Have you noticed? When it comes to computers, many people’s first reaction is to go to a computer market to assemble a machine. Only those who know a bit about building computers might order various parts online to assemble a regular desktop. However, to be honest, most people around me don’t really understand computers and can only go offline. My first assembled desktop was a disaster; I got an old CPU and a low-quality power supply and motherboard. As you can see, desktops have indeed declined, and most people prefer to buy a branded laptop. However, laptops are still not convenient for connecting to a large screen at home.

But I found that since last year, mini PCs have started to gain popularity. In fact, mini PCs have been around for a while; Intel has been producing this type of product for years under the name NUC. Gradually, many manufacturers have started making mini PCs. One of the earlier and influential brands internationally is the domestic brand ZhiKe. Of course, some big international companies like ASUS and Lenovo are also in the game, but it seems they are not very focused on mini PCs since laptops are their main business. I started paying attention to mini PCs two years ago and bought a ZhiKe GTR5, which has been my main machine for office work for over a year and a half. It has been very stable. At that time, this configuration was the highest available, but I found that if you don’t play games, there’s no need to buy the top configuration. ZhiKe’s cost-effective models, like the ZhiKe SEI12 series, are also quite good. Recently, I bought another one with a 12th generation i7 processor, mainly for office use.

First, let me clarify that this mini PC was purchased by me to replace my old desktop at home. Therefore, many opinions in this article are based on my subjective experience and views. If you are planning to buy a mini PC recently, I still recommend that you choose based on your needs and not blindly pursue the so-called top configuration. I don’t play games much; my main use is office work. There has always been a saying in the industry that Intel’s processors are more stable than AMD’s, but I personally think there’s not much difference as long as the manufacturer optimizes cooling well. The experience will be fine. So I always emphasize that when buying a mini PC, don’t be tempted to buy cheap brands. If the cooling is not done well in such a small chassis, constant high heat pop-ups will greatly affect user experience. Now, let’s take a look at how well this ZhiKe with the i7 12th generation Intel processor performs.

On a side note, when Xiaomi launched its first mini PC at the beginning of last year, it used a 12th generation i5 processor. Do you remember the price? It was over 4000 yuan. Now, ZhiKe has used a 12th generation i7 processor, and my top configuration of 32G + 1TB is only over 2000 yuan. It’s getting cheaper and cheaper; digital products are still very appealing. Let’s talk about the appearance. The ZhiKe SEI12’s design is not much different from previous generations. It uses the SEI12 series design, with a breathable waterproof mesh on the top and a one-piece ABS plastic shell. The sides have large metal air intake grilles. There are two color options: gray and blue, both of which look nice. I bought the blue version. The advantage of this SEI12 mold is that it has better wireless signal, but because it is not a metal chassis, it lacks a bit of premium feel.

The dimensions of the chassis are 126*113*42mm, and it is really very small. When placed next to a mouse, the mouse looks large. It occupies very little space on the desk, even smaller than a phone. The power supply is external; there is no battery inside the chassis. This is something everyone should remember to distinguish it from laptops. Previously, mini PC power supplies were quite large, often larger than the main unit itself, but ZhiKe has now upgraded to a small power supply, comparable in size to a regular phone charger.

We generally use mini PCs by placing them directly on the desk. However, ZhiKe’s mini PC comes with a monitor mounting bracket, allowing you to hang the unit behind the monitor. But I use a portable monitor, so I prefer to place it on the desk. When placed on the desk, I often worry about spilling my drink and damaging the small PC. ZhiKe SEI12 has considered this issue and designed the top cover with a splash-proof mesh. If water is spilled, as long as you wipe it off in time, it will be fine. This mesh corresponds to the CPU fan cooler underneath, allowing better heat dissipation from the chassis. It balances both cooling and water resistance, achieving two goals at once.

In terms of ports, the front has two USB 3.0 ports and one Type-C port. The back has two USB 2.0 ports, a gigabit network port, and one DP1.4 port supporting 4K 144Hz, along with an HDMI 2.0 port supporting 4K 60Hz. Therefore, the two video ports can be used to set up dual monitors.

Since mini PCs are very small, many people are very concerned about their cooling. In fact, I had this concern at first, but after using it for over a year, ZhiKe has done a great job with the cooling of AMD processors last year, so this Intel machine should perform even better. There are several aspects to this: the chassis design has a lot of ventilation holes, large air intake grilles on both sides, exhaust vents at the back, and cooling vents on the top. The active cooling is already very well done.

Additionally, the ZhiKe SEI12 features a dual-fan design. The top cover has a silent fan for the CPU, and there is a system fan at the bottom. The CPU, motherboard, memory, and SSD all have sufficient active cooling. Moreover, this model uses ZhiKe’s latest MSC cooling technology, which includes heat pipes and fins, significantly enhancing cooling compared to my GTR5. This has already received great reviews among this year’s new ZhiKe models, so concerns about cooling can be put aside.

Disassembly is also quite simple. The mesh cover can be removed and replaced. The disassembly mainly involves the bottom. By unscrewing four screws at the bottom, you can see that there is a reserved SATA hard drive slot for adding a 2.5-inch hard drive. Below is the system fan module, and by unscrewing three screws, you can see the internal structure. In the standard model, ZhiKe provides memory and hard drives from reputable manufacturers, with the memory being Micron and the SSD being Crucial.

