Geekom AS 5 reviewed: A perfect companion for demanding projects and includes an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX and AMD Radeon Vega 8

Despite being a small mini-PC, the Geekom AS 5 still manages to offer an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX and a fast SoC that might already be too much of a good thing for everyday use. But, as the saying goes, having is better than needing. As a consequence, you can look forward to a confident future with the Geekom AS 5, as long as you're solely concerned with office work.
Long-time mini-PC connoisseurs will take one look at the Geekom AS 5 and surely think they've seen it before somewhere. Well, that's not without good reason. Geekom and Asus have formed a cooperation meaning the Geekom AS 5 and the Asus ExpertCenter PN52 are built the same. Unlike Asus, whose PN52 also comes with lower spec SoCs, Geekom's only option is based on AMD's Ryzen 9 5900HX. Currently, the Geekom AS 5 is changing hands for für $609. A fair price since Asus is asking for a hefty $900 for an identical-build mini-PC with only 16 GB of RAM and the same SSD.
In this review, the test sample goes head to head with current, similarly-equipped mini-PCs in the same price segment. You can find a list thereof in the following table.
Possible competitors compared
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Best Price |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
79.5 % | 07/2023 | Geekom AS 5 R9 5900HX, Vega 8 | 742 g | 58 mm | |
85.1 % | 01/2023 | Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 i9-12900H, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 1.2 kg | 66 mm | |
85.5 % | 03/2023 | Morefine M600, 6900HX R9 6900HX, Radeon 680M | 779 g | 40.6 mm | |
83.7 % | 05/2023 | Morefine M600, 6600U R5 6600U, Radeon 660M | 768 g | 40.6 mm | |
82.3 % | 05/2023 | Geekom Mini IT12 i7-1260P, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 572 g | 45.6 mm | |
81.9 % | 05/2023 | Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 i7-12650H, UHD Graphics 64EUs | 616 g | 55 mm | |
80.8 % | 04/2023 | Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit NUC13ANK i7-1360P, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 538 g | 37 mm |
Case
As we already mentioned, the Geekom AS 5 and the Asus ExpertCenter PN52 both share the same platform. This means we are dealing with a different design to the Geekom Mini IT12. The dimensions of the AS 5 have grown somewhat compared to the other in-house device, even though the device's footprint continues to be small. When it comes to the weight, at 724 grams, our review sample secures a mid-table placing. The materials mainly consist of plastic and aluminum. Once more, that reminds us of the familiar NUC design seen in the Geekom Mini IT12. Basically, the concept is good and exceptionally robust. Viewed subjectively, With their aluminum chassis, Morefine's devices come across as having a more premium feel to them. There can be no real complaints regarding the build quality. Everything fits together snugly and we couldn't find any gaps in our review model.
Like many other mini-PCs, the Geekom AS 5 can also be attached to a monitor with the included VESA mount.
Features
Despite its size, the small Geekom AS 5 offers very many interface options. All the ports can be found on the front and rear of the device. On both sides of the min-PC, there are generous-sized vents designed to aid cooling. With its seven USB connectors, our mini-PC review model has some of the most ports seen in a machine of this type. In addition, two of them are fitted with a type-C connector. Nevertheless, the AS 5 lacks Thunderbolt support. However, anyone wishing to simultaneously connect many monitors can confidently grab the Geekom AS 5 as our test model can easily handle up to four displays.
Communication
Geekom has equipped its AS 5 with a modern Wi-Fi 6E module from MediaTek. The swappable M.2 card can also handle the speedy 6 GHz band where significantly higher data transfer speeds are possible than a connection with your regular 5 GHz frequency band. In this area, our review device not only heads the pack of competitors but also leaves them standing. Things don't look just as rosy in tests with a 5 GHz connection and our Geekom AS 5 slides to a low, mid-table placing, behind much of the competition. With the exception of the Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9, the competition is bunched quite tightly together. As always, we used our test router for this test - the Asus ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000. Alternatively, it's also possible to connect the AS 5 to a network via an ethernet connector. At up to 2.5 Gbit/s, this is even faster than the 6 GHz wireless connection.
