MINI PC | £699 from Geekom www.snipca.com/47789
By small means
Although people tend to use mini PCs, such as this new model from Geekom, as alternatives to desktop PCs, they often have laptop components, which is how their manufacturers manage to cram everything into such small cases. This is certainly true of the Mini IT13, which uses the same Intel Core i9-13900H processor as the brilliant Huawei MateBook 16s, reviewed left.
Its quite phenomenal specifications don’t end there. It also comes with 32GB of RAM and a generous 2TB SSD. It has Wi-Fi 6E, a plethora of ports and Windows 11 Pro installed – to buy the model click the ‘i9-13900H’ button under ‘Size’ at the link above. All of which makes it our new mini PC of choice.
Our benchmark tests also confirmed that it has power to burn. Compared with our previous favourite mini PC, the Beelink SER6 Pro 7753HS (£699 from www.snipca.com/46416, reviewed in Issue 661), its raw processing power is over 50 per cent faster in single-core activities (for example, office tasks, email, web browsing) and 20 per cent faster in multi-core activities (image and video editing). That makes everyday Windows work simply fly by.
Where the Mini IT13’s i9 chip can’t keep up is in gaming. In tests, the SER6 Pro ran its graphics around 40 per cent faster than the Iris Xe graphics hardware in the Mini IT13.
In general Windows work you’re unlikely to notice this difference, and for the average non-gamer, the Geekom Mini IT13 works like a dream. However, if you’re looking for something to run, say, Microsoft Flight Simulator at high graphical settings, the SER6 Pro is a better bet.
It’s worth pointing out here that a desktop PC with a separate graphics card to take most of the strain away from the main processor will always be a better (albeit more expensive) option for gamers who don’t want to compromise.
As we mentioned earlier, the Mini IT13 isn’t short of connections. There are two USB-C ports at the rear, along with a pair of HDMI ports (pictured below left), giving you plenty of ways to connect external screens. There are a further three USB 3.0 ports, and one USB 2.0. An SD card reader sits on one side, with a 2.5Gigabit Ethernet socket on the back if you don’t want to rely on Wi-Fi.
As far as ease of access goes, removing four screws on the bottom panel lets you get inside, where the memory slots, SSD and Wi-Fi card are easy to reach if you ever need to upgrade components. However, thi
