A few different tech sites have picked up the story and there are some interesting early details starting to surface. I pulled together the concrete info below so we can discuss it. The image below is from here:

CPU: Intel Core Ultra 7 356H (Panther Lake)

The MS-03 is expected to be powered by Intel’s upcoming Panther Lake mobile platform, specifically the Core Ultra 7 356H.

Specs floating around right now include the following for the CPU:

• 16 cores total

  • 4 Performance cores

  • 8 Efficiency cores

  • 4 Low power Efficiency cores

• Boost clocks up to about 4.7 GHz

• 18 MB cache

• Xe3 integrated graphics

• Integrated NPU for AI acceleration

Panther Lake is Intel’s next architecture after Lunar Lake and Meteor Lake, so this will likely bring improvements in both performance and efficiency.

AI compute looks like a big focus

One interesting part of the specs is how much AI acceleration is being advertised with this one. There are several reported numbers related to AI performance, including the following:

• ~40 TOPS from the GPU

• ~50 TOPS from the NPU

• ~90 TOPS total AI compute

That suggests Minisforum may be positioning this system partly as an AI workstation mini PC, not just a general desktop, which is not surprising as most of the manufacturers are jumping on this bandwagon of marketing.

Power target around 70 W

Some reports say the system may run the CPU at around a 70 W power envelope, but it will be interesting to see if when released if it is around this power level as this will be somewhat high for mini PC and home lab I think but still doable. But also, if that ends up being true, it could mean much stronger sustained performance compared to many compact systems that throttle heavily.

Chassis size

The MS-03 appears to remain very compact and look basically like the MS-01 (see the picture above), with the dimensions of 195 × 195 × 42.5 mm. So still firmly in the small workstation mini PC category.

Possible MS-01 successor

Several sites suggest this is essentially the next generation of the MS-01 platform, even though they have already released the MS-02. I think we would all agree the MS-02 was really its own type of mini PC and looks more like a mini workstation footprint, instead of what the MS-01 started. That raises some obvious questions for those of us running MS-01 systems today.

Things we still don’t know are the following. Will it keep 10GbE networking or maybe have 25 GbE like the MS-02? Will there still be multiple NVMe slots? Will OCuLink be there for external GPU support? Will there be any PCIe expansion options? What will be the memory type and capacity? Is there a release timeline or pricing?

Why this could be interesting for home labs

If Minisforum keeps the same philosophy as the MS-01, this could end up being another strong home lab node with many of the same features that we really liked about the MS-01 such as the high core count CPU, small footprint, high-speed networking, AI acceleration, integrated graphics. So if they do, I think this could definitely be interesting for running Proxmox clusters, AI inference workloads, edge compute clusters or bare metal Kubernetes or Docker nodes. 

Curious what everyone thinks

A few questions for those in the forum. Do you think 10GbE returns on this system? Would you upgrade from an MS-01 for Panther Lake? Would you use this more for virtualization or AI workloads?

Personally I am really curious if Minisforum doubles down on the mini workstation / home lab hybrid concept again. If they keep the networking and storage flexibility of the MS-01 but add Panther Lake performance, this could end up being another really popular platform.

Would love to hear what everyone thinks.

Just wanted to start a thread on what looks like a super interesting compact motherboard from Minisforum, the Minisforum BD895i SE Mini-ITX motherboard. It’s now listed on Minisforum’s store: MINISFORM BD895i SE Motherboard| AMD Ryzen™ 9 8945HX

This is a Mini-ITX motherboard with a built-in high-end AMD processor. It has:

• Integrated AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX with 16 cores and 32 threads, running at ~2.5 GHz base and up to 5.4 GHz turbo. It is essentially bringing laptop H-series performance to a DIY board.

• Mini-ITX form factor (about 170×170 mm), ideal for compact builds.

