Minisforum Elitemini B550 - Full B550 AM4 65W Socket, APU + x16 eGPU Docking Station - $319

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eduncan911

The New James Dean
Jul 27, 2015
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These STH reviews of Tiny PCs hasn't coaxed me to go mini. Nope, uh uh. Not until I go off the grid or something, at which keeping 240 TB online would be a bit difficult. Even still, I never liked Embedded CPUs ...

However, Windell just posted a review of this thing - right when I was considering an inexpensive B550 build for the kiddo that needs something more than his Raspberry Pi 3B and Minecraft. But, I wanted something I could max out in the future.


I went ahead and bought a barebones as I already had a 35W CPU, and could scrounge up some SODIMMs. So, I am joining the Mini PC / Tiny PC world.

COUPONS: As I was browsing their site, i noticed they have a Rewards section. Need to sign up on that, first, before purchasing it would seem.


^- MODS: I decided to keep the tracking info for Level1tech in that link (the utm) because I would have never seen this, before the Pre-sale was up. Let me know if need to be removed.
 
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Samir

Post Liker and Deal Hunter Extraordinaire!
Jul 21, 2017
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Pretty neat with the dock and carry case included. Those are nice bonuses above the usual USFF or NUC setup.
 
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efschu3

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Mar 11, 2019
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Am I blind or where is the "x16 eGPU Docking Station"? And how would the docking station be connected to the box?
 
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eduncan911

The New James Dean
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jeffmcjunkin

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Oct 30, 2014
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I bought three of these for my home lab. One thing a Linus Tech Tips video mentioned got me *extremely* interested. They were successful in running an Nvidia 1050 Ti on the external PCI-e dock without external power.

Instead of a GPU, why not a fast network adapter? I'm planning to use the built-in 2.5gbe adapter for now, but plugging in a ConnectX-N (for some value of N) adapter later into a fast switch. Maybe 25gb, maybe 40gb. No kill like overkill! VSAN and such should work great that way.
 

adman_c

Active Member
Feb 14, 2016
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Holy smokes these are really cool! If only there was a way to fit a small PCIE card within the case, these would definitely be enticing vs the Tinys for my use case (10gbe useful, discrete graphics not).
 

eduncan911

The New James Dean
Jul 27, 2015
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I bought three of these for my home lab. One thing a Linus Tech Tips video mentioned got me *extremely* interested. They were successful in running an Nvidia 1050 Ti on the external PCI-e dock without external power.

Instead of a GPU, why not a fast network adapter? I'm planning to use the built-in 2.5gbe adapter for now, but plugging in a ConnectX-N (for some value of N) adapter later into a fast switch. Maybe 25gb, maybe 40gb. No kill like overkill! VSAN and such should work great that way.
Yes, you should be able to run any GPU of 75W or lower, or don't draw more than 75W as that's the max power for PCIe slots.

As for using it for something else...

I used my Razor Core X eGPU to charge my laptop - and host a Mellanox dual-port 40 GbE QSFP+ card to my laptop.

Yeah overkill. But eGPU sucks over TB3 for laptops, especially in Linux. Got far more mileage just using it as an external ePCIe slot on my laptop.
 
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LodeRunner

Active Member
Apr 27, 2019
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I bought one, CPU barebones config. It is pretty solid. Quieter than the smaller NUCi5 that it replaced (if only because the fan is like twice as big). I don't have a GPU for it yet, so not using the dock. The hard-shell carry case is a nice addition, if it wasn't buried in my TV stand, taking it to a friend's place for game night would be fairly convenient.

The iGPU can do HDR, but only at 4k60 or lower; it takes dropping it to 4k30 to get 4:4:4 output (can't remote into it right now, will confirm these numbers later). It was able to do 4k120 output (no HDR). VRR supported and recognized by my LG CX77.

The 5700 itself is a well-proven CPU; this thing is an emulation beast for pretty much any core you want to throw at it. My only complaints are that the lack of front panel USB, so I had to get a USB extension cable to bring the receiver for my keyboard out from behind it to get consistent key/trackpad registration (chassis is mostly aluminum, plastic top and bottom), and the LED power indicator strip on the lid is not controllable in anyway (which I will solve by simply unplugging it).
 

LodeRunner

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Apr 27, 2019
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Oh, one other complaint, more about Minisforums than the device, the downloads page had a couple of broken links and I don't see any BIOS updates for it. AMD fixed a stutter bug related to the fTPM in the most recent AGESA. So you have to disable fTPM in BIOS to remediate the issue at the moment.

They do actually offer pre-built Win 10 and 11 Pro OS images, but supplied as a ZIP instead of compiled ISO that's ready to go. For me that's less convenient since I use an IODD Mini as a virtual CD boot device rather than fussing with formatting USB sticks and worrying if they'll work with UEFI or MBR properly. If you already have a formatted stick for a Windows install, you could just delete all the files and folders, then dump this ZIP on it and it should work.
 
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LodeRunner

Active Member
Apr 27, 2019
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What's the idle power consumption of a B550 with 5700G?
So, the UPS it's plugged into is reporting 36W load. That's the B550 idle (with Edge and a few tabs open), a PS4 in sleep mode, a LG CX77 powered off, and whatever the standby loss of the speaker system I use. Getting more specific would require significant disassembly of my entertainment center to move power cables around.
 
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