GMKtec NucBox M5 Plus mini PC review
GMKtec NucBox M5 Plus: 30-second review
Number of NucBox designs manufactured based on GMKtec and how many have been incorporated into our designs best mini pc All in all, the Chinese company’s business is booming.
On the surface, it seems like GMKtec wants to build a NUC for every nuanced market segment, and the new NucBox M5 Plus satisfies the needs of those who like the M5 design for the price but want more features.
The M5 Plus packs an older Ryzen 7 processor in a compact 127mm square box, but it can have up to 64GB of RAM and 16TB of internal storage.
GMKtec offers some base SKUs with less memory and storage, but the device is designed to allow owners to easily upgrade. For those who want to provide an operating system, memory, and storage, a barebones option is available.
One killer feature that IT pros should be interested in is the dual 2.5GbE LAN ports. This makes the M5 Plus an ideal candidate for a custom firewall with a suitable Linux distribution.
Overall, this is a low-cost system with many advantages and relatively few disadvantages. It has enough power to meet the needs of a variety of applications and can be easily repurposed when needs change.
GMKtec NucBox M5 Plus: price and availability
- how much does it cost? From $230/£184
- When will it be released? Now available
- Where can you get it? AliExpress, Amazon and direct from GMK Technologies
The GMKtec NucBox M5 Plus comes in black and blue color schemes and comes in three base SKUs, starting with the barebone option.
For those who want to use Linux or have a Windows license, the barebones system requires added memory and storage, but can be purchased direct from GMKtec for as little as £183.84 ($229.99). The mid-range order comes with Windows 11 Pro, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage for just £223.80 ($279.99), and paying £263.77 ($329.99) increases the RAM to 32GB and the storage to 1TB.
For whatever reason, probably stock control, the blue version is a few pounds/euro/dollar more expensive than the black one.
Unless you have spare DDR4 SODIMMs and NVMe, there seems to be no need to pay the small extra fee to get the machine ready to run.
Those prices look cheap, but buying through AliExpress reduces the cost even further, and more SKUs are available through that channel, including models with 2TB of storage.
from AliExpressA barebones version will cost around £161 or $190, while a machine with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage pre-installed will set you back just £200 or $236.
Looking at this pricing, the Beelink EQR5 model uses the same processor and has very similar specs, selling for £280 on Amazon.co.uk and $280 on Amazon.com.
It should be noted that Amazon In line with GMKtec’s direct sales prices in most areas.
An obscure brand might offer a similar machine for less, but for a well-known brand, this is a very competitive price.
GMKtec NucBox M5 Plus: Specifications
| thing | Specification |
|---|---|
| CPU: | AMD Ryzen 7 5825U (8 cores, 16 threads) |
| Graphics processor: | Radeon Vega 8 |
| Memory: | 16GB DDR4-3200 (8GB x 2) expandable to 64GB |
| Storage: | 1TB M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 3 |
| expansion: | 1 x M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 3 |
| port: | 1x Type-C (DP/DATA), 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 2x USB 2.0, 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x 3.5mm CTIA |
| networking: | 2 2.5GbE LAN, WiFi 6e, Bluetooth 5.2 |
| operating system: | Windows 11 Pro (preinstalled) |
| Base power: | 15W-25W (configurable) |
| power supply: | 19V 3.42A 64.98W |
| aspect: | 128×127×52 (mm) |
GMKtec NucBox M5 Plus: Design
- plastic structure
- It’s relatively easy to get inside
- Dual M.2 2280
This situation looks strange, mainly because it’s the same one used by GMKtec in the M6, K7 plus, K8 and K9. It may be used elsewhere, but the brand is happy to repurpose its design.
The case is entirely plastic, but the paint job on the GMKtec hardware makes it look very professional, at least when you first unbox it.
The great thing about this design is that it’s very easy to get inside, without having to wade your feet apart to find the screws hidden underneath.
The top of the case can be pried off with any blunt knife or spatula, and once removed, the four screws that need to be extracted are clearly visible.
With these out, the top fan shroud can be removed and the small fan connector removed for unrestricted access to memory and storage.
Our review hardware came with two 8GB DDR4 3200MHz SODIMM unbranded modules and a 512GB NVMe SSD with a heatsink made by Foresee. Changing any of these takes a few seconds, and the inclusion of a second free m.2 2280 slot allows for easy cloning of the resident drive for those who need more drive space for their boot drive.
Anyone with experience building a PC should be able to increase RAM and add additional storage in less than 10 minutes, including the time to reboot the computer to make sure everything is working properly.
Cooling is provided by two fans, one that pulls air in from the bottom and exhausts it out of the vents on the back, and another one at the top that pulls air in from the sides and exhausts it out the top. In Balanced Performance mode, fan noise on this system is barely noticeable. More on that later.
While the M5 Plus isn’t rated for a metal casing, its casing is enough to keep the system inside safe and cool in most situations.
GMKtec NucBox M5 Plus: Features
- AMD Ryzen 7 5825U (8 cores, 16 threads)
- 16 PCIe lanes
- Radeon Vega 8 graphics card
Each Ryzen 7 mobile CPU appears to have 8 cores and 16 threads, and the differences between them can be subtle.
