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MagyarMinisforum Venus Series NPB5 review: The mini PC with Raptor Lake-H aka an Intel Core i5-13500H and USB4
At first glance, Minisforum seems to have only provided some product care for its Venus Series NPB5, as its similarities to the Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 are huge. Both devices share the same case, which comes with its advantages and disadvantages. It is currently based on an Intel Core i5-13500H, a modern Raptor Lake-H series SoC - the old model's Intel Core i7-12650H was still based on Alder Lake-H. The biggest changes can be found in its processor, which now comes with a stronger iGPU and DDR5 RAM. Our test device, fitted with 16 GB DDR5 RAM, a 512 GB SSD and Windows 11 Professional, can currently be had for around $549. If you would like to purchase a barebone version of the Minisforum Venus Series NPB5 without RAM or an SSD, then you will currently need to pay $439. Alternatively, you can find an identically built version of the Venus Series NPB7 based on an Intel Core i7-13700H. With the same RAM and SSD configuration, you will be looking at spending $729 on this model.
We selected a range of similarly compact desktop PCs to act as comparison devices in this review. You can find an overview of these devices in the following table.
Possible competitors compared
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 81.7 % | 08/2023 | Minisforum Venus Series NPB5 i5-13500H, Iris Xe G7 80EUs | 604 g | 55 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 | |
| 82.8 % | 07/2023 | Minisforum Venus Series UM790 Pro R9 7940HS, Radeon 780M | 666 g | 52.3 mm | |
| 82.8 % | 07/2023 | Geekom AS 6, R9 6900HX R9 6900HX, Radeon 680M | 753 g | 58 mm | |
| 82.3 % | 05/2023 | Geekom Mini IT12 i7-1260P, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 572 g | 45.6 mm | |
| 82 % | 06/2023 | ACEMagician Ace Magician AM08 Pro R9 6900HX, Radeon 680M | 874 g | 188.5 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 |
The Minisforum Venus Series NPB5 in detail
Case - A combination of aluminum and plastic
We already know the Minisforum Venus Series NPB5's case well from the Minisforum Venus Series NAB6. Its sleek design - also scoring points through high-quality materials - offers good stability and is able to dissipate heat at the same time. The lid and base are made from plastic and can be removed.
Due to its compact size, the Minisforum Venus Series NPB5 won't take up much space on your desk. Its footprint is only 12.7 x 12.7 centimetres. If you would rather attach the PC to your monitor, then you can do so with the supplied VESA mounting plate. Furthermore, at 604 grams, the device is also quite lightweight. Its power connector weighs 453 grams, similar to a lot of its competitors.
Connectivity - The perfect selection for all areas
At first glance, we also couldn't identify any changes to the PC's external ports in comparison to the Minisforum Venus Series NAB6. It still features a lot of connectivity options with its seven USB ports. The big change here is, however, that two of them even offer USB-4 speeds. This means the Minisforum Venus Series NPB5's range of uses can be massively expanded with the help of third-party accessories. You can even connect an external graphics card which is able to considerably raise the device's 3D performance levels. More on that later. Additionally, you can connect up to four screens to the Minisforum Venus Series NPB5 at once. This doesn't come as standard on a lot of mini PCs and we would also like to mention its Dual LAN option with two 2.5-GBit ports.
Communication
The mini PC houses an old acquaintance when it comes to its WLAN module, namely the Mediathek RZ608. Minisforum often uses this module in its PCs. In general, this isn't a bad module, but its rivals with Intel AX211 wireless modules deliver notably higher transfer rates. During our test, the Minisforum Venus Series NPB5's WLAN module delivered stable transfer rates. We used our Asus ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 as a test router for this test. Alternatively, the Minisforum Venus Series NPB5 features two fast wired connections which enable speeds of up to 2.5 Gbit.
Accessories
Aside from the PC itself, the scope of delivery also includes the 120-watt power adapter, a mounting plate with which you can connect it to a monitor (VESA mount), an HDMI cable as well as a short instruction manual.
