Can play 8K@60fps video, games and AI acceleration! Thunder MIX PRO mini PC + Ya

In the current forms of personal computers, they are mainly composed of traditional desktop computers and portable laptop computers. However, in some application environments, relying solely on these two forms of computers cannot fully meet the needs of users. For example, in a cramped space where a large screen is needed to display content, such as when a user wants to place the computer on a TV cabinet to connect to a large-screen TV or in a small bedroom, placing the computer host and monitor together on a compact desk, then a mini PC might be a better choice. Take this Thor MIX PRO mini PC, for instance; it is only 15cm in length and width, which is significantly smaller than various laptop computers and even shorter and narrower than common tablet computers, with a volume of just 1.1L. Yet, it is equipped with high-performance hardware such as an Intel Core Ultra 5-125H processor, 32GB DDR5 memory, and a Yangtze River Storage PC411 commercial consumer-grade solid-state drive. So, what kind of experience can it offer to users?

Integration of High-Performance Hardware in Thor MIX PRO Mini PC

The front of the Thor MIX PRO mini PC provides 3 USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, a full-function Type-C, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The rear interface offers 1 DP 1.4, 1 HDMI 2.1, 1 Thunderbolt 4, a 3.5mm audio port, two 2.5G Ethernet ports, and 2 USB 2.0 interfaces.

Below the network interface, there is a performance switch that allows the processor to switch between 45W quiet mode, 54W balanced mode, and 65W turbo mode.

The Thor MIX PRO mini PC has a delicate and compact design, featuring an integrated CNC metal silver body, complemented by the Thor Phantom Light logo on the top of the body, giving a high-end and atmospheric first impression. The left and right sides of this PC are also cleverly designed, with numerous small holes and a unique MIX logo, which not only serve as heat dissipation but also highlight the unique identity of the Thor MIX PRO mini PC. The design of the left and right sides covered with heat dissipation holes also implies that this small host must be equipped with powerful hardware inside.

First and foremost, it features the powerful Core Ultra 5 125H processor, which uses the brand-new Intel 4 production process, employs a 3D packaging hybrid architecture, and is equipped with 4 performance cores, 8 efficiency cores, and 2 low-power high-efficiency cores, forming 14 cores and 18 threads, along with 18MB of smart cache.

The Core Ultra 5 125H processor also has a built-in new Intel Arc integrated graphics card, with a display core frequency of 2.2GHz. It uses the same Xe HPG microarchitecture as Intel's discrete graphics cards, supports ray tracing, XeSS, and other discrete graphics-level image technologies, deeply optimizes multiple games, and can increase frame rates and speed up game performance. The Intel Arc integrated graphics card also integrates AI enhancement and Deep Link dual encoding engines, supporting AV1 encoding, among other features. Therefore, although the Thor MIX PRO mini PC does not come with a discrete graphics card, it still has decent graphics performance.

It is worth mentioning that the Core Ultra processor is also the first mobile processor with an integrated NPU under Intel, and the addition of the NPU brings efficient processing capabilities for AI workloads. The NPU built into the Core Ultra 5 125H processor is called Intel AI Boost, with a maximum frequency of 1.4GHz.The processor is paired with a total of 32GB of DDR5 5600 dual-channel memory. According to tests conducted with AIDA64 software, this machine's memory read speed reaches 70067MB/s, write speed reaches 69257MB/s, and latency is at 139ns.

The internal cooling design of the Thor MIX PRO Mini PC utilizes a dual-fan setup based on Thor's full-copper heat sink. To effectively cool the high-performance processor, memory, and SSD, Thor has adopted a dual-fan cooling design for the MIX PRO Mini PC, which is based on a full-copper heat sink. The two heat sinks, one above and one below the embedded fans, sandwich the motherboard that houses the high-performance chips such as the processor, memory, and SSD, allowing high-speed airflow to freely remove heat from the chips.

Inside, it is equipped with a Yangtze Memory PC411 commercial consumer-grade solid-state drive of 1TB, along with two DDR5 5600 16GB memory modules, and provides an M.2 SSD slot.

