I bought an MS-01 myself. The biggest pros are the connectivity, the power consumption, the Iris Xe graphics (which is not available on the smallest model) and the PCIe slot on which I use an external graphics card. The biggest cons are the inverted USB ports, the inadequate cooling and the noise level which is quite annoying under full load. I wish Minisforum had developed the same mini PC in a slightly larger form factor, with better cooling and the possibility of using "normal" low profile graphics cards. The problem with the noise level would have almost solved itself.
Just got mine put together last night with 96 GB Crucial DDR5 and two WD N700 2TB SSDs (I got these because the TBW is 2500, almost 4 times that of a Samsung 990 Pro, and ZFS eats consumer SSDs quickly). I'll be setting up Proxmox on it with the SSDs in RAIDZ1, so this little beast will do all kinds of work for me. First item on the agenda is a Debian (VM or LXC? Haven't decided yet) to serve as my new Docker host so I can move my containers to there and off my NAS, as Synology's Docker Compose is friggin' ancient and it's annoying me that I can't do includes. Ultimately I would like to virtualize OpnSense on there to act as my router, but I'll probably have to get an extra NIC for that, particularly if I actually utilize the Intel VPro as the port has to be dedicated to that if you use it.
@@herman6214 No, I haven’t had any crashes. It idles at 42C, and at 5% CPU, the temp is 52C and the fan is annoyingly loud, but this is apparently normal.
How's your minisforum ms-01 running? I'm researching a setup similar to yours, but using Incus instead. Also, have you experienced any issues virutalizing your router on the same box? I'm new at this, but it seems the general advice is router should be separate hardware, no? Thank you.
Love this video review. But the RTX A2000 will not fit in these miniPC. The standard A2000 card is a 2 slot, while this miniPC only support 1 slot card. However, there is a custom heatsink for A2000 that make the card to single slot card. ETA Prime channel had review those custom heatsink.
Something else crazy. My laptop with i7 13620h cpu and ddr4 ram gets the same cinebench r23 points as this mini pc. Prety curious to why is this so. Maybe the mini pc is thermal limited alot more? My laptop is a zephyrus g16 2023 model which has liquid metal on the cpu. Maybe it is better at cooling and it mantains it more cool. I certainly see why would somebody buy one of these. The two 10gigabits and two 2.5 ones ports are prety good for accessing mass storage on diferent nas's and transfering huge documents. Thank you for the review , i never knew these things exist before today, though i should have seen it comming
My MS-01 arrives from China tomorrow! Already here waiting for it: 96GB 5200MT/S DDR5 RAM, 3 x M.2 SSDs totally 4.5TB, an Nvidia T600 video card (hope it works!) and two 10G copper transceivers. The machine will get ESXi 8.0 U2 after turning off its efficiency cores. It will run about 30VMs, replacing a Dell PowerEdge R740 for the summer months.
@@o_Oleh It doesn't. That 64GB limit is a misstatement. The machine uses DDR5. DDR5 SODIMMs are available in a 48GB size in addition to the usual 32GB and smaller sizes. Two 48GB SODIMMs gives you 96GB total. I have no yet heard of a DDR5 machine that takes two SODIMMs and can't reach 96GB. 96GB DDR5 RAM is about US$300.
Unfortunately, the T600 GPU did not work in the MS-01. So I am looking for another non-AMD card that'll fit. The machine is up a running for two days now, with a reduced load from the R740. Just the VMs I need to have running with a bit of headroom in case I need another VM or two. The R740 has been powered down for those two days.
@@snowwny The Intel ARC A310 came into stock at Amazon. It's by a company called Sparkle and it's there ECO model. US$99. Works fine under Windows 11. There were no working drivers for it under Windows Server 2022 though. Regarding video out, I can only speak for the highest-end model, which is what I have. The barebones version still has the Iris XE graphics and still supports at least the 3 video outputs. More with the addition of a GPU. It turned out to be a very nice machine. It's running ten VMware virtual machines and has available CPU to run more. Unfortunately, it's nearly out of memory. That's why servers that take 128GB, 256GB, 512GB or more are still important.
