GMK NucBox K3 Pro mini PC review: The NucBox K2 is better
The NucBox K3 Pro mini PC is the Intel version of the AMD-based NucBox K2. Whereas the latter ships with a Ryzen 7 Zen 3+ HS-series CPU, our NucBox K3 Pro comes with the 12th gen Core i7-12650U instead. Both models are otherwise visually identical but with a couple of internal differences which we will note in the review. We recommend checking out our review on the NucBox K2 as all our existing comments on its ports and physical features also apply here for the NucBox K3 Pro.
Alternatives to the NucBox K3 Pro include other mini PCs with integrated graphics like the Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 01IRH8, Intel NUC 13, or the Beelink SEi12.
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Potential Competitors in Comparison
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Price |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
82.8 % v7 (old) | 10 / 2023 | GMK NucBox K3 Pro i7-12650H, UHD Graphics 64EUs | 396 g | 43.2 mm | x | ||
83 % v7 (old) | 09 / 2023 | GMK NucBox K2 R7 7735HS, Radeon 680M | 440 g | 43.2 mm | x | ||
v (old) | 12 / 2022 | Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U i5-1235U, Iris Xe G7 80EUs | 465 g | 42 mm | x | ||
86.3 % v7 (old) | 07 / 2023 | Beelink GTR7 7840HS R7 7840HS, Radeon 780M | 890 g | 48.8 mm | x | ||
83.1 % v7 (old) | 08 / 2023 | Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit i7-1360P, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 558 g | 37 mm | x | ||
81 % v7 (old) | 09 / 2023 | Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 01IRH8 i7-13700H, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 1.8 kg | 39 mm | x |
Case
The NucBox K3 Pro is a bit lighter than the K2 due to its soldered RAM and WLAN modules.
Communication
The system ships with an Intel AX201 for Wi-Fi 6 support. it does not include Wi-Fi 6E likely to save on costs.
Networking | |
iperf3 transmit AXE11000 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink GTR7 7840HS | |
GMK NucBox K2 | |
Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 01IRH8 | |
iperf3 receive AXE11000 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink GTR7 7840HS | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
GMK NucBox K2 | |
Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 01IRH8 | |
iperf3 transmit AXE11000 6GHz | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
GMK NucBox K2 | |
iperf3 receive AXE11000 6GHz | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
GMK NucBox K2 |
Maintenance
The top panel pops off to reveal the single M.2 PCIe SSD slot. Note the missing SODIMM slots when compared to the NucBox K2 as shown by the images below.
Accessories And Warranty
The retail box includes the removable VESA mounting bracket, AC adapter, HDMI cable, paperwork, and even a plastic red top cover for users who don't like the look of the default gray cover.
A one-year limited manufacturer warranty applies if purchased in the US.
Performance
Testing Conditions
We set Windows to Performance mode prior to running the benchmarks below.
Processor
The Core i7-12650H is not as common as the Core i7-12700H. Multi-thread performance is about 35 percent slower than on the i7-12700H due to the lower number of cores and threads on the i7-12650H. This significant deficit is enough to put the i7-12650H within just a few percentage points of the competing Ryzen 7 7735HS in the NucBox K2.
CPU performance would also drop by about 17 percent when stressed under our CineBench R15 xT loop test whereas the AMD CPU in the NucBox K2 would perform more stably in terms of clock rates.
Cinebench R15 Multi Loop
Cinebench R23: Multi Core | Single Core
Cinebench R20: CPU (Multi Core) | CPU (Single Core)
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 | 7z b 4 -mmt1
Geekbench 5.5: Multi-Core | Single-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
Cinebench R23: Multi Core | Single Core
Cinebench R20: CPU (Multi Core) | CPU (Single Core)
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 | 7z b 4 -mmt1
Geekbench 5.5: Multi-Core | Single-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
* ... 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 | |
Beelink GTR7 7840HS | |
GMK NucBox K2 | |
Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 01IRH8 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Average Intel Core i7-12650H | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
AIDA64 / FP32 Ray-Trace | |
Beelink GTR7 7840HS | |
GMK NucBox K2 | |
Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 01IRH8 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
Average Intel Core i7-12650H (5422 - 15620, n=14) | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
AIDA64 / FPU Julia | |
Beelink GTR7 7840HS | |
GMK NucBox K2 | |
Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 01IRH8 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
Average Intel Core i7-12650H (26386 - 76434, n=14) | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
AIDA64 / CPU SHA3 | |
Beelink GTR7 7840HS | |
Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 01IRH8 | |
GMK NucBox K2 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
Average Intel Core i7-12650H (1479 - 3244, n=14) | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
AIDA64 / CPU Queen | |
Beelink GTR7 7840HS | |
Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 01IRH8 | |
GMK NucBox K2 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Average Intel Core i7-12650H (59278 - 89537, n=14) | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
AIDA64 / FPU SinJulia | |
Beelink GTR7 7840HS | |
GMK NucBox K2 | |
Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 01IRH8 | |
Average Intel Core i7-12650H (4690 - 8726, n=14) | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
AIDA64 / FPU Mandel | |
Beelink GTR7 7840HS | |
GMK NucBox K2 | |
Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 01IRH8 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
Average Intel Core i7-12650H (15001 - 37738, n=14) | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
AIDA64 / CPU AES | |
Beelink GTR7 7840HS | |
