GMKtec Mini PC N150, G3 Plus Intel Twin Lake N150 (3.4GHz), 8GB DDR4 RAM 256GB PCIe M.2 SSD, Desktop Computer 4K Dual HDMI/USB3.2/WiFi 6/BT5.2/2.5G RJ45

Pretty Good Mini PC
This mini PC worked great for 4 months, no issues until I received the blue screen of death, most likely a SSD corruption. I tried doing all the things to repair it and nothing worked. I tried reaching out to Microsoft but you can’t call them and talk to someone, you just have to read their help section on their website.  Still nothing worked to get rid of the blue screen. So I reached out via email to the company of this mini PC, GMKtec, and they were amazing. They responded quicker than what I thought they would have responded. They tried to help me repair the computer and when that didn’t work, I had to return the computer to their company (make sure you keep the box and all the accessories) and as soon as it was returned, I received a replacement within a couple of days. The company even asked me to communicate that I received the replacement and if it was working properly. Just based on customer service from GMKtec, I would feel comfortable buying another one of their products. Shout-out to Julian and Terry from GMKtec for being so helpful!So why did I give this five stars? Because until the blue screen happened, it worked perfectly fine for my needs. It’s unfortunate what happened, but it could have happened at any time. 

An almost perfect non-gaming mini PC!
Almost a perfect mini computer!I’m not a computer engineer, but, I have a technical background and understand most things about pc’s. With this said, I was hesitant getting this, as the price for the larger RAM model (16GB) seemed to good to be true, coming with a licensed Win11 operating system onboard. I was pleasantly surprised! It comes with Win 11 baked in, excellent (fast) Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. Web pages load almost immediately. Running a several apps at once the unit gets warm, as the CPU will clock above it’s normal 800MHz speed (I watched it clock to around 1.8GHz), but the fan is quiet. I had to look to see it was running.Only negative I can find, it does NOT handle multitasking (heavy loading) very well. If you have multiple apps open and ask it to transfer data, or something else, it bogs down. I would NOT use this as a gaming pc, as I think the description says it can be. The built-in video RAM is small and the clock speed is about 500MHz. Again, for Web surfing, emails, occasional word processing and spreadsheets you’ll be fine! I tried creating a Recovery Disk, using a 32GB Samsung mini jump drive (it says the disk needed is 16GB), with ALL other apps I had open closed, and after waiting over 2 hours the status bar was only about 1/4 of the way across! I would strongly suggest creating and scheduling Restore Points every month, and, backing up your files to an external drive, just in case.In summary, for the price you pay, if you’re not a gamer you’ll be happy with this unit!

I received this package from Amazon last Monday, superfast delivery even without Prime. The packaging was sealed and already small, and the box is even smaller, all the content is shown on the photo. The G3 is very light weight and there’s a metal clamp, I believe this is to attach and hide it behind a screen, however the box takes so little space that I simply place it even on a really small desk.The box’s plastic material feels like good quality and the colour is a nice, maybe dark-olive green, I prefer that over white which often gets yellowish over time, black collects dust and grey looks boring. It is replacing a bulky old Omen gaming PC in the living room area that was 8 time more in height and about the same difference is true for the surface area, the photo gives you an idea. The old PC was used mainly for internet researches, some homework related uses, some attempts in coding and writing emails etc. A Steam client was running on it with quite a collection, but more casual games. One issue was that the old PC was on 24/7 and a gaming PC is drawing a fair bit of power and I don’t need the heat it produces now in summer, the Omen must have used at least 10x more energy than this G3. The tiny charger that came with the box says in small font I believe 36W, but I suppose the G3 is running on a lot less on average, so at 20 Watts it costs just about 3 cents a day to run permanently. The box is slightly warm but definitely not hot. The other issue with the Omen was that it didn’t allow an upgrade to Windows 11 although the specs on that gaming PC are not bad. The G3 comes with Windows 11 preinstalled and that was very is easy to set-up. I recommend to take a backup with a 16/32 GB USB stick immediately once you’ve installed your browsers and any additional software. It takes about a night to run a Windows backup but it is just good practice because you don’t want to be forced to buy an expensive Windows licence if ever something happens, even if it feels unlikely with a fresh Windows 11, which in my experience is a stabile OS and has become fairly secure, make sure you don’t disable the updates.I’ve been running the G3 now for a week with three different browsers (Edge is preinstalled), countless tabs open. I had no problems connecting the Samsung screen via HDMI, a USB keyboard (even has French has second layout), a USB mouse and a headphone (cinch). My Wifi printer worked without much hassle, very easy to add it in Windows 11. This purchase fully meets my expectation and use case.

I recently had the opportunity to try out the GMKTec G9, a device that seeks to integrate the functionalities of a mini PC and a NAS. As a Linux user and someone who has GMKTec devices already (G3 and an M5) that are performing splendidly, I have a particular interest in its potential for Linux-based applications. I have a homelab setup with Proxmox, and this device looks to be well-suited to this architecture.The device’s compact form factor is immediately notable. Its small size is advantageous, particularly where there is limited workspace. The design is generally clean and understated.A primary feature of interest for the GMKtec G9 is its storage capacity. The inclusion of four M.2 slots allows for the installation of substantial high-speed solid-state storage. For Linux users, this facilitates a range of storage configurations, including diverse file systems, RAID arrays, and the potential for virtualization.The unit is shipped with Ubuntu pre-installed on the internal 64GB EMMC. The availability of an internal drive for the OS install (Ubuntu, Proxmox, etc.) is beneficial. This leaves the M.2 slots free for ZFS, RAID, and other storage configurations. Ideally suited to a TrueNAS or OpenMediaVault install.The device is equipped with an Intel N150 processor, which is more than adequate for server-oriented tasks, such as home server operation, media streaming (e.g., Plex). Thermal management is a consideration, particularly with the installation of four NVMe drives. I anticipate that the addition of low-profile heatsinks to the drives may be necessary to maintain optimal operating temperatures under heavy load.In terms of connectivity, the inclusion of dual 2.5GbE ports is a significant advantage. This feature is highly desirable for robust home server configurations. The device also provides a range of USB ports and HDMI outputs, enabling its use as a traditional desktop system if required.From a Linux user’s perspective, the GMKtec G9 presents a compelling combination of versatility, compact size, and reasonable cost. I am enthusiastic about the prospect of exploring its capabilities as a home server platform and investigating its potential for various Linux-based applications.To get an idea of how things would work in my environment, I first installed TrueNAS. This was a little tricky, having to install an older version to get the install to work on the eMMC. Once installed, it performs well, having added Plex to the mix. Network and Disk performance were as expected. Next, I installed Proxmox (again having to tweak the install to get it to install to the eMMC) and added it to my cluster. I migrated a Windows 11 VM to the G9 and was impressed with the speed.Lastly, installed a pfSense VM and plan on using the dual 2.5G NIC to modernise my firewall config.I now plan to replace my clunky EliteDesk and hard drive setup with the G9 after adding some more NVMe storage.All in all, impressed with the capabilities.