Beelink SER9 Review. The Most POWERFUL iGPU Yet In A Windows Mini PC!

[@Techtablets]

00:00 - Intro 01:07 - What's included 01:35 - Design and ports 03:16 - How to open and internals 05:14 - Tutorial on bios overclocking RAM, set timings, overclock CPU, GPU, and set a 80W TDP 08:57 - Windows 11 Pro & Benchmarks 10:55 - 4k video decoding & 4k video editing 12:07 - RDNA 3.5 gaming with overclocks and high TDP 15:13 - Thermals and fan noise 16:00 - Linux support and Geekbench 6 16:27 - Final words on why it's one of the best for Mini PCs with an iGPU

[@dgillies5420]

Looks like a decent upgrade for my Commodore 64 keyboard-computer ...

[@Techtablets]

Haha sure is.

[@Techtablets]

Yes!

[@SRC267]

I'm having a tough time deciding between a SER5 5560U or EQR6@@Techtablets

[@Techtablets]

I would go for a much newer model now over that one.

[@samserious1337]

6:55 for anyone who is confused, those timing values need to be entered in hexadecimal, not decimal like in most BIOSes.

[@Techtablets]

Correct that’s for pointing that out

[@ryutenmen]

how do you know this? If most BIOSes use decimal and some rare cases uses hexadecimal the average user is completely in the unknown.

[@zurgmuckerberg]

What's the point of having it in hexadecimal? I swear these mfs just want to annoy the shit out of their customers for the fun of it.

[@Techtablets]

@@zurgmuckerberg Seems that why but there must be another reason to it.

[@samserious1337]

8:48 glad to see that GFX Curve and Curve Optimizer settings are also available.

[@Techtablets]

I didn’t really mess with those too much but with time I can improve it even more with further ram tweaks and curve optimisation.

[@2g1c69]

@@Techtablets ram tweaks should just really improve the 1% lows if anything, maybe 1 or 2 extra fps in the demanding games. 22ns timing is already great

[@Techtablets]

So far I can't get the cas lower than 22ns but that is an amazing speed already. I will try some other RAM settings and some nice improvements over stock. Plus the good part, 100% stable now for a week at 22. Tweaks to the curves for voltage on Cores and iGPU might help more to squeeze just that little bit extra out of the 890M.

[@emilch8341]

Thanks for the tutorial for overlocking CPU and GPU . I used this method for my laptop and now it works better than on auto settings. 👍

[@Techtablets]

Just be careful if the RAM setting doesn’t take it will not boot so any least know how to reset the CMOS first.

[@philscomputerlab]

The size is something nibidy mentioned in their reviews. It is larger than my Beelink SER5 or especially the Geekom A7. The coolimg and quietness really impressed me 😊

[@Techtablets]

It’s very quite this one

[@oblivionlord1242]

Phil!!

[@kianhoo9197]

I’ve been looking for this video and finally someone made it😂

[@Techtablets]

Well glad to help!

[@0000lmm]

Level1Techs did a review of Minisforum's take on a mini with the same chip. You can search on KZbin for Minisforum AI370 to find that. Spoiler: The SER9 performs slightly better. That one's in Texan, rather than Kiwi 😁

[@goodcitizen4587]

I'm pretty sure I need this.

[@Techtablets]

The best yet with only iGPU but… a bit expensive

[@anthonyrussano]

thanks for these overclock settings, you rock

[@bokami3445]

Watching this just excites me more as I ordered one, due for delivery tomorrow. Thanks for the overclocking tips, I may not try them immediately, but if and when I do, I'll be back to report on how I made out

[@PantheraTK]

how is it?

[@bokami3445]

@@PantheraTK Really fast and really quiet. Beelink really did a good job on cooling on this model. It was expensive but I buy it again in a half a heart beat. Only wish it had a few more USB ports

[@yanni2737]

This mini PC is the MacMini/Pro equivalent for Windows. Is powerfull, silent and looks amazing on my desk. Brilliant product.

[@Techtablets]

It sure is.

[@Techtablets]

If I missed anything in this video or made an error just wait for the many experts in the comments with over 20 years experience with the Strix Point APU 😂

[@obarthelemy]

Expert pin fairy says: post not pinned !!!