Accessories
The Geekom AS 5's box contents include the 120-watt PSU as well as the mounting plate for fitting the device to a monitor (VESA mount), an HDMI cable, a quick guide and some screws.
Maintenance
The Geekom AS 5 can be opened via the base. The four screws form part of the stand and keep the base, along with some communication ports on the top of part of the chassis. Removing the bottom cover isn't hard although the SSD's thermal pad provides some resistance. Basically, accessing the built-in components, such as the RAM and SSD, is a piece of cake. However, anyone wishing to inspect the cooling unit will have to dismantle the device a little more. However, you should only proceed with caution in order to avoid damaging the Wi-Fi antenna's delicate cables.
Performance - An AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX at the heart of the matter
With the AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX-based Geekom AS 5, you get a lot of power in the smallest of footprints. With 32 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD, the rest of the specs are also something to be proud of. All of this makes the Geekom AS 5 perfectly equipped for everyday office use and even more demanding tasks such as photo editing and simple video editing are no hurdle to this computing servant.
Test conditions
All the performance tests were carried out using the Highest Performance
mode. The SoC's performance was not changed in the BIOS and was left in accordance with the manufacturer's factory settings.
Processor
With the AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX, the Geekom AS 5 offers a good SoC with 8 cores and 16 threads which, however, no longer belongs to the most up-to-date chips as AMD already has its successor in place, the Ryzen 9 6900HX - a chip we will take a look at in one of our forthcoming tests.
However, in current comparisons, our review device did relatively well and is close on the heels of the newer SoC-equipped competition. Geekom doesn't throttle the AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX's power consumption which means the SoC operates at 54 watts in turbo mode and 35 watts under continuous load, in accordance manufacturer's claims. One of the strengths of the SoC used here is its multi-thread performance, although compared to the competition, the single-core performance drops a bit. Intel is playing in another league here with its current Raptor Lake P processors, as seen, for example, with the Intel NUC 13 Pro. Even the Morefine M600, which is already equipped with an AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX, can do nothing about it.
However, The Geekom AS 5 scores astonishingly well when it comes to the AIDA64 benchmarks with our review device even leading the way and pushing the Morefine M600 into second place. Basically, we see AMD-based devices as having clear advantages. Intel appears slightly disadvantaged in this regard with the Intel NUC 13 Pro having to cope with being some 19 percent behind its AMD cousin.
Additional comparisons and benchmarks can be found in our CPU comparison table.
Performance Rating - Percent | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit NUC13ANK | |
Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 | |
Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 | |
Morefine M600, 6900HX | |
Geekom AS 5 | |
Geekom Mini IT12 | |
Morefine M600, 6600U |
Blender - v2.79 BMW27 CPU | |
Morefine M600, 6600U | |
Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 | |
Geekom Mini IT12 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit NUC13ANK | |
Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 | |
Geekom AS 5 | |
Morefine M600, 6900HX |
WinRAR - Result | |
Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 | |
Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 | |
Morefine M600, 6600U | |
Morefine M600, 6900HX | |
Geekom AS 5 | |
Geekom Mini IT12 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit NUC13ANK |
3DMark 11 - 1280x720 Performance Physics | |
Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 | |
Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit NUC13ANK | |
Geekom AS 5 | |
Morefine M600, 6900HX | |
Geekom Mini IT12 | |
Morefine M600, 6600U |
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2 - 4k Preset | |
Morefine M600, 6900HX | |
Geekom AS 5 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit NUC13ANK | |
Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 | |
Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 | |
Morefine M600, 6600U | |
Geekom Mini IT12 |
R Benchmark 2.5 - Overall mean | |
Morefine M600, 6600U | |
Geekom AS 5 | |
Morefine M600, 6900HX | |
Geekom Mini IT12 | |
Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 | |
Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit NUC13ANK |
LibreOffice - 20 Documents To PDF | |
Morefine M600, 6900HX | |
Morefine M600, 6600U | |
Geekom AS 5 | |
Geekom Mini IT12 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit NUC13ANK | |
Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 | |
Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 |
WebXPRT 3 - --- | |
Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 | |
Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit NUC13ANK | |
Morefine M600, 6900HX | |
Geekom Mini IT12 | |
Geekom AS 5 | |
Morefine M600, 6600U |
Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Total Score | |
Morefine M600, 6600U | |
Morefine M600, 6900HX | |
Geekom AS 5 | |
Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 | |
Geekom Mini IT12 | |
Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit NUC13ANK |
* ... 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 | |
Geekom AS 5 | |
Morefine M600, 6900HX | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit NUC13ANK | |
Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 | |
Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 | |
Morefine M600, 6600U | |
Average of class Mini PC | |
Geekom Mini IT12 |
AIDA64 / FP32 Ray-Trace | |
Morefine M600, 6900HX | |
Geekom AS 5 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit NUC13ANK | |
Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 | |
Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 | |
Average of class Mini PC (561 - 27538, n=74, last 2 years) | |
Morefine M600, 6600U | |
Geekom Mini IT12 |
AIDA64 / FPU Julia | |
Morefine M600, 6900HX | |
Geekom AS 5 | |
Morefine M600, 6600U | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit NUC13ANK | |
Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 | |
Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 | |
Average of class Mini PC (3604 - 116903, n=74, last 2 years) | |
Geekom Mini IT12 |
AIDA64 / CPU SHA3 | |
Geekom AS 5 | |
Morefine M600, 6900HX | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit NUC13ANK | |
Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 | |
Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 | |
Average of class Mini PC (225 - 5096, n=74, last 2 years) | |
Geekom Mini IT12 | |
Morefine M600, 6600U |
AIDA64 / CPU Queen | |
Geekom AS 5 | |
Morefine M600, 6900HX | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit NUC13ANK | |
Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 | |
Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 | |
Morefine M600, 6600U | |
Geekom Mini IT12 | |
Average of class Mini PC (8172 - 119569, n=74, last 2 years) |
AIDA64 / FPU SinJulia | |
Morefine M600, 6900HX | |
Geekom AS 5 | |
Morefine M600, 6600U | |
Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 | |
Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit NUC13ANK | |
Average of class Mini PC (408 - 15525, n=74, last 2 years) | |
Geekom Mini IT12 |
AIDA64 / FPU Mandel | |
Geekom AS 5 | |
Morefine M600, 6900HX | |
Morefine M600, 6600U | |
Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit NUC13ANK | |
Average of class Mini PC (1958 - 62378, n=74, last 2 years) | |
Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 | |
Geekom Mini IT12 |
AIDA64 / CPU AES | |
Geekom AS 5 | |
Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit NUC13ANK | |
Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 | |
Average of class Mini PC (5504 - 177158, n=74, last 2 years) | |
Geekom Mini IT12 | |
Morefine M600, 6900HX | |
Morefine M600, 6600U |
AIDA64 / CPU ZLib | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit NUC13ANK | |
Geekom AS 5 | |
Morefine M600, 6900HX | |
Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 | |
Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 | |
Geekom Mini IT12 | |
Average of class Mini PC (74.8 - 1114, n=74, last 2 years) | |
Morefine M600, 6600U |
AIDA64 / FP64 Ray-Trace | |
Geekom AS 5 | |
Morefine M600, 6900HX | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit NUC13ANK | |
Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 | |
Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 | |
Average of class Mini PC (308 - 14722, n=74, last 2 years) | |
Morefine M600, 6600U | |
Geekom Mini IT12 |
AIDA64 / CPU PhotoWorxx | |
Morefine M600, 6900HX | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit NUC13ANK | |
Geekom Mini IT12 | |
Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 | |
Morefine M600, 6600U | |
Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 | |
Average of class Mini PC (4408 - 44347, n=74, last 2 years) | |
Geekom AS 5 |
Geekom AS 5 vs. Cinebench R15-Multi-Loop
System performance
The system performance synthetic benchmarks are solid. In PCMark 10, our Geekom AS 5 achieved an excellent result, putting it in second place. However, the trend seen in Crossmark and the RAM benchmarks didn't continue. In this area, our review model even slipped down to last place since the Intel-based systems are slightly better suited to the Crossmark test. The Geekom AS 5 struggles to keep up with DDR5 systems when it comes to the RAM benchmarks due to only having DDR4. Despite this, we can confidently say that none of this will be felt in everyday use.
