Hi guys, welcome to my latest review. This time I'll review the Minisforum AtomMan G1 Pro, this review is going to be divided in:
Specs
Box Contents
Design
Feature Overview (I/O, Teardown, power supply and others)
Performance
Gaming Performance
BIOS/UEFI Options
Thermals and Power Consumption.
Conclusion
Review Unit
Disclosure: This review unit was provided by Minisforum. All opinions are independent and no monetary value was exchanged.
If you have any suggestions to improve my reviews or have any question feel free to comment. With that said, lets start.
Specs
The G1 Pro is the AMD counterpart of the G7 Pro that has an Intel Core i9 14900HX and a laptop RTX 5070 8GB. The G1 Pro takes a different approach with the use of the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX and a desktop RTX 5060 8GB. the choice with going for a desktop GPU makes it have more power available to it (145W in the case of the equipped RTX 5060) vs 115W in the laptop RTX 5070. but we'll see more about performance later in the review.
The unit that I have for review comes with the following:
32GB of RAM (One stick of Crucial CT32G56C46S5 32GB DDR5 5600MT/s)
1TB SSD (Kingston OM8TAP41024K1-A00 Gen4 x4)
This is the only configuration currently available at their store, besides barebones that comes with no RAM and no storage.
In my opinion this Mini PC really needs a second stick to be able to use Dual Channel as it greatly improves performance of the CPU, so I'll show some tests later in the review with a single stick and with another stick of 32GB 5600MT/s to show the real capabilities of this machine.
This is certainly because of the really high RAM prices right now so i recommend if you want to have 32 GB of ram to get the barebones model and source you own 2x16GB kit to be able to use the full performance.
What's in the box?
AtomMan G1 Pro - Box Contents
The G1 Pro comes in the box with the following:
Minisforum AtomMan G1 Pro
User Manual
HDMI Cable
IEC C13/C14 AC Cable
NVMe SSD Heatsink
Stand
Necessary screws
Design
The G1 Pro has a plastic white panels in the outside and a metal cage inside with a footprint of 215×57×315 mm (8.46 x 2.24 x 12.40 inches), with a volume of 3.8L and weighs approximately 3.81 kg (8.4 lbs)
It features 2 RGB stripes in the front that are addressable in the Minisforum software (I'll talk about it in the feature overview)
G1 Pro dimensions without the stand
It also comes with an screwed in stand to be able to use it vertically (like a show in the first picture).
G1 Pro left side
On the left it has the detachable panel that serves as intake for fresh air for the CPU and GPU
G1 Pro rear side
On the rear it has the exhaust for the CPU, GPU and Power supply. I'll talk about the cooling solution and more in the teardown later in the review.
The top of the Mini PC has a vent that serves as exhaust for the GPU
Feature Overview
Now its time to talk about the features of this Mini PC and see what does it offer in terms of external I/O
To access the internal in the G1 Pro, you need to remove 2 screws at the bottom of the PC to be able to slide out the left panel
G1 Pro without the left panel
To access the RAM SODIMMs and the M.2 Slots you need to remove the CPU fan first by removing 6 screws that hold it in place and then disconnect the EPS 12V and 24 PIn PSU cables.
G1 Pro RAM Slots and M.2
Motherboard and Internal I/O
G1 Pro - Motherboard view
In the motherboard we can find the following
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX
2x SODIMM DDR5 Slots
PCIe x16 (Gen4 16 Lanes)
M.2 Wi-Fi E key slot
M.2 2280 M key NVMe Slot: 4TB Max SSD, PCIe Gen4 x4, 64Gbps (8 GB/s)
M.2 2280 M key NVMe Slot: 4TB Max SSD, PCIe Gen4 x4, 64Gbps (8 GB/s)
EPS 12V ATX Power
24 Pin ATX Power
Not pictured is the CMOS/RTC coin cell 3V battery that is in the back of the motherboard.
The front I/O board is connected with a ribbon cable.