Upon removing the top heat sink, one can see that the Thor MIX PRO Mini PC is equipped with a powerful SSD—the Yangtze Memory PC411 commercial consumer-grade solid-state drive. This product boasts impressive technical specifications; its 1TB and 2TB capacity models can achieve nominal sequential read/write speeds of 7000MB/s and 6000MB/s, respectively, thanks to the use of Yangtze Memory's latest original TLC chips X3-9070, based on the Xtacking® 3.0 architecture, which can provide an I/O speed of up to 2400MT/s (the interface speed of a single flash memory die). Even with a cacheless design, this SSD can achieve a sequential read speed of up to 7000MB/s, reaching the saturated performance of the PCIe Gen 4.0 ×4 channel.

The Thor MIX PRO Mini PC is equipped with a 1TB Yangtze Memory PC411 commercial consumer-grade solid-state drive. With high-performance flash memory, the Yangtze Memory PC411 commercial consumer-grade solid-state drive only needs to adopt an advanced third-generation PCIe 4.0 x4 channel controller to unleash the full PCIe 4.0 performance. Compared to traditional 8-channel SSD controllers, the controller chip used in the PC411 has half the number of read/write channels, significantly reducing power consumption by 25% and heat generation. Ultimately, the combination of a DRAMLESS four-channel controller + 2400MT/s flash memory results in an overall power consumption as low as 4W (4.5W for the 2TB capacity), making it one of the highest performance-to-power-ratio PCIe 4.0 SSD products currently available. Additionally, this controller supports HMB (Host Memory Buffer) technology, which can use a small amount of system memory to temporarily store data read from the flash, data to be written to the flash, and the address mapping table, thereby effectively enhancing the SSD's I/O performance without the need for separate memory chips as cache.

The Yangtze Memory PC411 commercial consumer-grade solid-state drive is currently available in 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB capacities. The Thor MIX PRO Mini PC tested in this instance is equipped with the 1TB capacity model. In terms of endurance, the 2TB model's TBW (Terabytes Written) warranty data amount is as high as 1200TB, the 512GB model's TBW warranty data amount is 300TB, and the 1TB capacity model tested in this instance has a TBW warranty data amount of 600TB, which is comparable to other first-tier brand 1TB TLC SSDs.

In terms of functionality, the Thor MIX PRO Mini PC not only provides a Thunderbolt 4 interface with a transfer bandwidth of 40Gb/s and an audio system supporting Nahimic 3D surround sound, dual 3.5mm audio jacks (front for headphones, rear for speakers), but also features dual 2.5G wired network interfaces and an Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX211 + Bluetooth 5.3 wireless module. At the 160MHz frequency band, the theoretical transfer bandwidth of the AX211 can be increased to 2.4Gbps, which is a significant improvement over the 1.73Gbps bandwidth of Wi-Fi 5.

The Thor MIX PRO Mini PC comes with a 120W adapter and a wall-mount kit.Leveraging low-power processors, memory, and SSDs, the Thunder MIX PRO Mini PC only requires a small 120W adapter to operate. Additionally, Thunder includes a wall-mount kit that can be used with the VESA mount on the monitor, allowing you to hang it behind the display for a cleaner and more streamlined desktop.

The overall performance surpasses 74% of users, with SSD transfer speeds breaking through 7100MB/s!

Thunder MIX PRO Mini PC Benchmark Performance Test

We then tested the Thunder MIX PRO Mini PC under its 65W Turbo Mode. We first assessed its overall performance using the "Master Lu" software. Thanks to the use of high-performance components such as the Core Ultra 5 125H processor, DDR5 5600 memory, and the Yangtze Memory PC411 commercial consumer-grade solid-state drive, its overall score exceeded 1.2 million points, defeating up to 74% of users nationwide. The software evaluation indicates that it can smoothly run popular online games like DOTA2 and "League of Legends," as well as graphic design software like Photoshop, meeting users' daily entertainment needs.

