Minisforum Venus Series UM790 Pro review: Better than its competitors thanks to an AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS and a Radeon 780M
The Minisforum Venus Series UM790 Pro is a relatively compact mini PC fitted with the newest APU from AMD. Its AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS is an 8-core processor belonging to the Phoenix series. The PC doesn't feature a dedicated graphics card, but this is no problem thanks to its iGPU, the AMD Radeon 780M, which is just as powerful. With this model, you should be well-equipped for playing the odd game or two. But, we will discuss more about how well the system is able to play current games later on in the review.
Next to its brand-new APU, Minisforum has also fitted this test device with 16 GB DDR5 RAM and a total of 512 GB of storage. Minisforum has taken a slightly different approach to storage devices with this device - namely, it is fitted with two 256 GB SSDs in a RAID 0 array (Redundant Array of Independent Disks). This configuration, which always comes with a Windows 11 professional license, currently costs around $670. If you would like to install RAM and SSDs yourself, then you can also buy the Minisforum Venus Series UM790 Pro as a barebone model for $519. There are currently no alternative APU versions of the UM790 Pro available.
All comparison devices in this review are compact desktop PCs within a similar price range. You can find an overview of these devices in the following table.
Possible competitors compared
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Price |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
82.8 % v7 (old) | 07 / 2023 | Minisforum Venus Series UM790 Pro R9 7940HS, Radeon 780M | 666 g | 52.3 mm | |
85.1 % v7 (old) | 01 / 2023 | Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 i9-12900H, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 1.2 kg | 66 mm | |
86.3 % v7 (old) | 07 / 2023 | Beelink GTR7 7840HS R7 7840HS, Radeon 780M | 890 g | 48.8 mm | |
86.1 % v7 (old) | 02 / 2023 | Minisforum Venus Series UM690 R9 6900HX, Radeon 680M | 621 g | 48 mm | |
85.5 % v7 (old) | 03 / 2023 | Morefine M600, 6900HX R9 6900HX, Radeon 680M | 779 g | 40.6 mm | |
82.8 % v7 (old) | 07 / 2023 | Geekom AS 6, R9 6900HX R9 6900HX, Radeon 680M | 753 g | 58 mm | |
82 % v7 (old) | 06 / 2023 | ACEMagician Ace Magician AM08 Pro R9 6900HX, Radeon 680M | 874 g | 188.5 mm | |
80.8 % v7 (old) | 04 / 2023 | Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit NUC13ANK i7-1360P, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 538 g | 37 mm |
The Minisforum Venus Series UM790 Pro in detail
Case - high-quality metal with a flawless build
Visually, the Minisforum Venus Series UM790 Pro fits right in with the rest of the family, although it does show some differences compared to the Minisforum Venus Series NAB6. It is a slightly darker gray which has quite a strong blue tint. This suits the UM790 Pro well and gives the device a high-quality feel. Thanks to its metal surfaces, we can only praise how nice the PC feels to touch. Everything apart from the bottom of the mini PC is made from metal, which provides the UM790 Pro with great stability.
Thanks to its compact size, the Minisforum Venus Series UM790 Pro doesn't take up much space on your desk. It has a footprint of only 13 x 12.6 cm. In comparison, only the Intel NUC 13 is even smaller. If you would rather connect the UM790 Pro to the back of a monitor, then you can do exactly that. The package includes everything you need to connect the 666-gram heavy mini PC to a monitor using a VESA mount.
Connectivity
The Minisforum Venus Series UM790 Pro features a plethora of modern connectivity options spread out over the front and back of the device. In total, the PC has six USB ports. We noticed, however, that there are only Type-A ports on the back - in turn, the front only has two USB-4 ports including Thunderbolt support. Connecting more than one monitor is no issue for the Minisforum Venus Series UM790 Pro, as it has two HDMI ports on the back. In addition, you can also connect further displays via Thunderbolt, meaning a total of 4 screens can be connected at the same time.
Communication
Minisforum has fitted the UM790 Pro with a Wi-Fi 6E module from Intel. To be precise, it is an Intel Killer Wi-Fi AX1675x module, which only achieved average results in our test (6 GHz). Within the 5 GHz frequency area, it did even worse and came in last place. As always, we used our Asus ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 as a test router. Alternatively, the Minisforum Venus Series UM790 Pro has a fast wired connection, enabling speeds of up to 2.5 Gbit/s.
