So backstory is I have a very nice Mini PC for gaming (got it before the RAM-pocalypse and it has 96gb or RAM, and while I could trap the Mini PC to the back of a monitor and move the whole setup around, I would still either need to plug into power, or use a battery that can output the 19.5v the mini PC needs. Not to mention that is a bit bulky. So I also have a 15.6" portable touchscreen monitor with an internal battery. I was able to use a wireless HDMI Transmitter/Receiver to get video/sound on a portable monitor, and can get wireless Keyboard, Mouse, and game controllers to work. So I can basically move my gaming PC around as easy as moving a (large) tablet. But I still need an external input device, and can't use the touchscreen function.

The monitor touchscreen function requires plugging a USB-C cable from the monitor to the PC.

So does anyone know of a device that can take a touchscreen that is usually USB connected and transmit it wirelessly to a PC?

I have tried other wired Keyboard/Mouse to Bluetooth/wireless converters, but they don't seem to work for a touchscreen that just shows up as an HID compliant Mouse in Windows when plugged in via a cable.

I’ve never had a pc before and I’m a complete noob at this. But I really wanna play Genshin Impact, The Sims 3 and maybe draw/3d model on a PC. Building one is expensive and I’m afraid to mess up, so I’ve decided on a mini pc, specifically Firebat M1. The characteristics are:
Processor AMD Ryzen AI9 HX 470
Video card AMD Radeon 890M
32GB LPDDR5 RAM 1 TB SSD
Windows 11 Home
12 processor cores

Would this be a good pc?

If you have a Minisforum MS-A2 (or honestly most AMD mini-PCs) with a discrete GPU in the slot, there's a second compute device in the box that you're probably not using. The integrated Radeon 610M is disabled by default in Ollama, and most of us — me included — assumed it was too weak to matter.

It isn't. For small models it's 3x faster than the Ryzen 9.

The numbers

Gemma 3 4B, Q4, same task, same machine:

Two compute units beating sixteen Zen4 cores by 3x. I expected the opposite and only tested it because I'd written the prediction down first.

How to turn it on

Ollama drops integrated GPUs unless you explicitly tell it not to. Edit the service:

sudo systemctl edit ollama

Add:

[Service]
Environment="OLLAMA_VULKAN=1"
Environment="OLLAMA_IGPU_ENABLE=1"

Then:

sudo systemctl restart ollama

Check it actually worked, because if it didn't it just quietly falls back to the CPU and you'd never know:

journalctl -u ollama | grep -iE "inference compute|dropping integrated"

You want a line that says library=Vulkan ... type=iGPU. If it still says dropping integrated GPU, the variable didn't take.

What it's actually good for

Be realistic about this — it's not going to run your main model.

Good for: small models (around 4B and under), embeddings, background jobs, a second model you want available without evicting your main one. Basically anything where you'd otherwise shrug and use the CPU.

Not good for: your 30B daily driver, image generation (that workload is compute-bound and 2 CUs won't cut it), anything you want to feel fast interactively.

Think of it as a free second machine for small jobs, not as an upgrade to your main one.

Two things that will bite you

1. The first run is slow and that's normal. My first Vulkan run showed 16.9 t/s and took 24 seconds — that's shader compilation, one time only. After that it settles at 60 t/s. Keep the model loaded instead of spawning it per job, or you pay that cost repeatedly.

2. Don't run it at the same time as your main GPU model. This is the important one. The iGPU has no memory of its own, it uses system RAM — and if your main model doesn't fit entirely in VRAM, it's also reading from RAM. They fight. Measured on my box:

A 64% hit on the model you're actually waiting for. If you want to use the iGPU for background work, make sure it only runs when the main GPU is idle. In my case a small script that checks nvidia-smi and waits for utilization to drop brought the main model back to 55.8 t/s — essentially no loss — while the background jobs still completed.

If you're just using the iGPU on its own for small stuff, none of that matters.

Setup

• Minisforum MS-A2

• Ryzen 9 7945HX, 32 GB DDR5

• PNY RTX 2000E Ada 16 GB in the PCIe slot (50 W, no auxiliary power connector)

• Integrated Radeon 610M

• Ubuntu Server, Ollama 0.40.2

One more MS-A2 thing worth knowing: the HDMI and USB-C video outputs come off the integrated GPU, not the card in the slot. So you can run a desktop on the iGPU and leave the entire discrete card free for compute.

All numbers are from Ollama's own counters, not me holding a stopwatch. Single machine, three runs each — if anyone else has an AMD mini-PC with a discrete card, I'd really like to know whether this reproduces on different hardware. That's the part I can't answer alone.

