Minisforum MS-A1: small PC with AM5 socket
Minisforum is expanding its range of compact desktop PCs featuring high-end CPUs. The company launched the MS-01, powered by an Intel Core i9-13900H processor, a mobile variant soldered to the motherboard. Although this product is larger than standard Mini-PCs, it has some interesting features such as support for low-profile and half-height desktop GPUs through an available PCIe slot.
The PC also supports up to two 10 GbE SFP+ ports and includes 2.5 GbE Ethernet cards, making it a powerful solution for a home server. The system is reasonably priced at $399 (without memory and storage).
Minisforum MS-A1, Source: PCWatch
Minisforum is now broadening its offering with a new system called MS-A1 . Unlike the Intel-based version from last year, the A1 has a desktop socket for an AM5 processor . The company will offer three options for the prebuilt systems: Ryzen 7 8700G, Ryzen 5 8500G, and Ryzen 5 7600. Importantly, it will also support other Ryzen CPUs, and the company is providing a cheatsheet (posted below) explaining the main differences in supporting these CPUs beyond the obvious core and performance differences.
Minisforum MS-A1, Source: PCWatch
The new PC supports more memory, up to DDR5 96GB , but still in the mobile SODIMM format. The M.2 storage has been expanded to four slots, marking a significant upgrade, although its speeds depend on the CPU used. However, the new system lacks SFP+ ports, eliminating the 10 GbE networking option available in the previous model.
An interesting addition is the OCuLink port for external graphics or storage. This allows attaching a powerful GPU to the system without sacrificing GPU performance. However, this change also means there is no PCIe x16 interface inside like in the MS-01, which would accommodate small graphics cards.
| Minisforum MS-A1 (AMD) & MS-01 (Intel) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Liliputing | MS-A1 🆕 | MS-01 |
| Processor | AMD Ryzen 7 8700G AMD Ryzen 5 8600G AMD Ryzen 5 7600 | Intel Core i9-13900H Intel Core i9-12900H Intel Core i5-12600H |
| Graphics | Integrated or external | Integrated or discrete (PCIe 4.0 x16 half-height) |
| RAM | Up to 96GB 2 x DDR5 SODIMM slots | Up to 64GB 2 x DDR5-5200 SODIMM slots |
| Storage | 4 x M.2 2280 1 x U.2 to M.2 adapter | 1 x PCIe 4.0 x4Â (U.2) 1 x PCIe 3.0 x4 (M.2 2280/22110) 1 x PCIe 3.0 x2 (M.2 2280/22110) |
| Networking | 2 x 2.5 GbE Ethernet WiFi Bluetooth | 2 x 10 GbE SFP+ 2 x 2.5 GbE Ethernet WiFi 6 Bluetooth 5.2 |
| Ports | 1 x OCuLink (63 Gbps) 1 x USB Type-C ( 40 Gbps full function) 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A (10 Gbps) 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A (5 Gbps) 1 x USB 2.0 Type-A (480 Mbps) 1 x HDMI 2.1 1 x DisplayPort 2.0 1 x 3.5mm audio 2 x 2.5 GbE Ethernet | 2 x USB4 (full function) 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A (10 Gbps) 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A (5 Gbps) 2 x USB 2.0 Type-A (480 Mbps) 1 x HDMI 1 x 3.5mm audio |
| Dimensions | ? | 196 x 189 x 48mm |
| Price | ? | $399 and up |
The Raphael (Ryzen 7000) and Phoenix/Phoenix2 (Ryzen 8000) architectures differ in their PCI Express support capabilities. The Phoenix/Phoenix2 lacks Gen5 support and offers fewer lanes, particularly on the smaller Phoenix2 die. Therefore, while the PC supports all three architectures, there are differences in terms of storage support.
Minisforum MS-A1, Source: Liliputing
The motherboard itself does not support the PCIe Gen5 standard. Choosing a Ryzen 7000 processor provides support for two PCIe 4×4 SSDs, whereas Phoenix architecture supports only one, with the other limited to PCIe 3. However, in both cases, there are still two additional PCIe slots available, each with varying speeds. The smaller Phoenix architecture supports up to three M.2 storage simultaneously.
Minisforum has yet to confirm pricing and release date for the MS-A1, but considering its recent presentation at Computex earlier this month, launch is likely still a few months away. At that time, we can also expect support for the new Ryzen 9000 series. We will provide an update if we learn anything new about that.
Source: Liliputing , PCWatch