Mini-PC Miniforum AI X1 470 in prova: con Ryzen AI 9 silenziosamente sotto carico

The Minisforum AI X1 470 has been tested as part of its lineup of high-end mini PCs, featuring the latest AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 processor. This model serves as the successor to the earlier AI X1 and offers enhanced performance and efficiency. The test highlights the system's capabilities and whether it justifies its price tag of €1,359. The device was provided by the manufacturer for evaluation. The AI X1 470 is powered by the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470, which belongs to the Ryzen-AI-400 series. Manufactured using a 4nm process, this processor combines four Zen-5 cores with eight compact Zen-5c cores, resulting in a total of 24 threads through simultaneous multithreading. It operates at a base clock speed of 2.0 GHz, with a boost frequency up to 5.2 GHz. The thermal design power can be adjusted between 15 and 54 watts via the system configurator. For graphics, the integrated Radeon 890M handles the visual processing. Based on the RDNA 3.5 architecture, it features 16 compute units and can reach a maximum clock speed of 3100 MHz. Additionally, the system includes a neural processing unit (NPU) capable of delivering up to 55 TOPS. Together, the CPU, GPU, and NPU achieve a combined performance of up to 86 TOPS. The test device includes 32 GB DDR5 RAM from Crucial operating at 5600 MT/s. While Minisforum installed only one of the two SO-DIMM slots, internal testing with Aida64 revealed a quad-channel memory controller with 256 bits. However, the system operated in dual-channel mode with 128 bits during testing. These specifications refer to the internal organization of the memory controller and are not equivalent to a traditional quad-channel configuration using four memory modules. Officially, the mini PC supports up to 64 GB RAM. During testing, the system utilized a total of 96 GB, distributed across two 48-GB modules from Crucial, each running at 5600 MT/s. This setup functions flawlessly, offering significantly more capacity than the manufacturer’s stated limit. The storage solution consists of a 1 TB Kingston SSD in M.2 2280 format, connected via four PCIe 4.0 lanes. It achieved sequential read speeds of 6139 MB/s and write speeds of 5334 MB/s in CrystalDiskMark tests, providing adequate performance for PCIe 4.0. Another M.2 2280 slot allows for additional NVMe SSDs, with each slot supporting up to 4 TB, enabling a total of 8 TB of storage capacity. A small fan ensures cooling for the RAM and both drives. While PCIe 5.0 is supported for NVMe drives, a test with a 4 TB Crucial T700, which typically supports PCIe 5.0 x4, showed peak read speeds of 7126 MB/s and write speeds of 6987 MB/s, placing it within the range of a fast PCIe 4.0 connection. The processor itself also supports PCIe 4.0. The connectivity options are extensive, including DisplayPort 2.0, HDMI 2.1, and two USB4 ports with DisplayPort Alt Mode. The rear USB4 port also supports power delivery, allowing the entire system to be powered via USB-C. For expansion, Oculink provides support for external GPUs or other PCIe hardware. However, the selection of standard USB-A ports is limited, with only three available. Networking is handled by a Realtek RTL8125 gaming Ethernet chip offering up to 2.5 Gbps speeds. Wireless connectivity includes Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4, utilizing the MediaTek MT7925 chipset, which also supports driver compatibility under Linux.