Introduction
Ace Magician AM08 Pro Mini PC review
Power-Packed Mini PC with AMD Ryzen 6900 HX (8-core) Processor
The Chinese manufacturer, known for its Ace Magician series, recently released the AM08 Pro, a compact PC designed for gaming. This latest offering features an updated design and technical improvements, including the latest AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX processor. However, it does not offer alternative configurations.. The Ace Magician AM08 Pro is a mini PC specifically designed for (low level) gaming enthusiasts and users who demand high performance in a compact form factor. Powered by the advanced AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX processor coupled with the AMD Radeon 680M, it is engineered to deliver substantial gaming capabilities. However, with just an IGP, that's not the case.
The AM08 Pro, like its predecessor AM05, is a compact gaming PC, identifiable by a label on its side. Instead of a dedicated graphics card, the device operates on an integrated GPU (iGPU). Preliminary testing shows the AMD Radeon 680M outperforms the AMD Radeon RX Vega 7, a performance upgrade that could enhance gaming, which we will further investigate in this review. A significant feature of the AM08 Pro is the SoC performance adjustment capability. It uses a rotating knob that enables users to select from "Silent," "Auto," and "Performance" power modes. Frequency ranges from 3.3 - 4.9 GHz, with a PL2 / Short Burst of 54 W and a PL1 / Sustained of 40 W. The unit comes with 32 GB DDR5-4800 memory (using two slots) and can be expanded up to 64 GB. The storage is furnished by a 512 GB BiWin CE480Y2D100-512G M.2 2280 NVMe SSD.
| General | Item Name: Ace Magician AM08 Pro Brand: Acemagician Model: Magician AM08 Pro Type: Mini PC |
| Specifications | Series: AM08 ProOperating System: Windows 11 ProCPU: AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX GPU: AMD Radeon? 680MProcessor Brand: AMDTotal Cores: 8Total Threads: 16Computer Memory Type: DDR5*2Hard Drive Interface: M.2*1 PCIE NVMERAM: 16 GB DDR5*2 MAX:64GBHard Drive? M.2*1 PCIE NVME 512GB MAX:2 TBMemory Speed: 3.3 GHz Up to 4.9 GHz GHzTDP: 45WNumber of USB3.2 Type-A: 4 |
| Dimensions & Weight | Item Weight: 863 gProduct Dimensions: 5.89 x 3.06 x 7.42 inches |
| Package Contents | 1x Mini PC1x Power Adapter1x HDMI cable1x User Manual |
AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX Processor: Technical Overview & Features
The AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX processor, purpose-built for top-tier, large form-factor laptops with gaming functionalities, originates from AMD's Rembrandt series. The processor incorporates eight cores developed on the Zen 3+ microarchitecture. It ensures a base clock frequency of 3.3 GHz and can turbo boost up to 4.9 GHz. In addition, it accommodates Simultaneous Multithreading (SMT)/Hyperthreading, providing 16 threads. Manufactured utilizing TSMC's state-of-the-art 6 nm process, the processor - denoted by an "X" in its moniker - is designed for overclocking. The Zen 3+ architecture, essentially a Zen 3 upgrade, does not introduce significant architectural alterations. Yet, the Ryzen 9 6900HX chip incorporates a range of advanced features. It supports USB 4 (capable of a 40 Gbps data transfer rate), PCI-E Gen 4, DDR5-4800MT/s or LPDDR5-6400MT/s memory modules, WiFi 6E, Bluetooth LE 5.2, DisplayPort 2, and AV1 decode.
Another notable element of the Ryzen 9 6900HX is the integrated GPU - the Radeon 680M. Functioning on the RDNA2 architecture, this GPU provides 12 Compute Units (CUs) and can run up to 2.4 GHz. Upon release, it was recognized for its superior performance among integrated GPUs. The Ryzen 9 6900HX has a preset Thermal Design Power (TDP) of 45 W, which signifies its long-term power limit. Given the chip's high performance and thermal emission, a high-quality cooling solution is imperative for its optimal functioning.
