AceMagic's AMD Strix Point NES mini PC gets benchmarked

AceMagic launched its Retro X5 mini PC some time ago, and if you're a fan of the classic Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) aesthetic, you'll likely be a big fan. This palm-sized mini PC flaunts a 12-core, 24-thread AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 complete with an AMD Radeon 890M iGPU with 16 RDNA 3.5 Compute Units. Alongside its strong specifications of 32 GB of DDR5-6500 MT/s RAM and a 1TB NVMe Gen 4 SSD, the AceMagic Retro X5 is nothing less than a beast. 

Noted mini PC and handheld reviewer ETA Prime finally got a hands-on look at the unit and gave it a thorough benchmarking run across various modern games and high-end emulation scenarios, where it performed admirably enough to prove suitable as a powerful mini PC. AceMagic has kept an impressive lineup of mini PCs (and stock!) despite current market conditions, so a machine like this is truly impressive, even if it's likely to sell out within days of my writing this thanks to a generous sale price.

Besides its beefy internal specifications, the AceMagic Retro X5 is also outfitted with dual 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet ports, a 2.0 DisplayPort, an HDMI 2.1 port, dual USB 3 Type-A ports and a USB 4 Type-C port on the rear. Up front, there's also a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, dual USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A ports, and a standard 3.5mm audio jack alongside an NES-styled red power button. 

The body of the mini PC looks more like an NES Classic than a proper NES, but the gains made in form factor make up for what little is lost in authenticity, and the sheer power of the hardware beneath that retro shell is appealing in its own right.

If you want to peek a variety of benchmarks for the NES-inspired AceMagic Retro X5, ETA Prime's full video embedded above is a great option. ETA Prime showcases Spider-Man 2, Cyberpunk 2077, and Forza Horizon 5 all running quite well on the machine, with Forza even pushing 60-80 FPS at High or Medium settings at 1440p. Emulation-wise, the hardware is suited for just about anything up to RPCS3 PlayStation 3 emulation and Nintendo Wii U/Switch emulation.

In terms of pricing, the mini PC is currently available on Amazon for $1399.99 USD, with a coupon price massively dropping that to just $999.99 USD. Not only is that asking price perfectly in line with other AMD Strix Point mini PCs and tablets/handhelds/etc, but arguably even generous considering the current state of RAM and SSD pricing.