NiPoGi CK10 with the Intel Core i7-10810U reviewed: Small office PC offering space for three SSDs
We are already familiar with the Chinese system manufacturer Minipc Union after having reviewed both the Ace Magician AMR5 as well as the Ace Magician TK11-A0 - two interesting mini PCs. Another small PC contender has now appeared in the form of our NiPiGi CK10 review sample. The system is based on an Intel Core i7-10810U from the Comet Lake series. The SoC is no longer the newest kid on the block in spite of how promising 6 cores and 12 threads might sound. Paired with 16 GB DDR4 RAM and a 512 GB SSD as well as a Windows license, the device costs approximately 600 euros.
The Mini PC arrived in compact packaging, including a 65 watt power adapter and a VESA mount enabling the device to be fixed to a monitor. An overview of potential competitors can be found in the table below.
Possible competitors compared
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Best Price |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
70.9 % | 12/2022 | Minipc Union NiPoGi CK10 - 10810U i7-10810U, UHD Graphics 620 | 468 g | 50 mm | |
01/2022 | Minisforum EliteMini HX90 R9 5900HX, Vega 8 | 60 mm | |||
01/2022 | Morefine S500+ R9 5900HX, Vega 8 | 697 g | 40 mm | ||
05/2022 | Minisforum EliteMini B550 R7 5700G, Vega 8 | 1.1 kg | 67 mm | ||
02/2022 | Minisforum EliteMini TH50 i5-11320H, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 763 g | 55.5 mm | ||
09/2022 | Minipc Union Ace Magician AMR5 R5 5600U, Vega 7 | 628 g | 72 mm | ||
12/2021 | Minisforum HM90 R9 4900H, Vega 8 | 55.5 mm | |||
09/2022 | Minipc Union Ace Magician TK11-A0 i5-1135G7, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 586 g | 53 mm |
Case
The NiPoGi CK10 is a simple mini PC with no particular highlights to mention. With a footprint of 13.7 x 12.5 centimetres, it is smaller than many of its competitors. Height-wise, the compact PC sits at almost exactly five centimetres tall. Concerning the choice of materials, the NiPoGi CK10 is mostly made of plastic. The manufacturer has completely avoided the implementation of a stabilising metal frame. A dummy fingerprint scanner is on top of the device and suggests the case has been prepared for additional configuration possibilities.
Connectivity
In the area of external interfaces, the NiPoGi CK10 offers a simple, standard selection. A total of five USB ports is good and should be sufficient for most users. The available Type-C port doesn't offer Thunderbolt support. However, the VGA connector compensates for this with feelings of nostalgia. Just how interesting the analogue monitor port is will be down to the users themselves. Nevertheless, up to two modern displays can be operated without a hitch via HDMI.
Communication
A Realtek Wi-Fi module is hidden inside the NiPoGi CK10. During testing, the wireless module was sadly unable to deliver convincing performance when paired with our test router, the Asus ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000. By a considerable margin, the test sample took last place in our comparison table. Fortunately, a faster internet connection of up to 1 GBit/s is possible when using a wired connection.
Maintenance
For the time being, an upgrade is not necessary due to the solid base configuration. If you still wish to access the built-in components, this can be easily achieved as only four small screws require unscrewing in order to remove the base plate. An additional slot for a further SO DIMM module as well as two more mass storage devices could be housed in our test sample. If you want to clean the fan, further disassembly is needed without being particularly problematic.
Performance
At a base level, the Intel Core i7-10810U is suitable for office applications and light, multi-thread workloads which are efficiently processed thanks to its 12 threads. Unfortunately, the manufacturer has squandered some of the performance by installing just one RAM module. The same applies to the built-in SSD which boasts only SATA speed.
Testing conditions
All performance tests were carried out using factory default settings. We didn't undertake any changes to the SoC's power limits. Nevertheless, the BIOS allows these values to be changed.
