GEEKOM A5 mini-PC Review: Affordable Cezanne Zen 3 at 35W
by Ganesh T S on December 8, 2023 9:15 AM ESTSetup Notes and Platform Analysis
Our review sample of the GEEKOM A5 came with all necessary components pre-installed - including the OS. Prior to setting up the OS on first boot, we took some time to look into the BIOS interface. Unlike the GUI-based UEFI interface offered by tier-one vendors, the BIOS here is a vanilla one with keyboard-only navigation. There are plenty of configurable options, and the video below presents an overview of the features.
The GEEKOM A5 is one of the first UCFF systems to expose overclocking features in the BIOS, albeit behind a bunch of warning screens. The thermal solution is limited by the form-factor. This makes the BIOS feature more of a novelty rather than something really useful. A lot of the other options seem to be OEM control knobs that have been inadvertently left enabled in the shipping BIOS.
One of the drawbacks of using a 2021 processor is the absence of support for the latest high-speed I/Os such as USB4. However, that has not prevented GEEKOM from packing the A5 with relatively high-end connectivity features for a sub-$400 system. The PCIe lane allocations from the Cezanne SoC are detailed below.
- PCIe 3.0 x1 port #2: In Use @ x1 (O2Micro Integrated MMC/SD Controller)
- PCIe 3.0 x1 port #4: In Use @ x1 (Realtek RTL8125 Gaming 2.5GbE Family Ethernet Controller)
- PCIe 3.0 x1 port #5: In Use @ x1 (Realtek RTL8852BE Wireless LAN WiFi 6 PCIe Network Adapter)
- PCIe 3.0 x4 port #1: In Use @ x4 (Maxio MAP1202 NVMe SSD Controller)
The set of USB ports and internal SATA ports are all direct from the Cezanne SoC.
In today's review, we compare the GEEKOM A5 and a host of other systems based on processors with TDPs ranging from 28W to 65W. The systems do not target the same market segments, but a few key aspects lie in common, making the comparisons relevant.
| Comparative PC Configurations | ||
| Aspect | GEEKOM A5 | |
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 5800H Zen 3 (Cezanne) 8C/16T, 3.2 - 4.4 GHz TSMC 7nm, 16MB L3, 45W Max / Target TDP : 45W / 35W |
AMD Ryzen 7 5800H Zen 3 (Cezanne) 8C/16T, 3.2 - 4.4 GHz TSMC 7nm, 16MB L3, 45W Max / Target TDP : 45W / 35W |
| GPU | AMD Radeon Graphics (Renoir) - Integrated (RX Vega 8) (8 CUs @ 2.4 GHz) |
AMD Radeon Graphics (Renoir) - Integrated (RX Vega 8) (8 CUs @ 2.4 GHz) |
| RAM | Shenzhen Wodposit Tech. WPBH32D408SWM-16G DDR4-3200 SODIMM 22-22-22-52 @ 3200 MHz 2x16 GB |
Shenzhen Wodposit Tech. WPBH32D408SWM-16G DDR4-3200 SODIMM 22-22-22-52 @ 3200 MHz 2x16 GB |
| Storage | Lexar NM620 (512 GB; M.2 2280 PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe;) (SK hynix 176L 3D TLC; Maxio MAP1202A-F1C Controller) |
Lexar NM620 (512 GB; M.2 2280 PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe;) (SK hynix 176L 3D TLC; Maxio MAP1202A-F1C Controller) |
| Wi-Fi | 1x 2.5 GbE RJ-45 (Realtek RTL8125) Realtek 8852BE Wi-Fi 6 (2x2 802.11ax - 1.8 Gbps) / Bluetooth 5.2 |
1x 2.5 GbE RJ-45 (Realtek RTL8125) Realtek 8852BE Wi-Fi 6 (2x2 802.11ax - 1.8 Gbps) / Bluetooth 5.2 |
| Price (in USD, when built) | (Street Pricing on Dec 7th, 2023) US $399 (as configured, with OS) |
(Street Pricing on Dec 7th, 2023) US $399 (as configured, with OS) |
The next few sections will deal with comparative benchmarks for the above systems.
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meacupla - Friday, December 8, 2023 - link
These miniPCs are getting ridiculously good at cost/performance.They are getting to the point where they should become the main thing OEMs should sell.
AIO, and proprietary mATX-but-not-exactly desktops should go extinct and be fully replaced with these.
ballsystemlord - Friday, December 8, 2023 - link
For checking email, sure this would work. But webbrowsers will happily eat 1GB of RAM per-webpage. I've said this for years. No one believed me until one day I happened to be using only 2 tabs and got a good screen shot of it in effect.So, for anything even somewhat serious, these mini-PCs will not do.
meacupla - Friday, December 8, 2023 - link
You would be so out of touch with reality if you think a 5800H with 32GB of RAM cannot handle more than email.Like this would handle massive excel spreadsheets and >4 youtube videos all at once.
ballsystemlord - Saturday, December 9, 2023 - link
Erm, the tested model was 16GB... No wait, it's 2x 16GB. I take that back.deil - Thursday, January 4, 2024 - link
Both pros and cons to this setup is size. as it's now, 64GB of ram is the limit, and usually you cannot get over 32GB from the shop, so you need to open it to get 64GB.It seems plenty for now, but as with small laptops, once you need more, you have no option.
single drive have same problem as well, as going bigger, usually costs more than double.
this is a resonable small pc for anyone who dont play AAA.
we are at place where 16GB is to small, but 32GB is still to pricy for normies.
pugster - Friday, December 8, 2023 - link
Depends on the processor. I have an mini pc with the 4800h cpu 32gb memory and 1tb of storage and it can easily watch 8 youtube videos without issues. I also have another mini pc with an intel n100 cpu which severly limits performance compared to amd.deil - Monday, December 11, 2023 - link
back in times, when they had atom cpu's they were horrible.right now when they run true laptop chips, they are just like mid-low tier laptops.
chip mentioned is top tier last year laptop.
if that is not enough then I have bad news, you need a $5000 threadripper, as desktop chips are about 130% of what this can to, tops.
cpu wise, they are 100% enough, gpu wise....
lets say new ones might be much better soon.
Samus - Saturday, December 9, 2023 - link
Meanwhile the average age on an office PC in the United States is 4 years and everyone seems to get along fine browsing the web on their 4-core Intel 10th gen's with 8GB RAM...iphonebestgamephone - Saturday, December 9, 2023 - link
I guess the browser pages you were on were some dual 8k vr porn or something.ballsystemlord - Saturday, December 9, 2023 - link
Actually, I don't watch porn... it was either a news site, tech site, or aliexpress.