GMKtec NucBox M7 Mini PC review

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GMKtec NucBox M7: 30-second review

We precocious covered nan GMKtec NucBox M7 Pro. It's a awesome Mini PC, but nan costs of a functional strategy pinch 32GB and 1TB of retention mightiness beryllium much than immoderate mightiness want to pay.

The replacement from GMKtec is nan guidelines NucBox M7, a Mini PC creation pinch astir of nan awesome things that came pinch its Pro-branded brother, but astatine a lower cost.

Instead of nan AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 6950H, nan M7 has nan AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H, a spot pinch nan aforesaid number of cores and threads but somewhat little timepiece speeds.

This instrumentality besides has nan aforesaid number of PCIe lanes, and nan Radeon 680M is nan integrated GPU successful some processors.

Both these machines person an OCuLink port, enabling them to support an outer video paper pinch a suitable enclosure, which comparatively fewer Mini PCs offer.

The barebones action is $10 cheaper for nan guidelines M7, but nan ready-to-use SKU pinch 32GB of RAM and 1TB of retention is nan aforesaid price.

The M7 Pro has a 64GB and 2TB action that nan M7 doesn't offer, whereas nan M7 has a 16GB and 512GB SKU instead.

The 16GB exemplary is $90 cheaper than nan first populated M7 Pro, but it has little representation and retention for that value cut.

Overall, nan M7 should person been further SKUs for nan M7 Pro alternatively than a different product because nan capacity quality betwixt these 2 processors is remarkably small.

Unless you person a typical scheme for nan $10 you would prevention connected nan M7, get nan M7 Pro instead.

GMKtec NucBox M7: Price & availability

• How overmuch does it cost?  From $300
• When is it out? Available now
• Where tin you get it? Directly from GMKtec aliases via Amazon

The SKU options commencement pinch a barebones action that costs conscionable $300 successful dollars aliases £238.77 successful nan UK. That's $10 little than nan M7 Pro successful nan USA and £7.70 cheaper successful nan UK, straight from GMKtec.

If you want memory, storage, and Windows 11 installed, nan first populated SKU has 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. It costs $389.99 for US customers and £300.39 for UK buyers.

The apical SKU pinch 32GB of RAM and 1TB of retention is £362.01 successful nan UK and $469.99 successful nan US.

Compared to nan M7 Pro,  the M7 is conscionable $10 cheaper pinch 32GB+1TB. Therefore, unless you particularly emotion lower-spec processors aliases you want nan 16GB+512GB model, it's a pointless prime to get nan M7.

I'm not judge what GMKtec was reasoning here. These devices are truthful akin that choosing 1 complete nan different comes down to value and processor.

When nan value is truthful similar, it's a no-brainer.

• Value:  4 / 5

GMKtec NucBox M7: Specifications

GMKtec NucBox M7: Design

• Identical to M7 Pro

We could jump done nan aforesaid hoops again arsenic nan M7 Pro review, but if you want much item connected nan creation of this enclosure, you tin publication that sum instead.

Comparing them from nan outside, we couldn't find immoderate difference. The M7 has precisely nan aforesaid ports successful precisely nan aforesaid places, and it's besides comparatively easy to get inside.

Unless you prime up nan M7 and move it over, wherever you find nan printing that says GMKtec NuxBox M7, it's intolerable to differentiate it from nan M7 Pro.

It's a good design, but thing caller to spot here.

• Design: 4 / 5

GMKtec NucBox M7: Features

• AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H (8 cores, 16 Threads)
• 20 PCIe Lanes
• Radeon 680M
• OCuLink

Launched astatine precisely nan aforesaid clip arsenic its Ryzen 9 PRO 6950H relative utilized successful nan M7 Pro, nan Ryzen 7 Pro 6850H is simply a remarkably akin creation pinch only a fewer insignificant differences.

Both these chips person 8 cores and tin process sixteen threads, and AMD only adjusted nan guidelines timepiece by 100Hz (3.2GHz, not 3.3GHz) connected nan Ryzen 7 design.

The boost timepiece is besides reduced, down 200MHz to 4.7GHz from nan 4.9GHz connected nan Ryzen 9.

In nan greater strategy of things, these are insignificant changes and only somewhat effect performance, which we'll show successful nan capacity section.

In different respects, for illustration nan Radeon 680M and nan 20 PCIe lanes connected offer, location is nary appreciable difference, and choosing 1 complete nan different isn't apt to make either broadside incorrect aliases right.

In immoderate products, nan Ryzen 7 performs amended than its Ryzen 9 brother, but that wasn't our acquisition pinch nan M7.

The M7 shares pinch its M7 Pro that this Mini PC has an OCuLink larboard to alteration nan outer relationship of a discrete video card. But alas, GMKtec didn't make 1 of these enclosures, truthful 1 was not included for our review.

• Features: 4 / 5

GMKtec NucBox M7: Performance

• Slower than nan M7 Pro
• Better SSD
• Hobson's choice

The quality betwixt nan M7 and M7 Pro is tiny. Even pinch those benchmarks that show nan top advantage for nan Ryzen 9-powered box, it ne'er manages an betterment of greater than 11%. The separation is usually person to 5%, particularly in tests that utilise nan GPU.

In applicable terms, astir users wouldn't beryllium capable to activity retired which instrumentality they were utilizing successful a unsighted test.

In conscionable 1 test, nan M7 was dramatically amended than nan M7 Pro. The CrystalDiskMark benchmark of nan NVMe drive. The 512GB ZettaStone CP200 successful our reappraisal hardware isn't thing special, being a PCIe 3.0 drive, but it's amended astatine penning than nan 1 successful nan M7 Pro.

If this had been nan 1TB CP200, it would astir apt person besides been quicker astatine reading.

Overall, nan M7's capacity is adjacent capable to that of nan M7 Pro to make 1 complete nan different a reliable choice, though for nan aforesaid asking value for 32GB and 1TB, nan M7 Pro is astir apt a amended worth for money.

The only spot nan M7 wins is that it has a cheaper populated action pinch nan 16GB+512GB exemplary reviewed here, but redeeming $90 pinch half nan representation and retention mightiness not beryllium nan champion deal.

• Performance: 4/ 5

GMKtec NucBox M7: Verdict

If it isn't weird naming conventions, past it's a pricing strategy that makes small sense.

And today, pinch nan M7, it's an almost identical instrumentality pinch a mini quality successful nan processor spec priced pinch only a $10 advantage.

That's not capable to make nan M7 immoderate bargain, and you would request to beryllium obsessed pinch powerfulness depletion and instrumentality sound moreover to see it.

The only measurement this makes immoderate consciousness is if you are happy pinch 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, thing nan M7 Pro doesn't supply successful its exemplary range.

Whatever nan backstory, nan M7 is simply a good Mini PC pinch galore awesome features, but pinch nan M7 Pro priced arsenic it is, location seems small constituent successful buying it.

Should you bargain a GMKtec NucBox M7?

Buy it if...

Don't Buy it if...

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