Primestation Pulsar desktop PC review: AMD Ryzen Pro with passive cooling and sustainable production
Prime Computer is a system manufacturer with its main seat in Swizerland. In addition to developing its own products, Prime Computer puts a lot of emphasis on sustainability, which also includes the expected lifespan of the devices. In the particular case of the Primestation Pulsar, which we evaluate in our test here, about 861 kilograms (~1900 lb) of CO₂ are compensated. Included in this is a usage period of five years. Those who want to find out more on this subject can also take a look at the sustainability report 2022 from Prime Computer.
Moving on to the Primestation Pulsar from Prime Computer: The manufacturer describes it as a fanless workstation. We will say more on what we think about the subject of a workstation below. The Primestation Pulsar is run by an AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5750G and 32 GB of working memory. In our test configuration, the storage solution is a 1 TB NVMe SSD with an additional SATA SSD that also offers 1 TB of storage space. All this is housed in a compact case that also serves as the complete cooling solution for the components. There is no fan, which is a great advantage for some specific usage scenarios.
The Primestation Pulsar in detail
Case
The Primestation Pulsar is a compact desktop PC that is based on inhouse case design and development. The goal was to create a completely passively cooled PC for the specific demands of the business segment. This means that the case is the central element of the Primestation Pulsar. It is made completely from metal and offers massive cooling ribs on both sides. The stability of the case is very good and it resists deforming attempts under regular usage including transport. If the cooling fins had been thinner to increase the cooling surface, the stability might have become a problem. At slightly more than 4 kilograms (~8.8 lb), the compact computer brings a hefty weight to the scale, which isn't really apparent at first glance. The external power supply adds almost another 500 grams (~1.1 lb). The workmanship of the Primestation Pulsar is of the highest quality, and the haptics of the device also leave a very high-quality impression.
Connection Equipment
The Primestation Pulsar only offers options to connect external devices on the back. In particular, these are the external connections from the built-in Asus ROG Strix B550-I gaming mainboard. Prime Computer uses a conventional Mini ITX mainboard, forgoing an inhouse design here. The additional front panel connections offered by the mainboard are not used. In our opinion, one or two USB connections in front and the integration of an SD card reader would have been sensible additions.
Communication
The WiFi module of the Primestation Pulsar offers WiFi-6 which also translates to very fast data transfer rates. In our comparison, our test unit measures up against the Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C. However, all the competitors in our comparison chart are surpassed by the Intel Dragon Canyon NUC. There is also an RJ45 connection that allows data rates of up to 2.5 Gbit/s.
Performance
Processor
The Primestation Pulsar uses the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5750G as the processor. According to the rough specifications, this APU is an AMD Ryzen 7 5700G. However, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5750G scores in terms of the security features, which also underscores the use of the Primestation Pulsar in the business environment. The eight Zen 3 cores are able to develop quite a good performance despite the passive cooling. There are no clear differences compared to the Minisforum EliteMini B550. On the other hand, compared to the AMD Ryzen 7 5700G that we evaluated in our CPU test PC, our test unit here has a slight disadvantage. But only 6% isn't much, so this is not an indication of any thermal limitation. Compared to an Intel CPU, we can say that it achieves the performance of an Intel Core i5-11600K. However, depending on the scenario, the native octa-core processor of the Primestation Pulsar is able to move clearly ahead of the hexa-core processor from Intel. But due to the passive cooling, the APU runs at only 45 watts. This is stored in the BIOS like this and upon our question, the manufacturer confirmed that this is necessary for the processor to work reliably.