[@Techtablets]

@@obarthelemythe chapters are pinned I believe.

[@obarthelemy]

@@Techtablets Now they are, They weren't when I started watching ? Maybe YT just lags for that.

[@Techtablets]

@@obarthelemycould be

[@PKperformanceEU]

Funny guy m2pro mac mini is also a mini pc and smokes the living F out of this slow x86 pc

[@aa-xn5hc]

love your mini pc reviews

[@Techtablets]

Great to hear, nowadays they get poor views and low interest ;(

[@Urosaurus]

Many thanks for this. These are getting fast!

[@Techtablets]

They are! I’m surprised there isn’t more interest in the is.

[@mk677hd]

Mini Pcs FTW, keep em coming😊

[@obarthelemy]

4:28 MB says "ser8", so they just changed the CPU ?

[@Techtablets]

Seems so.

[@aktunav]

Nice tool to make a small and powerful PC. Thank you for the detailed review, very helpful and informative...

[@Techtablets]

Thanks for the comment and for watching!

[@MarioCastillion]

The fact that the RAM is not upgradable is a huge throw-off.

[@Techtablets]

It is but then we wouldn’t get that 8000MT speed and timings that 890M loves. I would love to see a 64GB version.

[@MarioCastillion]

@@Techtablets true that. I also would love to see a 64gb (or higher) version. Meanwhile the Gti14 Ultra sits high on my wishlist. My utmost compliments for your review though.

[@Techtablets]

Thanks. I will have my GTI14 Ultra review coming soon.

[@itchydagger4704]

Commodore 64 you bloody Ledgend

[@Techtablets]

C64 and Amiga 500! The best.

[@_GarethRossUK]

The one thing Beelink lacks with this is an Oculink port... but we know why that is. (To sell the dedicated dock / mini pc combo). At that price a lack of Oculink port is a big let down. I'm still using my GTR7 Pro from last year and going to be working on adding an Oculink port to that mini pc.

[@Techtablets]

Oculink would be perfect on this. They have the GTi14 Ultra which I have and it has a PCIe X16 slot but running at x8 speed.

[@philscomputerlab]

Do you happen to know how the M.2 slots are wired? E.g. is one connected directly to the CPU? Or both via the chipset?

[@Techtablets]

Via the chipset

[@sixclaws]

It's wild how they designed this lil' thing around extracting as much performance as they could from the iGPU. I sure hope that Beelink's future models will be made the same way. It would be very funny if this design were also implemented on their products with Intel chips and also get their iGPUs to run much better.

[@Techtablets]

I hope to see a lunar lake version of this.

[@sixclaws]

@@Techtablets They better be. Intel's iGPUs are finally matching AMD's in terms of performance. Now if Intel just stops kneecapping features/performance from their i5 lines and below..

[@Techtablets]

Yes seeing that now with the Lunar Lake I'm testing the Core Ultra 9, nice jump in iGPU performance but multicore performance takes a bit hit.

[@dgillies5420]

Lunar Lake should have been named Chromebook Lake! 4 cores 8 threads in 2024 wtf?!?! Note: an Intel eCore ~ 1 extra thread!

[@jasonc5781]

Nice, was waiting for a review on this... the suggested msrp though....

[@Techtablets]

Yes it's too expensive for what it is I think. Hopefully they drop the price.

[@dgillies5420]

Get a hx365 model if you can find one. GPU is 10% slower (880m) but still 15% faster than the 780m! CPU is 14% slower, for 10-15% less money, save $100 -$150!

[@3Dhaber]

I’m currently using After Effects for video editing and am looking to get a mini PC. I’m stuck between choosing the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 or the Intel Ultra 9 185H processor. Which one do you think would provide a smoother experience when working on the timeline? Also, which processor would give faster render times? I’m particularly concerned about avoiding any timeline lag. I’d really appreciate your advice-thanks.

[@dgillies5420]

I would recommend getting an AMD HX 365 processor if they offer it! The 880m GPU is only 10% slower but it's probably $100+ cheaper. I have one in my laptop! Since the c-cores run at 2/3 the clock speed of a p-core, 4+6 processors (hx365) = 8 cores in 8000 series cpus. 4+8 processors (hx370/375) = 9.33 p-cores in the 8000 series!

