So basically it's a laptop in a mini-pc form factor but it doesn't have any of the laptop advantages such as integrated screen, keyboard and battery but it also doesn't come with any of the actual PC benefits. It performs and throttles like a laptop would but instead of being portable and mobile it just looks like a quirky sci-fi trashbin. Not to mention maintenance, most people don't have any experience with custom LC so servicing this thing will be impossible for them, once the pump fails it's pretty much dead. And since it doesn't have any standard parts other than the laptop ram and the SSD, you won't be even able to salvage anything from it. Truly an amazing piece of technology.
I think it having a MXM module is interesting. I didn't even know that Nvidia made those anymore. Mini pcs are boring, but having the ability to upgrade the GPU is a plus.
It has a lot more ports than it's counterpart laptops in the same price range, and you don't have to buy another set of display and keyboard when you upgrade.
And it's gonna get a lot worse. Over time they will become more flat and restricting the flow. You can't even make a good lasting bend that tight with the best quality tubing. I know because i have 1 bend like that in my system with tygon tubing. Everytime i replace the water i will replace that piece of tubing.
I seen this mini pc on alot of other youtube channels, everyone talks ok about it, you on the other hand, you start with the title of the video itself lmao, bu i appreciate the honesty
The amount of air in that loop is enough to keep a whole space colony going for a century, Jesus Christ. I saw positive reviews of Geekom's other mini PCs (AX8) and even that is being called into question when they have such a tragic showing here.
@@mikezappulla4092 I'm not buying it for 90 different reasons, it having more air than my lungs can breathe in and out within a month is surprisingly not high on my complaints for this system.
The pump is moving the fluid way too fast causing crashing = trapped air not escaping, if you could slow it down the air will have a chance to merge to one bubble..
Been looking forward to see someone else cover this since I saw Dawid Does Tech video, there has been a bit of discussion about what people think is a fake loop.
Pretty sure the top part is just for "wow factor" and doesn't do anything. Because they're just pointless loops anyways. Someone really needs to hit it with a thermal camera while under load to confirm though.
Thanks for actually reviewing this system. I've a friend who is interested in this system. The only reason that I can think of to have a Kickstarter despite there being a review unit is that this is a one-off or limited run prototype. I've seen one other review, and that reviewer claimed that the noise was under control and whisper quiet, but also felt that the system was a nightmare to upgrade/maintain.
I believe the apparent tubing (the transparent ones) is just for show and isn't really there to cool the components. The cooling tubes are the black ones you encountered when you disassembled it.
Some established tech brands still run kickstarters to create a hype cycle and get some free funding. But it doesn't feel very professional imo. The oculink is popular on mini pc's nowadays because it has significantly more actual bandwith than thunderbolt 4 (64 gbit for oculink x4 vs 40 gbit for thunderbolt), because its simply PCIe over a cable. This is interesting if you want to upgrade with an external gpu, there are already gpu docks with oculink.
RAM clock fluctuation is from Geyserville (SAGV) being enabled, it can be done on regular motherboards too. It triggers with no memory controller activity and Cinebench doesn't use RAM. CPU usage on the screen can also be showing Utilization, which can freely exceed 100% too.
The memory frequency fluctuation is normal for laptop memory, although it should be sitting at full speed under load unless there's something weird going on.
Probably, also helps with the just in time manufacturing and efficiency of production to have some idea how popular the device will be before you put it into normal production I'd expect. No point making a million units if you will only sell a thousand. So yeah advertising is likely part of it, but I expect there is also a degree of increasing profitability as your can optimise the production runs for the scale of interest.
Of course it is and has been for a few years. A company with revenue in the tens to hundreds of millions selling on a global market doesn't have to ask people on Kickstarter for $20k to start a production run.
Definitely, and it's not like it's limited to them either. Though Indiegogo is far worse, a lot of KS campaigns are just launch/presale campaigns, typically identifiable by their strangely low funding targets, which tells us that the company doesn't actually need the funding to get manufacturing going, they're just looking to gauge customer interest
This is well known, and hardly limited to Chinese PC manufacturers (off the top of my head Peak Design is famous among photographers for doing this, and they have no shortage of R&D budget as a very well established and high margin photography accessory manufacturer)
I’ve watched a decent amount of people cover this thing (Dawid, TB, etc) and it seems like the general consensus that albeit it’s quite a feat of engineering and it got that “cool” factor, nearly 2 grand for it is definitely catering to a *niche* audience that… may not even buy this. I’m unsure how to feel about it, not gonna lie
I'd like to see Roman or Darwid rebuild it to make it actually good. Fix the air in the loop and BIOS bug's and maybe even find out how to reprogram the health display. It could actually be a real cool system if the bugs are worked out. Especially the power limits (which I assume is likely because of small vrm capacity and low power PSU) and the ram bug needs fixing!! I wonder if the ram bug disappears if you change the sticks with something else. But it really looks cool and could be worth the premium price as long as the company fixes all the issues and addresses the public explaining that they apologise and are working to fix the issues.. I want to see this become better.
@@michaellegg9381 Yeah it can be engineered way better. The thing is in itself not bad, just has tons of room for improvements (serviceability, airflow, pump, power capability, etc...) If everything was nicely engineered and without a single flaw, i'd consider the 500$ more price to pay. But tbh its overpriced for what it brings right now.