• Support for up to 96 GB DDR5 RAM via two SO-DIMM slots at DDR5-5200 speeds

• Dual M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 SSD slots for fast storage

• PCIe 5.0 ×16 slot, so you can pair this with a full-size GPU if you want a powerful compact gaming or workstation build

• Triple display outputs — HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 1.4, and a USB-C Alt-DP port — all capable of up to 8K @ 60 Hz

• 2.5 G Ethernet and plenty of USB connectivity, which makes this board versatile beyond typical SFF builds

This board looks like Minisforum’s answer to the growing demand for powerful, compact, DIY-friendly platforms. The chip is soldered directly onto the board, and they have struck an interesting balance with this platform. It has a much higher performance than typical ITX boards, but it still has a small footprint and reasonable power use compared to full desktop CPUs.

Why it’s exciting

• This could be a killer option for compact workstations — think video editing, coding, virtualization, and even content creation

• It has a PCIe 5.0 slot opens up serious upgrade paths for GPUs or other expansion cards

• It feels like a new category between traditional mini-ITX boards and full mini-PCs, which tend to lock you into fixed configurations.

I currently have a wide range of boards from Minisforum, including the BD795M and BD790i and BD790X3D boards. All of these have been really great performers in my home lab. What do you guys think? I am not sure with RAM prices the way they are if anyone will be building something new, but thinking if you already have DDR5 memory and a stick of NVMe would this be something you would consider as an upgrade to something you already have? Let me know.

At a basic level, the ME Pro is a small NAS that supports either two or four 3.5 inch hard drives. That alone is nothing new. What is new is how Beelink designed the internals. Instead of everything being permanently bolted into the chassis, the compute side of the system lives on a removable tray that slides out from the bottom.

That tray holds basically everything you care about from a home lab perspective. CPU, RAM, M.2 slots, wireless, and even the fan all come out together. Beelink is showing this off as a way to potentially swap platforms later on, even jumping between Intel, AMD, or Arm if they ever offer those boards.

Right now, it sounds like launch models will be Intel based, specifically low power chips like the N95 or N150. Still, the fact that the board is removable at all is pretty interesting. In theory, you could keep your drives and just upgrade the brains of the NAS down the road instead of replacing the whole box.

From what you can see in the video, the CPU sits on the top of the board, while the RAM and M.2 slots live underneath. The drive cage is totally separate, which feels much more like a mini server layout than a typical consumer NAS.

Size wise, it stays pretty compact for full size drives. The two-bay version is small enough to tuck almost anywhere, and even the four bay model is still way smaller than most traditional NAS units that support 3.5-inch disks.

Networking also looks solid for a home lab build. You get both 5 GbE and 2.5 GbE out of the box, which is great for people who are already playing with faster networking but don’t want to jump straight to 10 GbE. There’s also HDMI and a decent mix of USB ports, so running something like Proxmox, TrueNAS, or even a lightweight Linux setup doesn’t seem out of the question.

What does everyone think about this one?

When Secure Boot is ON, my RTX 5090 consistently trains at full PCIe Gen4 x16 (16GT/s).
When Secure Boot is OFF, the PCIe link always falls back to Gen1 (2.5GT/s).
This happens even on warm reboots, with correct GPU seating, NVMe slot, CMOS cleared, and after cleaning MOK.

Any suggestions?  

I came across something really interesting from MINISFORUM that could mark a new direction for home lab enthusiasts and low-power server builders. It is the MS-R1 which is a mini PC powered by a Chinese Arm CPU from CIX Technology, officially known as the Cixin P1.

The MS-R1 features a 12-core Cixin P1 processor built on a 6 nm process, with eight Cortex-A720 performance cores and four Cortex-A520 efficiency cores. The performance cores clock between 2.3 GHz and 2.6 GHz, while the A520 cores run at 1.8 GHz. This Arm CPU also integrates an Immortalis-G720 MC10 GPU and an NPU rated for up to 30 TOPS of AI performance, making it one of the more capable Arm SoCs overall that has been in a mini PC form factor.

