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Chinese mini PC maker AOOSTAR seems to be carving out a niche for itself by selling compact computers with unusual features. Last month we wrote about the NAS N1 Pro mini PC with a Ryzen 5 5500U processor and two 3.5 inch drive bays for folks looking to build their own storage or networking solutions. But the company is also selling a more compact computer with a clear acrylic lid, a large cooling fan, and RGB lighting effects.

The company is positioning it as a “mini gaming PC,” which might be a bit of a stretch. But with an AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS processor and Radeon 680M graphics, it’s not the worst option for folks looking for a compact computer that can handle some gaming duties.

Available from Amazon for $419 and up (when you apply an on-page coupon), the computer is powered by a 35-watt AMD “Rembrandt-R” chip with 8 Zen 3+ CPU cores, 16 threads, support for CPU speeds up to 3.2 GHz, 20MB of cache, and 12 GPU compute units based on AMD’s RDNA 2 architecture.

Basically it’s a more power-hungry version of the Ryzen 6800U chip that proved popular with handheld gaming PC makers in 2022. While there’s no room inside the chassis for a discrete GPU, the system does have a USB4 port with support for 40 Gbps data transfer speeds, which could allow you to connect the little computer to some external graphics docks.

But I suspect that folks who really want a high-performance gaming desktop will look elsewhere, while a system like this is probably best suited for folks looking for a small, cheap, and unique-looking PC for general-purpose use or maybe for retro gaming.

The little computer measures 130 x 130 x 54mm (5.1″ x 5.1″ x 2.1″) and most of the hardware appears to be packed into the bottom, with the clear top section featuring RGB lighting and a heat sink and fan to help keep the system cool.

Ports include:

  • 1 x USB4 Type-C (40 Gbps data and support for up to an 8K/60Hz display)
  • 1 x USB Type-C (for power only)
  • 1 x DisplayPort
  • 1 x HDMI
  • 2 x USB 3.0 Type-A
  • 2 x USB 2.0 Type-A
  • 1 x 2.5 GbE Ethernet
  • 1 x Gigabit Ethernet
  • 1 x 3.5mm audio combo jack

The computer supports up to three displays and features WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2  wireless connectivity. It has an M.2 2280 slot for PCIe 4.0 NVMe solid state storage, room for a 2.5 inch SATA hard drive, and two SODIMM slots for DDR5-4800 memory.

List prices range from $499 for a model with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage to $549 for a 32GB/512GB model, but both are on sale for $80 off when you click the on-page coupon option at Amazon.

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  1. Considering the hardware, it might do best as a Media Center PC and maybe a lightweight gaming system for older less intense titles.

    It’s not a bad design, although the choice of colours and the RGB lighting does leave more to be desired.

    I would like to see testing done to really see how well they stack up.

    Reply

  2. Positioning this Mini PC as a gaming product doesn’t make one bit of sense. Nobody is going to use this for gaming without an eGPU, and buying it to connect to an eGPU doesn’t seem attractive in any way.

    For the same $499 price, you could build a Mini ITX PC that has space for a GPU internally, and it would seriously outperform this thing. And it would have the benefit of using brand-name RAM and Storage, as opposed to whatever reject-quality stuff they are using in this Mini PC.

    Reply

    1. You’re going to have a very hard time building a mini-itx for 500$ tbh.
      Just a case, SFF PSU and Mobo will cost you about 350 already.

      Anyway, I think next gen of H apus will get there (say RDR2 1080p 60 fps) and then it will start to make a lot of sense for me as a TV gaming system, my electricity bills are going through the roof this year and when a 5600G system already consumes 50W idle, this is what this kind of mini pc (the H variants) draws at full load.

      Plus DDR5 will be faster by then. Patience, patience.

      Reply