I like that they have a fair amount of USB ports in the front, but should really have been at least 1 USB C. And the rear really needs analog audio out. But water-cooling on mobile hardware doesn't make sense. A proper air-cooler should be more than sufficient. Unless they run the components with as high turbo as possible as long as possible.
As an "other pc" owner, i much rather put my 3080 and 13700k to work, using a real psu (1200w), running fast and cool with a quiet Noctua 14NHD and noctua case fans. I made this pc myself and payed under 50% of the asking price of the megamini pc. All the parts were from the second hand market, but came with little to no usage (most parts came in completely new). If i could find all these deals and learn pc architecture along the way, so can you, buddy!❤
Many thanks for the review, 1) it is way outside my budget, 2) I like easy to maintain systems, 3) the air in the cooler is a big problem since there is no way to remove it.
Thanks so much for the interesting video, it's nice to see such an honest review and your honest opinion for this Mini PC. It does look nice from the outside but as far as inside I have to agree with your feedback, not worth the money in the end! Looking forward to seeing your next videos! Thanks for all your hard work on the channel bringing us great tech content!
135% of cpu utilization is because monitoring reads out frequency above base frequency. if base is 2Ghz and CPU boosts to 3Ghz - that monitoring will show 150%. i am understanding this issue that way. HWinfo64 has same feature in readings.
Also, the CPU “utilization” / “utility” figure in Windows can go above 100% anyway on modern CPUs. Something to do with pipelining of instructions I believe
Daniel Owen reported the same thing with fan speed settings. He switched it to Quiet due to noise, then switched it back to Normal and felt the fan speeds were lower than they were originally.
Fan noise could be the 70mm fan hidden up top. Looks like the watercooling continues up top as well so that could explain all the trapped air from so many corners and bends. Those decorative tubes certainly aren't helping
The English word you’re looking for is kinked, it looks like it’s nearly got a kink in the tube. I love the look of it. I saw in another video where the reviewer mentioned the fill port when he pulled out the GPU. I would love to see you buy one and make a video and fix its shortcomings. Replace the tubing with hard tubing and obviously bleed the system better, then apply some kryonaut paste and crank up the settings and see just how much performance you can get from it. I love the look of the little beast, but can’t justify buying one. I hesitated a little to watch this video because you’re always very in depth and I knew you would shatter my illusion of it. Anyway I love watching your videos and look forward to seeing more.
I first saw this on another channel and my initial thought was that the engineering behind it was awesome. I'd throw away money on it, but not for a 13th gen processor. When they stick in at least the first gen core ultra, I'll think about it again. I get your negative vibes on the kickstarter. I have hate for Minis forum for doing the same thing on some of their minis.
not bleeding from air a watercool system is the first and last red flag I need from a "watercooled" system. If you dont get that right, you'll have lost in cooling performance, impact negatively the noise (pump noise, etc.). And also pump longevity will be impacted if it sucks that much air in the long term. It's a nice try but definitely not a final product by anymeans. Having a 8GB gpu in 2024 is also a no no, even at 1080 you'll have issue nowadays thank you for the review! as always top quality!
I believe the clear looped portion is fake and separate. When he showed the water block it had black tubing coming out of it likely headed to the radiator. Would be cool to see it further torn down to confirm, but I'm suspicious that the top portion is only there to put on a show for the wow factor. Edit: someone should hit it with a thermal camera.
@@volvo09 The clear tubes are unnecessary, but they're both part of the loop. The clear tubes take it to/from the pump on the other side of the GPU (9:40), but the pump could have just been directly connected to the tube-hiding (and likely distributing, since they have double tubes for no reason) things on either side of it, which would make it look like it wasn't water-cooled at all.
All the other ad channels that did positive reviews of this unit are having a bad day when a real tech channel does a legitimate review. Hopefully larger respectable channels will do this more often, to slow down marketing like Geekoms'.
I would honestly get this IF it was better and could be maintained. it seems like it would be a pretty decent small form factor editing rig for on the go but currently it's too limiting out of the box and it would be up to the user to fix their mistakes
Its an instagram product for people who like shiny toys that they never actually use but like to show them off on social media, like having a Land Rover Defender but living in Central London
The reservoir problem is easy to fix with a flat stile one in a side panel with two hard tubings instead of one of the bend tubes, also in that panel you can put a screw to put new or different liquid and get rid of the excess air.
Many established brands run kickstarter campaigns to judge user interest. Even Cooler Master is currently running kickstarter for their product. In photo industry its much more common for established brands to do kickstarters.
I saw a comment on another review video saying that the tubes and water inside the case are purely cosmetic and not part of the cooling system. Not sure if it's true or not.
I have been wondering how the loop works tbh, 2 inlets and 2 outlets, yet only 2 black ribbed tubes to the block that actually cools the cpu/gpu which I assume goes to the radiator/pump. If purely cosmetic..that would be extremely stupid and a complete waste of material. It may take a little while but I think Der8auer needs to tear it down further.
@@sinAnon6689 There's another 70mm rad and fan up top. Way too many places for air to get trapped and too many tight bends for a high rpm tiny impeller pump
Yeah, I think the top loops is fake, just recirculating water for show. You can see black tubes leaving the block when he pulled the motherboard out. A thermal camera would prove it, since it seems difficult to get to.
Kink, buckle, collapse... All good terms to describe it. I wonder if it's already kinked feeding the pump and causing a vacuum cavitation situation. Would explain the air never working its way to the top of the rad.
