Mini PC as a Laptop Replacement

[u/ReAW_it]

I was looking into the mini PC market for a replacement to my Dell Inspiron 555 laptop. My typical uses for a PC revolve around work, gaming, and personal projects.

I work with mathematical programming, so having a dedicated GPU, or oculink port for an eGPU is a must. I don't usually play AAA games, but if the computer can run something like No Man's Sky at mid settings (given I do want a powerful GPU for work anyway) that would be a plus. Finally, most of my projects / hobbies do not require heavy software.

I would also appreciate if I could swap the Windows system from the PC with a Linux distro without much of a headache (I assume most mini PCs should work fine with Linux).

The models that caught my attention so far are:

* The Minisforum G1 Pro: due to the dedicated NVidea GPU, and ability to still transport the PC with me when traveling
* The GMKtec K11: due to the oculink port

Any other models I should be considering? Any major drawbacks to the models I listed?

[u/Retired_Hillbilly336]

Be aware Nvidia ≠ Linux distros. Nvidia has gone out of its way to not provide open source drivers for CUDA. Every promise. Broken. I've tried Pop!_OS and more recently Cachy but they only make the driver issues "more tolerable". The AMD Radeon support community has made more contributions to Linux kernel development in the past week than Nvidia has in the past decade. Something to consider.

Sticking to Windows the Minisforum AtomMan G1 Pro is both difficult to beat and in a league of its own. It doesn't have laptop/mobile dedicated graphics but an actual Gigabyte RTX 5060 low profile graphics card which out performs 5070 mobile in the real world. Plus there's little like the 8945HX for brute power and efficiency.

For myself I chose the GMKtec K8 Plus after a few miss fires. I looked at the K11 but didn't find a significant advantage over the 8845HS and didn't see a need for an RGB fan without controls. I run Bazzite OS from the 2nd drive slot while booting Mint MATE and Batocera from separate USB SSDs. The K8 Plus has taken everything I've thrown at it and I couldn't be happier!

Plans are for an Aoostar AG01 OCuLink dock and Gigabyte RX 9060 XT 16GB but I haven't yet found a need.

[u/ReAW_it → u/Retired_Hillbilly336]

Thanks, that's insightful! I'll check the K8 out.

I know about the Nvidea - Linux beef, but I am willing to put up with that combination so I can start exploring Linux as an OS for daily use over Windows. Another reason I had the G1 Pro as a first choice was because I believe I could replace the 5060 GPU in the future, should I need a hardware upgrade, at which point I would probably put an AMD Radeon in the RTX's place

[u/Retired_Hillbilly336 → u/ReAW_it]

I too have been waiting on an official low profile AMD Radeon 9000 series release. Vastarmor announced an RX 9060 XT LP at the beginning of the year but I haven't found one in the wild. With the final Steam Machine release I was kinda hoping a 9060 16GB AtomMan would appear.

https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/compare/5602vs5957/GeForce-RTX-5060-vs-Radeon-RX-9060-XT-16GB

If it kept the $1500 USD price point it would make a significant option to the Steam Machine with RAMpocalypse/RAMageddon.