The Core Ultra 5 125H also excels in processor performance, with a CPU-Z multi-core performance of 6584.1 and a single-core performance of 737.1. In CINEBENCH R23, the processor's multi-core and single-core rendering performance reached 14701pts and 1735pts, respectively. What does this mean? These results have already met or slightly exceeded the performance of the new generation of desktop processors with 6 cores and 12 threads. However, the Thunder MIX PRO Mini PC achieves this with such a small form factor and such low power supply, demonstrating excellent energy efficiency.

The Yangtze Memory PC411 commercial consumer-grade SSD 1TB in the Thunder MIX PRO Mini PC can break through 7100MB/s in transfer speeds.

We also tested the disk performance of the Thunder MIX PRO Mini PC. Although the Yangtze Memory PC411 commercial consumer-grade SSD 1TB has already been installed with an operating system and various software, it is a "used drive" with 137 hours of usage. However, this SSD still delivers good performance. Its sequential read and write speeds reached 7103.44MB/s and 6410.44MB/s, respectively, both exceeding the specified sequential read and write speeds of 7000MB/s and 6000MB/s.

In the PerformanceTest 11.0 disk performance test, the Yangtze Memory PC411 commercial consumer-grade SSD 1TB can defeat 97% of users worldwide.

In the PerformanceTest 11.0 disk performance test, the Yangtze Memory PC411 commercial consumer-grade SSD 1TB scored 50560, with sequential read and write speeds of 7037MB/s and 6231MB/s, respectively, also exceeding the specified targets. The average disk performance score for global users is only 16378, which means that the Thunder MIX PRO Mini PC's disk performance can defeat up to 97% of users worldwide.Application Testing: Smooth Playback of 8K@60FPS Video

Of course, no matter how impressive the benchmark data may look, it's the real-world applications and tests that truly showcase the capabilities of the Thunder MIX PRO Mini PC. Considering the compact design of the Thunder MIX PRO Mini PC, it might be placed in a living room or bedroom for video playback. Since playing 4K videos is already a basic capability of various PCs and set-top boxes, we focused on testing the Thunder MIX PRO Mini PC's ability to play two 8K videos that support Dolby Vision and HDR technology.

From the playback information, it can be seen that the Thunder MIX PRO Mini PC can easily play 8K videos that support Dolby Vision technology, with the CPU usage rate being almost zero.

The playback information also shows that the processor usage rate of the Thunder MIX PRO Mini PC when playing 8K@60fps videos is also almost zero percent.

The results are satisfactory. Whether playing standard 8K@30fps videos or high frame rate 8K@60fps videos, the Thunder MIX PRO Mini PC can handle them effortlessly, without any stuttering or audio-video desynchronization during playback. The playback of 8K videos is as smooth as watching regular 1080p or 4K videos. As can be seen from the playback information, the processor usage rate is almost zero percent when playing these videos, which is thanks to the Intel Arc integrated graphics' ability to hard-decode AV1 videos. The decoding work is handed over to the Arc integrated graphics through the native D3D11 DXVA VLD decoder, hence the playback information shows a higher GPU usage rate. Although the bitrate of 8K videos has increased, the peak bitrate is only close to 100000kbps, which is approximately 12.2MB/s. For the Yangtze Memory PC411 commercial consumer-grade solid-state drive with a read speed exceeding 7100MB/s, this is a piece of cake, and naturally, it does not slow down the system. Therefore, there is no reason for the Thunder MIX PRO Mini PC to stutter when playing 8K videos.

Application Testing: Smooth Operation and Quick Entry into Games

The Thunder MIX PRO Mini PC runs WWE 2K24 at an average frame rate of 52.9fps at 4K resolution and medium graphics settings.

If the mini PC is used in the living room, another major use might be for friends and family to gather and play fighting games like WWE 2K24 or Street Fighter 6, enjoying a few rounds of gameplay. We also tested the Thunder MIX PRO Mini PC's ability to run these games. From the tests, WWE 2K24 is not very demanding on hardware, and relying on the Arc integrated graphics, we can achieve an average game running frame rate of 52.9fps at 4K resolution and medium graphics settings, with the lowest running frame rate at 46fps. There is no feeling of stuttering during the game.