It's much easier for viewers to quickly gauge the performance vs price of this PC by listing the Tech. Spec and Price summary on the screen at the beginning of your review. I have fast forward and search for details like what CPU is ?
What really counts is always forgotten, in any review I come across: SSD temperature ! The longevity of your SSD, and therefore the integrity of your data, is heavily reduced under high temperatures. On my pc my SSD rarely runs hotter than 40°C, and that's why it will probably last 10 years or more. However: if it were around 70°C, as is often the case in mini pc's, I might have to replace the SSD every 2 years or so.
It looks similar to the Lenovo ThinkCentre but is slightly thicker and has more features, the only downside is the integrated graphics aren't as good as the APU in Lenovos.
Man is it present in the BIOS the voice "CPU lock" or "CFG Lock" ?Usually this 2 voices let us doing undervolting via throttlestop and this cpu could have a big bump in performance. Could you check or attach a video with a detailed BIOS overview?
Since the Mac Mini, all manner of improvements have happened to Mini PCs. GPU makers are worried that APU's will kill their trade (down 50% last year).
SFF+ ports are cool when fiber connections are a requirement. This is really unique in a compact workstation. I wonder if you could swap the SFP for additional video output ports for those that need to connect extra screens and don't have fiber infrastructure.
@@Static-MT Not sure if you can use the USB on the back for video out but given it's only got 1 video out I can see where you are coming from. Just another reason for a MS02 to be a little bigger, I think it's a really neat device that suffers from the form factor more than it should.
@@moonimmondal You will need to leave the mental shroud off and put a heat sink on the switch chip and some heatsinks on the upper NVME and thermal tape underside.
I'm disappointed with its idle power draw of 13W - I think it should arguably go way lower, given that it's built on laptop hardware. I don't know if possibly that huge power adapter brick might be the reason - doesn't look like a high efficiency adapter. Even the standby power draw is 2 watts. If you buy a Lenovo or HP 1L mini PC, which is built on desktop CPU technology, actually you can get around 6W of idle power draw.
Will this SSD fitt in the U2 slott of the Minisforum MS-01 aand function without any issues? It'sss aaa Western Digital Ultrastar DC SN650, U.3, 15MM, 15,360GB, 2.5-inch, PCIe.
MS-A1 has released and is shipping now. Ryzen UNSOLDERED! They sell it CPU-less and barebones for 260 bucks... includes Oculink port. Ditches both 10Gps SPF ports.
YOOO 2mins agoo😂 big fan man i love your fractal build, inspiring me, i need some clarification though, i want to get 14700kf and 4070 ti with a b760 proart mother board, but I’m worried about the bios issue, any advice?
@theTechNotice Also, the A1000 looks cool and so does the rtx 2000 ada 16gb that recently came out. They'd be a great use case for this. Did you say that this pc has foam barriers to ensure that only cool outside air is pulled into the cou cooler rather than warm recirculated air?
MinisForum, a Shenzhen-based, Chinese manufacturer of compact computing platforms, has been steadily bringing both AMD and Intel-based systems into the market.
When you get these Mini PCs in for review do you do a clean install of Windows and download the drivers from the manufacturer's website? This ensures there is nothing else installed on the NvmE and it gives you an idea of how easily the drivers are to download.
Interesting. I'm also seeing concerns about malware inserted into BIOS. How does one protect against this? I'm new at building machines. For context, I intend to run Debian, not Windows.
Intel did not have much pcie birficiation option, most only do 8/8 while amd do 4/4/4/4 which means if it is a 16 slot and you want to using a smaller version of quad nvme carrier card , it must be come with a 16 lanes to 4/4/4/4 controller which is not cheap 😆 There are some cheaper card with controller but they only do x4 or x8 the host
I wish this was bigger (maybe the size of a deskmeet) to have more options for the PCIE slot and better cooling. For a first effort at this kind of system it's pretty good but there is definitely room for improvement. There are some small quad PCIE NVME adapters out there but you'd need one with a switch on it to handle bifurcation and it's only an x8 slot so the most you are going to get is 2 additional drives, additionally servethehome and craft computing did some testing and quite a few PCIE cards won't work.
