If you're looking for a mini PC that's a little smaller than your desktop, the first thing that might come to mind is the Intel NUC series.
Although the NUC Mini PC is very popular, there are comparable lower-priced computers on the market.
If you don't want to pay the high price for an Intel NUC, you can consider an alternative from GEEKOM.
GEEKOM only entered the mini PC market earlier this year, but their first model, the Mini IT8, equipped with a powerful i5-8259U processor, a licensed Windows 11 operating system and a very attractive price tag, is moving in has been attracting a lot of attention lately.
Design and execution:
Unlike our usual Intel NUC Mini PC, the GEEKOM Mini IT8 a well-ventilated PC ABS case measuring 117mm x 112mm x 45.6mm to house the Intel Core i5-8259U SoC and other internal components.
The matte black finish on the top might not win any beauty contests, but it gives the device a premium look in an understated way. Branding is in the center of the top and an “Intel Inside” logo in the top right corner.
The GEEKOM Mini IT8 offers a lot of IO for its size. On the front there is a USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A port, a USB-C port (data only), and a 3.5mm audio port with microphone support. The power button on the right has an integrated status LED that glows blue when the device is booted up.
On the back there are two more USB 3.2 Gen2 ports, a Gigabyte Ethernet socket, an HDMI 2.0b, a mini DisplayPort 1.4, a multifunction Type-C (data & display) and a DC-In.
As the attentive viewer has noticed, the device can control three 4K screens at the same time. GEEKOM advertises that the Mini IT8 supports four screens simultaneously, but to achieve that you need one Type-C hub with two video output interfaces, and it's not exactly cheap.
Due to the recent sharp increase in the price of card readers, many PC manufacturers have removed memory card slots from their PC products, but not GEEKOM, because there is an SDXC slot on the left side of this mini PC.
Accessing the innards couldn't be easier: just unscrew the four screws and you can remove the base plate.
There are two memory slots on the Mini IT8's motherboard, an M.2 2280 NVMe/SATA SSD slot and a connector for a 2.5-inch SATA HDD/SSD. You can use up to 32GB of dual-channel DDR4-2400 memory and up to 3TB of total internal storage.
The Mini IT8 doesn't have fancy features like WiFi6 or 2.5Gbps Ethernet like some do higher quality mini PCs do. But dual-band WiFi5 still offers fast and reliable wireless Internet access, and the Gigabyte Ethernet jack can come in handy if you want a more stable data rate.
Due to the shockproof Magnalium frame, the Mini IT8 is a little heavier than most other Mini PCs of the same size. The device I tested weighs 580g alone (with two memory sticks and an M.2 2280 NVMe drive).
If we add the relatively bulky Power Brick, the total weight reaches 996g. In comparison, the Intel NUC 8, which is about the same size, weighs 684g alone and 1224g with the power adapter. The GEEKOM Mini IT8 can be easily transported around the house or taken to work.
System & App:
Most mini PCs and laptops run the Home Edition of the Windows operating system. However, as a mini PC equivalent to an Intel NUC, the GEEKOM Mini IT8 comes with the licensed Windows 11 Pro, which offers some additional features.
The most important of these is the ability to join a domain, including Azure Active Directory for single sign-on to cloud services (and applying Group Policy as part of it).
You also get Hyper-V for virtualization, BitLocker full-disk encryption, Internet Explorer in Enterprise Mode, Remote Desktop, a version of the Windows Store for your own business, Enterprise Data Protection containers (a feature rolling out later this year ) and assigned access (which locks a PC from running only one modern application to use it like a kiosk).
Pro users can get updates from Windows Update for Business, which includes options to schedule updates so PCs don't have to restart during important business hours.
Windows 11 Pro is completely clean, with no pre-installed third-party apps or bloatware that you need to uninstall after the first boot. The Windows 11 OS license is automatically activated as soon as the mini PC gains internet access.
Performance:
The GEEKOM Mini IT8 is powered by an Intel Core i5-8259U processor (2.3-3.8GHz) manufactured using a 14nm process and has 4 CPU cores, 8 processing threads and an integrated Iris Plus 655 graphics features.
This processor is from 2018, so it can't compete with the high-end chips in the latest Intel NUC products, but it should be more than capable of handling any mainstream computing tasks you want to throw at it.
Benchmarks:
First, I ran Maxon's CPU-heavy Cinebench R20 test, which utilizes all available processor cores and threads. Cinebench uses the CPU, not the graphics processor, to render a complex image.
The result is a proprietary score that indicates a PC's suitability for processor-intensive workloads. The Mini IT8 scored 373 points in CPU single-core and 1613 points in multi-core. Somehow the Mini IT8 has managed to outperform its equivalent in the Intel NUC, the NUC8i7BEH, which features a higher-end Core i7-8559U chip.
Each Geekbench 5 CPU workload models a real-world task or application to ensure meaningful results. These tests are complex, avoid simple problems with simple memory access patterns, and push the limits of the system under test.
