MINISFORUM 790S7/129i7: Small PCs with support for low-profile discrete GPUs

The MINISFORUM 790S7 is a small desktop computer that features and AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX processor, support for up to 64GB of DDR5-5200 memory, and up to two PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs. While it’s larger than most of the mini PCs that MINISFORUM sells, it also has something many compact computers lack: a PCIe 5.0 x16 slot with support for low-profile discrete graphics cards like an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 GPU.

Prefer Intel to AMD? MINISFORUM is also selling a model with an Intel Core i9-12900HK processor that’s called the MINISFORUM 129i7. It’s a little cheaper, but also a little less versatile. Both models are available for purchase from the MINISFORUM website with prices starting at $459 for a barebones model with an AMD processor or $399 for a barebones Intel version.

The barebones configurations feature a processor, motherboard, and chassis but no memory, storage, or operating system. MINISFORUM is also offering a fully-configured 790S7 with 32GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 graphics for $939. Note that all of those prices include discounts that are part of a launch promotion – suggested retail prices are a little higher.

Both the AMD and Intel models measure 11.73″ x 8.86″ x 3.74″, which makes them a little too large to consider “mini PCs,” in my book. But they’re still smaller than most desktop computers or even recent game consoles: a PlayStation 5, for example, measures 15.4″ x 10.2″ x 4.1″

Since these systems are using laptop-class processors that are attached firmly to their motherboards, the CPUs are not user replaceable. But with two slots for memory, two M.2 2280 slots for storage, and support for a discrete graphics cards, these little computers are a lot more customizable than many smaller desktops.

While both the Intel and AMD models are using chips that are a few years old, the AMD model definitely has specs that look a little more future-proof:

via Hi_MINISFORUM