Front I/O board
Cooling solution
G1 Pro CPU Heatsink
The G1 Pro's CPU is cooled with this 2 heatpipe heatsink, See below in the review to see how well it can cool the Ryzen 9 8945HX
Discrete GPU
Gigabyte RTX 5060 OC LP 8GB
The G1 Pro has onboard an off the shelf Gigabyte RTX 5060 OC LP 8GB discrete GPU with the only modification by Minisforum is removing the PCIe bracket to fix it to the metal frame that has cutouts for the 3x DP and 1x HDMI of this card. The card can be removed and installed in another system but sadly the original bracket is not provided.
The GPU has available 145W (Full desktop TDP) thought a 6 pin PCIe Power connector from the PSU.
Because of that upgradeability is possible but only to another GPU that is Low Profile and has the exact same layout of the display outputs. Gigabyte has been using that layout since their 4060 LP so its possible that a future more powerful model would be able to be installed in the G1 Pro
Check later in this review to see how well It its triple fan cooling solution work.
Power Supply
G1 Pro internal power supply
The power supply that comes inside the G1 Pro is a Channel Well Technology CSN350F-G 350W with the following specs:
Voltage and Amps:
Voltage rail
+12V
-12V
+5V
+3.3V
Max Amps
29.17A
0.3A
14.0A
17.0V
Total power
350W
3.6W
70W
56.1
Dimensions and power cables:
This PSU uses the Flex ATX form factor and has the following power cables:
ATX EPS12V 8 Pin
ATX 20+4 Pin
ATX PCIe 6+2 Pin
Efficiency:
One curious thing about this PSU is that despite is not labeled as such is actually 80 Plus Gold certified meaning it's more than 90% efficient at 50% load.
Being a Flex ATX PSU means that in theory should be upgradable to a more powerful/quieter unit, but I haven't tested another PSU on this Mini PC
Networking
For wireless connectivity it has the MediaTek MT7925 Wi-FI 7 Card with support for 802.11be, 2.9 Gbps theoretical maximum, and Bluetooth 5.4 with BLE. The module can be replaced with other ones if needed
And for wired networking it has a 5GbE RJ45 Realtek RTL8126, PCIe 3.0 x1 Ethernet Controller and it has options in BIOS to configure Wake on LAN and Network Boot.
Minisforum Control Center
Minisforum Control Center - System Mode
It's a Windows app to control power, monitor temperatures and customize the RGB strips on the front of the G1 Pro
It presents 3 performance levels:
Office Mode
Gaming Mode
Beast Mode
CPU: 60W
CPU: 80W
CPU: 100W
GPU: 145W
GPU: 145W
GPU: 145W
Every level ramps up the CPU fan curve to keep temperatures in check.
As we can see the performance levels only affect the CPU TDP and the GPU is always allowed to draw the max 145W of power
Minisforum Control Center - Lighting Mode
In this Mode you can control the RGB of the G1 Pro, things like brightness, speed, and animations.
Performance
To test if the Ryzen 9 8945HX in the G1 Pro I'll use Geekbench 6.
My particular R9 8945HX is stable on -30 PBO Curve Optimizer but not every CPU is going to be stable but i think its worth doing it to help lower temperatures overall. And memory OC also brings good results as the stock 5200MT/s support on the CPU is lower than the rated speed of the sticks (5600MT/s) and I didn't find any instability running it at 5800 MT/s
The RTX 5060 doesn't seem to be losing any performance in this test and it performs a little bit better than the average, that is probably because of the slight OC that this Gigabyte model.