The Thunder MIX PRO Mini PC can smoothly run Street Fighter 6 at 1080p resolution and low graphics settings.

Street Fighter 6 has higher hardware requirements, necessitating a reduction in resolution and graphics quality levels. For example, at 1080p resolution and low graphics settings, the Arc integrated graphics can achieve an average running frame rate above 50fps in three test scenarios, and the test software's evaluation of the performance is "can enjoy the game smoothly."The Thor MIX PRO Mini PC can smoothly run "Final Fantasy XIV: Echoes of an Elusive Age," with a total loading time of 9.913 seconds for the five common load times in the game.

The Thor MIX PRO Mini PC can smoothly run "Final Fantasy XIV: Moonlit Reminiscences," with a total loading time of 10.681 seconds for the five common load times in the game.

If the mini PC is used in the bedroom, one of its main uses might be to run online games. Therefore, we also tested the performance of the Thor MIX PRO Mini PC in two expansion packs of "Final Fantasy XIV," including "Final Fantasy XIV: Echoes of an Elusive Age" and "Final Fantasy XIV: Moonlit Reminiscences," with the test settings at 1080p and high (notebook) graphics quality. First, the Thor MIX PRO Mini PC received a FAIRLY HIGH (quite high) rating in both games, with average running frame rates of 50.75fps and 52.3fps, respectively. Of course, it is far from enough for the game to run smoothly; if the waiting time to enter the game is too long, it will not provide a good experience. As can be seen from the bottom left corner of the test screens of the two games, on a platform based on the Core Ultra 5 125H processor, the Yangtze Memory PC411 commercial consumer-grade solid-state drive loads a total of five scenes in each game in 9.913 seconds and 10.681 seconds, respectively. The loading time for a single scene is generally within 0-3 seconds, so players do not have to wait too long to complete the game loading and get a smooth gaming experience.

Application Test: Good Application and Disk Performance, Supporting AI Acceleration

The overall performance of the Thor MIX PRO Mini PC in PCMark 10 reaches 6638 points.

In terms of office performance, we tested the Thor MIX PRO Mini PC using PCMark 10, which is divided into three major categories: Essential, Productivity, and Digital Content Creation. The machine achieved a score of 6638 in the PCMark 10 test, indicating that it has good office performance, better than those thin and light notebooks based on the 13th generation Core U low-voltage processors with a total score of less than 6000 points, and even slightly better than some commercial notebooks with a total score of around 6500 points that only use the processor's built-in display core.

Users can enable the NPU for AI application acceleration in the Thor MIX PRO Mini PC.

The Thor MIX PRO Mini PC can achieve a score of 253 in the UL Procyon AI Computer Vision Benchmark Test.

The UL Procyon AI Computer Vision Benchmark Test shows that users can indeed enable the NPU in the Thor MIX PRO Mini PC for AI acceleration and achieve a good score of 253. This score is better than some desktop processors with an NPU module and is less than 10% behind products with higher specifications using the Core Ultra 7 155H processor, proving that the Thor MIX PRO Mini PC also has good local AI computing acceleration capabilities.

Application Test: Fast Boot of Operating System, Good Disk Performance.Yangtze Memory PC411 Commercial Consumer Solid State Drive 1TB cold boot time for Windows 11 operating system is only 21.343 seconds.

Yangtze Memory PC411 Commercial Consumer Solid State Drive 1TB hot boot time for Windows 11 operating system is only 22.781 seconds.

Similarly, in office and daily applications, waiting for too long will not provide a good user experience. Therefore, we also tested the application that most affects user experience on each computer. That is the startup of the operating system, after all, this is a step that must be experienced before using a computer. And the Yangtze Memory PC411 Commercial Consumer Solid State Drive 1TB in the Thunder MIX PRO Mini PC has brought us a satisfactory experience. Measured by professional software, whether it is the hot boot of restarting the operating system in the computer boot state, or pressing the computer power switch and then entering the operating system, the boot time of the operating system can be controlled within 23 seconds, and the startup speed of the operating system is very fast, which is obviously no different from the daily startup of a mobile phone operating system, both are very simple and fast.

