GMKtec Mini PC Nucbox G5 12+512, Intel N97

I can’t add much to the many 5-star recommendations about the G5, other than to say it is a wonderful front end to the Plex Media Server I am building, using an Asustor Flashstor 6 NAS. It is fast and very quiet, even under heavy load. What I can offer is my experience with the GMKtec support staff, which was extremely good.

After initializing my G5, updating Windows 11 Pro, and updating the BIOS, I noticed the G5’s settings advised I needed to activate Windows. I tried all the usual fixes, and nothing worked, so I decided to contact the support staff at GMKtec. I had not read many reviews about GMKtec’s customer support, and the website was not especially clear on how to contact them, so was a bit concerned. I soon found I could contact them via e-mail, which I did. I was startled and pleasantly surprised by their quick reply. Only 26 minutes had passed…on Saturday!

I answered some additional questions and provided some screen shots on Sunday. I explained to them how I might actually have caused this problem myself, filing that under true confessions. Shortly thereafter, I received an e-mail with a replacement key code, which I entered, and all was working perfectly again. Try getting that kind of support out of Microsoft!

I highly recommend both the GMKtec G5, their support staff and, especially Julian (the Sales & Customer Support Manager) who assisted me. Julian deserves more than 5 stars. Thank you again!

And glad I came to my senses, hooked up to tv in 4k. Super snappy all I need

I got this to serve as the core of an all-in-one 3D printed PC enclosure designed to look like an half scale iMac G3. It only took a few minutes to get Windows set up, and everything worked exactly as expected. I wanted to use the PC for gaming, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to splurge for the high-performance models since this was just a toy. To my surprise, it runs Halo perfectly, and GTA online nearly so. There are some stutters on the GTA when a lot is going on, and it definitely pushes the limit of this tiny box, but Halo barely gets the fan going! So even though it’s not made for games, you can still have a lot of fun on it. I couldn’t be happier, especially for the price and size.

One thing to note is that it is powered by a USB-C connection, but requires 12v. You need specialized power supplies or power negotiation triggers if you want to use portable power. You also want to avoid using the included cord for any other device, since it puts out 12v by default and will fry most devices.

Simply the best mini pc you can have for its price. Would recommend it for daily usage of light to medium work. I purchased it to build a small server at home

Sometimes even a smart TV is not enough – you want to be able to access the internet or share the screen for a particular application. Although I have a desk with a PC in the same room, it is not practical to run a long cable to the TV and the Windows wireless connection just does not work all that well. I did not want anything too big, as I already have enough stuff beside the TV, and I really did not want to pay a lot. This mini-PC popped up on an Amazon suggestion one day a while back and I thought at the time it might be a solution to my problem.

I liked the fact that this PC was small and inexpensive. It had enough RAM and a large enough hard drive. It had multiple HDMI ports and Windows 11 PRO. I admit that I was concerned that the processor might not be sufficient or that there might be problems with the Windows activation, but after putting it through its paces, it turned out that neither concern was warranted.

I was able to set up this little machine in minutes. It took longer to let Windows apply all the latest Windows updates than for the initial machine setup. When it was finally setup, I checked to see that Windows was in fact completely activated.

Despite its size, this little PC feels very snappy. This model is probably not for the hard-core gamer or someone doing higher end video editing, but for users doing internet, email, home/small business apps, streaming, this should be more than adequate. When attached to my 4K TV it looks gorgeous, even when streaming video.

One tip, especially if you have a ROKU (or possibly other TVs), the TV kept trying to go in and out of “game mode” which is supposed to reduce lag on online games. This was not necessary in my case and was extremely irritating. The fix is that “game mode” needs to be disabled in both the ‘Gaming’ section of Windows setup and on the input port of the TV itself (HDMIx). Microsoft and the TV cause this annoyance not the PC.

With a fair amount of RAM and hard drive space, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, even a TF card reader, I really think that this PC should be sufficient for people who want a modern PC with Windows 11 for light duty home or home office computing. Attach a nice wireless keyboard and monitor or just attach it to your TV and you are all set.

Although I bought this just to occasionally have an actual PC attached to my TV, I am pleasantly surprised that it is much more capable than I anticipated. I am glad I decided to give it a go.