Minisforum has been around since 2012 and has offered some really innovative designs, mostly in the Mini PC segment. The company has a wide variety of options featuring Intel and AMD CPUs but their Venus lineup is definitely one of the most interesting ones, packing AMD's latest Ryzen APUs and powerful integrated graphics which will be more than enough for a casual gaming session or a performance-focused compute workload.
Although Minisforum has moved to more powerful offerings with its new UM690 and UM790 line, the company still offers a range of affordable and budget-friendly Mini PCs in the same Venus line which carries slightly older but still very capable hardware. The company sent us its UM560XT PC which features the Ryzen 5 5600H "Cezanne" APU and along with it, an older Vega iGPU in the 16 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD configuration. This Mini PC retails for $299 US for the configuration we got an if you already have a spare SSD and SO-DIMM laying around, then you can buy a barebone kit for just $219 US.
Minisforum Venus UM560XT Mini PC - Specifications At A Glance
Minisforum has already launched several AMD Ryzen 5000 APU-powered Mini PCs including the EliteMini X500, the Elitemini HX90, the UM590, and the DeskMini HM90. This is another Venus PC with the Ryzen 5000 APUs, offering the Ryzen 5 5600H APU which is technically aimed at the mid-range market.
Coming to the specifications, the Minisforum Venus UM560XT rocks the AMD Ryzen 5 5600H CPU which features 6 cores, 12 threads, 19 MB of cache (L3+L2 combined), and a boost clock of up to 4.2 GHz. The CPU has a TDP of 45W which can be configured down to 35W. The CPU cores utilize the Zen 3 architecture that offers great efficiency on the 7nm process node though the new Ryzen 6000 APUs tend to offer slightly better efficiency thanks to a 6nm process node update.
Another primary component of the Minisforum Venus UM560XT Mini PC is its Vega graphics core. The Radeon iGPU houses 7 Compute Units for a total of 448 shaders running at a top clock of 1800 MHz,
Talking about the settings you can configure, the BIOS provides some room for user customization such as setting power limits, thermal limits, shared memory pool for iGPU, and even adjusting ram speeds.
Other specs for the Minisforum UM560XT include 16 GB DDR4-3200 memory. This isn't soldered and instead features a SO-DIMM design so users can completely upgrade it as they wish. Storage comes in the form of a single M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 3.0 SSD ad a single 2.5-inch SATA HDD. There's no HDD on the pre-configured units but users can easily upgrade that by disassembling the case which is a simple process. Following are the main configurations of the UM560XT available through MInisforum:
- Barebone Kit $219
- 16GB RAM+512GB SSD $299
- 32GB RAM+512GB SSD $339
- 32GB RAM+1TB SSD $379
For I/O, you will be getting 2 HDMI 2.1 ports, four USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, a 2.5GbE RJ45 LAN port, a DC19V input on the back, and a Clear CMOS button, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, a 3.5mm Combo Jack, a DMIC port and a Power button on the front. There's also full support for WiFi and Bluetooth functionality. The Minisforum Venus UM560XT Mini PC also comes with triple 4K Display support.
Software-wise, the Mini PC will come loaded with Windows 11 which is configured on all pre-config units except the barebone version since it doesn't house any storage device. The Mini PC also gets 2 years worth of warranty.
| MINISFORUM Venus Series UM560XT | |
| Processor | AMD Ryzen 5 5600H, 6 Cores/12 Threads |
| GPU | AMD Radeon Vega (Graphics Frequency 1800 MHz) |
| Memory | DDR4 8GB ×2 Dual channel (SODIMM Slots ×2, up to 64GB) |
| Storage | M.2 2280 512GB PCIe3.0 SSD |
| Storage Expansion | 1×2.5 inch SATA HDD Slot (SATA 3.0 6.0Gb/s) |
| Wireless Connectivity | M.2 2230 WIFI Support (Wi-Fi， BlueTooth) |
| Video Output | ① HDMI (4K@60Hz) ×3 |
| Audio Output | HDMI ×2, 3.5mm Combo Jack ×1 |
| Peripherals Interface | RJ45 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet Port ×1 USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C × 2 USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A ×4HDMI ×2 Clear CMOS ×1 DMIC ×1 3.5mm Combo Jack ×1 |
| Power | DC 19V (adapter included) |
| System | Windows 11 Pro |
| Launch Date | 2023 |
Minisforum Venus UM560XT Mini PC - Unboxing & A Closer Look
The Minisforum Venus UM560XT comes in a small cardboard box package. It has a black color with red colored triangles and a Minisforum logo in the center. The back of the package has the label on the top left corner and contact information for after-service. The sides are where information such as the CPU/GPU and monitor support are listed.
Lifting the top box cover, you are welcomed by the Venus UM690 itself which sits in a soft-styrofoam casing and is wrapped within a plastic foil to prevent dust from entering the top grills.
Before talking about the case itself, we have to mention the accessories that come with the UM690. It comes with a Power Adapter that is DC 19V/6.3A compliant, an HDMI cable, a mounting bracket, and a user manual. There are also two additional rubber feet that can be mounted at the bottom in case you lose the ones that the unit ships with.
