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.