[@Techtablets]

Good point

[@obarthelemy]

I'm really leery of spending that much on a PC that's not really expendable, and not really fixable either. My current PC is 11 yo, but when its RAM failed, well it was an opportunity to upgrade, not an obligation to junk it. I'm kinda waiting for the Zen5 "G" series. It can't be much more expensive than that, and with expandability + repairability, it'll probably be a lot more durable.

[@Techtablets]

Yes only upgrades are SSD and wifi card.

[@RustOnTime]

I agree. I'm fine with low powered mini pc's but pushing them to "desktop" power is asking for trouble. Even in my main pc's something would inevitably fail every 3-5 years and here you might have to throw the whole thing away. Unless you're very good at soldering. These APU's do allow us to build very compact systems with standard components that are fully upgradable so that's great.

[@DeviloftheHelll]

did you see any way to physically disconnect the microphones?

[@Techtablets]

Yes unplug them from the inside you could also do the same with the speakers and remove them.

[@johnmiceter]

Hi, are you Aussie by anychance? Im Aussie, but I was just wondering have you tested the Beelink Ser7, Ser8, the Minisforum UM790 or Um890? I want to buy a mini pc and use it just for emulation and want to get the most powerful one for the value but i need the performance to run PS3, Switch, xbox 360. The reason i asked if your Aussie is because Amazon have a deal on this for $1300 (its like 500 off) and i was originally looking at those cheaper mini PC'S i mentioned above, but this one now isnt too much more then those other ones and maybe its worth paying the extra?

[@FredrikLiljeblad]

Thanks for a great video. 😃👍 When you record with fan noise. Click with a standard mouse near the computer so you can hear a reference.

[@Techtablets]

Ok thanks!

[@d4vidjk]

that 3d time spy score with OC in graphics score is on par with a gtx 1060 3gb, and that graphic card was released 8 years ago, with a power consumption of 110w. tbh i think this generation of igpus is not that impressive

[@Techtablets]

It that’s still a huge achievement if you think about how big that GPU is and what this can do. And then that CPU score and performance once tweaked is super good. I edited this whole video on the mini pcs and it was flawless no DGPU required unlike a few years back.

[@d4vidjk]

@@Techtablets yeah thats true, the cpu is awesome, in my opinion the improvement here is way better than in the gpu department

[@Techtablets]

Yes the cpu hitting almost 3k geekbench single core oh and over 2k Cinebench is impressive

[@samserious1337]

The Scores are quite the same with a package(!) power of 54W, since the RAM is still the limiting factor for a 16CU RDNA 3.5 chip @ 2900MHz. You could easily let it run in a more optimal state (~2600MHz) and get basically similar performance. Substract the wattage for the CPU (20W) and you have a 35W GTX 1060. And at 35W package power, you get 5-10% less performance which is amazing.

[@Techtablets]

@@samserious1337sure is I think.

[@alfredosalza6328]

Great video!

[@Techtablets]

Thank you 🙏 it was hours of working out ram tweaking and trial and error.

[@se6661]

Hi, great review. Between Beelink SER 9 and Minisforum HX99G which one is better? I’m a trader with 3 monitors.

[@AshishRrr]

You always make excellent review videos. Following you from 2015. 👍👍 . But does it make huge difference with 500Mhz from 7500 to 8000 ?? Why to take risk of overclocking ram ?

[@Techtablets]

A few more fps. But I've been running with no stability issues. I don't see it as an issue. But you don't have to do these tweaks it's for advanced users wanting the absolute best performance. Thanks for the support since 2015 wow 😲🤩

[@adcaptandumvulgus4252]

Why did the ser 5 have the only reason 9 series up until this model and they were just using the seven series? I thought it was odd at 5:00 they use the nine six seven and eight they use the seven and they're finally using the nine series again on the 9th model but that's just my hot take.

[@2g1c69]

Chris! wow what a minipc. 1060 performance in an envelope smaller than an actual 1060 is crazy and very promising for the future. Fedora workstation is where you want to be with cpu autofreq if you have a laptop and for either laptop/desktop GET the cachyos kernel (on any distro). makes linux feel incredible with reduced latency. this is the only combo that has forced me to stop distro hopping and im sure you would love. performance is also top tier for linux. hope you see this and give the combo a go :) manjaro has too many fatal flaws but yes it looks great.