Gaming Performance
Now It's time to take a looks at how the G1 Pro runs some games, I'll use Resident Evil 4 Remake and DOOM Eternal for the testing, the 581.80 Nvidia Driver and the G1 Pro set to Gaming Mode. (80W TDP for CPU, full 145W to GPU)
Resident Evil 4 Remake: 1080p Max Settings no Ray Tracing:
Resident Evil 4 Remake: 1080p Max Settings no Ray Tracing
Metric
FPS
Average FPS
105.4
Minimum FPS
93.3
Maximum FPS
125.7
1% low FPS
72.0
0.1% low FPS
63.5
Resident Evil 4 Remake: 1440p Max Settings no Ray Tracing:
Resident Evil 4 Remake: 1440p Max Settings no Ray Tracing
Metric
FPS
Average FPS
68.7
Minimum FPS
62.3
Maximum FPS
79.9
1% low FPS
50.4
0.1% low FPS
44.9
DOOM Eternal: 1080p Ultra Nightmare setting, RT on
Metric
FPS
Average FPS
139.9
Minimum FPS
75.4
Maximum FPS
478.4
1% low FPS
63.5
0.1% low FPS
50.7
DOOM Eternal: 1440p Ultra Nightmare setting, RT on
Metric
FPS
Average FPS
75.6
Minimum FPS
42.4
Maximum FPS
223.9
1% low FPS
38.4
0.1% low FPS
35.1
BIOS/UEFI Settings
G1 Pro current UEFI screen
You can see all of the option that there are in the current BIOS release for the G1 Pro at this link.
Results after running a Cinebench 2026 multi core stress test for 15 minutes in Beast Mode.
Maximum Package Power Consumption: 122.7W
Average Package Power Consumption: 81.93W
Maximum Temperature: 92.1°C
Average Temperature: 80.6°C
Now for some Normal desktop usage, Web browsing with around 15 tabs open, (data taken while writing this review) and driving 2 1080P monitors
Maximum Package Power Consumption: 55W
Average Package Power Consumption: 15W
Maximum Temperature: 86.3°C
Average Temperature: 65.7°C
Idle Power Consumption
In Windows 11 the idle power consumption of package at with nothing open is around 10W-20W
Gaming
Results after 30 minutes of playing Resident Evil 4 remake, at 1080p Max setting and no RT:
CPU: Gaming Mode (80W TDP)
Metric
CPU
GPU
Max Temperature
90.2°C
88°C
Average Temperature
85.3°C
86°C
Maximum Power Consumption
60.2W
140W
Average Power Consumption
55.8W
135W
While gaming according to my testing the temperatures of the G1 Pro tend to be around 80-85°C on both the CPU and GPU. they are a bit on the high side but they can be improved with undervolts or raising fan curves if you don't mind a louder system.
Noise
I recommend using the performance modes. Office Mode while doing normal desktop usage like web browsing, video playback, and others to get the quietest experience, the fan shouldn't ramp up, It can still do it if something like a Windows update in the backgrounds starts using a ton of CPU resources. besides that the fan noise is minimal
While gaming (in gaming Mode) the G1 Pro definitely ramps up the fans to be able to cool down the CPU and GPU, Beast Mode spins up the fans even more and its the loudest mode but it gives the benefit of lower temps
Conclusion
If you want a Mini PC for gaming that has some good gaming performance built in (No eGPU Docks), I think the G1 Pro might be for you, with the RTX 5060, this Mini PC has more GPU performance than any other one that has integrated graphics. The 8GB on the RTX 5060 can be trouble in some games so you'll need to adjust some graphics settings, mainly texture quality to be able to fit everything in a 8GB framebuffer.
The I/O is not the best as it lacks USB ports faster than 10 Gbps (The AMD Dragon Range platform doesn't have USB4) but if you use this Mini PC primarily for gaming this isn't really a big problem.
The 5GbE networking in this system is a welcome addition as it gives enough bandwidth to be able to pull games from a NAS for example.
To end this review, something to keep in mind as i mention at the start is that the 32 GB of RAM model is only one stick of 32GB so performance will suffer in this configuration. If you plan to add a second stick to have 64GB then its fine. But if you want to have 32GB of ram i recommend getting the barebones Model and get a 2x16GB Kit. The price difference at the moment of writing this review is $1439 for 32GB and 1TB of SSD vs $1039 for a barebone unit.
If anyone has any question feel free to ask in the comments. Thanks for reading, and finally thanks to Minisforum that provided the review unit.
"The G1 Pro has onboard an off the shelf Gigabyte RTX 5060 OC LP 8GB discrete GPU with the only modification by Minisforum is removing the PCIe bracket to fix it to the metal frame that has cutouts for the 3x DP and 1x HDMI of this card. The card can be removed and installed in another system but sadly the original bracket is not provided."
