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LGR - Minisforum X1 Pro Mini PC review
🕑 Added 2025-03-06 20:03:01 +0000 UTCSorry that I couldn't post this episode of LGR early like usual! This is a new product (still technically unreleased publicly) so the press embargo I was under prevented any coverage until today.
That said, I really hope y'all enjoy this look at the Minisforum AI X1 Pro. Because I really enjoyed making the video! Sometimes new stuff is a fun change of pace from all the endless items from the late 90s. Going a bit outside of my wheelhouse with something so cutting edge was a good excuse to catch up on current tech. Honestly before getting this, I didn't even know that 40+ TOPS NPUs or Microsoft Copilot+ PC certification were things anyone cared about! And I'm still not sure anyone does, ha.
But even more important: it gave me an excuse to play some newer games again! Despite its small size, this is an impressively fast Windows 11 PC built around the beefy AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 12-core processor, with a whopping 64GB RAM and the surprisingly capable Radeon 890M iGPU. Like, the fact that (in some tests) this little thing outperforms my giant 32-core Threadripper 3970x workstation PC from 2020 is just nuts...
I'm already at work on the next couple of LGR videos here, and $5+ supporters can also expect the next LGR Wrap Up+Q&A episode quite soon. Take care, and thank you for your ongoing support!
Comments
LGR
Unfortunately I don’t have access to mine since it’s in storage after the hurricane. I’ve seen other reviewers of this did power tests though!
Duncan
A.I. is the Buzz word of the decade. How long before someone releases an A.I. powered refrigerator? After all the Internet Enabled fridge dates back to June 2000. The history of "kitchen computers" might make an interesting LGR "Tech tales" as the idea dates back to 1969 !
Lari Palander
Oh no, I had to try, and now I'm addicted to Balatro. Anyway, I really didn't know these small machines were such beasts these days. My employer recently got me the new Mac mini to use at home, and it's also an incredible powerhouse and great for work. But indeed, PC would be much more agile and fun to tinker and game with. Interesting stuff.
BastetFurry
Not even casuals, people who want power efficient stuff too. Why use a PC that idles at 80 watts when one that idles at 8 does the job more than fine too?
BastetFurry
If i got one the first thing i would do is insert a Debian Netinstall stick. No need for that gamebooter from Redmond, no Sir! 😁 By the way, care to attach a killawatt and tell us what it eats in idle and when pushed? Energy prices in Germany are still somewhere far out there and are one of the main reasons why i still use my Deck running Ubuntu as my Desktop, 8 watts idle is just too good to pass up when your kilowatt costs you ~40 cent.
Z
Oh no am I saying "Balatro" wrong :( I was very confused and then very delighted that you reviewed a modern PC!
Saint_Redfield
The most surprising thing that I learned from this video is that a right-click menu key exists, and that my 12-year old laptop has had one all this time and I had no idea what it did. As my huscub somewhat sarcastically pointed out to me afterwards, every day is a schoolday :oP Good luck with Elden Ring! I'm approaching 1500 hours playtime on PS4+5 so I'm happy to help answer any questions on it :oP
Ryan Seney
Thanks for doing this video, I've always been a little curious about this form factor since the Intel NUC and the performance on this was very impressive. Considering my current desktop is effectively a laptop living inside a mid-tower case, I may have to check in on this company again next time I'm in the mood to upgrade. Ditching my mid-00's monolith for something that could fit in a lunchbox feels like the right next step.
james fonda
You said you were surprised by it running KCD2, but I'm not surprised, steam deck runs it SUPER well considering it's a brand new game that looks great, it actually makes me think that graphics scoring software is underselling steam deck compared to that mini PC
Michael Romero
the tops thing made me itchy because i'm from the old school, and i wanted that to be talking about teraflops. all the ai stuff is silly and we're going to look back on this era in a few years and just shake our heads about it all.
zephyrmo
I can't say I know much about geekbench but the fact the steamdeck results were showing Android x86 as a client made me wonder if they were totally comparable? Just stunned at _how_ much faster that thing is and looking for an excuse, ha
Dave Velociraptor
There is more to it than that, there's something actually in the CPU for it. I started to look into it a few weeks ago but got so chronically bored I couldn't continue
Neely H
Love that KCD II was included! Haha I haven’t been able to stop playing since it released. Did you play the first game too or just this one since it was gifted?
LGR
That was indeed a strategic choice, ha. Really dislike the way “AI” is shoved into so many products names when it doesn’t belong there.
Jeff Geerling
Microsoft cares about CoPilot+. But nobody else does :D
MysetriousVibes
I sent it to my professional DJ friend who might actually have a use for it as a more powerful system to go than a bulky laptop. He does a lot of AI work creating stems from classic disco tracks then remixing them live. Dubbing them out which requires a lot of processing power.
Chad Armstrong
Glad to hear the Copilot button can be remapped. Now we just need to set it up to order a pizza…
Dukefazon
No worries, I heard Balatro is super addictive ;)
Hugo
Copilot Certification smells like “VR Ready” from a few years ago, especially if they’re just running everything in the cloud and charging rent
Dave Velociraptor
I was very surprised by how good it was. Twist their arm into sending you a GPU and enclosure for part 2.
Eric Richey
I’ve always been intrigued by NUC products. Other than the forced Microsoft Copilot AI branding, I’m excited to see this form factor become more common. Especially for casual gamers that don’t need workstation GPUS as a flex in PC gaming
calciume
I'm glad you omitted "AI" from the title because if you didn't I probably wouldn't have watched the video! I just automatically tune out any AI content these days.
