Listing price for an i9-13900HX is $668. I think it's a pretty good deal all things considered.
It feels like they went about this from the opposite direction compared to the major 4 mobo makers. This is a simple mini-PC with expanded features, including a PCIe 16x slot. Where as major 4 cram ATX into mITX size, making things complicated, expensive, and hot.
The only thing I feel conflicted on is the DDR5 SODIMM choice. On their spec page, it maxes out at 5200MT/s, which is slow.
I'm sure there would be more people interested on a 7945HX version of this, taking into consideration that it has better performance and probably costs less.
There are people reporting no performance/cooling issues with the Minisforum BD770i (7745HX). I'm assuming that people having issues with performance have a defective unit (so they should return it), or if they have high temp readings probably the temp measuring software that they are using is not reporting the correct values.
The board I have constantly running at 90C under load, which is fine for desktop chip with IHS but not for delided chips. I'm trying to swap out 25mm fan for 30mm hope for better cooling. The performance is good, but the chip is hot
Do these Minisforum mini-PCs have perforated bottom plates and lids? Some mini PCs have bad case designs (closed bottoms, solid lids), that make it extra difficult for the installed cooling solution to get enough outside air in and vent the warm air out. Pair this with an APU that is not exactly top bin, and a heatsink and fan that is a bit skimpy, and performance suffers.
Also, does anyone know if all five expansion slots can be populated at the same time? AFAIK, i9-13900HX can bifurcate to a maximum of 3 devices off of its PCIe lanes. 8+8 at PCIe5.0, x4 at PCIe4.0.
It has a further x8 lanes at PCIe4.0 off of DMI (integrated chipset). But 3 DMI lanes will be used up by Wifi/BT/networking, leaving only 5 lanes.
These numbers don't add up unless one of those slots is shared, or some m.2 slots don't work at x4 speeds.
Dmi is not directly usable. All pch attached device share the 8x dmi lanes. I suspect this is the worse kind, non of the m.2 comes from the CPU, all from the chipset.
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meacupla - Tuesday, December 12, 2023 - link
Listing price for an i9-13900HX is $668.I think it's a pretty good deal all things considered.
It feels like they went about this from the opposite direction compared to the major 4 mobo makers. This is a simple mini-PC with expanded features, including a PCIe 16x slot. Where as major 4 cram ATX into mITX size, making things complicated, expensive, and hot.
The only thing I feel conflicted on is the DDR5 SODIMM choice. On their spec page, it maxes out at 5200MT/s, which is slow.
heffeque - Tuesday, December 12, 2023 - link
I'm sure there would be more people interested on a 7945HX version of this, taking into consideration that it has better performance and probably costs less.erinadreno - Tuesday, December 12, 2023 - link
Id suggest looking at AMD version of this board. It already has difficulty colling the 75w 7745hx, let alone 7945 or even this crap.heffeque - Wednesday, December 13, 2023 - link
There are people reporting no performance/cooling issues with the Minisforum BD770i (7745HX).I'm assuming that people having issues with performance have a defective unit (so they should return it), or if they have high temp readings probably the temp measuring software that they are using is not reporting the correct values.
erinadreno - Wednesday, December 13, 2023 - link
The board I have constantly running at 90C under load, which is fine for desktop chip with IHS but not for delided chips. I'm trying to swap out 25mm fan for 30mm hope for better cooling. The performance is good, but the chip is hotheffeque - Thursday, December 14, 2023 - link
It would seem that your unit has an issue.eastcoast_pete - Saturday, December 16, 2023 - link
Do these Minisforum mini-PCs have perforated bottom plates and lids? Some mini PCs have bad case designs (closed bottoms, solid lids), that make it extra difficult for the installed cooling solution to get enough outside air in and vent the warm air out. Pair this with an APU that is not exactly top bin, and a heatsink and fan that is a bit skimpy, and performance suffers.meacupla - Tuesday, December 12, 2023 - link
Also, does anyone know if all five expansion slots can be populated at the same time?AFAIK, i9-13900HX can bifurcate to a maximum of 3 devices off of its PCIe lanes. 8+8 at PCIe5.0, x4 at PCIe4.0.
It has a further x8 lanes at PCIe4.0 off of DMI (integrated chipset).
But 3 DMI lanes will be used up by Wifi/BT/networking, leaving only 5 lanes.
These numbers don't add up unless one of those slots is shared, or some m.2 slots don't work at x4 speeds.
erinadreno - Tuesday, December 12, 2023 - link
Dmi is not directly usable. All pch attached device share the 8x dmi lanes. I suspect this is the worse kind, non of the m.2 comes from the CPU, all from the chipset.Jeff72 - Tuesday, December 12, 2023 - link
Is the chassis grounded? I find fault with many of these not being grounded. Static electricity is not their friend.DanaGoyette - Thursday, December 14, 2023 - link
I see two heatsinks and one fan here. So what is each of them cooling? Big heatsink for the CPU, small heatsink for ???meacupla - Thursday, December 14, 2023 - link
small heatsink is for the NVMe drives