GMK NucBox K2 | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 01IRH8 | |
Average Intel Core i7-12650H (32702 - 92530, n=14) | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit |
AIDA64 / CPU ZLib | |
Beelink GTR7 7840HS | |
Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 01IRH8 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
GMK NucBox K2 | |
Average Intel Core i7-12650H (443 - 891, n=14) | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro |
AIDA64 / FP64 Ray-Trace | |
Beelink GTR7 7840HS | |
GMK NucBox K2 | |
Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 01IRH8 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
Average Intel Core i7-12650H (3096 - 8448, n=14) | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
AIDA64 / CPU PhotoWorxx | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink GTR7 7840HS | |
Average Intel Core i7-12650H (22046 - 44164, n=14) | |
GMK NucBox K2 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 01IRH8 |
System Performance
CrossMark: Overall | Productivity | Creativity | Responsiveness
PCMark 10 / Score | |
Beelink GTR7 7840HS | |
GMK NucBox K2 | |
Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 01IRH8 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Average Intel Core i7-12650H, Intel UHD Graphics 64EUs (Alder Lake 12th Gen) (5156 - 6057, n=5) | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
PCMark 10 / Essentials | |
Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 01IRH8 | |
Beelink GTR7 7840HS | |
GMK NucBox K2 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Average Intel Core i7-12650H, Intel UHD Graphics 64EUs (Alder Lake 12th Gen) (9905 - 11395, n=5) |
PCMark 10 / Productivity | |
Beelink GTR7 7840HS | |
GMK NucBox K2 | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Average Intel Core i7-12650H, Intel UHD Graphics 64EUs (Alder Lake 12th Gen) (7167 - 8164, n=5) | |
Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 01IRH8 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit |
PCMark 10 / Digital Content Creation | |
Beelink GTR7 7840HS | |
GMK NucBox K2 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 01IRH8 | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Average Intel Core i7-12650H, Intel UHD Graphics 64EUs (Alder Lake 12th Gen) (5242 - 6482, n=5) | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
CrossMark / Overall | |
Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 01IRH8 | |
GMK NucBox K2 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Average Intel Core i7-12650H, Intel UHD Graphics 64EUs (Alder Lake 12th Gen) (1532 - 1875, n=5) | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink GTR7 7840HS |
CrossMark / Productivity | |
Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 01IRH8 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
GMK NucBox K2 | |
Average Intel Core i7-12650H, Intel UHD Graphics 64EUs (Alder Lake 12th Gen) (1503 - 1876, n=5) | |
Beelink GTR7 7840HS | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro |
CrossMark / Creativity | |
Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 01IRH8 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
GMK NucBox K2 | |
Average Intel Core i7-12650H, Intel UHD Graphics 64EUs (Alder Lake 12th Gen) (1554 - 1811, n=5) | |
Beelink GTR7 7840HS | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
CrossMark / Responsiveness | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Beelink GTR7 7840HS | |
Average Intel Core i7-12650H, Intel UHD Graphics 64EUs (Alder Lake 12th Gen) (1301 - 2077, n=5) | |
GMK NucBox K2 | |
Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 01IRH8 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro |
PCMark 10 Score | 5855 points | |
Help |
AIDA64 / Memory Copy | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink GTR7 7840HS | |
GMK NucBox K2 | |
Average Intel Core i7-12650H (43261 - 69735, n=14) | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 01IRH8 |
AIDA64 / Memory Read | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink GTR7 7840HS | |
Average Intel Core i7-12650H (47313 - 67412, n=14) | |
GMK NucBox K2 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 01IRH8 |
AIDA64 / Memory Write | |
Beelink GTR7 7840HS | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
GMK NucBox K2 | |
Average Intel Core i7-12650H (45617 - 59361, n=14) | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 01IRH8 |
AIDA64 / Memory Latency | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Beelink GTR7 7840HS | |
Average Intel Core i7-12650H (71.6 - 103.9, n=14) | |
Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 01IRH8 | |
GMK NucBox K2 |
* ... smaller is better
DPC Latency
LatencyMon reveals minor DPC issues when opening multiple browser tabs of our homepage. 4K video playback at 60 FPS is also imperfect with 2 dropped frames recorded during a 60-second test video.
DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 01IRH8 | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
GMK NucBox K2 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Beelink GTR7 7840HS |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Devices
GMK employs the same Lexar NM610 Pro SSDs between our K2 and K3 Pro test units.
Drive Performance Rating - Percent | |
Beelink GTR7 7840HS | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
GMK NucBox K2 | |
Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 01IRH8 | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro |
* ... smaller is better
Disk Throttling: DiskSpd Read Loop, Queue Depth 8
GPU Performance
Graphics performance is the biggest weakness of the NucBox K3 Pro when compared to the NucBox K2. The integrated UHD Graphics 64 EUs is slower than the already slow Iris Xe 96 EUs which pales in comparison to the competing Radeon 680M. The model is therefore better for game streaming and 4K video playback rather than native graphics rendering.
3DMark 11 Performance | 6259 points | |
3DMark Fire Strike Score | 4318 points | |
3DMark Time Spy Score | 1478 points | |
Help |
* ... smaller is better
Dota 2 Reborn | |
1280x720 min (0/3) fastest | |
Beelink GTR7 7840HS | |
GMK NucBox K2 | |
Minisforum Venus Series NPB5 | |