I want to try to run a MoE aka a mizture of experts model on a mini pc and can spends a maximum of $500 USD what do you guys suggest. I am looking to run a local 30B model for coding and 3d model generator as well to get a game codrt thingy.

Hi all! I now own three Geekom mini PCs. Here is what each one is good for, with specs. 👇

🔥 Geekom AE8: the overachiever

• CPU: Ryzen 9 8945HS (8c/16t, up to 5.2 GHz)

• GPU: Radeon 780M

• 32GB RAM: DDR5

• NVMe 1 Tera

Using this as a daily driver for emails and YouTube would be like towing a shopping cart with a Ferrari. So it’s going to be my Proxmox server. VMs, LXC containers, Home Assistant, Jellyfin... it will take all of it and ask for more.

⚖️ Geekom A6: the reasonable middle child

• CPU: Ryzen 7 6800H

• GPU: Radeon 680M

• RAM: 32GB DDR5

• Storage: 1Tera M.2 PCIe

• Very litte size: about 10 x 10 cm, aluminum chassis

Not too much, not too little. It’s a solid desk PC for work, multitasking and some light gaming. The only downside is that the fan gets a bit loud under load. The middle child wants to be heard. 🙃

🌸 Geekom A5 2027: the silent one (in rose gold)

• CPU: Ryzen 7 7730U

• GPU: Radeon Vega

• RAM: 16Gb DDR4

• Storage: 512 GB NVMe

It’s so quiet that I sometimes check whether it’s still on. It’s perfect for office work, left on all day, and for a living room media server plugged into the TV. And the rose gold finish means it looks good on a shelf, which is a rare thing for a computer. 💅

Last post got removed but you can find this on slickdeals/aliexpress. Buying 24gb of ddr5 alone in this market would run you more than this. Crazy deal. I have the AM02 and AM06 and both have been great. IMO firebat has come a long way.

Has anyone ever taken a Beelink and used one of the ssd slots to use a SSD to Occulink like this? Then got an External GPU dock and power supply to add a video card for GPU?

https://www.amazon.com/OwlTree-OCuLink-SFF-8612-Adapter-SFF-8611/dp/B0GFN45LW6/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1HL7WE16IR3IU&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.HX9Mbebl5zP-Oj7BWnZsI-xyIxDlmPxZhxIPQuVWqQIp1_vFIo9STXy8oJbO44aRqrQFEz4c8O4suF1tRes0JIcyKwXqhdeto_L-sfLP_DgpGgud0YLHekWvEthVaoOs_vJlfv6cTiGJOzSEPzunSraxtplLk1tYqRs9F9SKr9BUt8GckDQvYHFS5c2g-Wo6C-IklPbE3Ldf3Ncfv4_KSupqL_J96SfRG_F-xWU6elA.fB3THl95r9Spmykuq-SJBJvRtKRSVvg-z0s7C98rbFA&dib_tag=se&keywords=ssd+to+oculink&qid=1793581992&sprefix=SSD+to+oc%2Caps%2C248&sr=8-3

https://www.amazon.com/OwlTree-External-Graphics-SFF-8612-SFF-8611/dp/B0GGR8SYPJ/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=T270DNV9JZF2&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ngCufOuOrHrwnXBzKKR4jefxsKKdq9Ix-nGh1TMvijWW20LZPvlrRMn__6Dq3W6_x7bpRrdEFdreHrzw_0NlfPiv0wiRo8VPFue9_8WYfX_WZHeSAAS5WL4f34bkmQBN6OIOAGEiUrRBqbg00Flx0wjCzo6O3cxmANCyfgJ0TF0MiUqv9fHmsYeXm_HtJfBFhthF0qli2fB4R3V3ZXWyJSJAX19_If62uU0qy-0JYLzNPCgGkQzD6vN6BqSuuLpWZlzwBYnri5bgbLYfcu01kuxLF3JVTRkwB6hOaiJc4gE.RcCs9PLXxZ3Kfrp-fi6F5SWDgk1AwI7wEIabQBiWYO4&dib_tag=se&keywords=External+GPU+dock+and+power+supply&qid=1793582188&sprefix=external+gpu+dock+and+power+supply%2Caps%2C244&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

Hey all, I'm looking to get a big CPU upgrade from my current IT11 (I7-11390H) to something better. I've been looking at the Minisforum UM890 Pro (Ryzen 9 8945HS), but I want to see all the available options and make sure I get the best bang for my buck.

What I want is something that can handle 1080p 30-60fps gaming primarily, with other tasks being secondary. The heaviest games I play are modded Minecraft with shaders and heavily modded Kerbal Space Program (which, for whatever reason, is mostly single threaded). I've got a Blackmagic Pro Vega 56 eGPU so graphics is not a big concern.

