GMK NucBox K9 mini PC review: Core Ultra 5 125H with Arc 7 graphics

After having just reviewed the GMK NucBox K6 a few months ago, we're now ready to tackle the NucBox K9 complete with the newer AI-enabled Meteor Lake-H processor. Other than the CPU swap from AMD to Intel, however, the chassis remains identical between the two models and so we recommend checking out our review on the NucBox K6 to learn more about the physical features of the system.
Our test unit comes equipped with the Core Ultra 5 125H CPU, 1 TB SSD, and 32 GB of RAM for approximately $860 or $570 if on sale. Users can configure with no RAM or SSD at all for a barebones setup, but the Core Ultra 5 CPU is fixed across all options.
Alternatives include other performance mini PCs like the Beelink SER8, Bosgame M1, or Geekom AX8 Pro.
More GMKtec reviews:
Potential Competitors in Comparison
Rating | Version | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Price |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
67.3 % | v8 | 09 / 2024 | GMK NucBox K9 Ultra 5 125H, Arc 7-Core | 528 g | 47 mm | x | ||
83.6 % v7 (old) | v7 (old) | 04 / 2024 | GMK NucBox K6 R7 7840HS, Radeon 780M | 514 g | 47 mm | x | ||
63.6 % | v8 | 07 / 2024 | GMK NucBox M6 R5 6600H, Radeon 660M | 526 g | 48 mm | x | ||
74.9 % | v8 | 07 / 2024 | Beelink SER8 R7 8845HS, Radeon 780M | 776 g | 44.7 mm | x | ||
v (old) | 12 / 2022 | Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U i5-1235U, Iris Xe G7 80EUs | 465 g | 42 mm | x | |||
84.5 % v7 (old) | v7 (old) | 05 / 2024 | BOSGAME M1 R7 7840HS, Radeon 780M | 766 g | 51 mm | x |
Note: We have recently updated our rating system and the results of version 8 are not comparable with the results of version 7. More information is available here .
Case — A Change Of Color
The plastic and metal chassis remains identical to the AMD-powered NucBox K6 albeit in a matte gray/silver color.
Connectivity — Faster USB Ports
While port options and positioning have not changed from the NucBox K6, the USB ports have been upgraded. All USB-A ports are now USB4 instead of 2.0 or 3.2. Meanwhile, the USB-C port officially supports Thunderbolt 4.
Third-party USB-C AC adapters can power the system in lieu of the barrel AC adapter if it can provide enough power. Performance and compatibility with all USB-C adapters, however, are not guaranteed.
Communication
An Intel AX201 comes standard instead of the MediaTek RZ616 for Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity. Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 are not included to save on costs.
Networking | |
iperf3 transmit AXE11000 | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Beelink SER8 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
iperf3 receive AXE11000 | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
Beelink SER8 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
iperf3 transmit AXE11000 6GHz | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
iperf3 receive AXE11000 6GHz | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
GMK NucBox M6 |
Maintenance
Upgradeable components are identical to the NucBox K6.
Sustainability
The manufacturer advertises a "Sustainably made" system without going into detail about what that implies. The packaging itself is mostly cardboard with a bit of plastic wrapping.
Accessories And Warranty
The retail box includes a VESA mounting bracket and HDMI cable alongside the usual paperwork and AC adapter. A one-year manufacturer warranty applies if purchased in the US.
Performance — Meteor Lake Standard
Testing Conditions
We set Windows to Performance mode prior to running the benchmarks below.
Processor
CPU performance is where we expect it to be relative to other PCs in our database with the same Core Ultra 5 125H processor. The Meteor Lake CPU is neck-to-neck with the last generation Core i9-13900H which sounds great on paper until you remember that the AMD-powered NucBox K6 with the older Ryzen 7 7840HS is even faster than either Intel solution. Thus, the lack of a Core Ultra 7 option is strange considering that the NucBox K9 is the newer box.
While an integrated AI is included, it is not compatible with Co-Pilot+.