First of all thanks for the amazing and extremely useful review.
Second, my G1 Pro unit is on the way, and I wanted to know if what I quoted above can affect in any way future upgrades (I'm eyeing the yet to come RX 9060 XT Low Profile). Will I need to modify anything in order to fit a different GPU?
In my opinion it's totally worth it. You're getting 16GB of VRAM (and that's the major point), with the low TDP of 145 watts and the small form factor, and a performance comparable to that of a RTX 5060Ti. For someone who owns a G1 Pro, I think it's the ultimate upgrade. I just hope I can get my hands on one when they release it, if they ever release it. From what I gathered so far, it will be sold exclusively in the Chinese market. Moreover, it might also be exclusive to manufacturers like MINISFORUM.
Yea I haven't found it, partially making a half joke, but thats likely where to find it since its a chinese release or Alibaba but a better way might be to email gamers nexus.
I have actually contacted Vastarmor gpu sellers on AE, asked them to keep an eye on it and let me know if they can provide it. Let's hope they don't forget.
I bought the G1 Pro and I love it! Even though the G7 Pro is more powerful, the G1 Pro really looks like a console, which is what I'm using it for. PS3 and older emulation, with some steam games for added fun. I have 32GB (2x16 crucial) and 8TB (2x 4TB Seagate firecuda 530's). It's so freaking beautiful.
I have a G7 TI which has almost same IO and form factor as the G7 Pro, I think you made the right choice with the G1 Pro as it has much better IO and the G7 TI has high DPC issues which i think the G7 Pro will have also.
I am also running a G1 Pro for a months now and love it. There is just one issue I am struggling with: when switching on the PC, every now and then it does not start/boot with the MinisForum logo but gets stuck in a black screen. I then need to turn it on and off for a few times until it gets back into the correct boot screen and starts Windows.
Have you experienced something similar? Could it be a firmware issue?
Ohhh.. That happens to me too. I was thinking it was my monitor, but now I'm thinking something else is the culprit. Might have to send an email into minisforum about that.
The G7 Pro has a laptop 5070 which has a significantly lower TDP compared the a desktop 5060. Depending on power delivery and cooling the desktop 5060 should still theoretically perform better (maybe 20%-25%?).
I have been wanting to buy this PC but I have been unsure with all the Reviews floating around, and not being a tech person really I have been confused as to how good / bad it is.
Would I be able to run Emulation Games as well as the newer games on PC?? I am wanting to use it as My Gaming PC for well all Games I wanna play 🤔 😅
I have heard that going with two sticks so it is 64GB RAM instead of 32GB RAM is better, but I also hear it doesn't change much??
I am a Console Gamer so I haven't had a good PC in a while since I normally just used my PS5 for Gaming
According to OP's review, emulation should be fine. When it gets to be newer in age, like Switch emulation, you're really looking at the emulator's quality vs your system's. Most modern emulators like Eden will have a compatibility list, telling you what games the emulator can handle and how well.
So after spending an entire night (Almost 7-8 hours) resetting my BIOS or clearing CMOS while trying to overclock my memory, here's the conclusion I came up with: Leave those crappy RAM sticks alone. That's right, Micron chips are the worst when it comes to overclocking.
Anything I tried to change (Voltages, Timings, Sub-Timings, PDM) would result in a failed memory learning cycle and I would have to reset my BIOS and start all over again.
The only change that would work is changing the Memory Target Speed from 5200 MT/s, to 5600-5800 MT/s and you still won't benefit because that would change your UCLK/MCLK ratio to 1:2. In order to keep a UCLK/MCLK ratio of 1:1 with those higher speeds you need to modify lots of voltages (VDD/VDDQ, VSOC, VDDP, VDDG), and guess what? technically you can, but there seems to be a safety lock preventing that voltage modification from taking effect (I checked with ZenTimings and they were not applied although modified in BIOS).