You can find additional benchmarks on the processors 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
Performance Rating | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Average of class Desktop | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5750G | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Intel Core i5-12600K | |
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X |
AIDA64 / FP32 Ray-Trace | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X | |
Average of class Desktop (490 - 62786, n=25, last 2 years) | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5750G () | |
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X | |
Intel Core i5-12600K |
AIDA64 / FPU Julia | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5750G () | |
Morefine S500+ | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X | |
Average of class Desktop (2932 - 264044, n=25, last 2 years) | |
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Intel Core i5-12600K |
AIDA64 / CPU SHA3 | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Average of class Desktop (202 - 10362, n=25, last 2 years) | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Intel Core i5-12600K | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5750G () | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 | |
Morefine S500+ | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X | |
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X |
AIDA64 / CPU Queen | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Average of class Desktop (8820 - 205588, n=25, last 2 years) | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5750G () | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Intel Core i5-12600K | |
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X |
AIDA64 / FPU SinJulia | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5750G () | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Average of class Desktop (396 - 32855, n=25, last 2 years) | |
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X | |
Intel Core i5-12600K | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C |
AIDA64 / FPU Mandel | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5750G () | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 | |
Morefine S500+ | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X | |
Average of class Desktop (1558 - 138291, n=25, last 2 years) | |
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Intel Core i5-12600K |
AIDA64 / CPU AES | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5750G () | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Average of class Desktop (3778 - 379659, n=25, last 2 years) | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X | |
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X | |
Intel Core i5-12600K |
AIDA64 / CPU ZLib | |
Intel Core i5-12600K | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X | |
Average of class Desktop (75.2 - 2441, n=25, last 2 years) | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5750G () | |
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X |
AIDA64 / FP64 Ray-Trace | |
Average of class Desktop (273 - 33821, n=25, last 2 years) | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5750G () | |
Intel Core i5-12600K |
AIDA64 / CPU PhotoWorxx | |
Intel Core i5-12600K | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Average of class Desktop (5125 - 54037, n=25, last 2 years) | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Average AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5750G () | |
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 |
AIDA64: FP32 Ray-Trace | FPU Julia | CPU SHA3 | CPU Queen | FPU SinJulia | FPU Mandel | CPU AES | CPU ZLib | FP64 Ray-Trace | CPU PhotoWorxx
Primestation Pulsar in the Cinebench R15 Multi Loop
The passive cooling of the Primestation Pulsar also seems to work well in practice, as we can see in our Cinebench R15 constant loop. According to the BIOS settings, the power consumption of the APU is fixed at 45 watts. The stable results also show that the case is able to dissipate the heat reliably. We observe no significant performance drop.
Application Performance and Storage Solution
The system performance of the Primestation Pulsar is good and even better than that of the AMD Ryzen 7 5700G. The other Mini PCs from Morefine and Minisforum are unable to quite keep up in the synthetic PCMark 10, and only the Minisforum EliteMini HX90 achieves an almost similar number of points. A full workstation should also include a powerful graphics card for professional use. However, the Primestation Pulsar is unable to offer this here, so the render performance isn't able to keep up at all with that of the Intel Core i5-11600K and Nvidia Titan RTX. A passive solution that includes a dedicated graphics card is currently not planned. So those who are attracted by the keyword "workstation" should understand that the subject of 3D rendering shouldn't be at the top of the task list for a Primestation Pulsar. Unfortunately, the platform also doesn't offer an option to use an external graphics card. In this regard, we take a closer look at the Minisforum EliteMini B550, which at least offers the option, even though the graphics aren't part of its real strengths. We are only looking at what is possible in terms of the technology.
Two SSDs from Samsung form the storage solution. Both models offer 1 TB of data storage, thus offering sufficient space for storage-hungry applications. We should also mention that one of the SSDs is an M.2 NVMe SSD and the other a 2.5-inch SATA SSD. The transfer rates of the Samsung SSD 980 are fast and completely sufficient for everyday office work. The 2.5-inch SSD is a Samsung SSD 970 EVO, which corresponding to the SATA connection also offers good transfer rates without any conspicuous behavior. The SATA SSD can be expanded quickly, since there is a small maintenance flap at the bottom, where you can insert up to 4 TB. In terms of the M.2 SSD, there appears to be only a single option, and the configuration options during the ordering process don't allow for anything else.
DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 + RTX 3060, AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550, AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Morefine S500+, AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C, Intel Core i7-11800H | |
Minisforum HM90, AMD Ryzen 9 4900H | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90, AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G, AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar, AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5750G | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50, Intel Core i5-11320H |
* ... smaller is better
3D and Gaming Performance
The 3D performance of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5750G depends on the iGPU that we already know from the AMD Ryzen 7 5700G. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 doesn't use its own VRAM, which means that a part of the built-in working memory has to be used. Since our test system is equipped with ample 32 GB of RAM, we are able to allocate 8 GB for the iGPU in the BIOS. However, this doesn't really add a noticeable value overall. The performance of the AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 in the Primestation Pulsar is at the expected level. Compared to a modern dedicated graphics card, the iGPU isn't able to keep up at all, as you can see in the gaming tests that we ran. However, since the Primestation Pulsar is primarily a business PC, the gaming performance only plays a lesser role. But those who want some distraction during the breaks should consider that the performance of the iGPU will only be able to handle older or less demanding games in native resolution, and you often have to significantly reduce the resolution and details to allow for smooth gaming.
Performance Rating - Percent | |
Inno3D GeForce RTX 3060 Twin X2 | |
Intel Dragon Canyon NUC - RTX 3060 | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 + RTX 3060 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 (RTX 3060 via TB) | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G -2! | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 |
Borderlands 3 | |
1280x720 Very Low Overall Quality (DX11) | |
Intel Dragon Canyon NUC - RTX 3060 | |
Inno3D GeForce RTX 3060 Twin X2 | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 + RTX 3060 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 (RTX 3060 via TB) | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 | |
1920x1080 Badass Overall Quality (DX11) | |
Intel Dragon Canyon NUC - RTX 3060 | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Inno3D GeForce RTX 3060 Twin X2 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 + RTX 3060 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 (RTX 3060 via TB) | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 |
Metro Exodus | |
1280x720 Low Quality AF:4x | |
Intel Dragon Canyon NUC - RTX 3060 | |
Inno3D GeForce RTX 3060 Twin X2 | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 + RTX 3060 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 (RTX 3060 via TB) | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
1920x1080 Ultra Quality AF:16x | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Intel Dragon Canyon NUC - RTX 3060 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 + RTX 3060 | |
Inno3D GeForce RTX 3060 Twin X2 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 (RTX 3060 via TB) | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 |
Far Cry New Dawn | |
1280x720 Low Preset | |
Inno3D GeForce RTX 3060 Twin X2 | |
Intel Dragon Canyon NUC - RTX 3060 | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 + RTX 3060 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 (RTX 3060 via TB) | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 | |
1920x1080 Ultra Preset | |
Intel Dragon Canyon NUC - RTX 3060 | |
Inno3D GeForce RTX 3060 Twin X2 | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 + RTX 3060 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 (RTX 3060 via TB) | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 |
Far Cry 5 | |
1280x720 Low Preset AA:T | |
Inno3D GeForce RTX 3060 Twin X2 | |
Intel Dragon Canyon NUC - RTX 3060 | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 + RTX 3060 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 (RTX 3060 via TB) | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 | |
1920x1080 Ultra Preset AA:T | |
Inno3D GeForce RTX 3060 Twin X2 | |
Intel Dragon Canyon NUC - RTX 3060 | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 + RTX 3060 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 (RTX 3060 via TB) | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 |
X-Plane 11.11 | |
1280x720 low (fps_test=1) | |
Inno3D GeForce RTX 3060 Twin X2 | |
Intel Dragon Canyon NUC - RTX 3060 | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 + RTX 3060 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 (RTX 3060 via TB) | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 | |
1920x1080 high (fps_test=3) | |
Inno3D GeForce RTX 3060 Twin X2 | |
Intel Dragon Canyon NUC - RTX 3060 | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 + RTX 3060 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 (RTX 3060 via TB) | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 |
Final Fantasy XV Benchmark | |
1280x720 Lite Quality | |
Inno3D GeForce RTX 3060 Twin X2 | |
Intel Dragon Canyon NUC - RTX 3060 | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 + RTX 3060 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 (RTX 3060 via TB) | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 | |
