This Geekom Mini PC is so small, I almost forgot where I put it

Mini PCs can fill the niche of a laptop, particularly if you don’t need to travel much for work. And if you’re in the market for a Mini PC, the Geekom AX8 Pro is so small you’ll forget it’s even there.

Geekom’s AX8 Pro AI Mini PC offers a mid-range CPU in a miniature desktop design to give you solid performance while easily mounting to the back of your monitor. Mini PCs generally use mobile CPUs but have the kind of port array that makes them desktop or all-in-one alternatives.

Thanks to its Ryzen 7 8745HS Hawk Point processor, integrated Radeon 780M graphics, and 16 TOPs NPU, the AX8 Pro offers reliable performance and enough AI power to enable NPU-specific AI tasks. The Geekom AX8 Pro is also thin and light enough to easily mount to a monitor with the included VESA mounting bracket, and offers plenty of ports for all your accessories and multi-monitor setup.

On the other hand, the AX8 Pro is a bit pricey for a mini PC with a mid-range CPU, has poor integrated graphics performance, and lacks a quick-access USB-C port on the front port array.

But is that enough to hold Geekom’s AX8 Pro AI Mini PC back from being one of the Best AI PCs?

Geekom AX8 Pro: Specs and benchmarks

Geekom AX8 Pro: Price and configurations

The Geekom AX8 Pro starts at just $529 for an AMD Ryzen 7 8745HS processor with Radeon 780M integrated graphics, 32GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD.

You can upgrade your storage to 1TB for $799. Notably, this model is available for $549 at the time of writing.

Alternatively, you can upgrade to the Ryzen 9 8945HS CPU with a 2TB SSD for $999, though this model is currently on sale for $899.

While these prices are somewhat high for a mini PC with a mid-range CPU, it appears that the current US foreign product tariffs are responsible for some of that price inflation. You also need to be aware that some mini PCs are sold "barebones" without RAM or storage, so look out for this when perusing cheaper mini PCs.

Geekom AX8 Pro: Design

The Geekom AX8 Pro is a small, square mini PC, in a cool blue-toned metal. While the look of the Geekom is rather plain, that aesthetic works perfectly for a mini PC, which is generally designed to fade into the background.

Geekom placed most of the ports on the rear of the AX8 Pro mini PC, but there are two USB Type-A ports and the audio jack on the front side of the chassis for ease of access.

The AX8 Pro ships with a VESA mount to easily secure it to the back of your monitor, giving the appearance of an all-in-one PC with the port array of a desktop.

Measuring just 4.61 x 4.37 x 1.52 inches and weighing just 1.23 pounds, the Geekom AX8 Pro is on the small side, which is, again, ideal for mounting on the back of a monitor. It’s pretty similar compared to mini PCs like:

• Asus NUC 14 Pro: 4.6 x 4.41 x 1.45~2.13 inches, 1.1-1.32 pounds
• AceMagic F2A AI Mini PC: 5.79 x 5.79 x 2.05 inches, 4.58 pounds
• Apple Mac Mini (M4, 2024): 5 x 5 x 2 inches, 1.5 pounds

Geekom AX8 Pro: Ports

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Mini PCs, like laptops, need at least a few ports to make your life easy, and Geekom’s AX8 Pro nails that objective. The full list of ports includes:

• 1x USB 4 (40Gbps)
• 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (10Gbps)
• 3x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A (10Gbps)
• 1x USB 2.0 Type-A
• 2x HDMI 2.0
• 1x RJ45 Ethernet jack
• 1x 3.5mm audio jack
• 1x DC-in

This should be more than enough ports, even if you rock a dual-monitor setup in your home office. My only complaint with the port offerings is the lack of a USB Type-C port on the front quick-access ports. However, getting two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports on the front is an acceptable trade-off.

But if you prefer a DisplayPort monitor connection or if you need an SD card slot, you may want to consider kitting your office out with one of the best laptop docking stations or USB-C hubs as well.

