I recently purchased a mini PC for under a thousand yuan specifically for a review episode. Many of my long-time followers might have seen that episode. To be honest, I didn’t have high expectations for this mini PC since it was my first time using one. I just wanted something to help me handle office software at home and occasionally watch videos. However, I discovered that although I bought the Zero刻 EQ59 Pro mini PC, which is primarily designed for office use, it has a lot of potential. I could even play some less demanding games, like League of Legends, without any issues on low graphics settings. This experience has sparked my interest in mini PCs, prompting me to increase my budget to 2000 yuan to see if I can find a more mainstream configuration with better performance.
In fact, my main goal in upgrading to a more powerful mini PC is to replace my desktop computer at home. Please don’t mention RGB lighting; I am honestly tired of it. I just want a simple and clean desktop. The previous mini PC I bought for a thousand yuan met my office needs, but I wanted something more powerful, ideally capable of playing large AAA games. I initially considered Intel’s NUC, but with a budget of 2000 yuan, I couldn’t find a better configuration. Ultimately, I bought another Zero刻 product, the SER5, which is equipped with an AMD 5600H processor. To be precise, the Zero刻 SER5 mini PC is considered a mid-to-high-end option in their lineup. Compared to the plastic body of the Intel NUC, the SER5 features a full metal body design. I’ve been using it as my primary machine for the past month, and I want to share my thoughts on whether it’s good enough to replace a regular desktop.
First, I want to clarify that I purchased this mini PC with my own money. I bought the 16GB version for 2088 yuan, which is about 400 yuan cheaper than the 32GB version. For me, this configuration offers the best price-to-performance ratio. The experiences and opinions I share in this article are subjective, so let’s discuss both the pros and cons, as well as some concerns people might have, such as the performance of mini PCs at this price point, their smoothness, heat dissipation, power consumption, and more. After all, with such a small chassis, even if the CPU is powerful, poor heat dissipation can lead to throttling, making it ineffective. Can the Zero刻 SER5 with the AMD 5600H processor handle large AAA games? Let’s find out.
Upon receiving the unit, the first step was to open it up and verify its contents. Since I bought the version with a 512GB hard drive, I wanted to see if I could expand the storage later and check if the memory could be upgraded. Opening it up was quite simple; I just had to unscrew four screws on the bottom cover and carefully remove the back cover. When removing the back cover, I had to be cautious not to damage the hard drive cable. Once opened, I found that the internal design of the SER5 was very neat and well-crafted, giving it a professional feel. In fact, Zero刻 has been doing particularly well in international markets and has only recently started focusing on the domestic market.
Back to the main topic, I discovered that the internal design included two memory slots. My 16GB version already had two 8GB DDR4-3200 memory sticks installed from a reputable brand, which is commendable. There’s room for memory upgrades; if desired, I could upgrade to two 16GB sticks for a total of 32GB in dual-channel mode. As for the hard drive slots, I found two: one for an M.2 NVMe protocol hard drive, which came with a 500GB Kingston SSD, and another 2.5-inch HDD or SSD slot for additional storage.
The Zero刻 SER5 is equipped with a MediaTek MT7921K wireless card, supporting WIFI6E and Bluetooth 5.2, providing very fast internet speeds, which is currently standard for flagship devices.
The key point is that the SER5 is powered by an AMD Ryzen5-5600H processor with a TDP of 35W. This processor uses TSMC’s 7nm FinFET process technology, featuring six Zen3 architecture CPU cores, twelve threads, and 16MB of L3 cache, with a base frequency of 3.3GHz and a maximum boost frequency of 4.2GHz. Additionally, AMD’s integrated graphics are renowned for their performance; this SoC also includes the AMD Radeon Vega 7 graphics core running at 1800MHz, which is comparable in performance to the Geforce MX350 discrete graphics card. So, in terms of specifications, the performance of this mini PC rivals that of laptops priced around 5000 yuan.