The word you were looking for in English when you decided to use “buckling” I think is “kinked” or “creased” Example with all 3 words in context: To stop the water flow from a garden hose while it’s on, begin by buckling the hose until it is creased at the fold, and you will have successfully put a kink in it which will stop the water as long as you hold tight.
@@--_DJ_-- true, a “kink” would be more temporary and undo-able while a crease would be more permanent - like the “fold-line” after folding paper or the crease one irons into a nice pair of slacks
Aesthetically this is beautiful, I really like the looks and form factor. But damn, that price is insane! If it was around €800/€900 I might’ve considered buying one but no chance at these prices. Edit: finished watching, that build has some weird issues. Definitely not worth buying!
5:12 - I winced hardcore at that. I've tried to peel off single layers of PLA on my Bambu and had the plastic stab under my nail. And it usually takes days before the finger feels normal again. I would have returned this thing right then and there.
Would have been interesting to see how the machine sounded if you could manage to bleed the air out of it, but with how challenging it was to even partially disassemble I can see why you didn't bother experimenting further (also all the other issues making it a non-starter). Neat idea though, would like to see better execution. For people with limited space, it's always nice having more off-the-shelf options for super compact gaming rigs so you don't need to become an ITX assembly wizard yourself just to get something that fits in your apartment.
I'm sharing my experience with one of Geekom’s mini PCs, the A8. After five months of use (I was one of the first customers), I really regret it. The Geekom A8 might seem great at first, but honestly, it’s a product that wasn’t well developed since it has constant bugs with different programs. For example, anything audiovisual (video or sound recording) is terrible. It might work for everyday stuff like browsing the internet or low-end games, but for more professional tasks, it’s a no-go. The processor doesn’t support overclocking, so the system gets overwhelmed quickly with heavier workloads. The cooling system doesn’t allow the processor to handle high-performance tasks, which causes real-time conflicts with several apps. On top of that, the AI NPU they talked about isn’t even visible. And finally, the BIOS is terrible - you can barely change anything, maybe the date and time if you're lucky. Honestly, I wouldn’t recommend this brand at all. You’re better off with a regular desktop PC.
The pump noise is very likely caused by all the bubbles... which, shouldn't be hard to fix that. Pump itself also might benefit from additional vibration isolation, which is probably possible.
Classic Kickstarter project, with a plus that it was engineered some what decently. Some very easy software things to fix overnight, the tubing is horrible should have gone solid tubes. The air bubbles should also be easy engineering fix. So odd that the technological part is so high-end but the engineering on the hardware has many critical amateur mistakes.
You had me at replaceable parts .Maintence nitemare so many screw Pass old pc case seems a breeze who cares about mini pc's The fan noise i was waiting 4 you to Elbow it off the bench like STFU yah noisey chit box i would buy replace that fan to a better one anyway these r Not my cup tea . good review as always roman
Looks very airflow limited. They could've gone for a slightly thicker radiator and better vents. That would've massively improved the thermals and sound. The random tubes probably make the air bubbles worse. They could've also probably halved the height if they didnt go for that weird window thing with tubes everywhere. I'm looking forward to the custom micro cases and cooling systems other people make with this. The sandwich block and teeny gpu is cool.
Clock fluctuation on the memory is very common in laptops to save power (and perhaps help a bit with thermal?). The same thing happens on my (rather old) Ryzen 5 5600H based Lenovo laptop.
I love the design and form factor. The ideas here are awesome and it’s pretty innovative but… the price is way too high imo. I saw dawid does tech stuff review this and even though he was more optimistic and glowing, I saw what he really was trying to get across. I’m quite on the fence about this pc simply because of the price. Theres some improvements for sure they could do but honestly the price should be the first thing they improve on.
Here I thought my 7800X3D with a RTX 4080 would be pretty good for gaming but after reading that other PC's section I now realize I need a Megamini PC because clearly it's better.
I have to wonder if maybe you received an early engineering sample that wasn't 100% instead of the fully complete and polished model. It definitely looked like there were some bios issues and software misconfiguration from the start. I also have to wonder if maybe due to the current issues with Intel that they were pushing a custom bios to try and avoid any hardware failure for customers so they don't have to deal with returns. All in all I thought it was a great video, and like you I thought the engineering around it was really cool. I hope they can iron out these issues to provide a good product, I'd love to see where it goes.
Yup. You can spend less and get Two PS5 Pros along with two 4K Disc Drives and two Vertical Stands. Not the best way to spend money, either... but you could do it for less than this.
so around 25:00 you were looking for the right word in English, and you said 'buckling' which is the right word, kinda... but we would say that the tube 'kinked' or 'there is a kink in the tube' yea, that's a weird word, we also use 'kink' to describe 'strange sexual acts' so it's a REALLY weird word to use LOL ..... but buckling works too, but in the States we would say 'kinking' 'kinked' or just 'kink'
If you put this PC into a general comparison for tech in horsepower. Say for example the iPhone is like the typical moped from the 70's, and the Samsung Galaxy phone is like an E-bike scooter. Where the 14900K is like the Lamborghini Aventador and the Threadripper is like the Bogati Vayron. So, with that said, this PC is like your run of the mill Ford Focas or Honda Civic.
i bet the power going back down to 45 watts so fast on the normal mode, is due to these being a rolling average, p2 will limit it to 115, but if the average power used in however long is more than p1, it'll limit it to 45w 45 and 115 is a much larger gap than 55 and 35 on quiet mode
The moment I saw the bubbles in the tubing before you powered on the system I knew this will be a disaster ... they have enough space for a large tower HSF and heatpipes there that would be more effective without the issues ...
