GMKtec’s Evo X2 delivers impressive horsepower and credible 1080p muscle into a remarkably compact chassis. It’s a decent pick for space-constrained creators, though those seeking greater returns will want to stick with a full-size system.
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Mid-tower desktops provide the best performance for the money, but mini PCs have carved a niche by offering surprising muscle in far smaller, more efficient packages. GMKtec’s Evo X2 AI Mini PC ($1,499 as tested) is an excellent example, pairing AMD’s “Strix Halo” Ryzen AI Max+ 395 mobile processor with 64GB or 128GB of memory to provide ample headroom for multitasking and AI development. Its Radeon 8060S integrated graphics even make 1080p gaming surprisingly viable.
For what’s here, it’s arguably a better value than the Framework Desktop , though it remains quite expensive relative to the performance you can get from our best gaming PCs – especially if you don’t truly need 64GB of RAM.
Design of the GMKtec Evo X2 AI Mini PC
The Evo X2 isn’t a style-first or even a style-second machine. Its two-tone black and silver chassis gives it some contrast, but the overall aesthetic feels dated, as if it could have debuted a decade ago. The green power button doesn’t help, leaning more towards budget gadget aesthetic than premium mini-desktop looks.
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Although the chassis looks like it could rest horizontally, the ventilation perforations along one side force a vertical‑only orientation. There’s also no VESA mounting support, so it must live on your desk. Fortunately, its 3.03 x 7.6 x 7.32‑inch footprint is small enough that placement shouldn’t be an issue. It’s more compact than the Framework Desktop (3.8 x 8.9 x 8.1 inches), but GMKtec’s reliance on a hefty external 230‑watt power brick undermines some of the space savings.
Build quality is respectable. The lower half of the chassis is sturdy aluminum while the upper shell is plastic but doesn’t feel flimsy. Inside, the CPU fan includes RGB lighting, though it isn’t controllable through Windows Dynamic Lighting or any bundled software. Instead, lighting is managed through a physical “fan mode” button that cycles through static colors and a handful of simple effects like breathing and color‑shift. The other button on the chassis, P-mode, switches between three performance modes. The default seems to be high performance, with the other two designed to reduce fan noise at the expense of performance. An icon briefly pops up in the middle of your screen when the performance mode is changed, displaying a symbol: a dial for high-performance and variations of a flower for the other two – and fades away after a couple seconds.
GMKtec Evo X2 AI Mini PC Specifications
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