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 6.4: Multi-Core | Single-Core
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 6.4: Multi-Core | Single-Core
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 SER8 | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Average Intel Core Ultra 5 125H | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
AIDA64 / FP32 Ray-Trace | |
Beelink SER8 | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
Average Intel Core Ultra 5 125H (8430 - 13639, n=7) | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
AIDA64 / FPU Julia | |
Beelink SER8 | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Average Intel Core Ultra 5 125H (43652 - 70880, n=7) | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
AIDA64 / CPU SHA3 | |
Beelink SER8 | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Average Intel Core Ultra 5 125H (2047 - 3404, n=7) | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
AIDA64 / CPU Queen | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
Beelink SER8 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Average Intel Core Ultra 5 125H (76983 - 79986, n=7) | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
AIDA64 / FPU SinJulia | |
Beelink SER8 | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Average Intel Core Ultra 5 125H (6588 - 7851, n=7) | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
AIDA64 / FPU Mandel | |
Beelink SER8 | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
Average Intel Core Ultra 5 125H (21210 - 35321, n=7) | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
AIDA64 / CPU AES | |
Beelink SER8 | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Average Intel Core Ultra 5 125H (45524 - 108402, n=7) |
AIDA64 / CPU ZLib | |
Beelink SER8 | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Average Intel Core Ultra 5 125H (594 - 994, n=7) | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
AIDA64 / FP64 Ray-Trace | |
Beelink SER8 | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
Average Intel Core Ultra 5 125H (4345 - 7221, n=7) | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
AIDA64 / CPU PhotoWorxx | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Average Intel Core Ultra 5 125H (23499 - 49844, n=7) | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
Beelink SER8 | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
Stress Test
When initiating Prime95 stress, the CPU would boost to 2.3 GHz and 45 W and then maintain those values throughout the duration of the stress test. Core temperature would plateau at 80 C which is slightly cooler than what we recorded on the faster AMD-powered NucBox K6.
When running Cyberpunk 2077 to represent gaming stress, core temperature would stabilize at 72 C to be similar to the NucBox K6 even though the NucBox K9 runs games slower as our Gaming Performance section below will show.
Average CPU Clock (GHz) | GPU Clock (MHz) | Average CPU Temperature (°C) | |
System Idle | -- | -- | 40 |
Prime95 Stress | 2.3 | -- | 79 |
Prime95 + FurMark Stress | 2.2 | 1150 | 79 |
Cyberpunk 2077 Stress | 0.9 | 1600 | 72 |
System Performance
CrossMark: Overall | Productivity | Creativity | Responsiveness
WebXPRT 3: Overall
WebXPRT 4: Overall
Mozilla Kraken 1.1: Total
PCMark 10 / Score | |
Beelink SER8 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Average Intel Core Ultra 5 125H, Intel Arc 7-Core iGPU (6024 - 6463, n=7) | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
PCMark 10 / Essentials | |
Beelink SER8 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
Average Intel Core Ultra 5 125H, Intel Arc 7-Core iGPU (9427 - 10697, n=7) |
PCMark 10 / Productivity | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
Beelink SER8 | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
Average Intel Core Ultra 5 125H, Intel Arc 7-Core iGPU (7042 - 8000, n=7) | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
PCMark 10 / Digital Content Creation | |
Beelink SER8 | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Average Intel Core Ultra 5 125H, Intel Arc 7-Core iGPU (8149 - 9506, n=7) | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
CrossMark / Overall | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
Beelink SER8 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Average Intel Core Ultra 5 125H, Intel Arc 7-Core iGPU (1480 - 1633, n=6) | |
GMK NucBox M6 |
CrossMark / Productivity | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
Beelink SER8 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