A pre-built that let's you feel like u built it, when you peel the logo sticker, u too will be poked inside your finger nail, as if u plugged in the front panel header yourself! I'm in just for the experience alone...
I like the concept, but man there is so much going against this, SOO much air in that loop, its hard to maintain :\, pump rattle out of the box, good luck with that lasting more then a year. Doesn't seem like you can fix or fill the loop in any way either. Absolutely agree, its likely to fail after warranty period ends, this would be a throw away unit. You can get a sff pc with an aio or something along those lines with much more power then this.
pretty case but like american muscle cars enthusiast say "there's no replacement for displacement" Lian Li o11 Dynamic XL is king it might not be the prettiest or latest pc case but it's the best for up to a triple radiator custom loop and it has a derbauer approved sticker inside ;) P.S. I'm sure another brand will take that idea and make a better version, when you have a good idea if it's not perfect don't release it or someone will def steal your design
I'd like to see Roman or Darwid rebuild it to make it actually good. Fix the air in the loop and BIOS bug's and maybe even find out how to reprogram the health display. It could actually be a real cool system if the bugs are worked out. Especially the power limits (which I assume is likely because of small vrm capacity and low power PSU) and the ram bug needs fixing!! I wonder if the ram bug disappears if you change the sticks with something else. But it really looks cool and could be worth the premium price as long as the company fixes all the issues and addresses the public explaining that they apologise and are working to fix the issues.. I want to see this become better.
Thank you for never being 'bought' and giving us honest reviews even if it costs you sponsorships/benefits.
dont worry, not enough money has come his way yet. These companies are relentless
@@4dchessplayer516 do you not know who this man is? ;-)
@@ap894 Ikr, He is not linus!
Everyone has a price
@@4dchessplayer516 you do know he is mr Thermal Grizzly right?
So basically it's a laptop in a mini-pc form factor but it doesn't have any of the laptop advantages such as integrated screen, keyboard and battery but it also doesn't come with any of the actual PC benefits. It performs and throttles like a laptop would but instead of being portable and mobile it just looks like a quirky sci-fi trashbin. Not to mention maintenance, most people don't have any experience with custom LC so servicing this thing will be impossible for them, once the pump fails it's pretty much dead. And since it doesn't have any standard parts other than the laptop ram and the SSD, you won't be even able to salvage anything from it.
Truly an amazing piece of technology.
Basically my thoughts. Laptops are also quieter than this. Most people who buy this probably don’t really understand what they are buying.
Mini pc wise it is interesting, but yea most people aren’t going to be able to maintenance this thing.
I think it having a MXM module is interesting. I didn't even know that Nvidia made those anymore. Mini pcs are boring, but having the ability to upgrade the GPU is a plus.
and they fked up the bios something fierce.
It has a lot more ports than it's counterpart laptops in the same price range, and you don't have to buy another set of display and keyboard when you upgrade.
That "Other PCs" section is hilarious.
@@PREDATEURLT I had to borrow a Megamini GT just to be able to comment on this video.
@@PREDATEURLT The other PC struggle is real. 8(
"Kink" is the word you're looking for in English when tubes compress when at an awkward bend 🙂
I thought kink was a German word 😂
Yes. Kink indeed is the right word. The word also has connotations concerning how some people might be "bent"... 😏
And it's gonna get a lot worse. Over time they will become more flat and restricting the flow. You can't even make a good lasting bend that tight with the best quality tubing. I know because i have 1 bend like that in my system with tygon tubing. Everytime i replace the water i will replace that piece of tubing.
@@PilatuS23
Sounds like a digestive issue.
Might wanna get that checked.
The kinks will get worse and worse till you have a complete blockage and end up in the ER...
I seen this mini pc on alot of other youtube channels, everyone talks ok about it, you on the other hand, you start with the title of the video itself lmao, bu i appreciate the honesty
saw
@@WilhelmvonFahrvergnugen Oh my bad professor
Thats why we all watch him , no marketing 100% honest quality tester ❤
The amount of air in that loop is enough to keep a whole space colony going for a century, Jesus Christ. I saw positive reviews of Geekom's other mini PCs (AX8) and even that is being called into question when they have such a tragic showing here.
Going for that public park fountain look
It’s just air. Don’t buy it if you are that stressed out over it.
@@mikezappulla4092 Just air that reduces cooling performance, pump life and increase noise.
@@mikezappulla4092 I'm not buying it for 90 different reasons, it having more air than my lungs can breathe in and out within a month is surprisingly not high on my complaints for this system.
The pump is moving the fluid way too fast causing crashing = trapped air not escaping, if you could slow it down the air will have a chance to merge to one bubble..
Been looking forward to see someone else cover this since I saw Dawid Does Tech video, there has been a bit of discussion about what people think is a fake loop.
Pretty sure the top part is just for "wow factor" and doesn't do anything. Because they're just pointless loops anyways.
Someone really needs to hit it with a thermal camera while under load to confirm though.
Can't believe anyone actually admits to watching Dawid, fake trash content, as if people actually watch him lol
@@celeriumlerium8266 ... you children are very strange about your youtube loyalties.