What’s fascinating is that the MS-R1 uses the same toolless enclosure as the MS-01 (Core i9-13900H) and MS-A2 (Ryzen 9 9955HX), bringing full server-level expandability to an Arm platform. The chassis supports USB PD 100W power, and internally it packs a PCIe 4.0 x16 slot (x8 lane active). It means it does have dGPU support. The chassis is very compact and doesn't let you have a large multi-slot GPU. However, you will be able to install a single-slot, low-power discrete GPU. This will open up a lot of possibilities for GPU compute on an Arm-based system.

Quick Specs: MINISFORUM MS-R1

One note from early testing is that the Realtek RTL8127 10GbE NIC does not work out of the box on Debian 12 or 13 yet. MINISFORUM has said they will release their customized Debian build and kernel configuration on GitHub soon, which is interesting. This should make it easier to get the network operating. Even with the integrated Immortalis GPU, the PCIe 4.0 slot makes this ARM PC very expandable. Once the Linux driver is available, you could install a compact NVIDIA or AMD GPU and use it for compute workloads. Also, since it has the dual 10GbE adapters this makes the MS-R1 a very powerful Arm-based mini PCs.

It will support up to 1 TB of storage and around 60 GB of LPDDR5 RAM. It will come with Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2. Pricing and availability of this new ARM unit have not been shared yet.

Why this matters for the home lab

Does it matter? Well I think for home lab builders, the MS-R1 could be a major step forward in bringing Arm compute into more serious home labs. Most Arm boxes on the market don't have PCIe expansion or high-speed networking. That is not the case with the R1 as it has both. With 10GbE networking, PCIe for dGPU or accelerator cards, and a capable NPU, it looks perfect for experimenting with Arm-native Docker containers. You could use it to build low-power Kubernetes clusters. Or you could even use this for testing AI inference. It could also make a great low-watt Proxmox or LXC node once Debian support is there and available.

If Minisforum can get the pricing right (which is getting a little harder now), this may be the first Arm mini PC to that has a chance to rival the x86 boxes in terms of capabilities, and I/O capability with the 10 GbE networking. It will be exciting to see how it performs once the community gets hands on it and starts running tests with Proxmox, Docker, and real-world workloads in the home lab.

Original sources:
PC Watch Article (Japanese)

This is a little Ryzen 7 box is one I’ve personally reviewed and used in the home lab. I wrote up a full review on this one last year where I covered performance numbers, thermals, and what it’s like running it as a home server. Check out my review of the unit here: Beelink SER5 Mini PC Review: AMD Ryzen 7 Home Server.

It runs quiet and handles Proxmox without issues. It does have a Realtek NIC so you will need to have a USB network adapter for VMware. But I do think this little mini PC has enough power for multiple VMs, Docker containers, or even light gaming workloads. It has the Ryzen 7 5800H, 16GB of DDR4, and a 500GB NVMe drive. So that will give you a pretty solid base as a home server role.

If you’ve been eyeing something to expand your lab or maybe you need a low-power always-on mini PC for a home server, this is a good option at today’s price. Anyone else running one of these as part of their setup? Curious how others have them configured theirs? Proxmox, ESXi, or maybe Unraid?

You also get USB4 v2 ports at up to 80 Gbps, let me repeat that, USB4 v2!. Also, DDR5 support we know up to 128 GB, and multiple NVMe slots. So, the overall horsepower I woudl say fits more into a workstation class PC. If the pricing lands right, this could be a sweet spot for people who want serious performance in a compact box. And, you don't have to go the route of a full ATX tower route.

From my perspective, this could be an interesting option for home labs. More cores, faster memory, better storage options, and even GPU expandability. It means you can throw Proxmox or ESXi on it and have a cluster node that does not take up much space. The only unknown right now is the networking. Minisforum has used both Realtek and Intel NICs in the past, and as we all know that makes a big difference for ESXi compatibility. Until we get confirmation, it is hard to say if this box will be plug and play for VMware users or if it will need workarounds. But since the home lab community has definitely cooled towards VMware this may not be a concern for most.

One thing also to note is this CPU is a high wattage CPU that will definitely not be that power efficient for those thinking about running a home lab 24x7x365. You can definitely find more efficient mini PCs out there.

