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The MINISFORUM EliteMini B550 is a compact desktop computer with support for up to a 65-watt AMD Ryzen 4000 or 5000 desktop processor. But what makes it really stand out from other mini PCs is that the system comes with a dock that allows you to connect a desktop graphics card and power supply.
When the EliteMini first went on sale earlier this year, it was available with a choice of AMD Ryzen 7 4700G or Ryzen 7 5700G processors with prices starting at $499. Now the company has dropped one processor option while adding another, cheaper way to buy the EliteMini B550: you can pick one up with no CPU at all.
The new barebones model has a list price of $399 and ships without a processor, memory, storage, or operating system. It’s currently on sale for $319 though, as MINISFORUM is offering a sale that lets you save some money on all configurations.
Meanwhile the company is no longer offering models with a Ryzen 7 4700G chip, which means that prices start at $649 (or $599 on sale) for a Ryzen 7 5700G model without any memory, storage, or OS.
The company also lets you configure the system with up to 64GB of RAM and up to a 512GB SSD if you don’t want to shop around for those components. But MINISFORUM does not sell graphics cards, so you’ll need to bring your own no matter which version of the computer you purchase.
If you do want to pair the system with a GPU, you can use the included dock which holds the graphics card. The computer itself exposes a PCI 3.0 x16 connection that allows you to connect the GPU.
The MINISFORUM EliteMini B550 computer itself measures 167 x 158 x 67mm (6.6″ x 6.2″ x 2.6″ and features room under the hood for a 2.5 inch SATA hard drive or SSD and two M.2 2280 SATA or PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSDs. There are two SODIMM slots for up to 64GB of dual-channel DDR4 memory and an M.2 2230 slot for a wireless card (out of the box, the system should support WiFi 6).
Ports include
- 2 x HDMI
- 1 x DisplayPort
- 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C
- 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A
- 1 x 3.5mm mic input
- 1 x 3.5mm audio line out
- 1 x 2.5 Gbps Ethernet
- 1 x 19V DC power input
While it would have been nice to see a 40 Gbps USB4 port, the fact that you can connect an external graphics card without one helps make up for the lack of USB4.
via NotebookCheck
I still don’t understand this computer. What a complete waste of money.
It looks like something put together by someone who isn’t aware that you can build your own PC.
Flexibility in a small form factor. Usually in this factor you lose flexibility and have to move up to mini-ITX or MATX. Here you can start small with an iGPU and if you don’t want to rehost you can add a GPU. Otherwise you can stay as is. Takes advantage of some features not seen everywhere. Some people don’t want futz with BYO, so they get these.
The bare-bones version doesn’t even have a CPU. Putting together a microatx tower is barely harder, and unlike this thing you can stack objects on top of the case.
I think a lot of the people buying it are really going to be overestimating the flexibility, underestimating how much space it takes up.
@Some Guy agreed. If you are buying a barebones kit you will have to install CPU , RAM & Storage at minimum. Then there is the PSU &GPU . Literally all you have left is the motherboard. This product is a complete waste
A microATX tower is also several times larger in every axis, and for a lot of enthusiasts the volume largely goes unused. These can be put on bookshelves, mounted behind monitors, mounted under desks, stacked on hubs or speakers, etc.
This same extension of “why this when you can use mATX?” also applies to any form factor that isn’t ATX – “why use ITX/mATX when ATX already exists?”