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MagyarMinisforum Venus Series NAB6 review: The sleek mini PC with a fast Intel Core i7-12650H and active SSD cooling!
The Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 is another compact and powerful mini PC made by the Chinese system manufacturer. In this test, we will be taking a look at the system based on an Intel Core i7-12650H with 16 GB RAM and a 512 GB SSD. We will be using Windows 11 Professional as an operating system and this configuration is currently available to buy for $449. The barebone version without RAM and an SSD can currently be found for $359. These prices are quite typical for these types of mini PCs, as its competitors can generally be bought for a similar price.
Minisforum currently only offer the Venus Series NAB6 based on an Intel Core i7-12650H. Under the label Venus Series NPB7, the manufacturer offers a model which is built the same but is instead based on an Intel Core i7-13700H. This model is supposedly available from mid May. Currently, no prices for this model can be found on the manufacturer's website.
We have chosen a range of similarly compact desktop PCs as comparison devices for this review. You can see an overview of these devices in the following table.
possible competitors compared
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Best Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 81.9 % | 05/2023 | Minisforum Venus Series NAB6, i7-12650H i7-12650H, UHD Graphics 64EUs | 616 g | 55 mm | |
| 85.5 % | 03/2023 | Morefine M600, 6900HX R9 6900HX, Radeon 680M | 779 g | 40.6 mm | |
| 86.1 % | 02/2023 | Minisforum Venus Series UM690 (6900HX) R9 6900HX, Radeon 680M | 621 g | 48 mm | |
| 81.1 % | 04/2023 | Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit NUC13ANK i7-1360P, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 538 g | 37 mm | |
| 82.3 % | 05/2023 | Geekom Mini IT12, i7-1260P i7-1260P, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 572 g | 45.6 mm | |
| 86.6 % | 01/2023 | Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 i9-12900H, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 1.2 kg | 66 mm | |
09/2022 | Minipc Union Ace Magician AMR5 R5 5600U, Vega 7 | 628 g | 72 mm |
Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 in detail
Case
Although the NAB6 belongs to the Venus series, there are no real similarities to the UM690 in terms of its build. Here, the manufacturer took a completely different approach to the device's material selection. The NAB6 is mostly aluminum and plastic, which gives the device tremendous stability. Its lid, the inside as well as the bottom of the device are made of plastic. The lid matching the rest of the case's color is a lovely detail. It's not always easy to achieve a uniform color when you are dealing with multiple different materials (aluminum and plastic). Our test sample does this perfectly. The bottom of the device looks a little cheap due to its white color.
Its compact size means the Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 won't take up too much space on your desk. The device's footprint measures 12.7 x 12.7 centimeters and you can attach it to the back of a monitor using the supplied mounting plate (VESA mount). The device is also quite light, weighing in at only 616 grams. Its power adapter weighs 456 grams, which is about the same as its competitors.
Connectivity
Compactness doesn't necessarily mean fewer connectivity options - this, we already know from quite a few mini PCs. This is no different on the Minisforum Venus Series NAB6, which has seven USB ports in total. This is more than its competitors, although users might turn to other models due to its missing Thunderbolt option. All-in-all, the Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 still has more than enough connectivity options - you can even connect up to four screens simultaneously. The ports being limited to the front and back of the device are, in our eyes, a good design choice.
Communication
The Minisforum NAB6 features a Wi-Fi 6E module from Mediatek. The same module can be seen in the Miniforum Venus Series UM690, which delivered better performance than the one in our test sample. We used an Asus ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 as a test router for our tests. Transfer rates weren't terrible but in comparison, our sample isn't doing too well at this point. As an alternative, the Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 also has a fast wired connection, which makes speeds of up to 2.5 GBit/s possible. It actually even has two of these connections, which isn't always the norm for this device class.
Accessories
The mini PC comes with a 120-watt power adapter and VESA mount in order to connect the device to a monitor. An HDMI cable and short instruction manual are also included.