[@Techtablets]

Yes crazy to have GTX 1060 performance in this size and such good fan noise and thermals. Manjaro might not be the best performance for Linux but I like the UI and look. Okay I will give the cachyos kernel a go!

[@kon_radar]

For this money I could build a PC with an RX 7700 XT or RTX 4060 Ti. For portability I would buy a laptop with an RTX 4050. Where Mini PC's are interesting for me are the cheaper ones, such as Mini PCs with an Intel N100. Gaming on this kind of Mini PC? - What about patched and fixed games from 2000-2006? All the GTA games before GTA 4, RPG's like Morrowind or Gothic, Rayman 2 and 3, Anno 1404, Settlers, Heroes of Might and Magic 1-5, etc.

[@Techtablets]

Yes I could build a 14900KS, 128GB RAM + RTX 4090 PC for less! (Just kidding) It's overpriced as mentioned in the video. N100 mini pcs are great for super like stuff. GTA 4 runs great on this 370HX overclocked.

[@SuperStareGry]

I like this one so much. If it was a bit cheaper tough.

[@Techtablets]

Great mini pc but yea but pricey!

[@Jamie71q]

For Manjaro I would suggest using a LTS kernel instead - 6.6.x or 6.1.x for example it seems to help with single core performance

[@anthonyrussano]

this bricked my device, had to hit the cmos button... i tried baby different bios configurations but none would boot... are you able to show if and how you updated the bios

[@abaj006]

Thats insane performance, Ryzen 5 mobile is just fantastic!

[@Techtablets]

Sure is. I can’t wait to see RDNA 4 once out.

[@srvuk]

Overall this one does look quite good for what you are getting from what I have seen so far. The price, as always with these kinds of things, is where the big decision remains but perhaps one step closer to making a decision to jump in more likely.

[@Techtablets]

This one is one of the very best mini pcs with iGPU I’ve covered but yes a bit pricey.

[@Squagliafrittata]

Great product overall, the real Mac Mini M4 killer

[@LukeWilson-s3u]

Probably the best PC alternative to the M4 Mac Mini

[@subspaceanomaly]

Shame it's over twice the price

[@Vinterloft]

Have you tried eGPU without the RAM overclock? Because especially with Nvidia cards one of the common things to reveal instability is decompression and Nvidia GPUs not only commonly have too little VRAM (which overflows to RAM) but also compress/decompress a LOT more than AMD

[@assasin1754]

Is it safe to ocerclock the ser6 max the same way?

[@Techtablets]

No it’s not I would not try this is specifically for this SER9 only.

[@assasin1754]

@@Techtablets thx

[@ericneeds1285]

How do you bring it down to 15w? Is there a basic TDP adjustment

[@anthonyrussano]

what key to enter the bios

[@isaac.genesis]

Nice video Chris 👌 will you review Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra or compare with other tablets

[@Techtablets]

Haven’t bought it yet I was waiting for Samsung to loan me one. Nothing yet

[@isaac.genesis]

@@Techtablets oh I hope they will 😐

[@aktunav]

Ser9 or GTI14 ultra ? GTI14 ultra has an option to use docking for external GPU...

[@Techtablets]

For gaming the GTI 14 with the exGPU dock. Otherwise I prefer this with my little overclocks.

[@ea8455]

Does the Beelink has Thunderbolt 4 and support the connection to a dedicated external GPU?

[@bobbyroberts2566]

Can 80w TDP affect long term durability due to constant overheating???

[@Techtablets]

I don’t think so most of the mini pcs I cover have such TDP and they work fine .

[@rlifeh]

Nice review 👍 and AMD want to bring a much stronger apu later

[@Techtablets]

I'm sure the next step RDNA will be a big leak ahead of RDNA 3.5

[@akin242002]

Outside of the Wi-FI, seems to be the best that Windows/Linux mini-PCs offers for performance. I still have a sweet spot for Geekom A8 and Intel NUC 13 Pro, but the BeeLink SER9 CPU performance is too dominate to overlook. Only the new M4 Pro Mac mini outperforms it on a multi-core basis according to Cinebench R24.

[@davidbangura1633]

Hey!, Are you going to review the new Jason x60 e bike?!?