Average Intel Core Ultra 5 125H, Intel Arc 7-Core iGPU (1432 - 1594, n=6) |
CrossMark / Creativity | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
Beelink SER8 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Average Intel Core Ultra 5 125H, Intel Arc 7-Core iGPU (1520 - 1765, n=6) | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
CrossMark / Responsiveness | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
Beelink SER8 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
Average Intel Core Ultra 5 125H, Intel Arc 7-Core iGPU (1171 - 1520, n=6) |
WebXPRT 3 / Overall | |
Beelink SER8 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Average Intel Core Ultra 5 125H, Intel Arc 7-Core iGPU (245 - 263, n=7) | |
GMK NucBox M6 |
WebXPRT 4 / Overall | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
Beelink SER8 | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Average Intel Core Ultra 5 125H, Intel Arc 7-Core iGPU (222 - 240, n=6) | |
GMK NucBox M6 |
Mozilla Kraken 1.1 / Total | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Average Intel Core Ultra 5 125H, Intel Arc 7-Core iGPU (560 - 607, n=7) | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
Beelink SER8 |
* ... smaller is better
PCMark 10 Score | 6463 points | |
Help |
AIDA64 / Memory Copy | |
Average Intel Core Ultra 5 125H (37664 - 87473, n=7) | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
Beelink SER8 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
AIDA64 / Memory Read | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Average Intel Core Ultra 5 125H (41700 - 76803, n=7) | |
Beelink SER8 | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
AIDA64 / Memory Write | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
Beelink SER8 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Average Intel Core Ultra 5 125H (35730 - 72443, n=7) | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
AIDA64 / Memory Latency | |
Average Intel Core Ultra 5 125H (127.3 - 184.8, n=7) | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
Beelink SER8 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
GMK NucBox M6 |
* ... smaller is better
DPC Latency
DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
Beelink SER8 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Devices
GMK utilizes the same 1 TB MasonSemi MC7000 PCIe4 x4 NVMe SSD for both its NucBox K6 and K9 models. Performance is fast and comparable to the Samsung PM9A1 series commonly found on high-end PCs despite the lesser-known brand name. We can observe no notable performance throttling when running DiskSpd in a loop.
Drive Performance Rating - Percent | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Beelink SER8 | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
GMK NucBox M6 |
* ... smaller is better
Disk Throttling: DiskSpd Read Loop, Queue Depth 8
GPU Performance
Graphics performance is slightly slower than the average PC in our database with the same integrated Arc 7 GPU by about 5 percent. The integrated Arc 8 GPU on higher-end Core Ultra 7-H and Core Ultra 9-H processors is faster than our Arc 7 solution by about 15 percent, but there are unfortunately no such SKUs available with the NucBox K9. Nonetheless, overall performance is comparable to the competing last generation Radeon 780M according to 3DMark benchmarks.
3DMark 11 Performance | 10973 points | |
3DMark Cloud Gate Standard Score | 28997 points | |
3DMark Fire Strike Score | 6716 points | |
3DMark Time Spy Score | 3200 points | |
3DMark Steel Nomad Score | 581 points | |
Help |
* ... smaller is better
Gaming Performance
Unfortunately, gaming performance is much slower when compared to the NucBox K6 even though the 3DMark results above suggest otherwise. Most tested titles including GTA V, DOTA 2 Reborn, Final Fantasy XV, F1 22, and Baldur's Gate 3 run anywhere between 10 to 40 percent slower on our Intel-powered NucBox K9. Frame rates would stutter as well when idling on Cyberpunk 2077 as shown by our graph below.
Performance Rating - Percent | |
BOSGAME M1 -1! | |
Beelink SER8 -1! | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
GMK NucBox M6 -1! | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U -1! |
GTA V - 1920x1080 Highest Settings possible AA:4xMSAA + FX AF:16x | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
Final Fantasy XV Benchmark - 1920x1080 High Quality | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
Beelink SER8 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
