Minisforum UM890 Pro Performance
The CPU is the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS. This is very similar to the previous gen and includes the Radeon 780M graphics.
Python Linux 4.4.2 Kernel Compile Benchmark
This is one of the most requested benchmarks for STH over the past few years. The task was simple, we have a standard configuration file, the Linux 4.4.2 kernel from kernel.org, and make the standard auto-generated configuration utilizing every thread in the system. We are expressing results in terms of compiles per hour to make the results easier to read:
Overall, we will see a pattern here that this new CPU is very close to the previous “generation” one used in the UM790 Pro.
7-zip Compression Performance
7-zip is a widely used compression/ decompression program that works cross-platform. We started using the program during our early days with Windows testing. It is now part of Linux-Bench.
The pattern holds here.
OpenSSL Performance
OpenSSL is widely used to secure communications between servers. This is an essential protocol in many server stacks. We first look at our sign tests:
Here are the verify results:
The new generation is ever so slightly faster, but it was consistently so.
AMD Radeon Pro W7700 with the DEG1
As one might imagine, adding an eGPU adds performance. Here is a Geekbench 6 OpenCL run with the AMD Radeon Pro W7700 in the DEG1 over Oculink.
We also tried much larger GPUs from NVIDIA, but this was a low-noise setup even with the eGPU. The onboard AMD Radeon 780M graphics can run esports titles like League of Legends at 4K without much struggle, but for higher-end games, a higher-end GPU is useful.
Next, let us get to the power consumption and noise.
Couple questions. Does the occulink “expansion” perform equal or better than TB4/USB4 for PCIEe expansion? Why use one or the other? More lanes? Faster clock?
Is the eGPU expansion really “any PCIe” expansion? I can’t see why that wouldn’t be the case, but for some of us, running 10 Gbit might be the killer-app?
TB3 to PCIe chassises seem to go for nearly $400 these days which seems like $100 of hardware and $300 of greed built in. Is occulink “better” in the price-per-PCIe transaction perspective?
I would like to see a slightly larger case with a standard fan(connector). They would get a better air flow, low noise and the miniPC would be able to run without RAM and SSD heatsink. What is most important, this would improve serviceability. You don’t just replace this custom fan when it breaks, and that will be the first thing that breaks there.
I own a um790Pro and this fan is the loudest thing in this mini PC.
@chris h
OCuLink uses raw PCIe lanes so it’s not affected by the myriad of bandwidth and latency limitations of TB/USB4.
However it’s not usually designed for hot-plugging, especially if using M.2 to OCuLink converters like in this case. See the STH review of DEG1 – the eGPU Dock with PSU+GPU has to be powered on before the host in order to function correctly, and can’t be disconnected/reconnected at runtime. This is partly a limitation of the motherboard used.
Device compatibility depends on what PCIe endpoint is implemented on the other side of the OCuLink.
What you’re paying for with TB/USB4 is compatibility and certification. You know that certified devices will work, they will behave correctly with hot-plugging, and so on. Certification isn’t cheap, especially TB, so devices are more expensive than a hodgepodge collection of random PCIe elements from Aliexpress ;)
How fast would this compile chromium? I would love to know, I’m looking for a portable machine for my work related travels that would allow me to have a decent build speed locally when working on chromium.