New products tested by our experts
GMKtec NucBox K2
MINI PC ❘ £390 from Geekom www.snipca.com/48223
RAM home the advantage
We reviewed GMKtec’s NucBox K1 (£308 from www.snipca.com/46740) back in Issue 663. This successor is more expensive, but comes with a newer AMD processor, and double the RAM and storage. However, like the K1, at the time of writing this model is only available directly from Chinese manufacturer GMKtec’s website, meaning you have to pay in US dollars and wait for it to be delivered to you. It’s a bit of an inconvenience, and you may want to check how much commission your payment-card will add to convert currencies for you.
Our link above takes you to the specification of the K2 that we’re reviewing here (we’ve converted the price – currently discounted – into pounds). It comes with an AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS processor, 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. There’s also a model with 16GB of RAM (though at £446 this was actually more expensive than the 32GB model when we checked). Alternatively, you could pay £283 for a ‘barebones’ version that doesn’t have RAM, storage or Windows installed, should you prefer to provide your own.
They are all powered by the Ryzen 7 7735HS processor, which is one of AMD’s latest-generation chips. However, in terms of raw power, it lags behind the fastest processors we’ve seen in mini PCs recently. In benchmark tests that push the processor to its limits, it runs at around 80 per cent of the speed of our current favourite mini PC the Geekom Mini IT 13 (£699 from www.snipca. com/47789, see page 32). That’s actually pretty good considering the Mini IT 13 has an Intel Core i9 processor and is significantly more expensive.
As we’ve noted in previous reviews, the Mini IT 13 failed to match some AMD rivals in graphics power (AMD’s built-in graphics hardware is often superior to Intel’s – even the more expensive examples). That applies here, too, with the K2 running games about 30 per cent quicker. We don’t recommend you opt for this over a desktop PC with a separate graphics card if you’re serious about running the likes of Microsoft Flight Simulator with its highest-detail settings switched on. However, it is a better all-rounder than the Mini IT 13 if you’re considering running demanding entertainment software as well as performing Windows tasks that use a lot of resources.
The K2 has a decent selection of connections. Its front panel houses one USB-C and two USB 3.0 ports, alongside a headphone socket and power butto