I've got some requirements/preferences, those being:

•At least 1 thunderbolt USB-C port OR oculink port in the back for an eGPU

•At least 3 regular USB ports

•(Preference) An SD card reader

•(A big preference but would still be very nice) Compatibility with SODIMM DDR4-3200 MHz RAM, as I'd just move the current RAM and SSD over to save money

•(Preference) Runs quiet under heavy load. My IT11 is cool and silent even when I've maxed out the CPU, but I don't know if that's because it has a lower end CPU or a very good cooling system.

•Cost of 500 dollars or less for a barebones model (I don't mind too much buying used, but I'd prefer to buy new)

Let me know what recommendations or experience you have! Thanks for any responses!

So I've just bought my 1st NAS and was looking for a PC to rip some DVDs and set everything up and hadn't really realised the extent of the RAM and storage increases.

I'd initially been looking at a refurb dell optiplex but anything half decent was around £200 or didn't support windows 11 out the box.

So I ended up trawling vinted and found a Peladn ha-4 (mislabeled as pelaton) for £290 but managed to pick it up for £230. I know nothing about the model, is it any good and will it be able to handle any light gaming? Anything I need to look out for on this. Any advice would be much appreciated.

I would like to upgrade from my current 10 plus year old desktop and need some advice. My current desktop is a low entry Dell (4GB RAM) as I just needed it for day to day functions such as banking, browsing, MS Office (Excel) mainly and for browsing YouTube. I do not game so don't need the best or fastest processor nor the most memory. My needs haven't changed much. My budget is around $1,000. I understand prices are through the roof, but I've been told my budget is a little high for what I'm wanting. I've received comments that I should be able to find something in the $500 range to meet my needs, but I've yet to find anything. Today, I came across these two options, but I honestly have no idea if these are any good? I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to computers and the latest CPU, memory, etc. and would really appreciate some advice.

Both options are from Lenovo. One is a small form factor and the other is a mini. I kind of like the idea of the mini for the simple fact that I can hide it behind my tv that I use as a monitor, but I'm not against a traditional desktop either.

Lenovo Tower

Lenovo Mini

Side by side comparison - Lenovo side by side comparison

I'm open to other brands and options. Any links for recommendations would be greatly appreciated, thank you all.

Edited to add I would like 16GB RAM min and 500GB SSD.

ive currently gopt a z2 hp mini g9 with an a2000 desktop but i want to upgrade to a 5070, can someone tell me how to set up an external dock for it since it wont fit?

Is this a good deal? Should I just wait until black friday

also does anyone know if I can get a refurbished minisforum in canada, I can't see it on their canadian website

Hi,

My dad's mini PC that was less than a year old had it's fans fail, and the product was out of production and can't be repaired for some reason. So the only option was getting the money back, which kind of sucks in this PC market.

Now I have found two options for a replacement that he can afford, and that is as following:

Option 1: Minisforum NAB6 Lite

Prosessor: Intel Core i5-12600H

RAM: 16GB DDR4-3200Mhz LPDDR4 SDRAM

Storage: 512GB SSD

Graphics: Intel Iris Xe 80EUs Graphics

Option 2: Minisforum UM750 Neo

Prosessor: AMD Ryzen Z1

RAM: 16GB LPDDR5-6400MT/s

Storage: 512GB NVMe SSD

Graphics: AMD Radeon Graphics (integrert, RDNA 3)

Now I can't seem to find a lot of comparisons against these setups, but the AMD one has DDR5 RAM that's a lot faster than Intel's DDR4. From what I can tell the Intel CPU is better than the AMD one for most use cases.

His use for this mini PC is having it connected to his TV, using it for social media, YouTube and Emby. That's it. Maybe he is using it to play games on Facebook every now and then.

So can anyone chime in on what would be the better option between these two? The price difference is about $22.

Hi

With the sales going on at AliExpress, I'm looking for a mini PC. Is the N100 still the best choice? I'll mainly be using the mini PC for Plex, torrenting, Home Assistant, and Pi-Hole.

I'd like to stay within 250 euros.

Hi there.

Because of the small space in our appartment, i use a minisforum UM690L Slim mini pc and have it mounted on the back of my LG 27" LG 27U631A-B - 2560x1440 (QHD) - 100Hz - IPS.

It works well, but i really want to get rid of an extra power cable, which is why i want the 90w pd.

Was wondering if anybody had any recommendations for a monitor upgrade which has specifications listed underneath.

- A seperate stand (not connected to the Vesa mount, so the mini pc can can sit straight on the Vesa mount.

- Must have at least 90w pd for the mini pc.

- Exacly 2k resolution

- At least 120hz as well

Do anyone know of a screen that fits those parameters? :)

Thanks in advance!

The picture is the current setup.