Processor
The Intel Core i7-10810U belongs to the Comet Lake series and offers six Hyper-Threading enabled computing cores for a total of 12 threads. The power consumption is limited to 40 watts (short term power limit) and 15 watts (long term power limit), with the manufacturer acting very conservatively in this area. The cooling system still has the reserves to coax more performance from the SoC. This means the NiPoGi CK10 has difficulties keeping up with the competition. Only the Ace Magician TK11-A0 comes close and can be beaten in many multi-thread benchmarks. The ageing Intel Core i7-10810U struggles when compared to competitors with native 8 cores.
In memory benchmarks, the single, built-in RAM module is fatal for the NiPoGi CK10. Dual channel mode can only be used with two RAM modules and is something the whole system would benefit from.
You can find additional processor benchmarks here.
* ... smaller is better
AIDA64: FP32 Ray-Trace | FPU Julia | CPU SHA3 | CPU Queen | FPU SinJulia | FPU Mandel | CPU AES | CPU ZLib | FP64 Ray-Trace | CPU PhotoWorxx
NiPoGi CK10 Cinebench R15 multi-loop
The Cinebench R15 continuous loop showed that the built-in cooling system doesn't really have its work cut out with the Intel Core i7-10810U. The conservative tuning ensures a very short turbo clock speed which is why we only observed minimum loss in performance after the first run. With an average of 612 points, the performance was exceptionally stable throughout all 50 runs.
System Performance
Benchmarks serve to highlight that the SoC is already more than two years old. Seen subjectively, system performance limitations are noticeable due to the relatively slow SSD and RAM, which only works in single channel operation. Sometimes small latencies can be observed when opening programs. In addition, the below average Wi-Fi performance also doesn't have a beneficial effect on workflows.
AIDA64 / Memory Copy | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 | |
Average of class Mini PC (6481 - 70620, n=97, last 2 years) | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician TK11-A0 | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician AMR5 | |
Minisforum HM90 | |
Average Intel Core i7-10810U (18973 - 28662, n=2) | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi CK10 - 10810U |
AIDA64 / Memory Read | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Average of class Mini PC (6914 - 71285, n=97, last 2 years) | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician TK11-A0 | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician AMR5 | |
Minisforum HM90 | |
Average Intel Core i7-10810U (19621 - 30124, n=2) | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi CK10 - 10810U |
AIDA64 / Memory Write | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 | |
Average of class Mini PC (6862 - 89318, n=97, last 2 years) | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician TK11-A0 | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician AMR5 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 | |
Minisforum HM90 | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Average Intel Core i7-10810U (18296 - 32064, n=2) | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi CK10 - 10810U |
AIDA64 / Memory Latency | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician AMR5 | |
Minisforum HM90 | |
Average of class Mini PC (44.9 - 154.6, n=97, last 2 years) | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Average Intel Core i7-10810U (60.2 - 94.3, n=2) | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician TK11-A0 | |
Minipc Union NiPoGi CK10 - 10810U |
* ... smaller is better
DPC latencies
The NiPoGi CK10 has latency issues when opening multiple tabs in Edge. Latency didn't worsen while playing 4K Youtube videos. The Intel Core i7-10810U's iGPU operates at a load of approximately 35 percent when playing back such a video.
* ... smaller is better
Mass storage
The CK10 is powered by an unknown SSD with a storage capacity of 512 GB. This is a SATA-based M.2 2280 SSD which can clearly be seen in benchmarks. The disadvantages are obvious when compared to faster alternatives such as NVMe SSDs. However, 4K read performance is at a good level. The mini PC can be equipped with up to three mass storage devices (2x M.2 2280, 1x 2.5 inch).
