by Brad Linder
9 Comments on MINISFORUM HX99G is now available (mini PC with Ryzen 9 6900HX and Radeon RX 6600M)
The MINISFORUM Neptune HX99G is a small desktop computer with an AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX processor with Zen 3+ CPU cores, Radeon RX 6600M discrete graphics based on RDNA 2 architecture, and support for up to 64GB of RAM.
First unveiled in November, the HX99G is now available for pre-order for $839 and up and it’s expected to begin shipping at the end of February.
The system measures 205 x 203 x 69mm (8.1″ x 8″ x 2.7″), making it larger than many of the company’s other mini Pcs, but still smaller than a typical desktop computer.
Under the hood, it’s powered by a 45-watt, 8-core, 16-thread processor and a 100-watt discrete CPU with 28 compute units, 1792 stream processors and 8GB of GDDR6 memory. In other words, it’s a mini desktop computer with the guts of a premium gaming laptop or mobile workstation-class computer.
MINISFORUM says the system can be used to drive up to four 4K displays, play modern PC games, or other tasks. It has two SODIMM slots for up to 64GB of total DDR5-4800 dual-channel memory and two M.2 2280 slots with support for up to PCIe 4.0 solid state storage.
There’s also an M.2 2230 slot populated by a WiFi 6 & Bluetooth 5.2 wireless card and a set of ports that includes:
Ports include:
- 2 x HDMI
- 2 x USB4 Type-C
- 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C
- 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A
- 3 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A
- 1 x 2.5 GbE Ethernet
- 1 x 3.5mm audio out
- 1 x 3.5mm microphone input
The computer weighs about 2.7 pounds and should be small enough to mount to the back of a display. The system is kept from overheating by a cooling system that includes dual fans, 7 heat pipes, and liquid metal. And the computer’s chassis is covered with a material that MINISFORUM says is 70% carbon fiber and 30% resin… although it’s unclear just how much of the computer’s case is actually made with this material, as some parts are described as “carbon fiber reinforced plastic.”
The $839 starting price is for a barebones model that comes with a processor and graphics but no memory, storage, or operating system. Prices start at $979 for an HX99G that comes with 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD and Windows 11 Pro pre-installed, although the company says the computer should also be able to run Ubuntu and other GNU/Linux distributions.
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Seems they are already sold out 🙁
I’ve bought minisforum machines and am using one now, their nucxi7.
They create a lot of problems for themselves by using buzzy marketing stuff like carbon fiber and liquid metal, then it turns out that it’s just plastic and a thermal pad.Just look on youtube for “minisforum liquid metal” and “minisforum carbon fiber”. Like the gamers nexus one where they looked at a predecessor to this that came with liquid metal…splattered all over the motherboard. A new unit was quickly prepared and delivered by minisforum allegedly with a new liquid metal application that wouldn’t leak, and it had a thermal pad in it, not liquid metal. Now they’re back to that, and their claims that plastic is carbon fiber. Carbon fiber would do nothing whatsoever for a pc case in the first place.
Sad because their machines are pretty good. You’ll probably never get a bios update as their stuff seems to be a one-off, they use terrible off brand ram and storage in their own builds so get a barebones, and their one apparent support guy “Joey” once offered to have me install teamviewer so he could “correct your bios so that windows 11 will install with secure boot”, when he in fact planned to edit the registry to eliminate the need for secure boot. So trust that you’re on your own after the sale.
As for this new model, I’m not sure that there’s much difference between a 5900hx and 6900hx other than the rdna.2 integrated graphics that you aren’t going to use with the 6600m in there. Would have been nice to bump it to a 6650m. They had advertised the prior 5900hx version as having a 6650m. It didn’t.
Basically the same as what I have gathered and experienced.
This is extremely common in China. So much so that I would say it is the norm. Saying that a product is made from “carbon fibre” is a meaningless claim in China. It is absolutely going to be made from plastic.
The same thing goes for promotional photos of products. It’s extremely common for Chinese manufacturers to distribute photos of tablets and laptops with photoshopped display panels that make the borders look thinner, and displays look larger.
One other and bigger difference is replacing the displayport ports with usb 4 ports (they are 8k capable so you don’t lose anything and since usb4 can be used for things other than displays it ends up being more versatile.
Another difference would be the switch from DDR4 to DDR5.
Whether those changes are worth any difference in price will depend on the individual.When you say “terrible” RAM and storage, just how terrible are we talking about?
Did you manage to install Windows 11 with secure boot?
AMD announced that CPU on January 4th, 2022.
Availability to the OEM is still low, and not many decided to build mini PC.
Beelink GTR6 is selling already a mini PC with that CPU with 32Gbytes of RAM and 512Gbyte SSD at same price.That is such a bad comparison.
They have the same CPU but this one has a discrete GPU which means MUCH better graphics performance.
Also, the GTR6 has ONE USB type C port and they don’t even specify the version (3.1? 3.2? 4?)
This one has THREE USB type C ports and two of them are type 4 which in and of itself is good to know (though it’d be nicer to know if they supported external graphics in case you wanted them).
These differences are why this one is on the shortlist for my next PC while the beelink is not (mostly due to only having one Type C port, I refuse to get anything new with only one, 2 is my minimum so the 3 on this one is great. It’s not the clear winner for my next device but it’s definitely in the running.The GPU alone explains the difference in price and the better port selection is another clear benefit.
Very bare bones.
Who and what is the market?
These have been made before, successful or not.Yup. Motherboards with various radeon and nvidia graphics have definitely been made over the years. I’ve seen mini size pc boards with everything from nvidia’s old Ion to a modern board with a 1050 and another with a 1650 integrated onto the board. One of intel’s NUC platforms has a 770m in it, and with the latest driver updates that have that pushing a 3070m in DX12, that’s looking to be an interesting option.
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