Out of the box, the Minisforum UM690 is definitely one of the best-looking MIni PC to date. It has that premium metallic black look to it which give it a more premium feel.
The Minisforum UM560XT might just be the most powerful Mini PC in this form factor, being much smaller than the EliteMini but packing more performance. But a smaller size doesn't mean lower thermal capacity as the UM560 XT retains its active cooler with a dual heatsink design that makes use of large heat pipes & the APU itself makes use of liquid metal TIM for better heat conductivity.
The exterior shell of the case is made out of aluminum and is a very solid design. The bottom cover is plastic & can be removed by unscrewing four screws that aren't hidden beneath the footrests.
The front of the Venus UM560XT houses a USB4 port, two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C ports, a DMIC connector, a 3.5mm combo jack, a power button, and a Clear CMOS button.
The back of the Venus UM560XT features four USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, aRJ45 LAN Ports (1 x 2.5 GbE), dual HDMI outputs, a Kensington lock, and a 19V/3.42A DC power in.
All four sides of the Mini PC feature exhaust vents that reveal the aluminum heatsink fins within them. This allows the UM690 to vent hot air out of the internal case.
As stated above, opening the bottom plastic cover is simple and reveals the internals that is just partially upgradable. These include the SATA HDD, the M.2 SSD, and the memory. There's also a small SATA header but the most important thing to note is that the M.2 SSD features a heatsink which is very important since the limited space might make things hot within the chassis and the extra cooling on the SSD is definitely a plus.
Our test unit came with 16 GB of DDR5-3200 memory, 512 GB of SSD (pre-installed with Windows 11), and a WiFi module. The single SATA 2.5" drive can be attached to the port on the opposite side of the SSD slot through a SATA III connector that's bundled within the accessories. Only a 2.5" drive is compatible given the small and limited size of the chassis.
Minisforum Venus UM560XT Mini PC - CPU System Performance
For performance testing, we compared the Minisforum UM690 to several other Mini PCs that we have previously tested.
CPU-z (Higher is Better)
Cinebench R20 (Higher is Better)
Geekbench 5 (Higher is Better)
Time Spy Physics (Higher is Better)
Right off the bat, you can see a large increase in performance over the previous generation AMD Mini PC offerings and even the competing solutions from Intel. The Zen 3 cores are really doing amazing work in getting higher performance in a package of this size and that too with some real nice power figures.
Minisforum Venus UM560XT Mini PC - GPU Gaming Performance
For gaming, we tested a couple of the latest and most played esports titles at 1080p resolution. The performance was measured between the AMD Radeon 680M, AMD Vega 8, Vega 7, and Intel Iris Xe-LP integrated graphics.
Even though Intel's Hades Canyon comes with a high-end Vega discrete GPU, it isn't part of the CPU itself and hence ends up much faster while consuming a lot more power. Even the Phantom Canyon Mini PC is fitted with a discrete (embedded) RTX 2060 graphics card but it's not wise to compare it to that.
Gaming Benchmarks (1080P FPS)
Despite featuring lower CUs than the Vega 8 iGPU, the Vega 7 iGPU on Cezanne managed to outclass Renoir thanks to several optimizations made to the compute and graphics engine.
Minisforum Venus UM560XT Mini PC - Thermals & Power Consumption
The Minisforum UM560XT Venus Mini PC is an extremely efficient design. Once again, the options in the BIOS will let you unlock its full power or switch it to max efficiency mode. Using the 45 Watts mode, we got to see the following power figures.
Power Draw In Office Apps (Lower is Better)
Conclusion - Cheaper Mini PCs Still Pack A Punch
Our previous Mini PC review of the MInisforum UM690 showed us a very powerful machine with the latest hardware and the UM560XT review gives us a taste of a very affordable Mini PC that still offers that same solid punch. Although you should expect the performance to be less than the new Ryzen 6000 and Ryzen 7000 CPUs, the pricing is also much less. We are almost talking half the price of the UM690 for the same configuration.
The AMD Ryzen 5 5600H is still a very capable chip for the vast majority of office and gaming work. It's the GPU side that may seem a little underwhelming but the upgraded Vega graphics core from Renoir offers decent performance that can let you play eSports titles and some AAA titles at either 720p or 1080p resolution with a mix of low-medium settings. Going the high preset route is a thing that I would avoid with Vega iGPUs since that can be a whole lot taxing but there's FSR to help you out whenever you need that slight extra push in gaming.
The I/O is decent too with an ample amount of USB ports, both Type-A and Type-C. You do lack USB4 and Gen4 SSD support since that's a hardware limitation but you the SSD requirement is something that you can survive with since Gen 3 SSDs are still good enough for hardware of this scale. Overall, the Minisforum UM560XT is another great option for budget builders within the Venus family and you really can't go wrong with the barebone pricing of just $219 US.
I was able to find a 16 GB DDR4-3200 SO-DIMM for $24.99 US and a 512 GB Gen 3 SSD for just $30 US doing a quick search at Newegg so that's gonna give you a fully configured machine for $275 US or $25 US cheaper than the base configuration.
Refference- https://wccftech.com
0 Comments