Next, let’s boot it up for testing. Using a mini PC is similar to using a desktop in that you need to prepare a monitor, keyboard, and mouse. I paired the ZhiKe SEI12 with a CFORCE portable IPS touchscreen. The HDMI port on ZhiKe supports up to 4K 60Hz output, and the DP port supports up to 4K 144Hz. My monitor has a resolution of 1080P and supports a maximum refresh rate of 144Hz. I bought it for just over 1000 yuan, and the ZhiKe works perfectly with this monitor. This monitor also supports touch, but the ZhiKe SEI12 does not support one-cable connection via Type-C, so the touch function cannot be used with the portable monitor.

Although the CFORCE touchscreen is not expensive, its performance is quite good, supporting high refresh rates in portable mode. The main feature is that this is one of the few portable monitors with a built-in system, specifically the Dangbei OS, which is why it is called a smart screen. Therefore, even without connecting to a PC, it can be used like a TV for watching dramas or videos, and it has built-in speakers, making it quite nice, just like a small smart screen. The configuration is also decent, comparable to mainstream boxes, with an Allwinner H6 CPU and 2GB + 16GB configuration. There are USB ports on the body for connecting external hard drives and peripherals. The left HDMI port is standard, and both Type-C ports can connect to external monitors and provide power.

Although the screen resolution of the CFORCE monitor is somewhat lacking at only 1080P, it’s not too noticeable since the screen is small. For this type of portable monitor, 1080P doesn’t show pixelation, but it isn’t particularly detailed either. However, with 1080P and a 144Hz refresh rate, this combination is very suitable for gaming, as it doesn’t consume much GPU power and can run smoothly even with a less powerful graphics card. So, don’t blindly pursue higher resolutions; consider your needs. In terms of color gamut, it covers 100% DCI-P3, with a brightness of 400 nits, supporting HDR10 high dynamic range and blue light reduction, resulting in good display quality and sufficient brightness.

Therefore, even using the CFORCE to connect to my ZhiKe SEI12 mini PC, it can easily run popular games like “Genshin Impact” and “Crossfire.” When playing Genshin Impact, I can lower the graphics settings without adjusting the resolution; 1080P is sufficient. In “Crossfire,” it can run at full speed at 144Hz. Although Intel’s integrated graphics are not an advantage, playing mainstream online games is still fine.

Next, let’s run a benchmark test with the Master Lu software to see its core configuration. The benchmark shows that under the power balance mode, the score is 86.9W, almost 90W, with a CPU score of 443,000, a graphics score of 70,000, a memory score of 160,000, and a hard drive score of 190,000. The Intel 12th generation processor is recognized as a strong performer.

In the CPU-Z test, the i7-12650H processor has a TDP of 45W, with a single-core score of 448.9 and a multi-core score of 3906.8. The benchmark results show that this processor has been very well tuned by ZhiKe, and the performance release is thorough, with excellent multi-core performance.

The memory and hard drive are from reputable manufacturers. The memory consists of two 16GB DDR4 3200MHz modules, forming a 32GB dual-channel setup. In the AIDA 64 memory read/write test, the memory read speed reached 48579MB/s, write speed 46519MB/s, copy speed 45111MB/s, and latency 94.6ns, showing good speed performance.

This 1TB Crucial SSD shows a read speed of 4650.67MB/s and a write speed of 1923.61MB/s in the CrystalDisk test, which is also quite good. However, the main hard drive interface of ZhiKe supports the PCIe 4.0 protocol, so if you are looking for higher performance, you can replace it with a 7000MB/s SSD. Changing the hard drive involves changing the system, so some technical skills are required.

In terms of GPU, the ZhiKe SEI12 uses the integrated Intel Iris® Xe, which has 64 EUs, with GPU frequencies ranging from 299 to 1397 MHz.

Through the 3DMark benchmark test, it shows that Intel Iris® Xe scored 1286 in the Time Spy (DX12) test, with a graphics score of 1123. This integrated graphics is more suitable for office use. As for gaming, it can run regular large online games smoothly, but if you want to play AAA titles, I recommend getting a desktop with the latest dedicated graphics card. If you insist on using a mini PC, consider the strongest integrated graphics currently available, such as the AMD 7840HS series mini PCs, like the ZhiKe SER7.

Finally, let’s summarize. Although the ZhiKe SEI12 is a mini PC equipped with the Intel 12th generation i7 12650H processor, it is actually positioned as a mid-range model among ZhiKe’s offerings. In terms of actual experience, this processor performs very well, especially considering the price, which is almost half cheaper than last year’s Xiaomi mini PC with the same 12th generation i5 processor. The top configuration is just over 2000 yuan. Its only drawback is that its integrated graphics performance is inferior to the current AMD processor models, making it more suitable for office use. Moreover, ZhiKe’s cooling is excellent; not only does it cool well, but it is also very quiet, making it particularly suitable for binge-watching. It remains quiet even when decoding high-definition 4K videos.

Additionally, the Type-C port in the ZhiKe SEI12 does not support Thunderbolt, so it cannot connect to a monitor with a single cable. Unfortunately, the ZhiKe SEI12 can only connect to a maximum of two external monitors. If this is a concern, you can opt for the ZhiKe SEI12 Pro, but that would add around 1000 yuan to the price. I still think the SEI12 is more suitable for me; it’s sufficient for office use. Ultimately, it depends on your needs. I suggest buying a product that offers better cost performance based on your requirements and not blindly pursuing high configurations.