System76 Meerkat mini PC refreshed with up to Intel Core Ultra 7 255H CPU and 96 GB of memory

Linux enthusiasts will likely be quite familiar with the hardware brand System76, famous for their Linux-based computers that have received mostly positive reviews. The Meerkat mini PC is one such offering, and is now available with more powerful, as well as more affordable variants.

A much-awaited spec bump

The System76 Meerkat mini PC was previously updated in January of this year, with up to the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H "Meteor Lake" CPU. The product is now available with its successor, the Intel Core Ultra 7 255H "Arrow Lake" CPU. In terms of performance, the 255H is roughly 30% faster than the 155H in multi-core performance courtesy of multithreading on its six P-cores, and 18% faster in single-core performance according to Cinebench 2024.

The Meerkat Linux mini PC can also be equipped with up to a whopping 96 GB of DDR5-5600 memory. Both the memory and storage are user accessible and upgradeable, thanks to dual SODIMM slots as well as dual M.2 2280 slots, of which one is PCIe 5.0. A cheaper variant of the mini PC with the Core 3 100U is also available with similar specifications, except that both the M.2 slots are the PCIe 4.0 spec.

There is no room for discrete graphics in the Meerkat mini PC, making the system rely solely on integrated GPUs. For gaming, mini PCs with OCuLink support, such as the GMKtec K11 (curr. $649.99 on Amazon) would be a better bet.

The port selection is pretty decent as well, boasting dual Thunderbolt 4, USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C, triple USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, USB 2.0 Type-A, 2.5 G Ethernet, and dual HDMI 2.1. For whatever reason, the audio jack has been removed, which is quite disappointing.

Pricing and availability

The entry variant of the Meerkat mini PC with the Intel Core 3 starts at $599, whereas the Intel Core Ultra 7 variant starts at $1,048. Plenty of configuration options are available, and the prices appear mostly reasonable.