Curious what you all think about the Minisforum MS-S1 Max? This seems to be an interesting option that is coming. However, I am not sure outside of the newer hardware if this is totally different than the MS-A2 or MS-01. What is your take?

Key Specs and Features

• Processor: Pre-installed AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX3D (16 cores, 32 threads)​
• Chipset: AMD B650E​
• Memory Support: Dual-channel DDR5, up to 96GB (4800–6400MHz) (***This is the official statement....however I am willing to bet it will support the new 128 GB kits from Crucial)​
• Storage Options:
  • 2x M.2 2280 PCIe 5.0 x4 NVMe SSD slots​​
• Expansion & Connectivity:
  • PCIe 5.0 x16 slot for high-end GPUs​
  • 1x 2.5GbE LAN port​
  • Wi-Fi 6E & Bluetooth 5.3​
• Rear I/O Ports:
  • 1x USB4 (40Gbps, DP Alt Mode, PD 65W)​
  • 1x USB-C (10Gbps)​
  • 5x USB-A (10Gbps)​
  • HDMI 2.1 & DisplayPort 1.4 outputs​
  • 3.5mm audio jacks​

What does the BD790i X3D offer?

1. Ryzen 9 7945HX3D Preinstalled – This is a flagship 16-core, 32-thread CPU with 3D V-Cache. This means it should be able to deliver exceptional gaming and home lab performance running workloads​
2. PCIe 5.0 x16 Slot – If you still want to add a discrete GPU, you can with this high performance slot​
3. Dual M.2 Slots – Two PCIe 5.0 x4 slots for ultra-fast NVMe storage.​
4. USB4 with Power Delivery – 65W PD charging and DisplayPort Alt Mode enable single-cable setups.​
5. mini-ITX Form Factor – High-end performance in a small footprint, perfect for SFF gaming builds or workstations.​

This motherboard is ideal for:

• Gamers who want to build a powerful little system with a mini-ITX motherboard with 3D V-Cache as this will help with gaming performance​
• Content creators the multiple cores and muscle of the system will likely do a great job with video production​
• Home lab enthusiasts - Home labbers who want a powerful motherboard and CPU combo to build a home lab server from, this thing is going to be powerful!​

Pricing and when released?

The Minisforum BD790i X3D is available for $599 on Minisforum’s official store. According to Minisforum, it will ship mid-March 2025.​ Check out more here: MINISFORUM BD790i X3D.

Pics

Video 

GMK has joined the parade of AMD Strix Halo models that are forthcoming. It has officially announced the upcoming EVO-X2. This is a compact mini PC set to feature AMD's latest Strix Halo architecture. The EVO-X1 was a successful model for them which showcased the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor. The new EVO-X2 is will deliver even better performance and capabilities.

​

Features of the GMKtec EVO-X2:

• AMD Strix Halo CPU Processing Power: The EVO-X2 will have the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor that includes 16 Zen 5 CPU cores. There is also an interesting offering that will be forthcoming, the Pro version, that will have enhanced performance and support for ECC RAM.​

• Graphics: Part of the advantage and power of the AMD Strix Halo is that it offers graphics performance that rivals mid-range discrete graphics cards. This particular model will have the Radeon 8060S iGPU embedded as part of the APU. It will feature 40 Compute Units based on AMD's latest RDNA 3.5 architecture.​

• Memory and Storage: It will support up to 128 GB of LPDDR5X RAM at 8,000 MT/s. Also, as mentioned, a Pro version could have ECC memory as an option. It will also have PCIe 4.0 storage options.​

GMK has announced that the EVO-X2 is set for release between Q1 and Q2 of 2025. There are no pricing details as of yet, but the company has teased the product for the Chinese market already with availability information coming soon for other locales.

As you can see, it is fully using the memory. Hopefully this helps to show that even though many of these mini PCs aren't tested with 128 GB RAM, they can do it, with DDR5 dual channel capabilities.