Every time I review a mini PC, there’s always a group of people in the comments who, like a hundred thousand whys, ask, “Why would anyone like a mini PC?” As someone who transitioned from a desktop to a mini PC, I completely understand, but I can’t argue with them. Just like when I was younger, I was repulsed just by seeing someone on the bus holding a durian. However… now I can’t resist the temptation of durians at all, haha. So, if you don’t try something, it’s hard to understand why others love it so much, and the same goes for mini PCs.
Here, we don’t have a large chassis, noisy fans, or years of accumulated dust. We also don’t lack various ports, and we can change our mood and position anytime. The main features are mini size, space-saving, aesthetic appeal, and a certain degree of portability, which is why I love mini PCs. Of course, some people question, “With such a small mini PC, won’t the performance be terrible?” Well, your mindset is still stuck in the last century; wake up, my friend.
Without further ado, today I’m bringing you a review of the GEEKOM Mini IT11 mini PC, a brand that is quite popular in overseas markets and has just entered the domestic market in the past two years. Some friends, especially those who have not yet entered the mini PC circle, may not be familiar with it. So, what are the highlights of this mini computer that make it worth buying? Let’s first look at the front of the device, which features a status indicator light, a Thunderbolt 4 port, a USB 3.0 port, a headphone/microphone audio jack, and the power button.
The back of the device is equipped with a power port, mini DP port, gigabit LAN port, two USB 3.0 ports, Thunderbolt 4, and HDMI. While the number of each type of port may not be many, the variety is quite comprehensive.
I personally appreciate that the GEEKOM Mini IT11 has a Thunderbolt 4/USB4 port on both the front and back, which means I can use a Type-C video cable to connect directly to a portable screen. One cable can handle both video output and power supply for the portable monitor, which saves a lot of desk space. The front Thunderbolt 4 port is also suitable for gamers who need high-end graphics, allowing them to connect an external GPU dock to utilize their high-end graphics card, thus enabling the mini PC to play AAA titles.
On the left and right sides of the GEEKOM Mini IT11, there’s an SD card slot for easily transferring photos taken with a DSLR camera to the computer. The other side features a Kensington lock slot, which is useful for companies and groups that have a demand for anti-theft as GEEKOM is primarily marketed overseas. This demand is not very high in domestic markets, as those responsible for procurement in companies tend to stick to traditional brands. As far as I know, they mostly procure Lenovo, Dell, etc., and if a state-owned enterprise were to procure this, they would probably be criticized. However, perhaps in the near future, as the post-90s and post-00s take charge, the landscape might change.
After unscrewing the four screws at the bottom of the host (I must say, the worker who screwed these in really put in a lot of effort; I’ve never seen screws assembled this tightly; it requires a lot of force to unscrew), opening it reveals the motherboard without any additional protection. The memory consists of two Micron 8GB dual-channel DDR4 SODIMM, which can be expanded to a maximum of 64GB. The hard drive is a Lexar NM620 M.2 2280 NVMe SSD, but the model indicates it’s PCIe 3.0, and you can also upgrade to a 2TB SSD later. Additionally, there’s a 2.5-inch SATA hard drive slot on the right side of the bottom plate, which can also be expanded to 2TB.
The configuration is as shown: Processor: Intel Core i7-11390H, Graphics Card: Intel Iris Xe Graphics, Network Card: Intel WiFi 6 AX201, firmly part of the Intel family.
According to the score from Lu Master, it scores 850,000 points, able to run online games like DOTA2, League of Legends smoothly, as well as PS drawing software, etc. However, looking at the graphics card score, it definitely cannot handle large games like Nioh or PUBG, as these types are quite demanding on the graphics card. Intel’s integrated graphics still have a considerable gap compared to AMD’s, but Intel is more suitable for CPU calculations and video processing capabilities than AMD’s U, mainly depending on the usage.
The Lexar NM620 was tested with CrystalDiskMark, showing a read speed of 3438MB/s and a write speed of 2666MB/s. Although it cannot compare with the faster speeds of PCIe 4.0 SSDs, this speed is actually sufficient for daily entertainment and office work. When watching videos and dragging the progress bar, the hard drive speed can keep up.
The Intel i7-11390H is quite common among laptop products, such as the Honor MagicBook V14 (7999 yuan), HP Envy 14 (7099 yuan), Dell Inspiron 13 Pro (5699 yuan), etc. However, laptops come with a display and keyboard, which adds to the cost, so the price can’t compare with mini PCs. After all, the GEEKOM Mini IT11 is priced at only half of those, at 3399 yuan.