1920x1080 High Quality | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Inno3D GeForce RTX 3060 Twin X2 | |
Intel Dragon Canyon NUC - RTX 3060 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 + RTX 3060 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 (RTX 3060 via TB) | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 |
Dota 2 Reborn | |
1280x720 min (0/3) fastest | |
Inno3D GeForce RTX 3060 Twin X2 | |
Intel Dragon Canyon NUC - RTX 3060 | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 + RTX 3060 | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 (RTX 3060 via TB) | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 | |
1920x1080 ultra (3/3) best looking | |
Inno3D GeForce RTX 3060 Twin X2 | |
Intel Dragon Canyon NUC - RTX 3060 | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 + RTX 3060 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 (RTX 3060 via TB) | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 |
3DMark 11 | |
1280x720 Performance GPU | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Intel Dragon Canyon NUC - RTX 3060 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 + RTX 3060 | |
Inno3D GeForce RTX 3060 Twin X2 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 (RTX 3060 via TB) | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 | |
1280x720 Performance | |
Intel Dragon Canyon NUC - RTX 3060 | |
Inno3D GeForce RTX 3060 Twin X2 | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 + RTX 3060 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 (RTX 3060 via TB) | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 |
GTA V | |
1024x768 Lowest Settings possible | |
Inno3D GeForce RTX 3060 Twin X2 | |
Intel Dragon Canyon NUC - RTX 3060 | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 + RTX 3060 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 (RTX 3060 via TB) | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 | |
1920x1080 Highest Settings possible AA:4xMSAA + FX AF:16x | |
Inno3D GeForce RTX 3060 Twin X2 | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Intel Dragon Canyon NUC - RTX 3060 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 + RTX 3060 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 (RTX 3060 via TB) | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 |
The Witcher 3 | |
1024x768 Low Graphics & Postprocessing | |
Intel Dragon Canyon NUC - RTX 3060 | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Inno3D GeForce RTX 3060 Twin X2 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 + RTX 3060 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 (RTX 3060 via TB) | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 | |
1920x1080 High Graphics & Postprocessing (Nvidia HairWorks Off) | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Inno3D GeForce RTX 3060 Twin X2 | |
Intel Dragon Canyon NUC - RTX 3060 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 + RTX 3060 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 (RTX 3060 via TB) | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 |
F1 2020 | |
1280x720 Ultra Low Preset | |
Inno3D GeForce RTX 3060 Twin X2 | |
Intel Dragon Canyon NUC - RTX 3060 | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 + RTX 3060 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 (RTX 3060 via TB) | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 | |
1920x1080 High Preset AA:T AF:16x | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Inno3D GeForce RTX 3060 Twin X2 | |
Intel Dragon Canyon NUC - RTX 3060 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 + RTX 3060 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 (RTX 3060 via TB) | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 |
F1 2021 | |
1280x720 Ultra Low Preset | |
Inno3D GeForce RTX 3060 Twin X2 | |
Intel Dragon Canyon NUC - RTX 3060 | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 + RTX 3060 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 (RTX 3060 via TB) | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 | |
1920x1080 High Preset AA:T AF:16x | |
Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN173070C | |
Inno3D GeForce RTX 3060 Twin X2 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 + RTX 3060 | |
Intel Dragon Canyon NUC - RTX 3060 | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 (RTX 3060 via TB) | |
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G | |
Prime Computer Primestation Pulsar | |
Morefine S500+ | |
Minisforum EliteMini TH50 | |
Minisforum EliteMini HX90 | |
Minisforum EliteMini B550 |
low | med. | high | ultra | |
GTA V (2015) | 135.3 | 122.8 | 34.2 | 15.3 |
The Witcher 3 (2015) | 82.1 | 51.7 | 25.9 | 17.2 |
Dota 2 Reborn (2015) | 129.6 | 105 | 68.7 | 64.6 |
Rise of the Tomb Raider (2016) | 65.5 | 43.5 | 24.2 | 19.1 |
Final Fantasy XV Benchmark (2018) | 44.4 | 22.4 | 15.7 | |
X-Plane 11.11 (2018) | 57.5 | 44.7 | 39.2 | |
Far Cry 5 (2018) | 46 | 25 | 23 | 22 |
Strange Brigade (2018) | 94.3 | 36.8 | 31.1 | 26.8 |
Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018) | 61 | 23.2 | 21.3 | 18.8 |
Far Cry New Dawn (2019) | 54 | 27 | 26 | 24 |
Metro Exodus (2019) | 48.1 | 20.8 | 15.5 | 13 |
Borderlands 3 (2019) | 71.4 | 27.9 | 17.4 | 13.5 |
F1 2020 (2020) | 112.6 | 51.1 | 39.3 | 28 |
F1 2021 (2021) | 117.9 | 50.5 | 40.2 | 27 |
Far Cry 6 (2021) | 52.7 | 25.8 | 21.8 | 18.3 |
Forza Horizon 5 (2021) | 82 | 35 | 30 | 16 |
Emissions
Noise Emissions
There are no noise emissions with the Primestation Pulsar at all. As already mentioned, there are no active cooling components, so there are no annoying noises either.