Maintenance
Performance - an Intel Alder Lake-P with ten cores
The Minisforum Venus Series NAB6's Intel Core i7-12650H is a usable SoC which will do well in everyday use. Straight out of the box, you will be well-equipped with 16 GB RAM and a 512 GB SSD. RAM and SSD can both be swapped out and upgraded at a later date, which isn't the case for the SoC. If you aren't satisfied with the Intel Core i7-12650H's performance, you might want to take a look at the Minisforum Venus Series NPB7 instead. It has an Intel Core i7-13700H and will be available to purchase in the near future.
Testing conditions
We ran all of our tests using the energy profile "balanced". The SoC's performance was not changed in the BIOS and has been left in the condition we received it in, in accordance with the manufacturer's settings.
Processor
The Minisforum Venus Series NAB6's Intel Core i7-12650H is a solid SoC which has ten native cores and can process a total of 16 threads simultaneously. In our test, the device ranked somewhere in the middle and was surprisingly only two per cent behind the Intel NUC 13 (all CPU benchmarks compared). The Intel Core i7-12650H has a power limit of 64 watts and at continuous load, it has access to 45 watts. These numbers were achieved - this we can tease already. This means there is no performance limit due to insufficient cooling.
For further comparisons and benchmarks, take a look at our CPU comparison table.
* ... 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
Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 vs. Cinebench R15 Multi Loop
The Cinebench R15 continuous loop gives us an insight into how the SoC behaves over a longer period of time. The Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 performed well over the 50 runs, even though a slight performance dip could be seen after the third run. The Intel Core i7-12650H only reached its maximum power limit of 64 watts for a short amount of time after its fourth run. The SoC's average temperature was not very high at 66 °C.
System performance
Again, the Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 comes in somewhere in the middle with regard to its system performance during the synthetic benchmarks. Its competitors with an AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX performed better and lay on average 10-16 per cent ahead. During the Crossmark test, the Intel mini PCs performed the best. Here, our test sample achieved second place, and it came in third during the AIDA64 memory test. The Morefine M600 and the Minisforum Venus Series UM690 performed better due to their DDR5 RAM. Subjectively, the Minisforum Venus Series NAB6's system performance is good. We didn't measure any noticeable latencies in everyday use.
* ... smaller is better
DPC latency
The tool LatencyMon measured slightly raised latencies when opening multiple tabs using Edge, which got higher after starting our 4K test video. Prime95 didn't lead to any even higher values. In comparison, the Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 still did quite well and secured second place behind the Ace Magician AMR5.
| DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
| Minisforum Venus Series UM690 (6900HX) | |
| Morefine M600, 6900HX | |
| Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 | |
| Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit NUC13ANK | |
| Geekom Mini IT12, i7-1260P | |
| Minisforum Venus Series NAB6, i7-12650H | |
| Minipc Union Ace Magician AMR5 | |
* ... smaller is better
Storage devices
Minisforum have equipped the Venus Series NAB6 with a 512 GB NVMe SSD from Kingston. Similar devices can be found in the Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 as well as the Minisforum Venus Series UM690. The Kingston SSD in our test device simply can't keep up compared to its competitors from the same manufacturer. However, our test device doesn't need to hide away; its read rates were good - especially its 4K read rates of over 100 MB/s.
When it comes to cooling, the NAB6 takes a slightly different approach with its installed cooling system with a small fan. The SSD succeeded in the continuous test - and without any performance collapses. However, we repeated the same test with the fan deactivated and the results were basically the same. This begs the question as to why the manufacturer chose to install active SSD cooling. Although, at least it works quietly enough that it shouldn't bug you in everyday use.
In total, three SSDs can be installed into the Minisforum Venus Series NAB6. Next to the NVMe SSD, you can also install an M.2 2242 format SSD - but only with SATA speeds. Additionally, a 2.5-inch storage device can also be installed into the device. You just need to make sure it isn't any taller than 7 millimeters.
For further comparisons and benchmarks, take a look at our comparison table.