It does not support ecc memory which is important for workstations. Also only one gen4 nvme slot. And HHHL-SS videocards are virtually non-existent. RTX2000 will not fit MS-01, you'll need a custom SS cooler to put it in.
Absolute crap quality. I already had problems on Installation. It died just 2 months after using it. Power On doesn't work anymore. Never again Minis-Forum.
Those did NOT create their own category - that category existed for very long time by means of people creating low power mid performance super cheap home lap units. Minisforum are the first that actually listened to customers ! Asus, MSI, Gigabyte etc ... can you finally pull your finger out of your but and clean your ears ?
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I bought an MS-01 myself. The biggest pros are the connectivity, the power consumption, the Iris Xe graphics (which is not available on the smallest model) and the PCIe slot on which I use an external graphics card. The biggest cons are the inverted USB ports, the inadequate cooling and the noise level which is quite annoying under full load. I wish Minisforum had developed the same mini PC in a slightly larger form factor, with better cooling and the possibility of using "normal" low profile graphics cards. The problem with the noise level would have almost solved itself.
Excellent review. Thanks. I remember when i used to laugh at these little pc boxes, well times and tech are definitely changing.
Just got mine put together last night with 96 GB Crucial DDR5 and two WD N700 2TB SSDs (I got these because the TBW is 2500, almost 4 times that of a Samsung 990 Pro, and ZFS eats consumer SSDs quickly). I'll be setting up Proxmox on it with the SSDs in RAIDZ1, so this little beast will do all kinds of work for me.
First item on the agenda is a Debian (VM or LXC? Haven't decided yet) to serve as my new Docker host so I can move my containers to there and off my NAS, as Synology's Docker Compose is friggin' ancient and it's annoying me that I can't do includes.
Ultimately I would like to virtualize OpnSense on there to act as my router, but I'll probably have to get an extra NIC for that, particularly if I actually utilize the Intel VPro as the port has to be dedicated to that if you use it.
already had random crashes?
@@herman6214 No, I haven’t had any crashes. It idles at 42C, and at 5% CPU, the temp is 52C and the fan is annoyingly loud, but this is apparently normal.
@praetorxyn which model do you have?
@@herman6214 The i9 one.
How's your minisforum ms-01 running? I'm researching a setup similar to yours, but using Incus instead. Also, have you experienced any issues virutalizing your router on the same box? I'm new at this, but it seems the general advice is router should be separate hardware, no? Thank you.
Love this video review. But the RTX A2000 will not fit in these miniPC. The standard A2000 card is a 2 slot, while this miniPC only support 1 slot card. However, there is a custom heatsink for A2000 that make the card to single slot card. ETA Prime channel had review those custom heatsink.
Sff version of a2000 and a4000 fits
@@ARJUNDASED only with low profile single slot heatsink.
Something else crazy. My laptop with i7 13620h cpu and ddr4 ram gets the same cinebench r23 points as this mini pc. Prety curious to why is this so. Maybe the mini pc is thermal limited alot more? My laptop is a zephyrus g16 2023 model which has liquid metal on the cpu. Maybe it is better at cooling and it mantains it more cool.
I certainly see why would somebody buy one of these. The two 10gigabits and two 2.5 ones ports are prety good for accessing mass storage on diferent nas's and transfering huge documents.
Thank you for the review , i never knew these things exist before today, though i should have seen it comming
My MS-01 arrives from China tomorrow! Already here waiting for it: 96GB 5200MT/S DDR5 RAM, 3 x M.2 SSDs totally 4.5TB, an Nvidia T600 video card (hope it works!) and two 10G copper transceivers. The machine will get ESXi 8.0 U2 after turning off its efficiency cores. It will run about 30VMs, replacing a Dell PowerEdge R740 for the summer months.
Hi, how can you add 96Gb if it supports just 64BG?
@@o_Oleh It doesn't. That 64GB limit is a misstatement. The machine uses DDR5. DDR5 SODIMMs are available in a 48GB size in addition to the usual 32GB and smaller sizes.
Two 48GB SODIMMs gives you 96GB total.
I have no yet heard of a DDR5 machine that takes two SODIMMs and can't reach 96GB.
96GB DDR5 RAM is about US$300.