Thanks for actually reviewing this system. I've a friend who is interested in this system.
The only reason that I can think of to have a Kickstarter despite there being a review unit is that this is a one-off or limited run prototype.
I've seen one other review, and that reviewer claimed that the noise was under control and whisper quiet, but also felt that the system was a nightmare to upgrade/maintain.
Wow what a quick review! Ive seen an article about this only a couple days ago and was wondering how it runs. Thanks, awesome!
I believe the apparent tubing (the transparent ones) is just for show and isn't really there to cool the components. The cooling tubes are the black ones you encountered when you disassembled it.
Form over function, the PC
Some established tech brands still run kickstarters to create a hype cycle and get some free funding. But it doesn't feel very professional imo. The oculink is popular on mini pc's nowadays because it has significantly more actual bandwith than thunderbolt 4 (64 gbit for oculink x4 vs 40 gbit for thunderbolt), because its simply PCIe over a cable. This is interesting if you want to upgrade with an external gpu, there are already gpu docks with oculink.
With many of the products, in the end they still calculate the "R&D" in the consumer price, while that was 'covered' by the KS
RAM clock fluctuation is from Geyserville (SAGV) being enabled, it can be done on regular motherboards too. It triggers with no memory controller activity and Cinebench doesn't use RAM. CPU usage on the screen can also be showing Utilization, which can freely exceed 100% too.
The memory frequency fluctuation is normal for laptop memory, although it should be sitting at full speed under load unless there's something weird going on.
yea I get it for idle. But why does it clock down during Cinebench load? :D
@@der8auer-en Yeah that's...definitely less than optimal lol.
@@der8auer-en If they did fix the issues I could see it being a fun little machine for people who don't mind paying the "It looks cool" tax though.
@@st0nedpenguin Apple fanboys mostly.
@@MoultrieGeek Apple fanboys would just get an Mac. This is more of a "poser" thing
I'm starting to think that chinese mini pc/handheld companies see kickstarter as a platform for advertising their products at this point.
Probably, also helps with the just in time manufacturing and efficiency of production to have some idea how popular the device will be before you put it into normal production I'd expect.
No point making a million units if you will only sell a thousand. So yeah advertising is likely part of it, but I expect there is also a degree of increasing profitability as your can optimise the production runs for the scale of interest.
Exactly that, basically a free launch campaign!
Of course it is and has been for a few years. A company with revenue in the tens to hundreds of millions selling on a global market doesn't have to ask people on Kickstarter for $20k to start a production run.
Definitely, and it's not like it's limited to them either. Though Indiegogo is far worse, a lot of KS campaigns are just launch/presale campaigns, typically identifiable by their strangely low funding targets, which tells us that the company doesn't actually need the funding to get manufacturing going, they're just looking to gauge customer interest
This is well known, and hardly limited to Chinese PC manufacturers (off the top of my head Peak Design is famous among photographers for doing this, and they have no shortage of R&D budget as a very well established and high margin photography accessory manufacturer)
Thank you for finding these unique systems and giving a thorough and honest evaluation.
You’re the third RUclipsr I’ve seen review this. One of the others took it apart as well. I’d say it’s wild if they are sending the same unit around
Subbed because of this review. The honesty is refreshing
Great introdued n very great n useful explaining the whole system 👍great job n well done bro😊
I’ve watched a decent amount of people cover this thing (Dawid, TB, etc) and it seems like the general consensus that albeit it’s quite a feat of engineering and it got that “cool” factor, nearly 2 grand for it is definitely catering to a *niche* audience that… may not even buy this. I’m unsure how to feel about it, not gonna lie
Who else covered it? I’ve only seen Dawid and this one
This would suit Dawids demographic
I'd like to see Roman or Darwid rebuild it to make it actually good. Fix the air in the loop and BIOS bug's and maybe even find out how to reprogram the health display. It could actually be a real cool system if the bugs are worked out. Especially the power limits (which I assume is likely because of small vrm capacity and low power PSU) and the ram bug needs fixing!! I wonder if the ram bug disappears if you change the sticks with something else. But it really looks cool and could be worth the premium price as long as the company fixes all the issues and addresses the public explaining that they apologise and are working to fix the issues.. I want to see this become better.
There's also Daniel Owen
@@michaellegg9381 Yeah it can be engineered way better. The thing is in itself not bad, just has tons of room for improvements (serviceability, airflow, pump, power capability, etc...) If everything was nicely engineered and without a single flaw, i'd consider the 500$ more price to pay. But tbh its overpriced for what it brings right now.
I like that they have a fair amount of USB ports in the front, but should really have been at least 1 USB C. And the rear really needs analog audio out. But water-cooling on mobile hardware doesn't make sense. A proper air-cooler should be more than sufficient. Unless they run the components with as high turbo as possible as long as possible.
Ah yes, Desktop formfactor, Mobile limitations. That's exactly what the world needed.