[@Techtablets]

Hi if they can send it to me sure!

[@Techtablets]

They are sending me the X50 revised model with more accessories first to cover the the X60 later

[@Donzo89]

I wish there were more videos that demos AI workloads like running local LLMs in Ollama with these AI mini PCs. That's the reason I'm interested in buy one of these not gaming.

[@TomPane-pl4lk]

Thanks!

[@Techtablets]

Nono thank you for watching!

[@philiphubbard5771]

I set up the bios as in the video and in 1080 can’t get anything near the fps in tomb raider, I can get up to 43 on only the lowest setting. On high only getting like 31 fps.

[@seansmith6473]

Nice this good prower in a mini pc bro finally!!! 😂

[@Techtablets]

Yes indeed!

[@ryans1972]

Caption in your video at 30 seconds in says hx 470? No such thing as the HX 470.

[@LeicaM11]

Thanks for explaining. It is deeply bad, that the ports at the backside are turned upside down. How could this happen on a new designed PC? Heavy mistake. Nevertheless I am awaiting my own SER9 at around 22th of October. Where did you get this named model „Ryzen 9 AI 470 HX“ from😂? I have ordered just the known 370. There would have been enough room for a 2.5“ SSD still. Astonishing: Apple gets Geekbench 6 of 3700 single core in the iPad pro M4. What a difference! My SER9 arrived today. Immediately did all the updates, chipset included. Astonishing: Although 80W PL, no overclocking, the CPU never goes to more than 4.3 GHz, not reaching 5.1 GHz. Just why? Windows energy config set to 100% max too😮 Also USB speed seems to be limited to about 44MB/s, all ports… For those complaining about the price: Don’t forget, 32GB LPDDR5 7500MT/s costs around $300 alone.

[@Techtablets]

For some reason they had to flip the motherboard. No there is only the HX 370.

[@LeicaM11]

@@TechtabletsYes, sure😎

[@donyxd3365]

better to buy this or a laptop? i think at this price point i can get a laptop that has the same performance right?

[@Techtablets]

If you can find a laptop with the same performance and price get that.

[@TYLERBALLADS]

Hi how does this compare to the m4 Mac mini? I do music recording about 5-6 tracks Protools and Cubase…. The rest of my documents will remain on my HP….. that M4 is very expensive. It’s $1500 to get the 32 GB of ram and one terabyte of space. !!!

[@BobSmithDocumentary]

Integrated Graphics is the future..... And better for the Planet

[@Techtablets]

Well now the performance is getting up there, it's much more capable.

[@TheDarkLordSauron007]

When using it in 4K, is the fan noise audible or annoying?

[@Techtablets]

No it's really good the fan noise.

[@fayis4everlove]

These mini pcs are great but hard to fix when something goes wrong unlike PC where the parts are easily replaceable.. maybe the iGPU will be on desktop soon? 😊

[@Techtablets]

Many destop chips have the iGPU it's very usual for video editing for example Intel quick sync that comes with the Arc GFX and older UHD, Iris etc

[@carlosmiguel4756]

I'd love to see pci-e 5.0 on the nvme and expandable ram. That crucial unit is not up to par, same as the minisforum Ai 370, slow storage speeds for 2024. Apart from that, it's an amazing pc, for the size. Brands trying to catch up with Apple mac mini M4 but still far hehe

[@kevinj1073]

Hi, Is it possible to OC the EliteMini AI370 the same way? Because it is selling for cheaper today.

[@Techtablets]

Not sure if that bios is completely unlocked I don't believe it is

[@Techtablets]

I got it on Monday and sadly no. No such settings this SER9 is a better PC than the Ai 370, better performance, build and fan noise.

[@kevinj1073]

@@Techtablets Thank you very much!

[@pavero01]

Is it possible to set the TDP to 15W in the BIOS? The Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor supports TDP range from 15 to 54 watts (without overclocking). Thanks.

[@Techtablets]

Yes no problem doing that. But since it’s not a laptop I would go with a low tdp.

[@softwelveone]

i baught the SER8 version (super fast!) but i gotta mention that there TPM 2.0 security firmware version is ALMOST 5 YEARS OLD!!! and if you want to install Linux and windows getting the Windows USB Stick from there website is a *pain* there website is not updated so you have to email them (different time zone...) it's a major headache!! if you don't care about malware and security exploits then *cheers* this thing is super fast!!

