I've been using this board for about 6 months (NON SE). It is beast for what you pay for. I originally bought the 770i for my sons build because of the SSF. I just added the GPU, Ram and SSD in a K49 itx case and it's been reliable, fast and pretty much maintenance free. I liked it so much that I got the 790i for myself for video editing and it is great for the price point. My only issue thus far is that a fan header died. Not sure how or when, but that's the only issue I've had with both boards since getting them. Highest temp I've seen during a full load on the 790i board is 91 (my gpu was blowing hot air directly into the heatsink and fan due to me being bad and not having the proper fan placement), but generally it sits around 85 at the most under full load.
Just got mine and did a build with it. With a bit of tweaking, you can hard cap the temperature at 75⁰ and it'll still boost up to 5.2Ghz with no issue. Works well in my mini itx build.
I bought this exact same one as well and probably got the same deal as you. Stuck it in a Fractal Terra case with a 3070. Works pretty well. I'm the type of person that never changes the heatsink after a CPU is installed. I also use a computer long enough where the next time I want to do a CPU upgrade, my motherboard is already out of date. So as far as having a CPU that's soldered on the mobo, I think its perfect for me, but probably not the same for others.
I ordered it as well, so I looked into it the specs a few weeks ago (Minisforums website can be confusing and plain wrong tbh.). So, I'd like to put some emphasis & the processor isn't a 7945HX, it's a 7940HX (as seen when you neofetched it, as opposed to your initial statement when unboxing it in the beginning of the video). The 7945 is the processor that the 790i non SE version comes with. It clocks a tad higher (200Mhz if I'm not mistaken). The 7940 that the SE version comes with is a budget version of the 7945, but still a great APU. Also, as you noticed the "missing" heatsing over the M.2 with then SE (compared to the 790i non SE), I think this cost saving measure could be implmented by Minisforum as the M.2 are only PCIE 4.0 (4 lanes), not PCIE 5 as you stated during unboxing (that's what the 790i non SE comes with). Please don't take this as a criticism of your video, it was actually great to see someone benchmarking & power cchecking it (so thanks a bunch for the review, quite insightful), I just want to make sure that people checking the review will not be as confused as I was when researching the board.
Great review. This SE version M.2's are PCIe 4.0 rather than 5.0 non SE but fast enough for 990 pro, no wifi card on SE (interested to know if the small pcie slot works with SATA Adapter?) the x 16 slot is still Gen 5 so the same, small processor downgrade as mentioned below but still very capable. A deeper dig into the bios options would be good post update to latest ( BIOS_1.09 I think)
Man I'm considering to buy one of this under black friday. Could you drop a detailed video for the bios where you show up all the voices avaible and also could you check if there's above 4G and resize bar? Thank you so much!
@@aceiowmydoraph The SE bios was out before the latest bios update of the non SE version of the 790i, so some people used it on their non SE boards according to some Reddit users. They reported that 8x4x4 and 4x4x4x4 are possible on the x16 slot (maybe even other options, but that was what I found on Reddit*) * As always with posts on Reddit, take them with a grain of salt.
That idle power draw is high ... I got the 790i, and drawing 35W idle (with a dGPU in my second slot, that easily eats 10W+ by itself)... PCIe 5 lanes eating a ton of power?
I know right The most important thing. I can't believe that these people that does review , doesn't do the most important thing why we even watch these video in the first place. 95percent of the video is useless. tell us what we don't know, Don't tell us what we already know.
i really like this setup. but minisforum as a brand is a bit scary for me. in case of issues or anything it's like 99% that you won't get any moneyback or warranty service or whatever.