This would be a super cool design/look.... If we were 50 years in the future and high end PC hardware was this small and not a repurposed laptop.
buckling-- the word you were looking for is 'kink'
your english is fantastic
As an "other pc" owner, i much rather put my 3080 and 13700k to work, using a real psu (1200w), running fast and cool with a quiet Noctua 14NHD and noctua case fans. I made this pc myself and payed under 50% of the asking price of the megamini pc. All the parts were from the second hand market, but came with little to no usage (most parts came in completely new). If i could find all these deals and learn pc architecture along the way, so can you, buddy!❤
Maybe the new way of overclocking is to increase CPU Utilization limit! Dunno why I never thought of that, way to go Geekom! 👍
Many thanks for the review, 1) it is way outside my budget, 2) I like easy to maintain systems, 3) the air in the cooler is a big problem since there is no way to remove it.
Thanks so much for the interesting video, it's nice to see such an honest review and your honest opinion for this Mini PC. It does look nice from the outside but as far as inside I have to agree with your feedback, not worth the money in the end! Looking forward to seeing your next videos! Thanks for all your hard work on the channel bringing us great tech content!
135% of cpu utilization is because monitoring reads out frequency above base frequency. if base is 2Ghz and CPU boosts to 3Ghz - that monitoring will show 150%. i am understanding this issue that way. HWinfo64 has same feature in readings.
Also, the CPU “utilization” / “utility” figure in Windows can go above 100% anyway on modern CPUs. Something to do with pipelining of instructions I believe
Daniel Owen reported the same thing with fan speed settings. He switched it to Quiet due to noise, then switched it back to Normal and felt the fan speeds were lower than they were originally.
Fan noise could be the 70mm fan hidden up top. Looks like the watercooling continues up top as well so that could explain all the trapped air from so many corners and bends. Those decorative tubes certainly aren't helping
The English word you’re looking for is kinked, it looks like it’s nearly got a kink in the tube.
I love the look of it. I saw in another video where the reviewer mentioned the fill port when he pulled out the GPU. I would love to see you buy one and make a video and fix its shortcomings. Replace the tubing with hard tubing and obviously bleed the system better, then apply some kryonaut paste and crank up the settings and see just how much performance you can get from it.
I love the look of the little beast, but can’t justify buying one. I hesitated a little to watch this video because you’re always very in depth and I knew you would shatter my illusion of it.
Anyway I love watching your videos and look forward to seeing more.
I first saw this on another channel and my initial thought was that the engineering behind it was awesome. I'd throw away money on it, but not for a 13th gen processor. When they stick in at least the first gen core ultra, I'll think about it again. I get your negative vibes on the kickstarter. I have hate for Minis forum for doing the same thing on some of their minis.
Thank you for this PSA. Well done.
A PS5 Pro is going to be $700 and people are mad about it. This thing for $1700 is just madness
Someone is jealous of this mini pc!
not bleeding from air a watercool system is the first and last red flag I need from a "watercooled" system. If you dont get that right, you'll have lost in cooling performance, impact negatively the noise (pump noise, etc.). And also pump longevity will be impacted if it sucks that much air in the long term.
It's a nice try but definitely not a final product by anymeans.
Having a 8GB gpu in 2024 is also a no no, even at 1080 you'll have issue nowadays
thank you for the review! as always top quality!
I believe the clear looped portion is fake and separate.
When he showed the water block it had black tubing coming out of it likely headed to the radiator.
Would be cool to see it further torn down to confirm, but I'm suspicious that the top portion is only there to put on a show for the wow factor.
Edit: someone should hit it with a thermal camera.
What makes it a nice try? The throttling laptop parts? The stupid AI marketing? Like name one part that is good about it because I cannot see any.
I think for most things the 8gb on the GPU is fine lol
@@volvo09 I'll tear it down if I get one.
@@volvo09 The clear tubes are unnecessary, but they're both part of the loop. The clear tubes take it to/from the pump on the other side of the GPU (9:40), but the pump could have just been directly connected to the tube-hiding (and likely distributing, since they have double tubes for no reason) things on either side of it, which would make it look like it wasn't water-cooled at all.
All the other ad channels that did positive reviews of this unit are having a bad day when a real tech channel does a legitimate review. Hopefully larger respectable channels will do this more often, to slow down marketing like Geekoms'.
Thanks! When a hose goes too far it kinks English version have a good day
While other youtubers shillout I have more respect for you man!
"Kink" is the word you're looking for. If you put a kink in the hose, it will stop the water flow. It is a slick little gadget, though.
I love how there is two crowd reaction of seeing how good it looks vs it's just a glorified NUC lol
Yeah, it's only the looks wowing people.
Just buy a NUC.
I would honestly get this IF it was better and could be maintained.
it seems like it would be a pretty decent small form factor editing rig for on the go but currently it's too limiting out of the box and it would be up to the user to fix their mistakes
When it first turns on and it's full of air bubbles :O
Its an instagram product for people who like shiny toys that they never actually use but like to show them off on social media, like having a Land Rover Defender but living in Central London
The reservoir problem is easy to fix with a flat stile one in a side panel with two hard tubings instead of one of the bend tubes, also in that panel you can put a screw to put new or different liquid and get rid of the excess air.
2:41 "Experience unparalleled storage capability with Dual-Channel DDR5 RAM [...]" 🤔
@@P4NCH1 I love my storage RAM, best upgrade ever
Thanks for reviewing
About the kickstarter thing, pretty sure some other big company did that to, while having a lot of money they still pulled one :)))
Many established brands run kickstarter campaigns to judge user interest. Even Cooler Master is currently running kickstarter for their product. In photo industry its much more common for established brands to do kickstarters.
I saw a comment on another review video saying that the tubes and water inside the case are purely cosmetic and not part of the cooling system. Not sure if it's true or not.