Strange Brigade - 1920x1080 ultra AA:ultra AF:16 | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
Beelink SER8 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
Dota 2 Reborn - 1920x1080 ultra (3/3) best looking | |
Beelink SER8 | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
X-Plane 11.11 - 1920x1080 high (fps_test=3) | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
Beelink SER8 | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
Far Cry 5 - 1920x1080 Ultra Preset AA:T | |
BOSGAME M1 | |
Beelink SER8 | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
GMK NucBox M6 |
F1 22 | |
1280x720 Ultra Low Preset AA:T AF:16x | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
Beelink SER8 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Average Intel Arc 7-Core iGPU (n=1) | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Core Ultra 7 155H | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
1920x1080 Low Preset AA:T AF:16x | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
Beelink SER8 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Average Intel Arc 7-Core iGPU (n=1) | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Core Ultra 7 155H | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
1920x1080 Medium Preset AA:T AF:16x | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
Beelink SER8 | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Average Intel Arc 7-Core iGPU (n=1) | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Core Ultra 7 155H | |
GMK NucBox M6 | |
1920x1080 High Preset AA:T AF:16x | |
GMK NucBox K6 | |
Beelink SER8 | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 Core Ultra 7 155H | |
GMK NucBox K9 | |
Average Intel Arc 7-Core iGPU (n=1) | |
GMK NucBox M6 |
Cyberpunk 2077 ultra FPS Chart
low | med. | high | ultra | |
---|---|---|---|---|
GTA V (2015) | 143.6 | 125.5 | 33.6 | 12.7 |
Dota 2 Reborn (2015) | 97.7 | 83.1 | 75.6 | 73.3 |
Final Fantasy XV Benchmark (2018) | 59.6 | 33.3 | 22.3 | |
X-Plane 11.11 (2018) | 57 | 44.8 | 37.3 | |
Far Cry 5 (2018) | 71 | 40 | 37 | 35 |
Strange Brigade (2018) | 148.6 | 63.9 | 53.5 | 43.5 |
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands (2022) | 50.7 | 39.4 | 26.8 | 22.4 |
F1 22 (2022) | 79.4 | 71.9 | 52.9 | |
Baldur's Gate 3 (2023) | 33.7 | 27.9 | 24.2 | 23.1 |
Cyberpunk 2077 2.2 Phantom Liberty (2023) | 30.9 | 25.2 | 21.3 | 18.8 |
Emissions — Fans Are Always On
System Noise
Fan noise is always present on the unit no matter the onscreen load much like what we recorded on the NucBox K6. Simply idling on desktop is already 30 to 36 dB(A) against a silent background of 23 dB(A) even when set to Power Saver mode. However, fan noise when gaming or running other demanding loads appears to be quieter on the NucBox K9 at around 44 dB(A) compared to almost 48 dB(A) on the NucBox K6.
Noise Level
Idle |
| 29.8 / 35.7 / 35.7 dB(A) |
Load |
| 41.9 / 44 dB(A) |
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30 dB silent 40 dB(A) audible 50 dB(A) loud |
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min: ![]() ![]() ![]() |
GMK NucBox K9 Arc 7-Core, Ultra 5 125H, MasonSemi 1TB MC7000 | GMK NucBox K6 Radeon 780M, R7 7840HS, MasonSemi 1TB MC7000 | GMK NucBox M6 Radeon 660M, R5 6600H, AirDisk APF 10-512G | Beelink SER8 Radeon 780M, R7 8845HS, Crucial P3 Plus CT1000P3PSSD8 | Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U Iris Xe G7 80EUs, i5-1235U, Kingston NV1 SNVS/500GCN | BOSGAME M1 Radeon 780M, R7 7840HS | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Noise | -2% | -4% | 14% | 14% | 4% | |
off / environment * | 23 | 23.2 -1% | 24.2 -5% | 23.6 -3% | 23.3 -1% | 23.2 -1% |
Idle Minimum * | 29.8 | 31.3 -5% | 31.9 -7% | 28.8 3% | 27.8 7% | 32 -7% |
Idle Average * | 35.7 | 31.3 12% | 32 10% | 28.8 19% | 27.8 22% | 32 10% |
Idle Maximum * | 35.7 | 33.4 6% | 33.8 5% | 30.5 15% | 27.8 22% | 32 10% |
Load Average * | 41.9 | 47.5 -13% | 48.5 -16% | 34.6 17% | 32 24% | 38.7 8% |
Cyberpunk 2077 ultra * | 43.8 | 34.1 22% | ||||
Load Maximum * | 44 | 47.7 -8% | 48.5 -10% | 34.5 22% | 39.2 11% | 42 5% |
Witcher 3 ultra * | 43.6 | 48.5 | 34.1 | 41.7 |
* ... smaller is better
Temperature
Energy Management
Power Consumption
Consumption when idling on desktop is higher than expected at around 11 W even when on Power Save mode compared to 6 W to 8 W on other models like the NucBox M6 or Beelink SER8. When running more demanding loads like 3DMark 06 or Cyberpunk 2077, however, consumption would be noticeably lower than on the faster NucBox K6.
