MINISFORUM MS-R1 is an ARM mini-workstation with PCIe x16 (physical) and 45 TOPS NPU
MINISFORUM has announced the MS-R1, a compact 1.7-liter workstation based on the CIX CP8180 ARM processor. It is presented as the first ARM-based mini workstation with UEFI boot support and a full-length PCIe x16 slot, targeting users who want a small desktop ARM system with real expansion options and local AI acceleration.
Source: Minisforum
The MS-R1 is built around the 12-core / 12-thread CP8180 running at 2.6 GHz with a 28 W TDP. The chip integrates an Arm Immortalis-G720 MC10 GPU and an NPU rated at 28.8 TOPS, for a combined 45 TOPS of AI compute. The platform supports up to 64GB of LPDDR5 5500 MHz memory with ECC.
Source: Minisforum
Storage is handled by one PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 2280/22110 slot and an additional NVMe slot via an M.2 E-key transfer card, with support up to 8TB. For connectivity, the system offers dual 10 GbE (RTL8127), Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.3.
Source: Minisforum
A key feature is the internal PCIe x16 slot (physical x16, electrical x8 PCIe 4.0), which can be used for discrete GPUs, high-speed NICs, or U.2 adapters. This makes the MS-R1 one of the first compact ARM desktop systems that can take a full-length graphics card for compute, AI inference, or visualization workloads.
The system is already on sale and price starts at $504. I’m not sure if this is a good price, for the first ARM-based ‘workstation’ this should be much much cheaper, considering the market for this is rather small. It doesn’t support Windows on ARM apparently (not mentioned).
Minisforum MS-R1 pricing
- CP8180, 32 GB RAM, 0 TB SSD — $503.90
- CP8180, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD — $575.90
- CP8180, 64 GB RAM, 0 TB SSD — $599.90
- CP8180, 64 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD — $695.50
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| VideoCardz.com | Minisforum MS-R1 |
| CPU | CIX CP8180, 12 cores / 12 threads, 2.6 GHz, 28 W TDP |
| NPU / AI | Up to 45 TOPS total, including 28.8 TOPS NPU |
| GPU | Arm Immortalis-G720 MC10 (integrated) |
| Memory | LPDDR5 up to 64 GB, 5500 MHz, LinkECC & Inline ECC supported *ECC enabled: capacity reduced by 1/8 |
| Storage | 1 × M.2 2280/22110 NVMe SSD slot (PCIe 4.0 x4) 1 × M.2 2280 NVMe SSD via M.2 E-key transfer card Up to 8 TB total |
| Expansion | 1 × PCIe x16 slot (physical x16, PCIe 4.0 x8 electrical) 1 × 40-pin GPIO eDP connector Power loss switch, BIOS flash pins, UART1 / UART2 pins |
| Network | 2 × 10 GbE RJ45 (Realtek RTL8127) Wi-Fi 6E + Bluetooth 5.3 (M.2 2230 E-key, RZ616) |
| Video outputs | 1 × HDMI 2.0 (up to 4K @ 60 Hz) 2 × USB Type-C with DP 1.4 Alt Mode (up to 4K @ 120 Hz) |
| Audio | 1 × HDMI audio 1 × 3.5 mm combo jack (4-in-1, in/out) |
| USB & I/O | Front / side: • 1 × USB Type-A (USB 3.2 Gen2) • 2 × USB Type-A (USB 2.0) • 2 × USB Type-C (DP 1.4 Alt Mode) • 1 × 3.5 mm combo audio jack Rear: • 2 × USB Type-A (USB 2.0) • 2 × USB Type-A (USB 3.2 Gen2) • 1 × HDMI 2.0 • 2 × 10G LAN (RJ45) |
| Cooling / Noise | Triple copper heat pipes, turbine fan, vortex airflow, phase-change TIM Under 35 dB at up to 28 W turbo |
| Power | DC 19 V 180 W adapter USB Type-C 20 V 100 W input supported |
| Form factor | Approx. 1.7 L chassis |
| OS support | Debian 12 (UEFI boot, supports KVM, Docker containers, Android VMs) |
Source: Minisforum