I've bought Chinese laptop cpu itx motherboards before and have had a 50% success rate. If you want to return you need to send a video explaining what's wrong. If you're not a UA-camr it's not worth the hassle
DONT BUY FROM DIRECT MINISFORUM I CANT CANCEL OR GET REFUND FROM THIS BRAND can you help me sir i dont have any voice or impact cause i am not content creator or video maker. Can you help us and gather all the person that have same problem here and please make video to warning us not buying from their direct website because they has awfull customer service
Look for any PCIe 5.0 / NVME 5.0 ITX boards? Your insta 250 Euro.. Now add a 470 Euro 5950X (sure, 15% faster on all core workload), wait, now also add a actual cooler that cools the beast (forget those 15 bucks coolers that some people talk about). Well, your 800 Euros, for what is 15% faster and "a reputable brand", you know, like Intel with their bugs, Gigabyte with their exploding PSU, Asrock with their VRM issues, like MSI with ... And yes, so far Minisforum released a bunch of Bios updates, ... amazing (i know, low standard). Sure, there is a bug with it not respecting the lower 55W/75W Power targets, but hey, ... you paying half or less.
I've been using this board for about 6 months (NON SE). It is beast for what you pay for. I originally bought the 770i for my sons build because of the SSF. I just added the GPU, Ram and SSD in a K49 itx case and it's been reliable, fast and pretty much maintenance free. I liked it so much that I got the 790i for myself for video editing and it is great for the price point. My only issue thus far is that a fan header died. Not sure how or when, but that's the only issue I've had with both boards since getting them. Highest temp I've seen during a full load on the 790i board is 91 (my gpu was blowing hot air directly into the heatsink and fan due to me being bad and not having the proper fan placement), but generally it sits around 85 at the most under full load.
Just got mine and did a build with it. With a bit of tweaking, you can hard cap the temperature at 75⁰ and it'll still boost up to 5.2Ghz with no issue.
Works well in my mini itx build.
I bought this exact same one as well and probably got the same deal as you. Stuck it in a Fractal Terra case with a 3070. Works pretty well. I'm the type of person that never changes the heatsink after a CPU is installed. I also use a computer long enough where the next time I want to do a CPU upgrade, my motherboard is already out of date. So as far as having a CPU that's soldered on the mobo, I think its perfect for me, but probably not the same for others.
I ordered it as well, so I looked into it the specs a few weeks ago (Minisforums website can be confusing and plain wrong tbh.).
So, I'd like to put some emphasis & the processor isn't a 7945HX, it's a 7940HX (as seen when you neofetched it, as opposed to your initial statement when unboxing it in the beginning of the video). The 7945 is the processor that the 790i non SE version comes with. It clocks a tad higher (200Mhz if I'm not mistaken). The 7940 that the SE version comes with is a budget version of the 7945, but still a great APU.
Also, as you noticed the "missing" heatsing over the M.2 with then SE (compared to the 790i non SE), I think this cost saving measure could be implmented by Minisforum as the M.2 are only PCIE 4.0 (4 lanes), not PCIE 5 as you stated during unboxing (that's what the 790i non SE comes with).
Please don't take this as a criticism of your video, it was actually great to see someone benchmarking & power cchecking it (so thanks a bunch for the review, quite insightful), I just want to make sure that people checking the review will not be as confused as I was when researching the board.
Thanks for the clarification. You are correct, it's 7940HX and no Heatsink for the SE version.
Great review. This SE version M.2's are PCIe 4.0 rather than 5.0 non SE but fast enough for 990 pro, no wifi card on SE (interested to know if the small pcie slot works with SATA Adapter?) the x 16 slot is still Gen 5 so the same, small processor downgrade as mentioned below but still very capable. A deeper dig into the bios options would be good post update to latest ( BIOS_1.09 I think)
it doesn't come with wifi card (m.2 E-key) mounting bracket, you will have find a way to hold the card in place
Man I'm considering to buy one of this under black friday. Could you drop a detailed video for the bios where you show up all the voices avaible and also could you check if there's above 4G and resize bar? Thank you so much!
