Ryzen 5 5560U performance debut: Beelink SER5 mini PC review
The Beelink SER5 is an affordable mini PC in contrast to the pricier GTR or SER Pro series which may come with faster H-series CPUs. The SER5 is notable for being one of the few mini PCs to ship with the AMD Zen 3 Ryzen 5 5560U processor.
Our review unit comes configured with the Ryzen 5 5560U, 16 GB RAM, 500 GB SSD, and Windows 11 for only $230 USD retail. It competes against other budget-oriented mini PCs like the Geekom A5, GMKtec NucBox series, or the Minisforum EM680.
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Potential Competitors in Comparison
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Price |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
82.1 % v7 (old) | 11 / 2023 | Beelink SER5 R5 5560U, Vega 6 | 439 g | 42 mm | x | ||
86.6 % v7 (old) | 09 / 2023 | Beelink SER7 R7 7840HS, Radeon 780M | 640 g | 49 mm | x | ||
v (old) | 12 / 2022 | Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U i5-1235U, Iris Xe G7 80EUs | 465 g | 42 mm | x | ||
81.2 % v7 (old) | 10 / 2023 | Geekom A5 R7 5800H, Vega 8 | 555 g | 49.2 mm | x | ||
82.8 % v7 (old) | 10 / 2023 | GMK NucBox K3 Pro i7-12650H, UHD Graphics 64EUs | 396 g | 43.2 mm | x | ||
83.1 % v7 (old) | 08 / 2023 | Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit i7-1360P, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 558 g | 37 mm | x |
Case
Beelink is able to keep most of its mini PCs affordable by utilizing the same chassis design across different models but with slightly different external features. The SER5, for example, is exactly the same as the SER6 in terms of dimensions but without the removable top plate cover. It's also very similar to the SER7 which is only a few millimeters thicker to better accommodate the faster HS-series CPU. The plastic and metal materials are otherwise the same for strong first impressions rivaling the Intel NUC series.
Connectivity
The system is unfortunately not compatible with USB4 or Thunderbolt. Its USB-C port supports DisplayPort but not Power Delivery meaning you can't power the mini PC with USB-C adapters.
Communication
An Intel AX200 comes standard for Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity. It does not support Wi-Fi 6E likely to save on costs.
Networking | |
iperf3 transmit AXE11000 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Beelink SER7 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
Beelink SER5 | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Geekom A5 | |
iperf3 receive AXE11000 | |
Beelink SER5 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink SER7 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
Geekom A5 | |
iperf3 transmit AXE11000 6GHz | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
iperf3 receive AXE11000 6GHz | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit |
Maintenance
Accessories And Warranty
The retail box includes two HDMI cables, a wall-mounted VESA bracket, AC adapter and user manual. The standard one-year limited manufacturer warranty applies if purchased in the US.
Performance
Testing Conditions
We set Windows to Performance mode prior to running the tests below. Beelink installs no specialized control center-type applications unlike most other manufacturers.
Processor
The Ryzen 5 5560U performs almost identically to the Ryzen 5 7530U albeit with slightly slower single-thread performance. Both are hexa-core processors based on the same Zen 3 architecture with similar TDP targets. The Ryzen 5 5560U is comparable to the competing Core i5-1235U in most cases.