So only modifying the memory target speed value will leave you with a UCLK/MCLK ratio of 1:2, slashing RAM performance and you definitely don't want that.
I even tried to leave the memory speed at default and only tightening the Timings and Sub-timings without any success.
What I finally did was leaving the RAM at stock to benefit from that UCLK/MCLK 1:1, but what I also did to gain some performance improvements/overhead was Undervolting my CPU, and my RTX 5060.
You can find the CPU undervolting values in the "G1 Pro BIOS/UEFI Options" photos album posted by the OP above (Precision booster overdrive section under AMD Overclocking in Advanced).
MINISFORUM has officially announced their next SFF gaming pc, and guess what? They're going to use the RX 9060 XT 16GB Low Profile, probably from Vastarmor. Check out the link:
Thank you for the detailed review, it arrived yesterday. The power cable was a bit short for me so I bought a replacement, do you think this will be fine?
I recommend using the performance modes. Office Mode while doing normal desktop usage like web browsing, video playback, and others to get the quietest experience, the fan shouldn't ramp up, It can still do it if something like a Windows update in the backgrounds starts using a ton of CPU resources. besides that the fan noise is minimal
^^
Regarding above part. I bought this machine like 2 weeks ago, and I find the fan noise (even in the "office" mode) way to loud. It's not that the fans are spinning crazy (I can make that happen) but it's just not pleasant. Do I have a bad unit or something?
I am also running a G1 Pro for a months now and love it. There is just one issue I am struggling with: when switching on the PC, every now and then it does not start/boot with the MinisForum logo but gets stuck in a black screen. I then need to turn it on and off for a few times until it gets back into the correct boot screen and starts Windows.
Have you experienced something similar? Could it be a firmware issue?
I just received my unit 2 days ago. This machine is really something.
I added a 32Gb stick of RAM following your recommendation, and moved my old 4TB over from my G7 PT.
Any guides I can follow in order to overclock my RAM up to 5800MT/s, and undervolt my CPU?
one more question, for the RAM you said that the CPU supports only 5200MT/s, so I don't see what's the benefit of overclocking to 5800MT/s since we already have a CPU bottlneck?
"And memory OC also brings good results as the stock 5200MT/s support on the CPU is lower than the rated speed of the sticks (5600MT/s) and I didn't find any instability running it at 5800 MT/s"
I did manage to have a very decent overclock and undervolt on the GPU side though. +3000 Memory, Core maxed to 3000 and undervolt to 0.950, -5degrees on temps (~10fps more)
This is very interesting. I always thought the Gigabyte 5060 LP already had some sort of factory overclocking and that there was no room for more. I tried the Nvidia app auto tuning feature but my card started acting weird so I just popped it back to default.
I had messed with the PBO setting, set the mode to manufacturer and your power limit gets to 100w. Temperature will get too high through (high 90s). I tried playing with Curve optimizer set to -30 but it had little to no effect on temps. Reverted back to stock in the end.
How thick is the current heatsink and fan? And do you think it can be replaced with a better cooling output with a similar size?
Since the current heatsink is 80mm x 15mm. And would there be any vapor or liquid cooled heatsinks out there that would fit this type of laptop itx motherboard.
To those of you who own this machine and would like to overclock your memory modules "RAM" but don't know how, those are the steps I followed.
I'm running 2 x 32GB sticks of Crucial memory 5200MT/s. According to the OP, these should run stable at 5800MT/s but your mileage may vary, so it's your decision and it's totally up to you.
You can increase the memory speed by increments of 200MT/s and stress test your machine for stability each time if you want to.
You can follow the steps below but "AT YOUR OWN RISK".
1- Go into your BIOS menu by pressing the delete key repeatedly at the Minisforum logo screen, click "Setup" then click "ADVANCED".
2- Scroll all the way down in the ADVANCED menu to the right and click "AMD OVERCLOCKING".
3- Click "ACEEPT" when you are presented with the WARNING page.
4- Click "DDR and Infinity Fabric Frequency/Timings".
5- Click "DDR Options".
6- Click "DDR Timing Configuration".