Unfortunately, the T600 GPU did not work in the MS-01. So I am looking for another non-AMD card that'll fit.
The machine is up a running for two days now, with a reduced load from the R740. Just the VMs I need to have running with a bit of headroom in case I need another VM or two.
The R740 has been powered down for those two days.
@@jeffnew1213 which graphics card you end up using now? If I get barebone, I still get 3 video output from the built-in graphics, right?
@@snowwny The Intel ARC A310 came into stock at Amazon. It's by a company called Sparkle and it's there ECO model. US$99. Works fine under Windows 11. There were no working drivers for it under Windows Server 2022 though.
Regarding video out, I can only speak for the highest-end model, which is what I have. The barebones version still has the Iris XE graphics and still supports at least the 3 video outputs. More with the addition of a GPU.
It turned out to be a very nice machine. It's running ten VMware virtual machines and has available CPU to run more. Unfortunately, it's nearly out of memory. That's why servers that take 128GB, 256GB, 512GB or more are still important.
It's much easier for viewers to quickly gauge the performance vs price of this PC by listing the Tech. Spec and Price summary on the screen at the beginning of your review.
I have fast forward and search for details like what CPU is ?
What really counts is always forgotten, in any review I come across: SSD temperature !
The longevity of your SSD, and therefore the integrity of your data, is heavily reduced under high temperatures.
On my pc my SSD rarely runs hotter than 40°C, and that's why it will probably last 10 years or more.
However: if it were around 70°C, as is often the case in mini pc's, I might have to replace the SSD every 2 years or so.
I wish you had not skipped showing the CPU. Interested to see the heatsink
You could also run a LSI 9300 8e HBA....
It looks similar to the Lenovo ThinkCentre but is slightly thicker and has more features, the only downside is the integrated graphics aren't as good as the APU in Lenovos.
Nice, as always. Clean, straight to the point, no unnecessary bling bling. Interesting Mini PC.
Thanks fo rthe review. Could you share your keyboard setup? I really like the gray/black/yellow configuration you have
I'm in the comments looking for the answer as well
Please don't change your testing ways. Finaly some nice heat/power comparasment.
Man is it present in the BIOS the voice "CPU lock" or "CFG Lock" ?Usually this 2 voices let us doing undervolting via throttlestop and this cpu could have a big bump in performance.
Could you check or attach a video with a detailed BIOS overview?
Thank you my friend, hope you’re having a great weekend?
Since the Mac Mini, all manner of improvements have happened to Mini PCs. GPU makers are worried that APU's will kill their trade (down 50% last year).
SFF+ ports are cool when fiber connections are a requirement. This is really unique in a compact workstation. I wonder if you could swap the SFP for additional video output ports for those that need to connect extra screens and don't have fiber infrastructure.
The network ports are onboard, can't swap them out for anything else.
@@nadtz Agreed. I was thinking along the lines of a factory option to have additional video outputs at the cost of SFP+.
@@Static-MT Not sure if you can use the USB on the back for video out but given it's only got 1 video out I can see where you are coming from. Just another reason for a MS02 to be a little bigger, I think it's a really neat device that suffers from the form factor more than it should.
I have a a 4 slot nvme card in my with 32TB! FYI it has to be a bifurcation card with a PCI-E switch. Does about 3500MB/s. Crazy compact server !
What's the card that you're using?
@@moonimmondal You will need to leave the mental shroud off and put a heat sink on the switch chip and some heatsinks on the upper NVME and thermal tape underside.
Minisforum come a long way!
Love from India
I'm disappointed with its idle power draw of 13W - I think it should arguably go way lower, given that it's built on laptop hardware. I don't know if possibly that huge power adapter brick might be the reason - doesn't look like a high efficiency adapter. Even the standby power draw is 2 watts. If you buy a Lenovo or HP 1L mini PC, which is built on desktop CPU technology, actually you can get around 6W of idle power draw.
There are two rtx a2000 mobile one 6gb and the other non-mobile 12gb. Does the product support the 12gb? Thanks
Will this SSD fitt in the U2 slott of the Minisforum MS-01 aand function without any issues? It'sss aaa Western Digital Ultrastar DC SN650, U.3, 15MM, 15,360GB, 2.5-inch, PCIe.