The GEEKOM Mini IT8 performed quite well in the CPU tests and once again beat the Intel NUC8 in multicore performance. It also scored 8651 points in OpenCL, suggesting that the integrated graphics here can do much more than just office work.
PCMark 10 simulates various real-world productivity and content creation workflows. We use it to evaluate the system's overall performance for office-oriented tasks such as word processing, spreadsheets, web browsing, and video conferencing. The Mini IT8 achieved a score of 4186 in the standard PCMark 10 test and was therefore not far behind the i5-1135G7-powered Beelink GTI11.
My test device is equipped with a Kingston m.2 2280 NVMe SSD. At nearly 2.5GB/s for reading data from the drive, it's still more than ideal for booting Windows and all your favorite applications.
If you get a GEEKOM Mini IT8, you should ask the seller for the full configuration of your device, as you will need dual-channel memory to get the best performance from the mini PC.
In the AIDA64 cache and memory benchmark, the memory read, write and copy speeds almost double after the dual-channel setup, and the performance of the integrated GPU also benefits.
What can GEEKOM Mini IT8 do?
As an excellent Intel NUC alternative, the GEEKOM Mini IT8 was very efficient in all types of everyday computing tasks, including office workflows, web browsing and multimedia. There were no issues or lags when loading 10+ image-heavy webpages in Chrome, playing an 8K video, and running a few large apps side by side.
Light creative tasks weren't a problem for this mini PC either, as it was fast and perfectly responsive when running applications like Photoshop and Lightroom. Even video editing, which should be a challenge for most SFF PCs, is a breeze on the Mini IT8.
When I added filters to multiple 1080P clips at once, the device didn't seem to struggle, although it took more time for each task than the Ryzen9-5900HX-powered Beelink GTR5. This means that you should not use this mini PC for editing 4K videos as this requires even more processing power from the system.
Gaming
The Intel Iris Plus 655 Graphics GPU in the Core i5-8259U isn't as fast as the Iris Xe graphics in the 11th and 12th Gen Intel Core processors, but it's still a much better integrated GPU than that Intel UHD graphics in the Celeron and Pentium processors, and the results of the 3DMark test speak for themselves. The Mini IT8 received 7428 points in Sky Diver, 1957 points in Fire Strike and 743 points in Time Spy.
League of Legend ran quite smoothly in 1080P and medium settings. Even in the most intense fight scenes, there were no noticeable frame jumps or stutters. GamePP recorded an average of 98fps, pretty decent for a mid-range mini PC.
Genshin Impact was playable at 1080P and medium settings, but averaging just 30 frames per second, it's not exactly a joy to play. After we lowered the resolution to 720P, GamePP recorded an average of 49 frames per second and the game ran noticeably smoother.
It was very similar with Spell Break. At 1080P and medium settings we averaged 41 fps, which wasn't too bad, but there were noticeable frame drops and lag in some of the more complex scenes. If you lower the resolution to 720p, the frame rate can stay consistently above 55fps.
As the results show, although the Mini IT8 is not designed for gaming, it can run most modern games at moderate settings. And if you're a fan of simpler, casual games like Angry Birds, Plant VS Zombies, or other games from the Microsoft Store, then you shouldn't worry about the smoothness.
HTPC
If gaming isn't one of the Mini IT8's strengths, media playback is! According to DXVA Checker, the Iris Plus 655 GPU inside the device can decode most video formats up to 4K or 8K.
If you have a collection of high-definition movies and series, you're in for a treat! I tested dozens of 4K and 8K clips on the Mini IT8, all of which played smoothly. Since the Mini PC always worked with hardware decoding, CPU usage was low and the fan remained relatively quiet during video playback.
Streaming high-resolution online videos was also no problem for the Mini IT8. When playing an 8K@60fps YouTube video in the Chrome browser, the CPU and GPU utilization was 40 % and 81 %, respectively, and playback was extremely liquid.
Power consumption, temperature and noise development
The power consumption of the GEEKOM Mini IT8 is 15 watts when idle and 70 watts at maximum load. That's not the most energy efficient we've ever seen, but it's still more environmentally friendly than most Intel NUC computers. Internal CPU temperatures ranged from 35℃ at idle to 78℃ under maximum load, causing the fan to spin up.
The Mini IT8 remained quiet when it came to light tasks. I was able to watch the courtroom drama “Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard” all day long without hearing any noise from the device. However, the fan makes audible noise when the system is under heavy use.
Luckily it wasn't too loud or too disruptive. If you have the Mini IT8 placed under your desk or behind a monitor in an office cubicle, it is very unlikely that you will be disturbed by the fan noise.
Conclusion
There's a lot to like about the GEEKOM Mini IT8. It is a comfortable size and fits even the tightest of desks. It is also extremely versatile, offering a range of different connections, mounting options and configurations to suit almost any business need imaginable.
There are many reasons why a GEEKOM Mini IT8 is a better choice than an Intel nuc. If you're looking for a small desktop PC that's more than capable of handling your daily tasks, yet affordable enough to not break your bank, the IT8 is too good an option to be overlooked.