The overall dimensions of the SER5 are 126 X 113 X 42 mm, similar to my previous thousand-yuan EQ59. However, the SER5 has active cooling, which demonstrates the manufacturer’s engineering capabilities in creating such a compact design. Although it’s small, Zero刻 has managed to provide a rich array of ports within the limited space.
On the front of the unit, there are two USB 3.0 ports and one full-function Type-C port, along with a 3.5mm audio jack (compatible with microphones) and a red power button. The Type-C port not only supports data transfer but also supports video output up to 4K@60Hz and PD 3.0 power delivery protocol. This means you can connect it directly to an external portable display, powering the monitor while transmitting video.
On the back of the unit, there is one USB 3.0 port, one USB 2.0 port, two HDMI 2.0 ports, and one DC power input. With two HDMI ports, the SER5 can easily connect to two displays simultaneously. Coupled with the full-function Type-C port, it can support three displays at once, which is great news for users who enjoy dual or triple screen setups.
Regarding heat dissipation, which is a concern of mine, I can see that Zero刻’s engineers have worked hard to optimize the cooling system, featuring a large area of metal ventilation holes and a dual-fan heat dissipation system with dual copper heat pipes, resulting in excellent thermal performance.
During the month I’ve had the unit, I tested various scenarios, including opening multiple browsers and web pages while simultaneously watching high-definition videos and playing large games. The cooling performance was much better than I expected. In a room with a temperature of 26°C, the thermal performance was impressive, without the loud fan noise often encountered with laptops. The surface of the unit did not become hot like my laptop does after prolonged use. Overall, I am quite satisfied with the cooling performance, which alleviated my concerns regarding high-performance mini PCs.
Next, I prepared to power on the unit. To be honest, setting up the mini PC resulted in a very clean desktop. If you use a regular monitor, you can even mount it on the back of the monitor, transforming it into an all-in-one PC. However, I believe the best setup is to place it on the desk with a portable monitor and a set of wireless keyboard and mouse, creating a very neat and beautiful workspace.
I specifically purchased a lightweight 16-inch EHOMEWEI Q3 portable monitor that supports 2.5K resolution. I chose this monitor mainly because I found the Q3 to have excellent cost-performance, priced at just over 1300 yuan. It supports touch operation and pressure-sensitive pen input, making it very practical for daily office tasks like drawing and taking notes, which ordinary monitors cannot achieve. Thus, I believe that mini PCs are best paired with portable monitors.
The EHOMEWEI Q3 portable monitor weighs only 900g, and the Zero刻 SER5 weighs 455g, making the total weight under 1500g. While mini PCs are not as portable as laptops, when paired with such a lightweight monitor, they can even be taken along occasionally. They fit perfectly in the monitor’s carrying case that comes with the EHOMEWEI.
The EHOMEWEI Q3 monitor supports touch operations, and the Zero刻 SER5 comes pre-installed with a genuine Windows 11 Professional system. This means it can run Android subsystems, and Windows 11 now runs Android subsystems perfectly, making it even more enjoyable with touch functionality.
The EHOMEWEI Q3 features a 2560×1600 resolution IPS display with a 16:10 aspect ratio, providing nearly 5.1% more display area than standard 16:9 screens. The color gamut covers 100% DCI-P3, which is richer than the mainstream 100% sRGB color gamut.
The EHOMEWEI Q3 also comes with an active pen that supports Microsoft protocols. The pen has two buttons corresponding to the eraser and right-click functions. This active pen supports 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity, matching the specifications of the Microsoft Surface + Pen. When paired with the SER5, and with the right software, it can significantly enhance productivity.
Including some professional handwriting software like Microsoft OneNote, the 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity make it suitable for various drawing tools, and the precision of the Q3’s pen is much higher than that of ordinary capacitive pens, making it perfect for daily note-taking, annotations, and drawings.
