GMKtec M5 Plus Gaming Mini PC Ryzen 7 5825U (Upgraded 7430U), 32GB RAM 1TB SSD Dual NIC LAN 2.5GbE Desktop Computers Office Home, Triple 4K Display, WiFi 6E, USB3.2, USB-C, BT 5.2, DP, HDMI

Edit update again 01/10/2025: I fixed my fan issue and as promised raised the score back up to 5 stars. It is a good, fast little computer but does get hot when you are gaming. I recommend popping the top off and exposing the top fan to the outside as this really helps in keeping it cool. When you put the top back on, when your finished, don't snap the top back in place so it will be easy for you to remove when needed. I know this would bother some people but I am not bothered by it as it helps keep it cool. Still five stars for what it can do for it's size. Still highly recommended. Edit up date 01/09/2025: I had to reduce the GMKtec M5 Plus from five stars to three stars because the little top cooling fan will not work all the time. I have the lid on but not snapped in because I have to take it off to force the fan to run. A quick spin with my fingers gets it going but I got to keep an eye on it other wise the little computer will over heat even though it's only fifteen watts. This is serious and the reason for only three stars. I am going to try to contact them and if they help I will improve the review back to five stars. *Next is another concern that has a lot of YouTube press and that is, Mini PC's shipping out with Malware or viruses. Let me make clear that GMKtec has been cleared so far and I tested mine forward and backwards with zero positives but you should be made aware of this. The most offending company (watch YouYube to get the companies name as it is all over) still has not completely cleaned their computers and are being very sneaky in the way they hide the Malware. One buyer replaced his M2 SSD and loaded a fresh copy of Windows 11. If you are one of those people who are sensitive to computer security then you need to know what you are getting into with Mini PC's. I didn't know this before I bought mine. Please check out the problem on YouTube before you buy. If you do buy, do not connect to the net till you have run a complete check. I recommend the very long but important Windows 11, full virus scan and download the free version of Malwear Bytes and run a test with that. I hope Amazon allows this review update to be printed as this is an important issue that everyone should be made aware of before they buy a mini PC. First off, it worked right out the box. Early setup could not have been any easier, a smart 8 year old could have set this mini computer up. That's not stretching it either. However setting up all the drivers from AMD and getting Windows 11 up to date did take time and requires someone a little more knowledgeable. I bought this as a novelty but now using it all the time. My big gaming computer has taken a back seat to this amazing little mini computer. Pros: Very quite, Very fast, Yes it plays games but more on the casual level. Beautiful eye popping monitor visuals, It uses only 15 watts of power. That means it runs very cool. The AMD processor the 5825U is designed to run on 15 watts. Cons: Terrible instructions with tiny print. Example, they send you a piece of black metal with some black screws that looks like it might be some sort of mounting bracket but the instructions give you zero information on what it is for. It uses only 15 watts of power. I know I had that as a pro but it could also be a con if you want to play more powerful AAA games. But who would use a mini computer to play AAA games like Cyber Punk 2077 or Hogwarts. Come on, use common sense. I will end this by saying do your research. Not all mini computers are only fifteen watts like this one. And if you look you will find the newest mini computers are AM5 platform and use up to 70 watts. But those units run from seven hundred and fiftly to almost a thousand dollars. You start spending that much money you might as well buy a full size gaming rig. Highly recommended

I’ve had this computer for probably 2 months now, and it works great. I was worried when I first got it because I bought it to use for gaming and game development and it would hardly run even small 2D games without the mouse buffering. But after some digging, I realized I just needed to update the driver which can be done through GMKTec’s website. After that, it began running very smoothly. I can make 3D models, run my games, use Unity, etc. with no issue now. The fan isn’t very loud imo - just a little louder than my HP laptop. It only kicks on every once in a while, or if I’m opening Unity (but it calms down after the app is actually running). My only con is that it doesn’t have any speakers, but that’s something I almost certainly should’ve expected. It’s a really great computer for the price and size and easy to set up - it took me through set up with Windows 11 Pro which I already use and took about a day to sync my stuff. You can also change the BIOS if you want to, though I didn’t feel the need to.

This mini computer works pretty good. It's fast, quiet, and gets it done. I do wish it had at least one more USB, but that's not a deal breaker. I originally had problems with the Windows KEY not working. I went to GMKtec website which does not have a phone number, and I ended up e-mailing them. They were very responsive in the e-mail and they ended up reconciling the situation in a very professional manner. The computer is a pretty good deal. I just had a slightly rough start to liking it because of the KEY issue. But all it good now.. Good purchase.

The short form: I wanted a small form-factor computer for general work and light-duty gaming. This machine provides it admirably. The longer form: I chose it because it promised a decent level of gaming performance for the one game I play, World of tanks, at a decent frame-rate without its having a to have a noisy, secondary fan to handle the kinds of heating that the additional performance needs. What I have, and what I'm writing this review on, is a machine that handles world of tanks with low medium graphics settings at a frame rate of 40-60 fps with a highish ping which fulfills my basic needs, and it can do more if I turn it's graphics settings to low, at which point its frame rate goes to over a hundred-and-ten fps which works to make up for my senior-citizen reaction speeds. For the general work requirement, it is more than adequate, as in "much more." I can run multiple applications on multiple desktops and stream video (Amazon, Netflix, etc.) with no problems. Although I am transitioning from Mac to Windows in order to use it, I found its set up was a fairly simple process. One very pleasant surprise of the thing is just how quiet it is and competent the thing has been. Right now, I'm running several different, none-too demanding apps, and the fan is barely audible. And, even when I run my gaming app, the top of the box has never gotten more than perceptibly, but not uncomfortably, warm to the touch. The artificial intelligence app built into the operating system is a surprisingly good knowledge-base that greatly extends the power of search engines to answer general knowledge and technical questions. It was particularly useful when the computer started crashing when I played YouTube videos. The suggestions it provided got me back normal function in minutes. Considering how internet integrated modern operating systems are, I think it is imperative that you buy and install antivirus software as your second act with this or any computer. The bottom line I am perfectly happy with this computer. I would like a smidgeon of additional graphics power for gaming, but, considering my needs and the price, and after a month of use, I am very satisfied with my purchas, and I would definitely recommend it to someone like a college student or a light-duty gamer who was willing to trade a small amount of graphics power for noise-heat-and-hassle-free operation.

