New products tested by our experts
MINI PC ❘ £299 from GMKtec www.snipca.com/48726
GMKtec NucBox M3
No Windows pain
Some of the mini PCs we review cost almost as much as a typical desktop PC and contain top-notch components that offer high performance levels. Our current favourite mini PC – the Beelink GTR7 7840HS (see page 32) – is a good example of this (£749 from www.snipca.com/47875).
The much cheaper GMKtec NucBox M3 simply can’t match those kind of work rates, but given its low price, we were keen to see whether it’s good enough at running everyday Windows programs to make it decent value for those on a tighter budget.
Bear in mind that the GMKtec website only accepts payments in US dollars, so your payment-card provider may add an additional charge when converting the currency.
The PC is built around the Intel Core i5-12450H processor, a 12th-generation chip that’s starting to show its age now that Intel has begun to launch its 14th-generation processors. This decision was no doubt taken to keep costs down, so we’re not complaining, especially considering that it’s backed up by a generous 32GB of RAM and 1TB SSD.
In benchmark tests that push the processor to its limits, the individual cores of the i5-12450H perform well, running at around 84 per cent of the speed of the GTR7’s AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS chip.
In tasks that use more cores at the same time, however, it drops to 63 per cent of the Beelink’s speed. In Windows tests, the performance of the NucBox M3 averages out at about 68 per cent. This is clearly slower, but it’s not bad for a PC that costs less than half the price.
Intel’s 12th-generation processors don’t tend to do as well when running graphically intensive software, such as games or video- and image-editing software, because they must rely solely on their built-in graphics hardware rather than a separate graphics card.
Gaming benchmark tests show the NucBox M3 running at 35-40 per cent of the speed of the NucBox M3. Again, that’s not unexpected given the price differential, but we wouldn’t recommend this to anyone who likes to take to the skies in Microsoft Flight Simulator with the detail settings turned up.
The case is a fairly standard design, measuring 44x115x105mm (HxWxD). Its side panels are made from metal, with a glossy white plastic top. The front panel offers a clean, minimalistic look, with only the power button and two USB 3.0 ports (pictured below left). Around the back there are two