Just got 2 of the units. So far i am satisfied with its snappyness considering i got it for 329 usd all in
they do a full unit with graphics card too the 790s7
Will a 4K 120 GHz monitor run without a video card?
Can you change that cpu heat sink with AIO?
Well... You can, as long as you have one that fits
@ perhaps my question is - does it have a mounting bracket to mount a 3rd party cpu cooler ?
There's a square with 4 holes mounting bracket in the back, as long as you find a better alternative that matches/fits, it should work
can you disable igpu in linux?
What about pcie bifurcation?
I knew BD790i supported it does the SE version too?
Yes
@@brandontrost8888 Which options are available ? x8 x8, x8 x4 x4, x4 x4 x4 x4?
I heard just about x8 x8 in non SE maybe x8 x4 x4
@@aceiowmydoraph The SE bios was out before the latest bios update of the non SE version of the 790i, so some people used it on their non SE boards according to some Reddit users. They reported that 8x4x4 and 4x4x4x4 are possible on the x16 slot (maybe even other options, but that was what I found on Reddit*)
* As always with posts on Reddit, take them with a grain of salt.
@@asciidisco Thanks for the info
ie the pcie slot support bifurcation?
Yes, as pointed out in the other comments, it supports bifurcation
That idle power draw is high ... I got the 790i, and drawing 35W idle (with a dGPU in my second slot, that easily eats 10W+ by itself)... PCIe 5 lanes eating a ton of power?
These were sold out over 2 weeks ago :)
Dang, I was hoping you would dive into the new menu options for OC'ing etc but you skipped it after simply showing it. Oh well!
I know right The most important thing. I can't believe that these people that does review , doesn't do the most important thing why we even watch these video in the first place. 95percent of the video is useless.
tell us what we don't know, Don't tell us what we already know.
anybody can recommend minimalistic but nice case for it?
Its standard itx so have fun choosing.
@@tendosingh5682 agreed. just pick any itx case of your liking.
I turned 4 770is into testing HPC nodes/Proxmox nodes with the PCIe slots taken up by 10G NICs. they've been absolute beasts. strong endorse.
ECC?
"All DDR5 comes with inline ECC" from vendor
@@TechnicallyUnsure I'm talking about real ECC like In RDIMM, UDIMM ECC, in Band ECC not on chip ECC.
Yeah, this motherboard as far as I know, doesn't support those.
why?
Laptop CPU = no ecc
Seems like the 96GB of memory put in, was capped at 64GB
i really like this setup. but minisforum as a brand is a bit scary for me. in case of issues or anything it's like 99% that you won't get any moneyback or warranty service or whatever.
I've bought Chinese laptop cpu itx motherboards before and have had a 50% success rate. If you want to return you need to send a video explaining what's wrong. If you're not a UA-camr it's not worth the hassle
I like this motherboard combo, I have the other parts. So I can build a mini pc for the living room.🎉
DONT BUY FROM DIRECT MINISFORUM I CANT CANCEL OR GET REFUND FROM THIS BRAND can you help me sir i dont have any voice or impact cause i am not content creator or video maker. Can you help us and gather all the person that have same problem here and please make video to warning us not buying from their direct website because they has awfull customer service
You know whats also a beast? Assembling a beast mini itx combo with separate replaceable/serviceable components from a big name mature reliable brand.
Look for any PCIe 5.0 / NVME 5.0 ITX boards? Your insta 250 Euro.. Now add a 470 Euro 5950X (sure, 15% faster on all core workload), wait, now also add a actual cooler that cools the beast (forget those 15 bucks coolers that some people talk about). Well, your 800 Euros, for what is 15% faster and "a reputable brand", you know, like Intel with their bugs, Gigabyte with their exploding PSU, Asrock with their VRM issues, like MSI with ... And yes, so far Minisforum released a bunch of Bios updates, ... amazing (i know, low standard). Sure, there is a bug with it not respecting the lower 55W/75W Power targets, but hey, ... you paying half or less.