Quote from: Jonathan Swift on April 01, 2025, 15:32:36I'm not sure how anyone has managed to convince themselves this AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX board with a mobile chip and heavy thermal restrictions is cheaper & more convenient than a desktop board with socketed processor.

Going by AU$ prices listed on PCpartpicker, a Gigabyte B650I mITX motherboard + AMD Ryzen 9 7900X + Thermalright CPU cooler is just under AU$1000 (AU$1150 if you want a 7950X instead).

I don't know where the $1600 is coming from unless you move up to a B850 chipset board with Ryzen 9 9900X/9950X, but this Minisforum board is NOT a good deal in any sort of way.

Considering they mentioned they paid $639 AUD for it, baffling that you're saying "how can they convince themselves it's cheaper than $1000 CPU+Mobo combo? I don't know, basic math seems to support their argument?

They also said $1600 comes from the total system, so again, are you deliberately trying to ignore what they posted to support your argument?

Certainly this CPU+board combo isn't for everyone, it definitely has limitations, but if those aren't an issue, it seems to be a solid deal, by your own numbers.

I'm not sure how anyone has managed to convince themselves this AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX board with a mobile chip and heavy thermal restrictions is cheaper & more convenient than a desktop board with socketed processor.

Going by AU$ prices listed on PCpartpicker, a Gigabyte B650I mITX motherboard + AMD Ryzen 9 7900X + Thermalright CPU cooler is just under AU$1000 (AU$1150 if you want a 7950X instead).

I don't know where the $1600 is coming from unless you move up to a B850 chipset board with Ryzen 9 9900X/9950X, but this Minisforum board is NOT a good deal in any sort of way.

this article tells us its better than or so close to a 9800x3d? noway

I did the math a few months ago and picked up this board locally for $639 AUD.

Benchmark wise
in performance mark -

Multi Core - 1764, a bit faster than an Intel i9-14900HX laptop ($$$ LOTS) and about the same as an AMD Ryzen 9 9900X desktop (at $700)

the combination is cheaper than an equivalent performing desktop processor!

overall, i'm happy, 'all up', i've spent about $1200 AUD on a 64gig 16 core 'beast' that's small and sips power.

I'd have had to have spent around $1600 to get a similar perfoming proper desktop processor based system...
and, my energy bill for running 24/7 would be at least 50% higher

It would be viable if it weren't so expensive for what you get - even if mITX boards are pricier than larger formats, there's no advantage to preferring this over the classic processor+mobo combination in terms of price or upgradability.

Looking at the benchmarks, its lackluster performance just seals the no-buy deal.