Excellent replacement for 10 yr old HP Media laptop that finally crapped out. I use this connected to my tv as a web/media/whatever unit. It drives my 55" Samsung TV without issue. Nuts & Bolts: *I am a old NOC engineer (80/90`s vintage). I did not run the win~doze setup so I cannot speak to that. What I did was nuke the 1 TB SSD and installed Linux Mint. Just as another learned reviewer had done, except he went with a dual boot sequence. I did not do that. You do have to modify the BIOS to unprotected boot mode (esc key on start). I used rufus (rufus.ie) to create a bootable iso thumb drive running Linux Mint. You will have to connect a wired keyboard and mouse (15 bucks for basic kb and mouse at Wally World) to accomplish the install~after which you can use a wireless mouse and on~screen kb for everything else onward (as I am doing now). The install was seamless. Mint identified everything correctly, linked to my wireless router without issue (after SSID was confirmed), linked my wireless mouse and I was in business. Start to finish including unboxing was maybe 20 minutes. No endless mind numbing M$ Win~doze updates. No driver hunting, no establishing accounts to the cloud, etc. I am not running AAA games, but I do run some A and AA sometimes. It runs flawless. It also runs my seriously complicated spreadsheets and fluid dynamics simulators with out issue. Questions about heat always arise. Yes, taxing this it does get warm, no where near throttling performance or un~commanded shutdown. It is warm to the touch but no even close to a "fresh cup of coffee warm*. The fans are whisper quiet. You can feel the air move but you have to get within millimeters to actually hear it. It has been running 24/7 for the past 3 weeks now used every waking hour without issue. For the money and performance this is hard to beat. Highly recommend.

I bought this mini PC so that I could turn my main pc into a dedicated server for gaming and AI. I just started it up, installed a fresh image of windows 11 pro without issues. Everything was super easy. I'm very happy with it, especially the space its saved on my desk. It handles three monitors with the USB C to Display Port cable I bought without issue 2x1440p and 1x1080p. Aside from normal web browsing, I primarily write on this PC using scrivener so I am never pushing the boundaries of the hardware in any real way but it runs fast. I work in tech and have a lot of hardware running in my home. I have learned the value of something that is stable without ever needing to troubleshoot. This PC is a great value. I usually turn it off every night to save power (boot times are basically nonexistent) but seems to be energy efficient.

I’ve been using this compact NUC for some time now, and overall, it’s been performing wonderfully. I did encounter a couple of hiccups along the way. Initially, the system would occasionally boot into the BIOS, failing to detect the NVME drive. I reached out to support, and they promptly identified the issue as a faulty NVME, sending a replacement right away. While swapping it out, I noticed the case fan wasn’t spinning. A quick email later, and they shipped a new fan without delay. Though these issues popped up, the support team’s fast and effective responses kept things smooth. This little device is fantastic! It serves as our daily PC and impresses with its speed, quiet operation, and tiny footprint. We’ve got it neatly mounted on the wall inside a cabinet. I’m really pleased with it and wouldn’t hesitate to purchase it again.

I had one other GMKtec Mini PC before, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well it performed. I decided to buy this latest model as soon as it was released, and I'm glad I did. This PC is rock solid, fast, quiet, has 32GB of RAM and 1 TB NVMe M.2 SSD, and it runs Win 11 Pro. This is a lot of PC in a package only about 5" x 5.25" x 2.25" in size. I included a picture showing a full size tape measure on top of it for reference (and I have it on top of the gaming PC it is replacing). I also included a full CPU-Z report, and one slide shows this PC's CPU to be neck and neck with an Intel Core i9-11900K CPU. It is faster than the Core i5-10400 that I use at work, and I run SolidWorks and Moldflow on that one. I ran my older personal copy of SolidWorks on this Mini PC, and it ran just fine and smooth with the graphics (you DO NOT need workstation graphics to run SolidWorks - single-threaded CPU and then RAM are far more important). The only negative I can think of is that the headphone / speaker output is on the front. It would be nice if there was one on the back as well, so when using on your desktop, the wires can all be coming out of the back (where wired speakers are used / bluetooth renders this point moot). I'm old... my first PC was a Commodore 64, and my first build was a Pentium 75 with a 4x CD drive and a Soundblaster 16 sound card. It truly blows my mind all that you get in something this small, and that it can soundly outperform the large desktop PC it is replacing for all but the graphics. But even with that, my son played Epic Games' Fortnite on it and was a little miffed at how well it performed since he had just added one of the latest graphics cards ($1,000 4080 Super) to his gaming PC. Of course, this was nowhere near the same performance, but playing at 1080P with mid-range settings, it performed just fine with the 780M integrated graphics. This is a great little computer that can be very versatile... and free up your desk space too.