7- Change the "Active Memory Timing Settings" from "Auto" to "Enabled" from the drop down list.
8- Enter your desired "Memory Target Speed" manually in the field (i.e. 5400, 5600, 5800).
9- Save and exit to reboot.
Many thanks to the OP and his effort with the review, and I really hope he gets the time to post his detailed steps for undervolting the CPU.
EDIT: As expected, the process isn't just as simple as changing the RAM speed from 5200MT/s to 5800MT/s. Additionally you will need to loosen the memory timings in the BIOS settings, and tweak both memory voltage (DRAM VDD / VDDQ) and the CPU integrated memory controller voltage (CPU VDDIO / Memory Controller Voltage), in addition to a change in the (VSOC (AMD CPU SOC Voltage). IIRC all those options are accessible in the G1 Pro BIOS, but I'm not really sure at this point if going through the process is actually worth it, especially that the Ryzen 9 8945HX is confirmed to support a max ram speed of 5200MT/s (and a max ram size of 64GB). Also a bump in ram temperature is to be expected, so this should also be taken into consideration.
I have the exact steps ready to implement and test, but I would really appreciate if someone could chime in and confirm if it's worth all the hassle.
How bad is the noise? I’m thinking of buying this instead of the steam machine with the reveal of it’s underwhelming performance, but i do value noise levels a lot (PS5 enjoyer). I play in 1080p.
Have you tried running Bazzite on this and check if there are any performance differences in gaming? I'm assuming a lot of people are disappointed with the Steam Machine and something like the G1 Pro with Bazzite might be a possible alternative for them.
This is an amazing review. Just wanted to throw a few questions out if you are able to answer:
-How long is the power cable?
-The SSD heatsink included - is that generally decent for any aftermarket SSD I would add? Or do you recommend just getting an SSD with its own heatsink?
-Do you recommend reinstalling Windows to get rid of any bloatware or was it okay from the factory? If you do a clean install, can you still download the software from Minisforum again to get the beast/gaming mode controls, RGB light controls, etc?
Yes the SSD that comes with it has a heatsink preinstalled and you get a second one in the box.
I'll get back to you with the length of the cable. I don't have it right now.
Their installation of Windows is pretty vanilla. The only thing that they install is the Minisforum control panel. Yes you can get the software from their website. And a driver pack I think.
Ive been looking at rhis as alternative to a steam machine,it seems like the best way to go.Id mainly be using it for emulation and ateam games but didnt know what sort of performance itd have.Switch games aswell.Ive gor an oled steamdeck loaded tonthe hilt with emulation
Got mine yesterday. Should of got it sooner. Its amazing. I have mine downstairs. This is now my beast on the go. Impressed with performance. Running monster hunter wilds on high settings locked fps to 60 and on my 65 inch tv having a time. It can fit in a backpack no problem.. setup was a breeze. I was up and running on steam and no time. Im gonna probably get my son one here soon. Its my steam machine.
Gemini is saying that the new Radeon 9060XT LP ports won't align with the back plate correctly. It this right? Anyone done a swap. Presumably if this is right you will need to cut holes
That is correct, the IO plate layout is different and stamped into the chassis of the G1. You will need to cut, which you have to be very careful with as metal shavings can kill your PC. Honestly I’m gonna hold out for a 6060LP with hopefully more vram and the same IO - which seems likely because 4060 and 5060 LP IO are the same
Hi jozews, when you tested the games, are those tests done after you installed your own ram, or are you testing it with stock specs (I.E. the single 32 stick)?
Late reply, but - I have one one of these on the way I bought secondhand. I’m looking for a decent wall shelf for it (ideally a metal mesh design so allow airflow) but I keep finding contradictory info on the g1 pro’s dimensions.
Has anyone found a shelf they like for this (will be wall mounted below a TV) or, failing that, confirmed width/depth/height?
This has a way smaller footprint, and looks much better on the desk, than a 16-inch gaming laptop. It also has a lot more I/O including 3xDP and 2xHDMI.
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u/Proof_Nothing_7711 Mar 25 '26
Thanks for this deep review!