Geekom AX8 Pro: Performance and heat

Geekom packed an AMD Ryzen 7 8745HS processor and 32GB of RAM into the AX8 Pro, so it features more than enough power to handle web browsing with over 20 Chrome tabs and Adobe Photoshop without pause.

While the Geekom isn’t the most powerful mini PC out there, it gets enough performance that most folks won’t run into throttling or overheating with general workloads. If you’re trying to run very large language model (LLM) AI workloads, it is possible to push the AX8 Pro to its limits, but if you’re going to be doing that much work with AI, a mini PC probably isn’t the best choice for you in the first place.

The AX8 Pro does feature fans inside the chassis, but you’ll need to really push its Ryzen 7 processor to its limits to hear them kick on. Of course you can also adjust the fan speeds through the BIOS menu if you plan to throttle the AX8 Pro routinely with heavy tasks.

That said, even while running Photoshop or running my daily Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail dungeons didn’t cause the AX8 Pro to heat up much, though the fans did kick on.

Geekom AX8 Pro: Gaming and graphics

Geekom did not build the AX8 Pro as a gaming PC, so don’t expect RTX 50-series performance. This little mini desktop just has AMD’s Radeon 780M integrated graphics under the hood.

I did run it through some gaming tests, as we have seen some incredible iGPU performance from AMD and Intel over the last few generations. Unfortunately, the AX8 Pro is not a standout.

While sitting in the Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail Solution Nine hub town I got about 44 frames per second (fps) with the graphics set to Standard (Laptop) and 1080p. While in dungeons, I saw my frame rates average about 33 fps for new content, 38 fps for older instances, and lows of about 26 fps.

While still playable, it was far from enjoyable.

I had a bit more luck with Baldur’s Gate 3 at 1080p, Medium settings, as BG3 doesn’t require high level hardware for basic playability, though higher spec systems do get smoother graphics with more detail.

The AX8 Pro is designed as an AI PC for LLM use rather than a gaming PC. So it’s best to stick with indie games if you need to get some game time in.

Geekom AX8 Pro: AI features

Thanks to the AMD Ryzen 7 8745HS processor, the Geekom AX8 Pro is an AI PC. AMD has included a 16 TOPS NPU onboard the 8745HS Hawk Point platform, so it can handle a number of AI features like Microsoft Studio Effects’ automatic camera framing and the Copilot AI assistant.

However, the AX8 Pro does not meet the standards for the Copilot+ AI suite, so it can’t take advantage of Copilot+ exclusive features like Live Captions, CoCreate, and Recall.

That said, as an AMD AI PC, the AX8 Pro can access the AMD Ryzen AI software, which grants features from Amuse, Topaz Labs, Camo Studio, and Arkrunr.

Geekom AX8 Pro: Software and warranty

Geekom doesn’t load any proprietary software onto the AX8 Pro Mini PC, so it’s a clean Windows install for Windows 11 Pro. The only pre-loaded software is the usual Windows 11 offerings like Microsoft Office 365, Copilot, and the Xbox Game Bar.

While Microsoft does load a lot of applications onto a system alongside the OS itself, the AX8 Pro gives you as little bloatware as possible, which is nice to see.

Geekom includes a 3-year service warranty with the AX8 Pro.

Bottom line

Geekom’s AX8 Pro AI Mini PC is a solid mid-range desktop with dependable performance and enough NPU and GPU power to run localized AI. It also features a large array of ports and a VESA mounting bracket to easily fit to the back of your monitor.

Unfortunately, the AX8 Pro is a bit on the pricey side for a mid-range mini PC, has poor integrated graphics performance for gaming, and lacks a quick-access USB-C port on the front port array. It’s still a solid mini PC for work, productivity, or as an entry-level AI machine.

However, for just about the same price, you can get the Apple Mac Mini with the more powerful M4 chipset. If you don’t need any Windows-specific software, the Mac Mini gets you more power for your dollar.

But overall, if you need to run Windows as an operating system, and you don’t want the customizability of the Asus NUC 14 Pro, the AX8 is a worthy contender.