For the keyboard, I chose the recently released CHERRY MX-LP 2.1 low-profile three-mode wireless mechanical keyboard. I particularly like mechanical keyboards, but standard mechanical keyboard switches are usually quite tall, making them uncomfortable without a wrist rest. The CHERRY MX-LP switch is about 35% lower than standard MX switches, enabling faster key actuation by about 40%, maintaining the mechanical feel while being comfortable without a wrist rest.
The most important feature of this keyboard is that it supports not only 2.4G wireless mode but also three-channel Bluetooth 5.2 mode, allowing it to connect to my computer, phone, tablet, and more simultaneously. The keyboard is also compact and lightweight, making it a perfect match for the SER5 and EHOMEWEI Q3 monitor. It’s very convenient to carry around occasionally, fitting easily into one bag. Additionally, this keyboard supports RGB lighting with 16.8 million colors, providing a soft and visually appealing light effect.
After assembling this computer, I powered it on and entered the system. The Zero刻 SER5 comes pre-installed with a genuine Windows 11 Professional system, which is quite impressive compared to many laptops that only come with the Home edition.
In the benchmark test using Ludu Master, the CPU scored nearly 420,000, the graphics card scored over 95,000, the memory scored 100,000, and the hard drive scored 130,000. These scores are on par with mainstream flagship computers.
Thanks to the dual-channel memory, the GTR’s memory bandwidth and throughput performance are also outstanding. In CPU-Z, the 5600H scored 531.9 in single-core and 3798.7 in multi-core tests.
I also ran a performance test on the Kingston SSD using CrystalDiskMark, achieving read speeds of 2228.1MB/s and write speeds of 1626.6MB/s, which aligns with the official data. As an M.2 NVMe SSD, this drive’s speed performance is very mainstream.
Additionally, I purchased a Western Digital external hard drive for backup storage, where I keep important files. When I connected the external hard drive to the Zero刻 SER5’s USB port, I tested its speed, achieving read speeds of 149.2MB/s and write speeds of 113.4MB/s, which is standard for mechanical external hard drives.
In fact, even though solid-state drives are now quite affordable, they have a significant drawback: if they fail, data cannot be recovered. Therefore, having a mechanical external hard drive for storing important files and developing a habit of backing up critical data is essential. If the SSD fails, there is still a chance to recover data from a mechanical drive.
In fact, the hardware configuration of the Zero刻 SER5 is indeed very strong, and the performance of the Radeon Vega 7 graphics core is sufficient to run most 3D games smoothly at reasonable settings. Therefore, we specifically tested its gaming performance. While playing Genshin Impact at 2K resolution with medium effects, the average frame rate was 22 fps; at 1080P resolution with medium effects, the average frame rate reached 47 fps. As long as the settings are adjusted properly, it’s possible to play large AAA games smoothly.
Of course, for online games, playing games like League of Legends at 2K resolution is effortless, with an average frame rate of 180 FPS. For such online games, the Zero刻 SER5 performs exceptionally well and runs smoothly.
Finally, let me summarize my experiences using the Zero刻 SER5 mini PC over the past month. Clearly, as a mini PC priced at 2000 yuan, it may lack a screen and portability compared to laptops, but it offers excellent value for money. The SER5 is equipped with a powerful AMD Ryzen5-5600H processor with a TDP of 35W, which is comparable to laptops priced around 5000 yuan. I believe this mini PC is the best solution for replacing bulky desktop computers at home. If you, like me, enjoy a clean desktop, the SER5 is very suitable for home use as a primary computer.
Unlike large desktop towers, which can be cumbersome with messy power cables, a mini PC like this, especially when paired with a portable monitor, not only looks clean and tidy but can also be moved easily, even to the living room for use with a TV. In terms of expandability, if you enjoy dual or triple screens, this mini PC can connect up to three displays, fully meeting our multi-screen needs. It’s perfectly capable of handling office tasks and can even run large games smoothly at lower settings. Overall, it’s much more convenient than my old desktop. What do you think?