Accessories
Aside from the device itself, the scope of delivery also includes a 120-watt power supply as well as a VESA mount, in order to connect the PC to a monitor. The PC also comes with an HDMI cable, a short instruction manual and replacement rubber feet.
Maintenance
The Minisforum Venus Series UM790 Pro can be opened on the bottom. The bottom part of the case is held on by lots of tiny screws which are situated beneath the rubber feet. You basically have to rip these feet off in order to access the screws, which isn't a terribly great solution. Geekom, for example, has come up with a much better solution, namely by making the screws a part of the feet themselves. At least the PC comes with two replacement rubber feet - but in our eyes, this is just an emergency solution. Our test sample doesn't have any free space for expansion. Both of the M.2 storage devices can be swapped out and so can the RAM and the Wi-Fi module, the latter being situated beneath one of the SSDs.
Performance - A Ryzen 9 7940HS with 8 cores and 16 threads
The Minisforum Venus Series UM790 Pro features a brand-new SoC from AMD, namely the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS. With 16 GB RAM and 512 GB storage, you will be well equipped to begin with. There are currently no SoC alternatives for the UM790 Pro.
Testing conditions
We ran all tests using the energy profile "balanced". The SoC's performance, as well as the iGPU's RAM assignment (2 GB) were not changed in the BIOS and were kept in accordance with the manufacturer's settings as the PC was delivered.
Processor
The AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS is the powerhouse of the Minisforum Venus Series UM790 Pro. With its 8 cores and 16 threads, there isn't much new about it. Even so, AMD was able to increase the IPC considerably with the Phoenix series. Compared to the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX, we noted a performance increase of 10 to 15 per cent. At the same time, its multi-core performance benefits from this, too. However, its performance limits are usually set by the PC's installed cooler. In the past, Minisforum has always been able to score points with its solid and very quiet components. For the UM790 Pro, the manufacturer has relied on using liquid metal, meaning it strongly advises against taking the cooling unit apart. In our test, we noted that our test sample came behind the Beelink GTR7. This means that its (in theory) worse SoC has actually been able to deliver better performance levels.
Compared to its competitors based on Intel (Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit), our test device came 10 per cent ahead when it came to its performance rating. The Intel Core i7-1360P was only able to beat the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS in a few isolated tests.
For further comparisons and benchmarks, take a look at our CPU comparison table.
* ... smaller is better
* ... 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 UM790 Pro vs. Cinebench R15 Multi Loop
The Cinebench R15 continuous loop showed us how the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS behaved over a longer period of time. The Minisforum Venus Series UM790 Pro completed all 50 runs very consistently. Together with the Beelink GTR7, our test sample competed in a neck-and-neck race. We didn't note any performance losses as we did with the Minisforum NAD9, and on average, the SoC had a power consumption of 55 watts. At up to 65 watts, its maximum performance limit was utilized entirely.
DPC latency
The Minisforum Venus Series UM790 Pro came in second place in our measured latency values, behind the Beelink GTR7. While opening multiple tabs in Edge and when playing our 4K test video, we didn't measure any high latencies. This means the UM790 Pro is perfect to use in a streaming environment. We only noticed slightly increased latencies when using Prime95. However, these never reached a critical level.
DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
Geekom AS 6, R9 6900HX | |
Minisforum Venus Series UM690 | |
ACEMagician Ace Magician AM08 Pro | |
Morefine M600, 6900HX | |
Minisforum Neptune Series NAD9 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Kit NUC13ANK | |
Minisforum Venus Series UM790 Pro | |
Beelink GTR7 7840HS |
* ... smaller is better
Storage devices
Minisforum has equipped the Venus Series UM790 Pro with a storage combination resulting in a total of 512 GB storage. The combination used includes two NVMe SSDs from Kingston which each have 256 GB storage and which work together in a RAID-0 array. We aren't entirely sure why the manufacturer gave us this type of combination. After contacting them, they told us that the 512-GB variants will be fitted with only one SSD.
Thanks to the RAID array, the SSDs delivered good read and write rates. Even so, the storage devices on the comparison devices were mostly faster. You likely won't be able to notice this in everyday use.
When it comes to cooling, Minisforum has done everything right with the UM790 Pro. Although its continuous performance wasn't as stable as the Intel NUC 13 Pro, it still delivered great performance levels throughout. This is thanks to a direct cooling system which uses active fans on the bottom of the device. In total, two SSDs can be installed. 2.5-inch storage devices can't be installed into the UM790 Pro.
For further comparisons and benchmarks, take a look at our comparison table.