I have been wondering how the loop works tbh, 2 inlets and 2 outlets, yet only 2 black ribbed tubes to the block that actually cools the cpu/gpu which I assume goes to the radiator/pump.
If purely cosmetic..that would be extremely stupid and a complete waste of material.
It may take a little while but I think Der8auer needs to tear it down further.
Marketing tubes
@@sinAnon6689 There's another 70mm rad and fan up top. Way too many places for air to get trapped and too many tight bends for a high rpm tiny impeller pump
Yeah, I think the top loops is fake, just recirculating water for show. You can see black tubes leaving the block when he pulled the motherboard out.
A thermal camera would prove it, since it seems difficult to get to.
Absolutely spot on review!!! Too much money for a pointless water cooling small form factor PC. The cpu sucks and the GPU is a joke for that price.
The word you're looking for about the tubing is Kink 😉
Kink, buckle, collapse... All good terms to describe it. I wonder if it's already kinked feeding the pump and causing a vacuum cavitation situation. Would explain the air never working its way to the top of the rad.
The word you were looking for in English when you decided to use “buckling” I think is “kinked” or “creased”
Example with all 3 words in context:
To stop the water flow from a garden hose while it’s on, begin by buckling the hose until it is creased at the fold, and you will have successfully put a kink in it which will stop the water as long as you hold tight.
Crease is usually reserved for paper or cloth type materials.
@@--_DJ_-- true, a “kink” would be more temporary and undo-able while a crease would be more permanent - like the “fold-line” after folding paper or the crease one irons into a nice pair of slacks
Aesthetically this is beautiful, I really like the looks and form factor.
But damn, that price is insane!
If it was around €800/€900 I might’ve considered buying one but no chance at these prices.
Edit: finished watching, that build has some weird issues. Definitely not worth buying!
The accidently swapped the "Stands Out" section in the marketing fluff. They described a good PC against a laptop motherboard in a box. LOL.
5:12 - I winced hardcore at that. I've tried to peel off single layers of PLA on my Bambu and had the plastic stab under my nail. And it usually takes days before the finger feels normal again. I would have returned this thing right then and there.
Nice idea. I think with a water port will be a good idea.the pcb is custum that add price and more with MX card. Let see is interesting
the word you were looking for is "kink" when a hose collapses on itself due to a twist or bend, it's kinked.
Makes me happy my 9900k/3070 can still compete with new systems😂
Interesting video. Have you fed lol this information back to Geekom and what have they said?
Would have been interesting to see how the machine sounded if you could manage to bleed the air out of it, but with how challenging it was to even partially disassemble I can see why you didn't bother experimenting further (also all the other issues making it a non-starter).
Neat idea though, would like to see better execution. For people with limited space, it's always nice having more off-the-shelf options for super compact gaming rigs so you don't need to become an ITX assembly wizard yourself just to get something that fits in your apartment.
I'm sharing my experience with one of Geekom’s mini PCs, the A8. After five months of use (I was one of the first customers), I really regret it. The Geekom A8 might seem great at first, but honestly, it’s a product that wasn’t well developed since it has constant bugs with different programs. For example, anything audiovisual (video or sound recording) is terrible. It might work for everyday stuff like browsing the internet or low-end games, but for more professional tasks, it’s a no-go. The processor doesn’t support overclocking, so the system gets overwhelmed quickly with heavier workloads. The cooling system doesn’t allow the processor to handle high-performance tasks, which causes real-time conflicts with several apps. On top of that, the AI NPU they talked about isn’t even visible. And finally, the BIOS is terrible - you can barely change anything, maybe the date and time if you're lucky. Honestly, I wouldn’t recommend this brand at all. You’re better off with a regular desktop PC.
Intresting concept for mini pc's. Maybe asus nuc watercool soon? For sure lot to impruve with this one, but is something diferent so is cool
Those are some nice glass grass enclosures. Do you happen to......... can you....... grow weed in it?
All them air bubbles gurgling through the pipes lmao
Luxury present for your best grandma.
on point
I got the impression from another reviewer the fluid in the tubing is not part of the cpu/gpu cooling but just for show.
Oculink in the mini pc space is to hook up external gpus. Oculink has much higher bandwidth than USB4/Thunderbolt thus reducing the performance tax.
Kink or kinking is the word you are looking for regarding the soft tubing.
Definitely needs more BIOS options.
The pump noise is very likely caused by all the bubbles... which, shouldn't be hard to fix that. Pump itself also might benefit from additional vibration isolation, which is probably possible.
Thank you. You're the first person that didn't filate the computer or company in one of these reviews.
Classic Kickstarter project, with a plus that it was engineered some what decently.
Some very easy software things to fix overnight, the tubing is horrible should have gone solid tubes.
The air bubbles should also be easy engineering fix. So odd that the technological part is so high-end but the engineering on the hardware has many critical amateur mistakes.
You had me at replaceable parts .Maintence nitemare so many screw Pass old pc case seems a breeze who cares about mini pc's The fan noise i was waiting 4 you to Elbow it off the bench
like STFU yah noisey chit box i would buy replace that fan to a better one anyway these r Not my cup tea . good review as always roman
Looks very airflow limited. They could've gone for a slightly thicker radiator and better vents. That would've massively improved the thermals and sound.
The random tubes probably make the air bubbles worse.