Next, let’s look at the regular tests for integrated graphics. In the 3DMARK tests, Time Spy scored 1469, Fire Strike scored 3809, and Sky Diver scored 11810, showing that this belongs to a mid-range level. Want to play AAA games? Don’t even think about it, but typical mid-level games like League of Legends are no problem.
In the CineBench R23 test, it scored 1547 for single-core and 5653 for multi-core, showing that its single-core performance is quite powerful, surpassing the i7-1165G7.
In the data comparison, it’s not hard to see that the CPU speed and turbo clock speed of the i7-11390H are faster, and the GPU frequency of 1400MHz is also faster than the 1165G7, but the difference is not too big.
At this point, I recall something. Since December last year, I have conservatively estimated that I have sold over 200 mini PCs, especially in the days following the Xiaomi mini PC launch event. My goodness, my commission skyrocketed, but all the units sold were not the Xiaomi mini PC, haha. It’s quite funny, but I have to thank Xiaomi for successfully drawing more attention to the mini PC industry. So why did everyone choose other brands instead of Xiaomi? The reason is simple: Xiaomi’s price of 3799 yuan only comes with an Intel i5-1240P processor, which is quite disappointing. At this price, you can easily buy a better alternative that offers more than just the 1240P. Although it’s a 12th-generation i5 processor, it cannot compete with the i7 11th-generation processor in processing capability and integrated graphics performance. Plus, GEEKOM’s model is only 3399 yuan, which is 400 yuan cheaper. If you want dual Thunderbolt, GEEKOM has it too. How can Xiaomi compete?
Compared to AMD’s U, Intel’s integrated graphics cannot compete, but for video processing, Intel has a natural advantage with its QSV technology. Intel’s 11th and 12th-generation Core processors all feature Xe architecture integrated graphics, which support the 8th generation Intel Quick Sync Video technology, so whether it’s watching 4K videos or video editing, the processing speed is better.
For example, among processors in the same price range, Intel has stronger rendering capabilities when using video editing software like CapCut and Adobe suite, resulting in shorter output times. The multi-format encoder engine indeed gives Intel’s 11th and 12th-generation processors a more advantageous position in these scenarios.
Next, let’s discuss some shortcomings I encountered during the experience, mainly two points that I hope GEEKOM will improve in future products:
1. The first is that the status indicator light on the front of the device is too conspicuous and blinks. There’s really no need for it to blink to indicate the working status of the host. It would be better to design it to be always on or simply remove it, as there is already a constant indicator light on the power button on the right side. It’s a bit redundant and can be distracting at night; I’ve already covered it with opaque tape.
2. The second is that when the device is powered on, the default setting for the power button on the right side is to shut down with a single click. While I understand this, I personally suggest changing it to sleep or hibernate by default in the system packaging, as accidental touches of this button can occur during daily use (I’ve accidentally touched it twice already), resulting in an immediate shutdown of the system, which is quite frustrating. I strongly recommend changing it to default to sleep.
Finally, let’s talk about something that most people care about, which is the overall temperature control and heat dissipation of the device. This is one aspect that left a deep impression on me regarding the GEEKOM Mini IT11 mini PC. Throughout the experience, I found that its daily CPU temperature only ranged from 40-50℃, with excellent temperature control. During the Lu Master stress test for cooling, its maximum temperature only reached 81℃ at the moment of screenshot. During most stress testing, it was only in the 60s, with an average temperature of 66℃. This cooling performance can be said to be quite satisfactory; how about the temperature control of the GEEKOM Mini IT11?
In conclusion, for a price of 3399 yuan, you can obtain a better i7-11390H processor compared to Xiaomi’s mini PC priced at 3799 yuan with the 1240P. Moreover, it has rich front and back ports, two Thunderbolt 4 ports that can handle video and power supply to a portable screen, as well as the possibility to connect an external GPU dock to enhance gaming performance. Although there are shortcomings, they are easy to improve. If you don’t usually play large games or if you have an external GPU dock and RTX30 or RTX40 series graphics cards, purchasing the GEEKOM Mini IT11 mini PC for video editing, AutoCAD design, or watching 4K videos is still a very good choice. If you’re interested, take advantage of the subsidies available on various platforms on March 8th to get one for an experience.