We're able to record a maximum draw of 73 W from the small-medium (~14.5 x 6.4 x 3 cm) 120 W barrel AC adapter. The large overhead can be attributed to the Thunderbolt 4 port in case if any connected monitors or accessories require additional power.
Off / Standby | ![]() ![]() |
Idle | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Load |
![]() ![]() |
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Key:
min: ![]() ![]() ![]() |
GMK NucBox K9 Ultra 5 125H, Arc 7-Core, MasonSemi 1TB MC7000, , x, | GMK NucBox K6 R7 7840HS, Radeon 780M, MasonSemi 1TB MC7000, , x, | GMK NucBox M6 R5 6600H, Radeon 660M, AirDisk APF 10-512G, , x, | Beelink SER8 R7 8845HS, Radeon 780M, Crucial P3 Plus CT1000P3PSSD8, , x, | Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U i5-1235U, Iris Xe G7 80EUs, Kingston NV1 SNVS/500GCN, , x, | BOSGAME M1 R7 7840HS, Radeon 780M, , , x, | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Power Consumption | 10% | 10% | 9% | -43% | 4% | |
Idle Minimum * | 10.9 | 6.7 39% | 7.9 28% | 7.3 33% | 15.8 -45% | 7.3 33% |
Idle Average * | 11 | 7 36% | 8 27% | 7.3 34% | 16.8 -53% | 7.3 34% |
Idle Maximum * | 11.4 | 7.6 33% | 8.3 27% | 8.4 26% | 17 -49% | 8.4 26% |
Load Average * | 52.8 | 74.3 -41% | 61.5 -16% | 68.2 -29% | 54.4 -3% | 72.7 -38% |
Cyberpunk 2077 ultra external monitor * | 57.1 | |||||
Load Maximum * | 72.2 | 85.7 -19% | 84.6 -17% | 84.3 -17% | 119.1 -65% | 99.1 -37% |
Witcher 3 ultra * | 75 | 47.3 | 75.1 | 50.7 | 80.5 |
* ... smaller is better
Power Consumption Prime95+FurMark Stress Test
Power Consumption external Monitor
Pros
Cons
Verdict — Newer But Not Faster
For $570 on sale with 32 GB of RAM and 1 TB of storage, the NucBox K9 represents good value when compared to the Beelink SER8 which is currently pricier at $630 on Amazon. The biggest enemy to GMK is probably GMK itself as models like the NucBox K6 are both cheaper and faster than the NucBox K9 in what is essentially the same chassis design with the same physical features. In this scenario, there's almost no reason to purchase the NucBox K9 over the K6 unless if you prioritize the integrated NPU over raw CPU and GPU power. Even the competing Bosgame M1 is currently cheaper and faster at $500. It's true that the NucBox K9 runs a little bit quieter, but that's only because the model is also a little bit slower to begin with.
The NucBox K9 isn't a poor mini PC by any means, but its higher price and slower performance than the older NucBox K6 are bound to confuse a lot of buyers especially for those who aren't interested in AI acceleration.
Beyond the price and performance disparities between the NucBox K6 and K9 models, the design of the series is starting to show its age. Competitors like Bosgame have stronger metal chassis designs while Beelink recently redesigned its SER series to be much more professional and even luxurious. The mostly plastic GMK NucBox works well enough, but it may be nigh time for an overhaul with higher quality materials or potentially tool-less servicing.
Price and Availability
The GMKtec NucBox K9 is now shipping as configured in this review on Amazon for $720 (after coupon) or directly from the manufacturer for $570. A barebones SKU is also available for $400.
Note: We have recently updated our rating system and the results of version 8 are not comparable with the results of version 7. More information is available here .
GMK NucBox K9
- 10/30/2024 v8
Allen Ngo
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The selection of devices to be reviewed is made by our editorial team. The test sample was provided to the author as a loan by the manufacturer or retailer for the purpose of this review. The lender had no influence on this review, nor did the manufacturer receive a copy of this review before publication. There was no obligation to publish this review. We never accept compensation or payment in return for our reviews. As an independent media company, Notebookcheck is not subjected to the authority of manufacturers, retailers or publishers.
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