They could've also probably halved the height if they didnt go for that weird window thing with tubes everywhere.
I'm looking forward to the custom micro cases and cooling systems other people make with this. The sandwich block and teeny gpu is cool.
OCuLink is basically the same ar PCIe x4 slot. So for any PCIe device, like external GPU, 10G+ NIC, SSD.
Clock fluctuation on the memory is very common in laptops to save power (and perhaps help a bit with thermal?). The same thing happens on my (rather old) Ryzen 5 5600H based Lenovo laptop.
Many established brands do the kickstarter shit.
Because it shifts the risk from them to the customer.
I love the design and form factor. The ideas here are awesome and it’s pretty innovative but… the price is way too high imo. I saw dawid does tech stuff review this and even though he was more optimistic and glowing, I saw what he really was trying to get across. I’m quite on the fence about this pc simply because of the price. Theres some improvements for sure they could do but honestly the price should be the first thing they improve on.
25:52 , yeah, nah , like I said, add some fish to it and might buy it, looks like a small aquarium
Also sound like one actually 😂
Here I thought my 7800X3D with a RTX 4080 would be pretty good for gaming but after reading that other PC's section I now realize I need a Megamini PC because clearly it's better.
I have to wonder if maybe you received an early engineering sample that wasn't 100% instead of the fully complete and polished model. It definitely looked like there were some bios issues and software misconfiguration from the start. I also have to wonder if maybe due to the current issues with Intel that they were pushing a custom bios to try and avoid any hardware failure for customers so they don't have to deal with returns. All in all I thought it was a great video, and like you I thought the engineering around it was really cool. I hope they can iron out these issues to provide a good product, I'd love to see where it goes.
Almost 2k bucks for 4060. Lmao. Straight up scam
*laptop 4060, which is not a real 4060.
PS: You can buy a laptop with a 4060 in it for $1000
Tis absolute shite
Yup. You can spend less and get Two PS5 Pros along with two 4K Disc Drives and two Vertical Stands.
Not the best way to spend money, either...
but you could do it for less than this.
rtx4060 mxm sound nice to upgrade my minisforum HN2673 Intel Arc A730m. Do you have an idea where to buy the mxm rtx4060?
so around 25:00 you were looking for the right word in English, and you said 'buckling' which is the right word, kinda... but we would say that the tube 'kinked' or 'there is a kink in the tube' yea, that's a weird word, we also use 'kink' to describe 'strange sexual acts' so it's a REALLY weird word to use LOL ..... but buckling works too, but in the States we would say 'kinking' 'kinked' or just 'kink'
If you put this PC into a general comparison for tech in horsepower. Say for example the iPhone is like the typical moped from the 70's, and the Samsung Galaxy phone is like an E-bike scooter. Where the 14900K is like the Lamborghini Aventador and the Threadripper is like the Bogati Vayron. So, with that said, this PC is like your run of the mill Ford Focas or Honda Civic.
i bet the power going back down to 45 watts so fast on the normal mode, is due to these being a rolling average, p2 will limit it to 115, but if the average power used in however long is more than p1, it'll limit it to 45w
45 and 115 is a much larger gap than 55 and 35 on quiet mode
I saw the YT channel Dawid Does Tech Stuff when he tested this system and his system also had a lot of bubbles in the water loop which I pointed out.
The moment I saw the bubbles in the tubing before you powered on the system I knew this will be a disaster ... they have enough space for a large tower HSF and heatpipes there that would be more effective without the issues ...
A pre-built that let's you feel like u built it, when you peel the logo sticker, u too will be poked inside your finger nail, as if u plugged in the front panel header yourself! I'm in just for the experience alone...
Everyone is doing Kickstarter campaigns. Especially on products that they're not sure that people will buy them ...
I like the concept, but man there is so much going against this, SOO much air in that loop, its hard to maintain :\, pump rattle out of the box, good luck with that lasting more then a year.
Doesn't seem like you can fix or fill the loop in any way either.
Absolutely agree, its likely to fail after warranty period ends, this would be a throw away unit. You can get a sff pc with an aio or something along those lines with much more power then this.
Genesis gaming machine = you can play Sonic and Streets of Rage on it
pretty case but like american muscle cars enthusiast say "there's no replacement for displacement" Lian Li o11 Dynamic XL is king it might not be the prettiest or latest pc case but it's the best for up to a triple radiator custom loop and it has a derbauer approved sticker inside ;) P.S. I'm sure another brand will take that idea and make a better version, when you have a good idea if it's not perfect don't release it or someone will def steal your design
this could've been under 3l and cheaper, that water block is awsome
Why do I feel like this is the one dawid violated hahaha
I'd like to see Roman or Darwid rebuild it to make it actually good. Fix the air in the loop and BIOS bug's and maybe even find out how to reprogram the health display. It could actually be a real cool system if the bugs are worked out. Especially the power limits (which I assume is likely because of small vrm capacity and low power PSU) and the ram bug needs fixing!! I wonder if the ram bug disappears if you change the sticks with something else. But it really looks cool and could be worth the premium price as long as the company fixes all the issues and addresses the public explaining that they apologise and are working to fix the issues.. I want to see this become better.
so complicated, could have been smaller even with a chunky tower cooler on it that probably could do better
Since its this expensive already and has pretty much 1 fan, why don't pick the best fan possible, it's probably just some noname chinese fan.