MS-A1 has released and is shipping now. Ryzen UNSOLDERED! They sell it CPU-less and barebones for 260 bucks... includes Oculink port. Ditches both 10Gps SPF ports.
YOOO 2mins agoo😂 big fan man i love your fractal build, inspiring me, i need some clarification though, i want to get 14700kf and 4070 ti with a b760 proart mother board, but I’m worried about the bios issue, any advice?
never 14700kf, you should get 14700k,
But do i need the integrated graphics? I already have a gpu so i dont need it right?
180w power brich....my laptop has a 240w one lol. Crazy efficient
THANK YOU for using Cinebench R23. Not a fan of R24 at all.
No problem!
@theTechNotice Also, the A1000 looks cool and so does the rtx 2000 ada 16gb that recently came out. They'd be a great use case for this. Did you say that this pc has foam barriers to ensure that only cool outside air is pulled into the cou cooler rather than warm recirculated air?
Question about the Pro Art 790! If you run 2 graphics cards, must they be the same type and brand?
MinisForum, a Shenzhen-based, Chinese manufacturer of compact computing platforms, has been steadily bringing both AMD and Intel-based systems into the market.
When you get these Mini PCs in for review do you do a clean install of Windows and download the drivers from the manufacturer's website? This ensures there is nothing else installed on the NvmE and it gives you an idea of how easily the drivers are to download.
Interesting. I'm also seeing concerns about malware inserted into BIOS. How does one protect against this? I'm new at building machines. For context, I intend to run Debian, not Windows.
Ordered the topton v700 rather. Cheaperer same i9 processor also two 2.5 lan.
This looks very similar to a Dell Micro PC. Even the layout of ram/fan/m2 is in the same location as the Dell.
Intel did not have much pcie birficiation option, most only do 8/8 while amd do 4/4/4/4 which means if it is a 16 slot and you want to using a smaller version of quad nvme carrier card , it must be come with a 16 lanes to 4/4/4/4 controller which is not cheap 😆
There are some cheaper card with controller but they only do x4 or x8 the host
Finally, a real breakdown 👍
Do they have an RYZEN equivalent?
Not yet, lots of people have asked for it though so here's hoping.
I wish this was bigger (maybe the size of a deskmeet) to have more options for the PCIE slot and better cooling. For a first effort at this kind of system it's pretty good but there is definitely room for improvement.
There are some small quad PCIE NVME adapters out there but you'd need one with a switch on it to handle bifurcation and it's only an x8 slot so the most you are going to get is 2 additional drives, additionally servethehome and craft computing did some testing and quite a few PCIE cards won't work.
A2000 is 2 slot GPU wont fit . The PCIE connection is 5.0 just some corrections
It will with a custom heatsink that is sold online. Even the A4000 will work.
Hi, anybody tried if samsung 990 pro with heat sink works?
Can I used for Video Editing?
yes that's what the video is for, LOL!
1:32 19.0 V?
An RTX A4000 might fit in there!
It does not support ecc memory which is important for workstations. Also only one gen4 nvme slot. And HHHL-SS videocards are virtually non-existent. RTX2000 will not fit MS-01, you'll need a custom SS cooler to put it in.
ECC is not important for workstations. It's barely even important for servers unless you're using particular features.
Your fine how's you ❤😊 I'm veeru your subscriber ❤
His voice sounds different
Absolute crap quality. I already had problems on Installation. It died just 2 months after using it. Power On doesn't work anymore. Never again Minis-Forum.
Minisforum sells models that are FAR BETTER at cooling than this one.
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Those did NOT create their own category - that category existed for very long time by means of people creating low power mid performance super cheap home lap units. Minisforum are the first that actually listened to customers !
Asus, MSI, Gigabyte etc ... can you finally pull your finger out of your but and clean your ears ?
Lol nope
I prefer the term PC for adults .. most PC's today look like a 13 year old boys idea of tech from the future..
Hey, get of the juice.
Too much plastic, looks like a $25 case
Case is metal. Pretty dense and feels like a nice quality product better than the NUC,.