Maintenance
Performing maintenance checks on the Minisforum Venus Series NPB5 is super easy. As Minisforum also offers the device without RAM and an SSD, installing these proves to be no issue. The top can be removed without the use of tools, as the lid is only held on by two pressure points. The bottom, however, is held on by four screws along the base. They are situated beneath the stuck-on rubber feet - you first have to remove these, which can be a bit tricky. Although, you aren't actually supposed to remove this side anyway, as it only houses the CPU fan and cooling unit which utilizes liquid metal to optimize heat transmission.
Performance - Intel Raptor Lake-H with 12 cores and 16 threads
The Minisforum Venus Series NPB5's Intel Core i5-13500H is a solid SoC with good multi-thread performance. In everyday use, the SoC works effortlessly and can even tackle considerably more power-hungry tasks. However, its RAM might quickly reach its limit in doing so. Even so, you should be fine with 16 GB as long as you don't keep an army of tabs open and in use at the same time. According to the manufacturer, up to 32 GB DDR5 RAM is supported, which means you can upgrade without any issues.
Testing conditions
We performed all performance tests with the energy profile "maximum performance". The SoC's performance was not changed in the BIOS and was instead left in its delivered state according to the manufacturer's settings. Different energy profiles were used for the noise and power measurements according to our test criteria.
Processor
The Minisforum Venus Series NPB5's Intel Core i5-13500H is an up-to-date SoC which features twelve native cores and can process a total of 16 threads at once. With this SoC, our test sample was able to secure itself second place in our performance ratings. In the individual assessments, the Minisforum Venus Series NPB5 sometimes only achieved average results but its continuously stable performance is what led to its good final results. In the current test, the Minisforum Venus Series NPB5 was only beaten by the UM790 Pro, which is also made by Minisforum. Compared to the Minisforum Venus Series NAB6, we noted a performance increase of about five percentage points.
The Intel Core i5-13500H's power limit is set by the manufacturer at 95 watts for short bursts of load. Under continuous load, the SoC's power consumption sinks to around 45 watts, which is set as PL1 (Power Limit).
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 NPB5 vs. Cinebench R15 Multi Loop
The Cinebench R15 continuous loop shows how the processor behaves under load over a longer period of time. The Minisforum Venus Series NPB5 achieved the best value during its first run, as its Turbo was able to be held a little longer. During the second run, we noted a considerable performance drop which then stabilized after the third run. Compared to the Minisforum Venus Series NAB6, our test device still achieved better results. In the telemetry data, you can clearly see that its full performance of 95 watts was able to be accessed at the beginning. On average, we then documented 45 watts, which is what PL1 is set as. We noted average temperatures of 70.7 °C, which is totally fine.
System performance
During the synthetic benchmarks relating to the PC's system performance, our test sample couldn't entirely keep up with the excellent results we saw during the CPU benchmarks. During the PCMark10 Test, our sample achieved average results. Only during Crossmark did it come in first place. It has to be noted that Intel processors generally do better in the Crossmark test. As Minisforum's Venus Series NPB5 is equipped with DDR5 RAM, our test device was able to keep up during the AIDA64 tests, and it secured itself the second place. Subjectively, the Venus Series NPB5 left a really good impression on us when it came to everyday tasks.
* ... smaller is better
DPC latency
Using the LatencyMon tool, we already noted slightly increased latencies when opening multiple tabs in Edge. While playing our 4K test video, the Minisforum Venus Series NPB5 showed no problems. We didn't see any dropped frames and the latencies documented at the beginning didn't increase any further. Prime95 didn't have an effect on this, either.
| DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
| Geekom AS 6, R9 6900HX | |
| ACEMagician Ace Magician AM08 Pro | |
| Morefine M600, 6900HX | |
| Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 | |
| Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit NUC13ANK | |
| Minisforum Venus Series UM790 Pro | |
| Geekom Mini IT12 | |
| Minisforum Venus Series NPB5 | |
| Minisforum Venus Series NAB6 | |
* ... smaller is better