GMKtec are no strangers to mini PC's, and they have consistently refined their line-up, especially to those who need performance-packed, space-saving solutions, and the M7 Pro is another excellent addition to their roster.
**The M7 Pro was reviewed using hardware provided and sent to us by GMKtec, but in no way influenced the review
We were sent the M7 Pro 32Gb Ram and 1TB Storage option, but the M7 is available in the below configurations:
M7 Pro, Ryzen 9 6950H CPU, 32GB DDR5 4800MHz Dual Channel RAM, 1TB PCIe SSD M.2, Windows 11 Pre-installed
M7, Ryzen 9 6850H CPU, 16GB DDR5 4800MHz Dual Channel RAM, 512GB PCIe SSD, Windows 11 Pre-installed
M7 Bare - No RAM, NO SSD, No Windows Pre-installed
The M7 Pro is powered by AMD's Ryzen 9 PRO 6950H (8 cores, 16 Threads), which is a pretty great laptop CPU, but GMKtec has unlocked more potential by increasing the TPD value (Thermal Design Power) above that used in a typical laptop installation.
The Ryzen 9 PRO 6950H scores a multithread rating of 22,703 and single thread rating of 3,215, which is pretty great going for a mini PC smaller than the width of most tablets and/or fold phones.
For gaming, the intergrated AMD Radeon 680M (roughly equivalent to a NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti) is running the show, and whilst this isn't going to yeald the best performance for a PC, it performs quite well - although there is another option for power hungry users - more on this later.
Full specs of the M7 Pro (32Gb Ram and 1TB Storage version):
CPU: | AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 6950H (8 cores, 16 Threads) |
GPU: | Radeon 680M |
RAM: | 32GB DDR5-4800 (2400 MHz) (16GB x 2) Expandable to 96GB |
Storage: | 1TB M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 4 |
Expansion: | 1x M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 4 |
Ports: | 1x OCuLink, 2x USB 4.0 Type-C, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1x USB 2.0, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x DisplayPort 2.0, 1x 3.5mm CTIA |
Networking: | 2x 2.5GbE LAN, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 |
OS: | Windows 11 Pro (pre-installed) |
Base Power: | 35W-70W (configurable) |
PSU: | 19V 6.32A 120.08W |
Dimensions: | 123 x 111 x 43 (mm) |
Visually, the M7 Pro is a grey cube design, with a glass top - this also twists off, and removing the four screws gives you access to the motherboard, memory and storage. It's a classy and minimal design, that also looks premium.
At the back of the device, you'll find:
x2 USB
HDMI Out
x2
Displayport out
Dual Intel NIC 2.5G LAN port
USB C
DC (power)
Whereas on the front you'll another:
x2 USB 4.0
x1 USB C
3.5mm headphone jack
Oculink port
Power button
For testing, I installed the below list of games and programs, and had no issues running any of them:
Call of Duty Modern Warfare III - Medium settings
Fortnite - Medium
Halo Infinite - High
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus - High
Ori and the Will of the Whisps - Medium
Shadow of the Tomb Raider - Low/Medium
Davinci Resolve 19
OBS Studio 30.2.3
Video should start at the gaming section (2:32 timecode if not!)
I was very surprised just how well the M7 Pro handled gaming, this is absolutley a mini PC you could take around with you for gaming in hotels etc thanks to it's tiny footprint. Whilst you won't be playing AAA titles on maxed out ultra settings, the M7 Pro is more than capable of providing a good gaming experience, as long as you're happy playing at lower settings.
Whilst I'd always prefer to play titles on ultra settings, it was great seeing the M7 Pro give it's all to run these games - most mini PC's I've used in the past struggle with doing most things, so this was a really nice change of pace
Storage performance is also solid with the PCIe 3×4 NVME SSD. While a PCIe 4.0 NVME would be even faster, the current setup still holds up well for most users. You can add an extra NVMe slot for storage expansion, though you will have to install another stick without heatsink, as space is tight due to the system fan.
The Oculink port (this is the aformentioned other option) is for connecting an eGPU (external GPU) to the device to allow it to run games/programs that the built in AMD Radeon 680M cannot - a minor caveat being that at this time, GMKtec doesn't have their own eGPU, so a third party one will be the only answer to that, but I would assume this is something they're working on.
As I don't have an eGPU at hand, we couldn't test this functionality, but we'll be updating this review once we've tested the Oculink port with an eGPU.
Usage isn't limited to gaming however, as the M7 Pro proved to be just as compitant in work tasks as well - the video review for this was edited in Davinci Resolve 19 entirely on the M7 Pro, and whilst colour grading was a little slower than my desktop counterpart, it's totally usable.
What I love about the M7 Pro, is it's ability to be a versatile little PC - you can game on it, you can do video and photo editing on it, it's small and lightweight enough to carry around in a bag - providing you have a screen to connect it to when you arrive at your destination
A fantastic mini PC that packs impressive performance into a compact and sleek package. Performing well as workstation for productivity, a capable gaming PC at low/medium/high settings and a versatile emulation machine. You'd be hard pressed to find a better value mini PC currently.
Check out the M7 and M7 Pro via the links below:
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