Geekom AX8 Pro in the test: Top mini PC with Ryzen 9 and fast SSD

The data sheet of the Geekom AX8 Pro alone gives hope for big things. The heart of the mini PC is the Ryzen 9 8945HS, a new version of the 7000 series, with eight cores and 16 threads. It also has 32 GB DDR5 RAM and a fast 2 TB PCIe 4.0 SSD. And thanks to the integrated Radeon 780M graphics unit, you can already play games like Anno1800 or Cities Skylines, as already shown with comparable systems from Awow, GMKtec, Minisforum and Geekom. Which explains the current high price 849 euros Fair, our testing shows.

The Geekom AX8 Pro not only really attracts attention due to its great design and good workmanship, but it also has very high performance. This makes it ideal not only for image and video editing, but also suitable for gaming. It can therefore serve as an affordable replacement for a gaming PC, especially in the summer.

The Geekom AX8 Pro uses AMD’s Ryzen 9 8945HS. The eight-core processor runs at up to 5.2 GHz and, like the previous generation, uses the Zen 4 architecture. The chip also includes the famous and powerful Radeon 780M graphics unit with twelve graphics cores clocked at 2.8 GHz. AI performance has been increased to 39 TOPS.

The RAM uses two DDR5 modules with 5600 MHz in a SO-DIMM design. The RAM can also be expanded from 32 GB to 64 GB later. However, the previous module must be replaced as the mini PC only offers two slots. A 2 TB M.2 SSD from Acer is used for mass storage, which is connected via PCIe 4.0. The result in CrystalDiskMark is certainly impressive. Here the Acer SSD has 7100 MB/s reading and 6350 MB/s writing. Unfortunately, the memory cannot be upgraded, only the pre-installed SSD can be replaced. However, according to the manufacturer, a maximum of 2 TB of storage is possible here.

The Geekom AX8 Pro can control up to four screens simultaneously, two via HDMI 2.0 with a maximum of 60 Hz at 4K and two others via two USB-C ports with DisplayPort Alt Mode. The USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port supports 4k at 60 Hz with a transfer rate of 10 Gbit/s. What is particularly noteworthy, however, is the USB-C 4.0 port, which also allows 8k, but only at 30 Hz. The 2.5 GHz LAN port is also practical for home networks. The only point of criticism is that the power is not supplied via USB-C, but only through a DC socket.

When it comes to wireless interfaces, the AX8 Pro supports modern interfaces with Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2. But you will have to do without Wi-Fi 7. If you prefer this wireless standard, you can consider the Minisforum Atomman X7 Ti (test report) as an alternative.

As you would expect, the performance of the Geekom AX8 Pro is at the highest level for a mini PC. In PCMark10 it scored an impressive 7740 points, putting it in second place in our mini PC tests. Only the Awow HA7 is slightly faster with 7800 points. The AX8 Pro scores in 3Dmark Timepy 3307 points, including 10983 CPU points and 2944 graphics points. The strong iGPU is particularly noticeable here; the Ryzen 5000 series APUs score half the maximum here. Excellent performance is again evident in Geekbench as well: 2647 points in single and 13579 points in multi-core, as well as 31827 OpenCL points for the graphics chip. The maximum clock speed was 5166 MHz and the highest CPU temperature was 92 degrees Celsius.

Now about power consumption: when the desktop is idle, the mini PC only needs 8 watts, but under full load it needs up to 80 watts, of which the CPU alone uses about 50 watts. This is a lot for a mini PC, but still significantly less than a typical gaming PC.

When it comes to gaming, the mini PC is also convincing; games like Anno 1800, Valorant and Forza Horizon 5 can be played very well in Full HD with the latest graphics settings slightly adjusted. CAD in Fusion also runs very smoothly here, with the fan speed very low or even zero.

With the AX8 Pro, Geekom now wants to curb temperatures and curb the general noise problem with the IceBlast 1.5 cooling system. It certainly works for ordinary office use; the fan is noticeably quiet here. However, if you want to use the full performance of the mini PC, we are back to the usual loud fan. However, things have improved a bit; the fan emits a constant 46 dB of noise on the case. At a distance of one meter it is still 28 dB. However, the fan profile can also be reduced in the BIOS at the expense of performance.

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But the volume also has a positive effect on the temperature. The maximum temperature under full load does not exceed 92 degrees and the CPU runs at 4.5 GHz in turbo for a long time. Only after about a quarter of an hour did the clock speed and fan speed drop slightly.

The packaging of the AX8 Pro is very elegant, as befits a mini PC. The housing of the AX8 Pro is made mostly of metal, partly with a honeycomb structure, only the top is made of plastic. Everything is well made and feels of high quality. The case is quite compact at 111.5 × 117.5 × 36 millimeters and can be easily opened by loosening the four screws at the bottom. At 551 grams, the Geekcom AX8 Pro is a rather heavy representative of its kind; the power supply of 300 to 400 grams is quite compact, but if you listen closely, it emits a slight rattling sound. This may be annoying for some people.

The price of the Geekom AX8 Pro is around 999 euros in the manufacturer’s web shop. With Coupon Code: GKZS15 15 percent drop in price 849 euros. If this coupon no longer works, you can use this Coupon Code: TSAX8 Minimum 5% off. Codes cannot be combined. Available on Amazon AX8 Pro for 849 euros Listed (Coupon Code: TSAX8Pro,

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An alternative from Geekom is the AE7 (test report) with Ryzen 9 7940HS. It is not only on par in terms of performance, but is also cheaper at 780 euros. However, this comes at the cost of processing, which cannot keep up with the AX8 Pro. The fan is not exactly quiet here either. So the Geekom AE7 is a good option for those on a low budget.

A cheaper but less powerful option is our price-performance winner Ovis AMR5 (test report). With Ryzen 7 5700U, 16 RAM and 512 GB SSD it goes for only 295 euros (GeekBuying) with code NNNDEOVR57 An all-round comprehensive mid-range package. Gaming is also possible here, although not anywhere near the level of the AX8 Pro.

The Geekom AX8 Pro is not a price-performance killer, but if you are looking for the best in terms of performance and excellent workmanship in a mini PC, you have come to the right place.

The only real drawback here is the fan, which cools well but is too loud for an otherwise elegant mini PC under high load. The limited expandability here is not a big deal due to the good basic equipment with 32 GB of RAM and 2 TB SSD, but it would be desirable to have at least some massive storage in case of need.

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