AIDA64 / Memory Copy | |
Morefine M600, 6900HX | |
Minisforum Venus Series UM690 | |
Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit NUC13ANK | |
Geekom Mini IT12 | |
Average of class Mini PC (6481 - 70620, n=74, last 2 years) | |
Geekom AS 5 | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician AMR5 |
AIDA64 / Memory Read | |
Morefine M600, 6900HX | |
Minisforum Venus Series UM690 | |
Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 | |
Geekom Mini IT12 | |
Geekom AS 5 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit NUC13ANK | |
Average of class Mini PC (6914 - 71285, n=74, last 2 years) | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician AMR5 |
AIDA64 / Memory Write | |
Morefine M600, 6900HX | |
Minisforum Venus Series UM690 | |
Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 | |
Geekom Mini IT12 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit NUC13ANK | |
Average of class Mini PC (6862 - 87358, n=74, last 2 years) | |
Geekom AS 5 | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician AMR5 |
AIDA64 / Memory Latency | |
Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit NUC13ANK | |
Morefine M600, 6900HX | |
Minipc Union Ace Magician AMR5 | |
Average of class Mini PC (55.3 - 146, n=74, last 2 years) | |
Minisforum Venus Series UM690 | |
Geekom Mini IT12 | |
Geekom AS 5 |
* ... smaller is better
DPC latencies
Initially, the interaction of the built-in components was good and not responsible for any high latency in the playback of our 4K test video. Regarding the iGPU, we observed a relatively low load of only 10 percent. The latencies only shot up after launching Prime95 but, despite this, our review device still managed to secure second place among its peers.
DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
Morefine M600, 6900HX | |
Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit NUC13ANK | |
Morefine M600, 6600U | |
Geekom Mini IT12 | |
Geekom AS 5 | |
Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 |
* ... smaller is better
Mass storage
Geekom has equipped the AS 5 with a Kingston 1024 GB NVMe SSD. The installed model uses the NVMe interface and should deliver corresponding transfer rates. In terms of the read speed, we observed solid performance although write speeds were abysmal. In order to rule out this being a problem with the Geekom AS 5, we also tested the Kingston NV2 in another mini-PC. However, the performance wasn't significantly better. As a comparison, we also equipped the Geekom AS 5 with our Kingston KC3000. This resulted in considerably better transfer rates and made it clear that the problem doesn't lie with our review device but with the Kingston NV2.
In the test, our review model's problems meant it had to be content with last place. In addition, there were also continual dips in performance in the stress test. Although the internal metal surfaces are used for cooling, the performance loss associated with continuous read accesses, cannot be avoided.
Meanwhile, the Geekom AS 5 can house up to three storage drives. Two of which use the M.2 interface and an additional 2.5-inch format drive can also be fitted.
For additional comparisons and benchmarks, take a look at our comparison table.
Note:
Our US colleagues also received a Geekom AS 5 at the same time we did. Very quickly, we were able to make a comparison with a device sharing the same build. Lo and behold, their recorded transfer rates are of a much better standard.