Minisforum has started selling the 'King of Mini PCs,' a system that combines high performance, easy upgradeability, and miniature form factor. The EliteMini UM780 XTX comes with one of AMD's range-topping accelerated processing units (APUs) featuring Zen 4 microarchitecture and built-in RDNA 3-based graphics and can be easily upgraded with an external graphics solution featuring a USB4 or an OCuLink interface.
The Minisforum EliteMini UM780 XTX packs AMD's Ryzen 7 7840HS processor (8C/16T, 3.80 GHz – 5.10 GHz, 16 MB L2 cache, up to 54W) with integrated Radeon 780M graphics (RDNA 3,768 stream processors, up to 2.70 GHz) that can be mated with up to 96 GB of DDR5-5600 memory and two M.2-2280 SSDs with a PCIe 4.0 x4 form-factor (see the specs table below). These components are cooled down using a blower-type cooling system with two heat pipes that can dissipate up to 70W of power to ensure consistent performance even under high loads. The cooler produces a noise level of around 43 dB.
Although AMD's Radeon 780M is one of the most capable integrated GPUs around, it is hardly sufficient for demanding games, and this is what the system is all about. To that end, Minisforum equipped its EliteMini UM780 XTX with two USB4 and one OCuLink connector to attach an external graphics solution to the system. eGFX boxes are generally expensive and bulky, but PC gaming is not cheap. Furthermore, products like the GPD G1 with AMD's Radeon RX 7600M XT inside are smaller than typical external graphics solutions.
Connectivity is another strong side of Minisforum's EliteMini UM780 XTX as the system comes with a Wi-Fi 6E + Bluetooth 5 adapter, two 2.5 GbE connectors with aggregation, two USB4 ports, four USB 3.2 Gen2 connectors (Type-A), four display outputs (one DisplayPort 1.4, two HDMI 2.1, two USB 4), and a TRRS audio input/output for headsets. Two USB4 ports essentially let demanding users plug in an external graphics card and a TB/USB hub for extra ports, an easy way to transform this miniature system into a capable machine with even richer connectivity.
Visual aesthetics certainly adds a wrinkle to the gaming nature of Minisforum's EliteMini UM780 XTX. The device has an LED lion emblem on its side (or on top), somewhat reminiscent of VoodooPC's logotype. The machine can be further enhanced with an angled stand to make the mini powerhouse stand on the desk.
When it comes to pricing, Minisforum's EliteMini UM780 XTX costs $479 with a discount for its barebones version, $629 for its 32 GB memory and 1TB SSD model, and $719 for a SKU with 64 GB of DDR5 and a 1TB drive.
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Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.
As a barebones the price seems reasonable, and usb4 as a path if needed to get more if the igpu is lacking, but for me it would be more than sufficient(Does it do AV1 decode?). The only item that personally gives me pause is platform support and fears of instability. Even if Intel is slower and less efficient, my experience has been rock stable on Big Blue platforms. On my AMD platforms the issue has always been around USB and peripheries(Sound drivers, web cams, random BSOD), and lack of bios updates a year after release. Intel platforms seem to receive long tail support by comparison.
I really don't understand AMD product naming/number as well. How does a 7840HS performs compared to there mainline desktop line (7700/7800/7900/7950 and the X3D variants)? Also how does it stack up against Intel especially a 13900(what I currently drive)? CPU passmark link, a bit slower than allIntel seems to give you clear indication where it lands with naming along, mobile to desktop comparison has been pretty equivalent with alder/raptor lake. Meteor lake and the ultra convention is going to break that...
On the other hand, this mini-computer puts the one I bought a little over a year ago to shame. It's more powerful and costs less in its top configuration than mine ended up costing me once fully equipped, and I bought the top of the line a year ago. And it can't do some of the things this one can do right out of the box.