* ... smaller is better
Disk Throttling: DiskSpd Read Loop, Queue Depth 8
Graphics
The Intel UHD Graphics 620 has difficulty keeping up with its successors. The follow-up model - the Intel Iris Xe Graphics - is able to compete with AMD's Radeon RX Vega 8. 3D performance would improve if the device were fitted with a second DDR4 RAM module. As a point of reference, we included the HP EliteBook x360 1040 G7 in the comparison table.
You can find additional benchmarks here.
3DMark 05 Standard | 16972 points | |
3DMark 06 Standard Score | 11379 points | |
3DMark Vantage P Result | 6899 points | |
3DMark 11 Performance | 1848 points | |
3DMark Ice Storm Standard Score | 51368 points | |
3DMark Cloud Gate Standard Score | 7637 points | |
3DMark Fire Strike Score | 1004 points | |
3DMark Fire Strike Extreme Score | 474 points | |
3DMark Time Spy Score | 419 points | |
Help |
Gaming Performance
The Intel UHD Graphics 620 is overwhelmed by all current games. Even older titles can often only be played smoothly in 720p and with details set to low. The iGPU copes best with the simplest casual games at native resolution.
Further comparisons and benchmarks can be found in our GPU games list.
low | med. | high | ultra | |
GTA V (2015) | 33.9 | 28 | 6.56 | 2.67 |
Dota 2 Reborn (2015) | 72.8 | 45.1 | 18.4 | 16 |
Final Fantasy XV Benchmark (2018) | 10.8 | 5.08 | 3.75 | |
X-Plane 11.11 (2018) | 20.2 | 13.1 | 12 | |
Far Cry 5 (2018) | 11 | 5 | 5 | |
Strange Brigade (2018) | 25.7 | 9.8 | 10.1 | |
Far Cry New Dawn (2019) | 11 | 5 | 5 | |
Metro Exodus (2019) | 12.3 | 5.95 | 4.61 | |
Borderlands 3 (2019) | 14.9 | 5.83 | 3.69 | |
F1 2020 (2020) | 25.5 | 11.3 | 5.34 | |
F1 2021 (2021) | 28 | 12.2 | 9.22 | |
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands (2022) | 7.02 | 5.06 | 3.3 |
Emissions - consistently quiet and economical
Noise emissions
Conversely, the Intel Core i7-10810U's conservative power limit (PL1 and PL2) ensures very quiet operating noise. Both idle and under load, the NiPoGi CK10 is never really audible. At 31 dB(A), the mini PC was very quiet during stress testing and therefore beats every comparison device tested here by some distance.
Noise Level
Idle |
| 30.8 / 30.9 / 30.9 dB(A) |
Load |
| 31 / 31 dB(A) |
| ||
30 dB silent 40 dB(A) audible 50 dB(A) loud |
||
min: , med: , max: Earthworks M23R, Arta (15 cm distance) environment noise: 30.4 dB(A) |
Minipc Union NiPoGi CK10 - 10810U i7-10810U, UHD Graphics 620 | Minisforum EliteMini B550 R7 5700G, Vega 8 | Minisforum EliteMini TH50 i5-11320H, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | Minipc Union Ace Magician AMR5 R5 5600U, Vega 7 | Minipc Union Ace Magician TK11-A0 i5-1135G7, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Noise | -2% | -9% | -23% | -8% | |
off / environment * | 30.4 | 30.2 1% | 30.2 1% | 30.5 -0% | 30.28 -0% |
Idle Minimum * | 30.8 | 30.5 1% | 30.8 -0% | 31.5 -2% | 31.82 -3% |
Idle Average * | 30.9 | 30.5 1% | 32.1 -4% | 32.6 -6% | 32.27 -4% |
Idle Maximum * | 30.9 | 30.5 1% | 32.9 -6% | 33.8 -9% | 33.17 -7% |
Load Average * | 31 | 31.2 -1% | 33.9 -9% | 49.3 -59% | 35.82 -16% |
Load Maximum * | 31 | 35.1 -13% | 41.4 -34% | 50.9 -64% | 37.1 -20% |
* ... smaller is better
Temperature
The NiPoGi CK10's case temperatures are mostly low and small hotspots are seen only selectively. During SoC load testing with Prime95 we observed a temperature of maximum 81°C. Therefore, even under full load, the Intel Core i7-10810U operates within its specification and clearly exceeds the base clock speed of 1.1 GHz.
