Mini PC Revolution? The GEEKOM A9 Max AI with Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 Review
2Mini PC Revolution? The GEEKOM A9 Max AI with Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 Review
The GEEKOM A9 Max AI is introduced as one of the most powerful and advanced mini PCs available, featuring high-end specifications at a mid-range price point. This review thoroughly evaluates its performance across various demanding scenarios, including gaming, intensive applications, and advanced AI tasks, to determine its true value proposition.
Key Features and Specifications
Processor & Cooling: Features the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 APU with an IceBlast 2.0 cooling system (copper base, two copper heat pipes, and a turbine fan) ensuring excellent thermal management and stability even under heavy load. The system maintained CPU temperatures below 90°C while exceeding 5 GHz in peak frequencies, confirming effective cooling.
Connectivity: Offers exceptional I/O, including two HDMI 2.1 ports, two USB 4 Type-C ports (with DisplayPort and power delivery, supporting up to four displays), two 2.5 Gbps Ethernet LAN ports, and multiple USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A ports (four on the front).
Wireless: Supports Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4, with Wi-Fi 7 proving to deliver high-speed performance, particularly on the less congested 6 GHz band.
Design & Build: Housed in a solid metallic chassis with a minimalist silver finish, offering perfect structural integrity and a high-quality feel.
Expandability & OS: Comes with Windows 11 Pro pre-installed and includes a VESA mounting kit. Users can upgrade the RAM up to 128 GB and add a second M.2 2230 SSD.
Performance and User Experience
General Use: The mini PC offers a very positive user experience in basic tasks, office applications, web browsing, and multimedia, with instantaneous response from Windows 11. It's capable of perfectly smooth advanced multitasking and handles editing tasks reliably.
Noise Level: A standout feature is the low noise level of the cooling system under moderate load, making it an excellent choice for performance-demanding, quiet environments.
CPU/GPU/AI Performance:
CPU: The Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 delivered very good single-thread and multi-thread scores, performing within the high-end range for its category and surpassing competitors like the Intel Core Ultra 7 240H in ray-tracing performance (7,022,380 rays/sec).
GPU: Equipped with the integrated Radeon 890M (DirectX 12, Vulkan, Ray Tracing, AI cores), performance is deemed correct for an integrated solution, suitable for 1080p gaming utilizing features like AMD FSR.
AI: The integrated NPU unlocks the full potential of Copilot+ in Windows 11, offering significant added value for creatives and professionals through features like Paint cocreator and AI image generation.