Minisforum's $1,559 Strix Halo mini PC has one unexpected compromise
Minisforum has listed its T5 Max-388 mini PC on its official US store. Powered by AMD’s Ryzen AI Max+ 388 processor, the machine costs $1,559, down from its advertised regular price of $1,949. Only one configuration is currently listed, featuring 48 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD. Customers will have to wait, though, as Minisforum estimates shipping will begin in early December 2026.
The Ryzen AI Max+ 388 features eight Zen 5 CPU cores, 16 threads and a Radeon 8060S integrated GPU with 40 RDNA 3.5 compute units. It has the same number of GPU compute units as the flagship Ryzen AI Max+ 395, which was the selling point for AMD's Ryzen AI Max xx8 lineup. The APU also includes an NPU rated for 50 TOPS of AI performance.
Other specifications include two M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 SSD slots, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, 2.5 Gbps Ethernet, HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 2.1 and USB4 connectivity. A 350 W power supply is housed inside the chassis. However, the 48 GB of onboard memory is soldered and cannot be upgraded.
There is an interesting discrepancy between the current specifications and Minisforum’s earlier announcements. Its IFA 2026 product documentation advertised LPDDR5x-8000 memory, whereas the shipping configuration is listed with LPDDR5-6400.
That represents a 20% reduction in the advertised memory transfer rate. Because the Radeon 8060S shares system memory, the slower RAM could affect graphics performance. However, the actual impact will vary by workload and should not be interpreted as a corresponding 20% reduction in gaming performance.
Interestingly, a T5 Max unit tested by ETA PRIME also operated at 6400 MT/s, suggesting the slower memory speed isn't necessarily a typographical error. There is also some ambiguity concerning the memory type: the US listing specifies LPDDR5, whereas the company's Hong Kong store advertises LPDDR5x. Neither the exact memory specification of retail units nor the reason for the departure from the original 8000 MT/s specification has been conclusively established, although one can realistically chalk it up to LPDDR5x-8000 modules being scarce.
Regional product listings also show inconsistencies. The Hong Kong store specifies a 230 × 93 × 288 mm chassis, compared with the US listing’s 225 × 96 × 228 mm dimensions. It doesn’t matter much, given the minuscule difference between the two figures, but the next shortcoming is a bit more concerning. The former also advertises two USB 4 ports, while the latter identifies just one USB 4 port alongside a slower USB-C connection. Whether these differences indicate regional hardware variations or specification errors remains unclear.
Strictly speaking, T5 Max-388 isn’t an entirely new announcement. The latest development is therefore its official US pricing and availability, and it heralds its eventual international release.
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