After long-term use, the score of Yangtze Memory PC411 Commercial Consumer Solid State Drive 1TB in PCMark 8 storage performance test can still exceed 5000 points.

In addition, we also ran the PCMark 8 storage test that includes multiple application tests such as games, Photoshop, InDesign, AfterEffects, etc. Thanks to the good sequential and random read and write performance, Yangtze Memory PC411 Commercial Consumer Solid State Drive 1TB also brings a better user experience to users. First, in the PCMark8 storage performance test, its score reached 5003 points. In the After Effects, Word, PowerPoint task execution with more reading and less writing, the time taken by this SSD is only 71 seconds, 28.2 seconds, and 9.2 seconds, slightly faster than the traditional SATA SSD. The latter generally takes about 72 seconds, 29 seconds, and 9.5 seconds for these three tasks. At the same time, in the Photoshop Heavy v2, that is, the Photoshop heavy load test, due to the large amount of sequential write data, the advantage of Yangtze Memory PC411 Commercial Consumer Solid State Drive 1TB is more obvious, and its total time is only 356.1 seconds, about 18 seconds less than the traditional SATA SSD. Therefore, after using Yangtze Memory PC411 Commercial Consumer Solid State Drive, it can also effectively improve the productivity of the Thunder MIX PRO Mini PC.

Stability test: no frequency drop, low temperature, large SLC cache available capacity.

From the above tests, although the Thunder MIX PRO Mini PC has a good performance, if it is under long-term, high-intensity, and high-load applications, whether its small "body" can withstand it, will the processor overheat and drop frequency? Will the SSD temperature rise to the point where the main control starts overheating protection? Next, we first selected "Stress FPU", "Stress Local disks", "Stress GPU(s)" in AIDA64, and simultaneously baked the processor, Yangtze Memory PC411 Commercial Consumer Solid State Drive 1TB, and Rui Xuan Arc integrated graphics. The working mode of the Thunder MIX PRO Mini PC is still the 65W violent mode.

After one hour of baking, the temperature of Yangtze Memory PC411 Commercial Consumer Solid State Drive 1TB is controlled within 50°C, and the processor has not dropped in frequency.

After more than one hour of baking, although the working temperature of the Core Ultra 5 125H processor has risen significantly, it has been well controlled, with the highest at around 85°C, which is still a long way from its 110°C overheating protection temperature. Therefore, its working frequency has not been reduced, and it is consistent with the frequency at the time of baking, and its full core frequency is still around 3.2GHz. Although the working temperature of Yangtze Memory PC411 Commercial Consumer Solid State Drive 1TB also rises after long-term baking, its highest temperature does not exceed 50°C, which is also far from the SSD overheating protection temperature value of about 80°C. This also means that the Thunder MIX PRO Mini PC does have a very stable performance during long-term full load operation.

After long-term use, after the storage capacity is occupied by 310GB, the SLC cache capacity of Yangtze Memory PC411 Commercial Consumer Solid State Drive 1TB is still close to 142GB.However, after extended use, will there be any performance degradation in the Thor MIX PRO Mini PC? Particularly, with the installed Yangtze Memory PC411 commercial consumer-grade solid-state drive (SSD) 1TB, after repeatedly installing, uninstalling, and deleting multiple large and small files, with 310GB of the current capacity occupied and only 641GB of available capacity, will its SLC cache be significantly reduced? Finally, we also tested it using the HD Tune Pro 5.75 file benchmark.

In this test, the sequential read performance of the Yangtze Memory PC411 commercial consumer-grade SSD 1TB was still close to 5000MB/s for most of the time, and its sequential write performance could also reach a speed close to 5000MB/s before the write capacity approached 142GB. Only after exceeding 142GB did the write speed show a noticeable drop. This available cache capacity is clearly more than sufficient for most ordinary users whose one-time write capacity is less than 100GB. The SLC cache capacity of the Yangtze Memory PC411 commercial consumer-grade SSD 1TB in an empty state is around 147GB, indicating that after extended use, its performance has not significantly degraded with the reduction of available capacity, and the performance consistency of its SSD is also very good.