Best mini PC of the year? AMD Strix Halo, 128 GB RAM & Radeon RX 8060S reviewed in the Bosgame M5

[Redaktion]

The Bosgame M5 combines powerful hardware in a mini format: with AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395, 128 GB RAM and Radeon RX 8060S, it delivers gaming and workstation power. Find out in this test how the mini PC performs in benchmarks, games and under full load - and whether it will be one of the best mini PCs in 2025.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Best-mini-PC-of-the-year-AMD-Strix-Halo-128-GB-RAM-Radeon-RX-8060S-reviewed-in-the-Bosgame-M5.1087793.0.html

[heffeque]

Can't wait for the Framework Desktop review.

[beerkegbob]

For $1400 or $1600 I could have a full size gaming desktop.
Why would i pay that for something that limits my options?

[Worgarthe]

For $1400 or $1600 I could have a full size gaming desktop.

Correct.

Why would i pay that for something that limits my options?

Because if you need the following...

"...the Bosgame M5 is a mighty mini PC that also scores points with its high AI performance. With the option of assigning up to 96 GB of RAM to the graphics card, the mini PC has a major advantage over many other PCs."

...you cannot do that with the mentioned $1400 or $1600 budget.

So, if you need that then building your own desktop is not an option. For everything else building your own is clearly far superior.

Edit: Just went to check, the cheapest 48 GB VRAM GPU on the market right now is US$3287: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/8kF48d/pny-vcqrtx8000-pb-quadro-rtx-8000-48-gb-video-card-vcqrtx8000-pb

To match 96 GB you would need need to double that, so US$6574 just on GPUs, which is clearly far above $1400-1500, without even getting other parts like CPU, mobo, RAM...

[Jonas Bee]

You say that as if one of these workstation dGPUs with 48 GB of dedicated memory is in the same league as an iGPU like the Radeon 8060S with access to up to 96 GB of system memory.

The card you linked is an old Quadro from 2018, 48 GB of memory is just about all it has going for itself - but yeah, the RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell with 96 GB of dedicated memory would be today's top workstation card, and that's going for a proverbial truckload of money.

[Worgarthe]

Correct, Jonas. I was just going by pure prices with no real regard to huge performance, as beerkegbob's mention was about a $1400-$1600 range gaming desktop.

[heffeque]

For $1400 or $1600 I could have a full size gaming desktop.
Why would i pay that for something that limits my options?

Why would I want a huge desktop PC when I can have a compact and efficient PC?

[Worgarthe]

For $1400 or $1600 I could have a full size gaming desktop.
Why would i pay that for something that limits my options?

Why would I want a huge desktop PC when I can have a compact and efficient PC?

Repairability? Upgradability? Longer warranty on each component inside? Non-soldered RAM but instead upgradable up to 192 GB? Full control of any item inside? 9950X is faster than this CPU? It is also overclockable to squeeze even more performance? RTX 5070 Ti stomps this 8060S (exactly twice faster in benchmarks, much faster in games and it can run almost any game in ultra/maxed at 1440p at 165 Hz native without VRR, no need for upscaling either)? Quieter with better cooling (larger case, larger vents)? Fractal Terra is small and stylish case where everything mentioned can fit inside and aesthetically looks much nicer than this here?

All of that is exactly US$1618.02.

This one has LLM workload as its only advantage. Well unless you want to have as small as possible but no idea why that matters to such degree where 10 cm here and there plays any difference, unless you live in a 6 m2 apartment (six, yes).

[Gabrielle]

Framework Desktop FTW. Please do the benchmark on sustained performance/TDP between desktops using 395+.

[heffeque]

Repairability? Upgradability? Longer warranty on each component inside? Non-soldered RAM but instead upgradable up to 192 GB? Full control of any item inside? 9950X is faster than this CPU? It is also overclockable to squeeze even more performance? RTX 5070 Ti stomps this 8060S (exactly twice faster in benchmarks, much faster in games and it can run almost any game in ultra/maxed at 1440p at 165 Hz native without VRR, no need for upscaling either)? Quieter with better cooling (larger case, larger vents)? Fractal Terra is small and stylish case where everything mentioned can fit inside and aesthetically looks much nicer than this here?

All of that is exactly US$1618.02.

This one has LLM workload as its only advantage. Well unless you want to have as small as possible but no idea why that matters to such degree where 10 cm here and there plays any difference, unless you live in a 6 m2 apartment (six, yes).

"Repairability?" Framework Desktop.

"Upgradability?" Framework Desktop.

"Longer warranty on each component inside?" False.

"9950X is faster than this CPU?" So what.

"It is also overclockable to squeeze even more performance?" Why would I want more performance. The Strix Halo has plenty. I want higher efficiency, for lower power consumption, and especially much lower noise. If anything I'll downclock it.

"RTX 5070 Ti stomps this 8060S" Why would I care? The 8060S is more than enough for my needs.

"Quieter with better cooling" Framework Desktop.

"Well unless you want to have as small as possible but no idea why that matters to such degree where 10 cm here and there plays any difference" I want it to fit behind my TV. A tower won't fit. The Framework Desktop will.

Who would have known... Different people have different needs and preferences!

Please tell me more about how yours are the right ones, and everyone else's are wrong!

[AMD:StrixHalo is for LLMs]

"Strix Halo" is a 256-bit chip with a theoretical memory bandwidth of 256 GB/s, comparable to a quad-channel desktop PC, except there are no quad-channel desktop PCs, only workstations. Normal/most desktop PCs are dual-channel, hence the higher price and in this small size (it even rhymes, so it must be true). If you don't need the small size and quad-channel for LLMs (AMD specifically advertises "Strix Halo" for LLM inferencing), obviously get a desktop PC the (a desktop PC is not going to be able to replace Strix Halo's 128GB and 256GB/s RAM and AMD advertises this).

I thought I read that on the other language version the cooling didn't perform as well as on this english version of the article? Well, maybe it was a different unit.

[Worgarthe]

Please tell me more about how yours are the right ones, and everyone else's are wrong!

Never said that, but you are getting very emotional for some reason. And lol, grab a Framework then and enjoy its ultimate hyper-supremacy over anything else on the market. There is no better PC in the existence.

[heffeque]

Never said that, but you are getting very emotional for some reason. And lol, grab a Framework then and enjoy its ultimate hyper-supremacy over anything else on the market. There is no better PC in the existence.

Just respoding to your emotions with the same level of emotions. I'll tune it down, no worries.
I did grab a Framework Desktop (months ago), it'll arrive on Monday.
And yes, currently there is no better PC in existence for my specific use case, so I'll enjoy it very much, thank you :-)

[JohnIL]

Not really in my ballpark of what I need but I feel you do have to accept some compromises with these small form PC's. Some of with is upgradable parts and potentially some longevity issues depending on cooling effectiveness. Certainly understand not everyone wants a giant PC case sitting on desk or floor. But as with laptops your ability to maintain and upgrade is limited. If I am going to spend some serious money on what I hope is a long life PC. I do prefer to have upgrade option to refresh it and keep it being useful longer. Not to mention all the parts can be cooled more effectively. Which in my view would also contribute to a longer lifespan.