GMKtec M5 Plus Gaming Mini PC Ryzen 7 5825U (Upgraded 7430U/ 5700U), 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 2.0

Been using this for a little while now and it’s honestly way better than I expected. Super quiet, fast, and handles everything I need for running my business. I’ve got a bunch of tabs open all the time, I do estimates, emails, some light video editing in Resolve, and it doesn’t lag or stutter.It’s not made for gaming or anything crazy like 3D rendering, but for what I do—mostly work-related stuff and a bit of editing—it’s perfect. The 32 gigs of RAM is nice to have, and the 1TB SSD is fast and gives me plenty of space.It’s super compact too. Doesn’t take up any room on the desk and it stays cool and quiet no matter what I throw at it.What I like:Small, fast, and quietGreat for multitasking and business stuffCan handle light video editingGood storage and RAMSetup was easyWhat it’s not for:Gaming or anything super graphics-heavyIf you need a ton of power for creative work, you’ll want something biggerBut overall, really happy with it. Great little PC for what I need.

In my real life, I am a Technical Writer and Knowledge Manager for the company I work for, so if this review seems a little long or maybe too detailed, I wanted to make sure you got as much information as possible as I started using the computer. At home I am an avid movie and personal video collector and I just completed rebuilding my video server. It is in a tower case and is occupying the only space I have in my office for such a computer. As part of the rebuild, I intended to separate the serving and processing functions, so I was searching for a compact solution that would allow me to render video content for the server. This computer has provided everything I was looking for and more.These are the criteria I used in deciding on a replacement computerHigh speed processingI needed a computer that would help with video rendering. I am not a gamer but the performance of a gaming computer would speed up the video work I do. With the initial testing, this design is completing the rendering tasks about 20% faster that my previous computer.A compact Design.I have limited space on my desk for a PC. This mini PC was great as the size gave me options on my already crowded desk. Its size allowed me to place it behind a monitor, but there were also 2 mounting screw holes in the case so I decided to mount it to the back of my desk.Convenience of Several connection options.With 4 USB A ports I was able to connect my printers, keyboard and mouse and still had USB C connection options for my USB monitor and an External SSD device. See the picture Exterior Pictures Showing Ports and Top RemovalAlong with that connectivity there are options to connect wireless networks and to use Bluetooth top connect audio devices like headphones.ExpandabilityIn this small package I could still add an additional standard sized SSD. The surprise expandability is found in the Oculink Port this port gives PCIe connectivity speed for external devices.What Came in the BoxThe computerIntroductory Booklet (Unfortunately not an English Page, but other picture have some English labels.)Power Supply and Power CordHDMI cable (Must boot first time on HDMI)Mounting Bracket (No instructions on the exact uses. I mounted mine using the mounting holes on the back of the case.)See the Picture What's In the BoxSetting up the ComputerUnpacking the computer was straight forward. There was no assembly required. The only things needed to get started is a monitor to connect the HDMI cable (provided), a keyboard & mouse and to plug in the power supply.I followed the instructions on the yellow notice over the network ports advising that the system would set up much more quickly without Windows attempting to update during the initial boot up. This worked great and I will use this process on any other computer I will build. Within a few minutes, I was at the windows desktop. I was in a position to start installing software. See picture Original Desktop.I then connected a network wire and I was able to install my software and connect to my Microsoft account.There was a bit of disappointment, as there were no instructions in English supplied. There were about 10-12 languages in a pamphlet included in the box but none were English. The drawings were labeled well enough to identify the details of the ports well enough for my trained eye, but the standard user may be left with questions about a few of the ports.I decided to add a second SSD to the computer and found the access inside very simple. Turned the top shield a quarter turn to the left and it unlocked exposing 4 screws that held the top fan in place. Once those were removed, the fan lifted out easily (be careful of the wire connecting the system board to the fan.)See the picture Disassembly with SSD 2 Slot IdentifiedAs part of the final setup, I had to decide where the computer would be on my desk. I had a option to put it behind my monitor See Picture Behind the Monitor, but instead, I took advantage of the mounting holes on the bottom of the computer to hang the computer from the back of my desk. See the picture Desk MountBIOS NotesI did look at the BIOS. I was curious about how configurable it was as I have found with other units that the BIOS is very focused and not designed to allow tweaking. While the interface was not very fancy (very DOS like) it appeared to have several settings to adjust memory and processor. See the picture BIOS Advanced There are many drill down options.SummaryOverall this computer provides a significant performance boost over the equipment I had. In my research I found that the AMD products provide better performance for the dollar, combined with integrating the GPU into the chip design it made the unit compact while still providing enough horsepower to drive 3 monitors effectively. In the few days I have worked with this unit, I still find myself marveling at how fast bootup times are and how quickly applications launch and web pages load. If you are looking for a gaming computer I would give this one a chance, I think you will be surprised at the speed of this computer and its ability to keep up with some of the most demanding games.

I’ve been using the GMKtec K8 Plus (Ryzen 7 8845HS) for a couple of weeks now, and it’s been a solid machine. Performance has been excellent for the price—fast, quiet, and well-built. Definitely a great piece of hardware for the money.I did run into an issue with the preinstalled AX200 Wi-Fi card, which had trouble reconnecting after the system woke from sleep. I contacted GMKtec support via email and found them responsive, usually replying within 24 hours. After trying updated drivers and power setting adjustments, we determined the card needed to be replaced.I decided to upgrade to an AX210 Wi-Fi 6E card, and it’s been working flawlessly since. GMKtec kindly credited me for the cost of the replacement, which I appreciated. I’m deducting one star due to the Wi-Fi issue out of the box, but I was satisfied with the support experience overall. If you’re a little tech-savvy and looking for an affordable powerhouse with good expandability, this is a great choice.