Temperature
During our stress test with Prime95 and FurMark, we demand the maximum from our test system. Since as we already know, Prime Computer limits the power consumption of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5750G to 45 watts, the temperatures don't keep rising indefinitely. At a maximum temperature of 77 °C (171 °F), the CPU runs stably at 3.6 GHz on average. The iGPU stays slightly cooler at 72 °C (162 °F) under load. In the subsequent 3DMark test right after the stress test, the result achieved by our test unit is no worse, which shows that Prime Computer is able to keep a very good handle on the temperatures with the passive cooling design. Over a long time period, the case warms up to more than 50 °C (122 °F). So those who use the Primestation Pulsar should leave sufficient open space around the case for the cooling to have the optimal effect.
Power Consumption
In terms of the power consumption of the Primestation Pulsar, we measure 12.5 to 14.5 watts during idle operation. Under average load, the consumption increases to almost 60 watts. With this, the system is fairly efficient in everyday operation and very powerful at the same time. During peak consumption, the 120-Watt power supply has to deliver up to 92 watts at times. This won't overtax the power supply and it is sufficiently sized.
Idle | 12.5 / 12.8 / 14.5 Watt |
Load |
59.5 / 92.4 Watt |
Power Consumption With External Monitor
Pros
Cons
Verdict - A silent and powerful business PC
With the Primestation Pulsar, Prime Computer offers an extraordinary business PC in its portfolio. The case, which is designed completely inhouse, is able to convince us in the test, showing that the passive cooling component works well. This results in the device offering an advantage for those customers who consider low emission values the decisive factor in their purchase. At the same time, the system is also able to score with a moderate power consumption despite its powerful AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5750G processor. However, you should also know that the APU would be able to deliver a higher performance in a conventional system, since Prime Computer limits the maximum power consumption to 45 watts.
The native octa-core processor offers a solid performance, resulting in a swiftly running system in everyday office operation. A contributing factor for this is also the fast NVMe SSD, which hardly leaves anything to be desired with its stable data transfer rates. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5750G also offers additional security features that are appreciated by business customers and often have an impact on the purchase decision. Unfortunately, with the AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 there is only an iGPU, which is unable to compete with dedicated graphics cards, so buyers should be aware of this.
With the Primestation Pulsar, Prime Computer offers a powerful and completely silent business PC that also ensures sustainable operation and a green footprint with a positive CO₂ balance.
The amount of included connections is good, even if their positioning in the back makes them less suitable if you often have to handle USB sticks or SD cards. The only way to use the latter is the detour via a USB adapter anyways. The lack of Thunderbolt support is due to the platform used, since the current B550 chip sets don't offer this option. This might change with the new Raphael processors, alias Ryzen 7000, but it is not clear whether Prime Computer will offer an upgrade of the Primestation Pulsar in the future. You currently have to pay 2,250 Euros (~$2405) for our test system. While this is a lot, the manufacturer also offers a system that currently has no equal in the market. A positive point for Swiss customers is that the manufacturer is able to respond very quickly to warranty demands if you are in Switzerland, keeping the loss of productive time very low.
There aren't many competing devices who are able to keep up with the Primestation Pulsar. These are often not silent, and if they are, their performance is unable to keep up. The PCs from Minisforum offer similar speeds, in particular the EliteMini HX90 or the EliteMini B550. You should also be able to equip the latter with the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5750G and optionally also expand it with a dedicated desktop GPU.
Price and Availability
You can configure and order the Primestation Pulsar directly from Prime Computer, with resellers in England and various central European and Arabian countries.