Mysterious Piston V gaming mini-PC runs Bazzite and Windows with dual-boot touchscreen selector
© ETA Prime ETA Prime has received an unreleased mini-PC called the Piston V, but even he does not know who made it. The system arrived without documentation, and searches through emails, messages and online listings reportedly returned no information about the manufacturer. What is clear is that someone has taken a fairly conventional AMD mini-PC platform and redesigned it specifically around gaming.
The most unusual part is the circular touchscreen built into the front of the system. The PC stands upright and looks somewhat like a digital desk clock, but the display is more than decoration. During startup, it presents Windows and Bazzite as two boot options , allowing the operating system to be selected directly from the touchscreen rather than through a conventional boot menu.
Once Bazzite is running, the circular screen becomes a custom status display. It can show CPU, GPU and memory utilization, and it changes to display artwork for the game currently running. Touch input does not currently work under Bazzite, and ETA Prime could not find an application for customizing the display, suggesting that some of this functionality may have been configured specifically for the Piston V.
© ETA Prime The system uses an AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 processor with 10 Zen 5 and Zen 5c cores, paired with Radeon 880M integrated graphics. ETA Prime incorrectly says the GPU as Radeon 890M in the video.
The sample also has 32GB of dual-channel DDR5-5600 memory and a 1TB M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 SSD, while both storage and SO-DIMM memory are accessible through rear panels. The processor was configured for a sustained 54W power limit in the tested system.
Piston V specifications
- APU : AMD Ryzen AI 9 365
- GPU : Radeon 880M
- Display : Circular touchscreen
- Memory: 32GB DDR5-5600
- Storage : 1TB PCIe Gen4 M.2 SSD
- Power : 54W sustained TDP, 90W PSU
- OS : Windows 11 / Bazzite dual boot
- Networking : Dual Gigabit Ethernet
- Ports : HDMI, USB-C, 2x USB-A, 3.5 mm audio
There is still no indication of who built the Piston V, whether it is a prototype, or whether it will ever reach retail. ETA Prime says he could not find it on AliExpress, eBay or elsewhere online. Looks like some Mini-PC brand had some fun designing something more gamer-centric, and I think we are entering interesting times when we will see more and more of these SteamOS-inspired gaming systems.
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