Power consumption
In the area of power consumption, the NiPoGi CK10 benefits from its very economical SoC. Whether idle or under low load, our review sample fared well against the competition. During stress testing, the 65 watt mains adapter had to draw up to 54 watts for a short time. This leaves a little room for another mass storage device and an additional SO-DIMM module.
Off / Standby | 0.3 / 0.4 Watt |
Idle | 4.8 / 4.9 / 5.5 Watt |
Load |
23 / 54 Watt |
Minipc Union NiPoGi CK10 - 10810U i7-10810U, UHD Graphics 620 | Minisforum EliteMini B550 R7 5700G, Vega 8 | Minipc Union Ace Magician AMR5 R5 5600U, Vega 7 | Minipc Union Ace Magician TK11-A0 i5-1135G7, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | Average Intel UHD Graphics 620 | Average of class Mini PC | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Power Consumption | -143% | -64% | -20% | -24% | -119% | |
Idle Minimum * | 4.8 | 8.9 -85% | 8.4 -75% | 3.4 29% | 3.81 ? 21% | 9.8 ? -104% |
Idle Average * | 4.9 | 9.6 -96% | 8.7 -78% | 5.7 -16% | 6.94 ? -42% | 11.7 ? -139% |
Idle Maximum * | 5.5 | 11.8 -115% | 9.3 -69% | 7 -27% | 8.75 ? -59% | 14.7 ? -167% |
Load Average * | 23 | 98.9 -330% | 46.4 -102% | 36.5 -59% | 35 ? -52% | 51.9 ? -126% |
Load Maximum * | 54 | 101.8 -89% | 52 4% | 68 -26% | 47.5 ? 12% | 86 ? -59% |
* ... smaller is better
Power consumption with an external monitor
Pros
Cons
Verdict - An ultra quiet office PC
First and foremost, the NiPoGi CK10 is a compact, office PC based on an Intel Core i7-10810U. Although the SoC is no longer one of the current models, it is still able to achieve excellent multi-thread performance due to its 6 cores and a total of 12 threads. Additionally, a glance at the data sheet also promises much in terms of RAM and mass storage. However, on closer inspection, the system would have benefitted from ultimately wasted useable performance. The RAM only works in single channel mode and the SSD offers only SATA speed. These small disadvantages can be remedied as upgrade options are possible.
Compared to the competition here in our test, the NiPoGi CK10 struggled due to the aforementioned limitations. For anyone able to deal with those limitations, the NiPoGi CK10 represents a good mini PC for office use. The compact PC's biggest plus point is its emission values.
The NiPoGi CK10 is a good home workstation. However, the device is rather uninteresting due to the price.
Primarily, the NiPoGi CK10 is a good choice for simple, home-based, office use. Nevertheless, there are excellent alternatives, some of which are made in-house and offer better value for money. The Ace Magician TK11-A0 finds itself in the same performance category, albeit with certain disadvantages of its own. Additionally, Minisforum also has interesting alternatives in its portfolio. A comparison with the EliteMini TH50 is worthwhile here.
Price and availability
Currently, the NiPoGi CK10 with our review specs can be had on Amazon for 599 Euro in Germany. The identical machine is sold in the US under the name KAMURI CK10 with the same specs. At the moment, the mini PC is available for $599, also on Amazon.
Notebookcheck was given the NiPoGi CK10 to test. The manufacturer did not exert any influence on the outcome of the review. Additionally, the manufacturer did not receive the finished review prior to publishing.
Minipc Union NiPoGi CK10 - 10810U
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11/25/2022 v7
Sebastian Bade