a UEFI.
🚀 MINISFORUM MS-R1 — Desktop ARM Starts Now.The world’s first ARM Mini Workstation with UEFI boot. Powered by CP8180 (12C/12T · 45 TOPS AI), supporting up to 64GB LPDDR5 ECC and dual 10GbE — all in a compact 1.7L chassis.🔗 Learn more:US Store: https://t.co/46njvM50gREU… pic.twitter.com/c7zESyf274November 10, 2025
The MS-R1 is based on Cixin's P1 SoC, using a rebranded variant of it called the CD8180. It's a 12-core SoC, packing 8x Cortex-A720 and 4x Cortex‑A520 cores, alongside an Immortalis-G720 MC10 integrated GPU. It features up to 64 GB of error-correcting LPPDR5 RAM, running at 5500 MT/s. Minisforum is quoting up to 45 TOPS of AI compute, with 28.8 coming from the NPU.
All that power doesn't require a lot of space, as the MS-R1 is only 1.7-liters in size and should run quietly thanks to its 28W max TDP. The 12-core SoC can boost up to 2.6 GHz, but looks to be fairlyweak, even compared to a last-gen Snapdragon X Elite. For connectivity, you get Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6E, plus the IO is packed, with a bunch of fast USB ports, dual 10Gbps Ethernet, and HDMI out.
Despite touting UEFI boot support — which should enable even beginners to run mainstream operating systems like Linux easily — Minisforum does not mention Windows on ARM, so we assume it's not supported. The company says this is a "major breakthrough" for ARM computing, allowing both complex setups and everyday environments to be booted into with just a USB drive.
Again, the MS-R1 has a dedicated PCIe x16 slot for discrete GPUs, making it one of the first and only compact ARM-based solutions to have that capability. Discrete GPUs can massively accelerate AI inference and training, and pair nicely with the ARM cores to offer an efficient yet powerful computer for AI, for much less than a DGX Spark.
Speaking of, Minisforum is asking $503 for the base unit with 32 GB RAM, which does not include any storage. The top-end model with 64 GB RAM and a 1 TB SSD is $695.90, and you do get an expandable (up to 8 TB) M.2 slot. It looks like the NAND and DRAM shortage has already hit Minisforum as well. These are early-bird discounted prices that will go up after the initial batch sells out (which it already has) showing just how much in demand desktop-class ARM is at the moment.
CPU | CP8180, 12 Cores / 12 Threads, 2.6GHz, 28W TDP |
GPU | Arm Immortalis-G720 MC10 |
Memory | LPDDR5 (LinkECC & Inline ECC), 5500MHz, up to 64GB |
Storage | 1× M.2 2280/22110 NVMe SSD (PCIe 4.0 x4) |
Wireless | Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3 (M.2 2230 E-Key) |
Video Output | HDMI 2.0 ×1 (up to 4K@60Hz) |
Audio Output | HDMI ×1 |
Audio Input | 3.5mm Combo Jack (4-in-1) ×1 |
I/O Ports | 3.5mm Combo Audio (4-in-1) ×1 |
Internal | PCIe x16 (PCIe 4.0 x8) ×1 |
Button | Power Button ×1 |
Power Adapter | DC 19V 180W / USB-C 20V 100W |
OS Support | Debian 12 (default, can be switched) |
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