Cinebench R15 Multi Loop
Cinebench R20: CPU (Multi Core) | CPU (Single Core)
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 | 7z b 4 -mmt1
Geekbench 5.5: Multi-Core | Single-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
Cinebench R20: CPU (Multi Core) | CPU (Single Core)
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 | 7z b 4 -mmt1
Geekbench 5.5: Multi-Core | Single-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
* ... 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
Performance Rating | |
Beelink SER7 | |
Geekom A5 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink SER5 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
AIDA64 / FP32 Ray-Trace | |
Beelink SER7 | |
Geekom A5 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink SER5 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
AIDA64 / FPU Julia | |
Beelink SER7 | |
Geekom A5 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
Beelink SER5 | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
AIDA64 / CPU SHA3 | |
Beelink SER7 | |
Geekom A5 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink SER5 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
AIDA64 / CPU Queen | |
Beelink SER7 | |
Geekom A5 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink SER5 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
AIDA64 / FPU SinJulia | |
Beelink SER7 | |
Geekom A5 | |
Beelink SER5 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
AIDA64 / FPU Mandel | |
Beelink SER7 | |
Geekom A5 | |
Beelink SER5 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
AIDA64 / CPU AES | |
Beelink SER7 | |
Geekom A5 | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink SER5 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit |
AIDA64 / CPU ZLib | |
Beelink SER7 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
Geekom A5 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink SER5 |
AIDA64 / FP64 Ray-Trace | |
Beelink SER7 | |
Geekom A5 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink SER5 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U |
AIDA64 / CPU PhotoWorxx | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink SER7 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
Geekom A5 | |
Beelink SER5 |
System Performance
CrossMark: Overall | Productivity | Creativity | Responsiveness
PCMark 10 / Score | |
Beelink SER7 | |
Geekom A5 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Beelink SER5 |
PCMark 10 / Essentials | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Beelink SER7 | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Geekom A5 | |
Beelink SER5 |
PCMark 10 / Productivity | |
Beelink SER7 | |
Geekom A5 | |
Beelink SER5 | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit |
PCMark 10 / Digital Content Creation | |
Beelink SER7 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
Geekom A5 | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Beelink SER5 |
CrossMark / Overall | |
Beelink SER7 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Geekom A5 | |
Beelink SER5 |
CrossMark / Productivity | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Beelink SER7 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Geekom A5 | |
Beelink SER5 |
CrossMark / Creativity | |
Beelink SER7 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Geekom A5 | |
Beelink SER5 |
CrossMark / Responsiveness | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink SER7 | |
Geekom A5 | |
Beelink SER5 |
PCMark 10 Score | 5453 points | |
Help |
AIDA64 / Memory Copy | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink SER7 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
Geekom A5 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Beelink SER5 |
AIDA64 / Memory Read | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink SER7 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Geekom A5 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
Beelink SER5 |
AIDA64 / Memory Write | |
Beelink SER7 | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Geekom A5 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
Beelink SER5 |
AIDA64 / Memory Latency | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
Beelink SER5 | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Beelink SER7 | |
Geekom A5 |
* ... smaller is better
DPC Latency
LatencyMon reveals no major DPC issues. Unfortunately, 4K video playback at 60 FPS is imperfect as we're able to record 12 dropped frames within a 60-second time frame even after updating to the latest Adrenalin drivers.
DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro | |
Geekom A5 | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Beelink SER7 | |
Beelink SER5 |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Devices
Our unit ships with the same Crucial P3 Plus CT1000P3PSSD8 as found on the SER7 and GTR7. Speeds are limited to PCIe3 instead of the faster PCIe4 standard.
Drive Performance Rating - Percent | |
Intel NUC 13 Pro Desk Edition Kit | |
Beelink SEi12 Core i5-1235U | |
Beelink SER5 | |
Geekom A5 | |
Beelink SER7 | |
GMK NucBox K3 Pro |
* ... smaller is better
Disk Throttling: DiskSpd Read Loop, Queue Depth 8
GPU Performance
The Ryzen 5 5560U uses the older Radeon RX Vega 6 instead of the Radeon 680M or 780M as found on newer Zen 4-based processors. The RX Vega 6 is most comparable to the Iris Xe 80 EUs which can be found on most Core i5 mini PCs. This particular GPU is designed for streaming and 4K video playback as most native 3D games do not run well on the system.
3DMark 11 Performance | 4815 points | |
3DMark Cloud Gate Standard Score | 18479 points | |
3DMark Fire Strike Score | 2855 points | |
3DMark Time Spy Score | 1135 points | |
Help |
* ... smaller is better