Most pre-built mini PCs today are powered by mobile-grade processors given the miniaturized cases that have limited space for proper cooling systems. As one of the prominent mini PC brands, Minisforum not only offers a large pre-built variety of SFF systems, but, as of recent, also provides mini-ITX motherboards fitted with mobile-grade processors for the DIY market. Its latest product lineup in this regard comes in the form of the BD770i / BD790i ITX mobos with pre-installed top-of-the-line Zen 4 mobile processors.
The BD770i is pre-installed with the 8-core / 16-thread Ryzen 7 7745HX model that can boost to 5.1 GHz and it has been out for some months now, while the BD790i mobo is new and supports the Ryzen 9 7945HX with 16 cores and 32 threads boosting to 5.4 GHz. Both processors integrate the modest Radeon 610M GPU with only 2 cores, but the motherboards also provide a PCIe 5.0 X16 slot for a powerful dGPU. Minisforum also throws in 2x PCIe 5.0 X4 M.2 2280 slots for storage and support for up to 64 GB DDR5-5200 RAM.
Port selection is missing USB4 unfortunately, but it is quite solid otherwise, with 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (DP mode), 2x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 2x USB 2.0, additional USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 header, HDMI 2.0 + DP 1.4 video outs, audio headers and 2.5 GbE jack. There is an M.2 2230 key E slot for a Wi-Fi + BT card, as well. The mobos measures 170 x 170 x 1.6 mm and include a custom-made cooling system with heat-sink and fan.
ETA Prime tested the Ryzen 9 7945HX mobo and concluded that this model is slower in Geekbench 6 by up to 14% compared to a desktop Ryzen 9 7950X, which also appears up to 10% faster in 3DMark when paired with an RTX 4070 GPU.
These two motherboard models are now on sale with special Valentine’s Day discounts. Instead of $499, the BD770i is available for $399, whereas the BD790i is discounted from $649 down to $519.
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