[@Techonsapevole]

thanks for testing Linux

[@Techtablets]

My pleasure!

[@tdata545]

They either need to consolidate the 2 vs 3 ports or color code them. That's not cool.

[@Techtablets]

Color coded or make all 10Gpbs at least.

[@tdata545]

@@Techtablets WEIRDLY, when I was trying to hack my Razer Phone 2 to make it a permanent emulation machine, since those speakers on that phone are still kind of the best in the business. It needs a PROPER USB 2.0 port to root it. Though that's such a rare use case. XDA said it needed a USB 2.0 port, not jut a cable. Something about the driver chip for 3.0 and later messes with the rooting software.

[@Techtablets]

Ah so then good at least it has the USB 2.0 for some!

[@RSX0999]

It's just a teaser , in 2025 we gonna see Ryzen AI MAX + 395 32T and 40CU❤🎉

[@Techtablets]

Hopefully that’s true

[@matthewsykes2646]

And probably a 1.5K$ pricetag, unfortunally 😂

[@stephenxs8354]

What is ridiculous is that you can build a vastly more powerful mini itx system for the cost. I'll grab a cheap 780m for now then by next year this should be reasonable.

[@Techtablets]

Sure as mentioned it is overprice for what it is I feel.

[@younus1975]

32 gb max ram is not good considering igpu will share the ram and can consume RAM upto 16gb. with igup 48 should be the optimal/safe option

[@_GarethRossUK]

yet you say then half of the ram is still unused ... well thats plenty of overhead to work with you might loose only 5 fps max if it uses it all. GPD handhelds only have 16 / 32 GB and those seem to do just fine.

[@Techtablets]

And using over 8GB for the GPU I find they all become a bit unstable.

[@mkreku]

I bought one of these mini computers (another brand, Minisforum UM790 Pro) and no matter what I do I can't get it stable. As soon as anything video-like plays, it immediately blue screens. I was supposed to use it as a media player/game server/gaming computer under my TV. I've been able to use it as a gaming computer (at least 60+ hours of Fallout 4 has been stable) but for anything else it sucks. They released a few (4? 5?) BIOS updates but it didn't solve my problems. No updates for a year and there's no support to be found. I won't be buying any unknown Chinese brand mini computers again.

[@Techtablets]

My 790 Pro hasn't had issues still on the bios bios I never updated incase it introduced issues.

[@zodiacfml]

agree on cost. while this is latest APU with 12 cores and powerful iGPU, I would still take the $900 Minisforum V3 tablet over this with same RAM and storage.

[@Techtablets]

Yes and you can do more with that tablet. It's not a bad one at all I reviewed it.

[@mwales2112]

Nice shirt, have the same one..

[@Techtablets]

Cool! Love the C64 and Amiga 500. My Amiga shirt is around here somewhere

[@mwales2112]

@@Techtablets Cool. Still have my working C64 from the 80s...

[@Reloadown]

Expensive

[@stevenmurphy8726]

$1100+ o can get a real gong pc that doubles performance.

[@micro9191]

can i get this in India?

[@Techtablets]

Not sure check on Beelinks website

[@robertlawrence9000]

That's way to expensive for that kind of performance.

[@Techtablets]

True

[@leecoholland9040]

Windows mini PC? Its just a mini pc and has nothing to do with Microsoft

[@Techtablets]

And yet in runs Windows 11 🤡

[@fktygglbtchbtch1384]

$1250

[@Techtablets]

$1000 USD or 905 euros the config reviewed.

[@serggio88888]

Too expensive.

[@Techtablets]

Yes. As mentioned in the video and listed as a con.

[@shadowbanned4606]

spyware.

[@Techtablets]

Everything is to you. Are you Dan mr everything is spyware?

[@shadowbanned4606]

@@Techtablets Who is Dan?

[@_GarethRossUK]

I don't think Beelink had that issue that a few makes of MINI PC were loaded with during production.

[@Techtablets]

Miniforum and Beelink avoided that scandal luckily.

[@Techtablets]

Dan is the everything is Spyware troll in most of my videos.