The AMD Ryzen 7 5825U in this mini PC belongs to the Ceznne Zen 3 generation. It has a base clock frequency of 2GHz, Turbo Boost up to 4.5GHz, and has an integrated Radeon Vega 8 GPU. It was originally designed for laptop use, with a standard TDP of 15W, but can be adjusted to 25W.
This makes it ideal for embedded roles, as it won’t get too hot even after long runs with adequate ventilation.
The machine ships from the factory in 15W TPD mode, labeled “Balanced” in the BIOS, but setting it to “Performance” consumes more power and provides better results, but also creates more fan noise. How good it is in performance mode, I’ll get to that in the benchmarks, but for those who want that extra punch, it’s a relative change every time.
The chip’s weakness compared to later Ryzen 7 chips is that the CPU offers all PCIe lanes and can only use 16 lanes in the Gen 3 variety. Later chips have 20 PCIe lanes, some of which are Gen 4, which limits the NUC to what it can do with those lanes.
Since 8 of the channels are assigned to the two M.2 slots and the other two to the WiFi adapter, that leaves only 6 channels for all I/O, including the two 2.5GbE LAN ports.
I’m not sure if all these PCIe capacity numbers add up, so this machine probably uses a PCIe switch to eliminate any excess bandwidth requirements.
The final piece of the puzzle is the Radeon Vega 8 GPU, which is a bit like a throwback to the days when AMD had the best integrated GPU solutions. That GPU has been replaced by the Radeon 680M and 780M, but other changes in the chip architecture also make the Vega 8 seem sluggish. The system uses DDR4 memory (dual channel), which limits the amount of bandwidth available to the system compared to subsequent chips using DDR5.
A double whammy is that the DDR4 brand width not only limits processing performance, but due to Vega 8 shared memory, it also limits graphics speed.
As such, this NUC isn’t intended to be a mini gaming system, even though it can be configured to support three monitors using HDMI, DisplayPort, and a single USB-C port.
The M5 Plus is a regular system, but it’s not the same as the Intel N100-based machine.
GMKtec NucBox M5 Plus: Performance
| mini computer | Header Cell – Column 1 | GMKTec NucBox M5 Plus | GMKTec NucBox M5 Plus |
|---|---|---|---|
| model | Row 0 – Cell 1 | balanced | Performance |
| CPU | Row 1 – Cell 1 | AMD Ryzen 7 5825U | AMD Ryzen 7 5825U |
| core/thread | Row 2 – Cell 1 | 8C 16T | 8C 16T |
| Memory | Row 3 – Cell 1 | 16GB DDR4 (2x8GB) | 16GB DDR4 (2x8GB) |
| storage | Row 4 – Cell 1 | Foresight 512GB SSD SS2614 | Foresight 512GB SSD SS2614 |
| graphics | Row 5 – Cell 1 | Radeon Vega 8 | Radeon Vega 8 |
| 3DMark | wild animals | 6229 | 8002 |
| Row 7 – Cell 0 | fire strike | 3147 | 3841 |
| Row 8 – Cell 0 | time spy | 1291 | Chapter 1544 |
| Row 9 – Cell 0 | steel titular lieutenant | 1016 | Chapter 1287 |
| CineBench24 | single | 85 | 87 |
| Row 11 – Cell 0 | many | Chapter 433 | Chapter 593 |
| Row 12 – Cell 0 | ratio | 5.11 | 6.85 |
| GeekBench 6 | single | 1935 | 1980 |
| Row 14 – Cell 0 | many | 6543 | 7907 |
| Row 15 – Cell 0 | OpenCL | 13543 | 17023 |
| Row 16 – Cell 0 | Vulcan | 12060 | 15881 |
| crystal plate | Read MB/sec | 3519 | 3529 |
| Row 18 – Cell 0 | Write MB/sec | 3085 | 3083 |
| PCMark 10 | office | 5573 | 6269 |
| Wei | Row 20 – Cell 1 | 8.1 | 8.1 |
Many systems today have a setting in their BIOS that contains three options: Silent, Balanced, and Performance mode. In many cases, selecting performance has little impact on the overall speed of the system.
Typically, the laws of thermodynamics rule, and the extra heat generated by performance mode often ends up either making the system very noisy or causing processor throttling when temperatures get too high.
Beyond this system, Performance Mode brings some significant performance improvements, which I’ve documented in my benchmark tests.
There are some benchmarks that are almost completely unaffected by this change, especially those single-core tests that don’t involve graphics.
The Windows Experience Index gave the graphics a score of 9.9 in both cases, so it won’t change that as the system improves. The biggest impact is seen in video-related tests, where improvements are typically around 20% but can reach 30% in a few cases.
The downside is that there is almost no fan noise in Balanced mode, while the machine can be easily heard in Performance mode. I didn’t test the silent mode because in the balanced setting the machine is actually silent.
It should be noted that even in performance mode, these numbers won’t worry any of the more modern Ryzen 7 chips. The modern Ryzen 7 8845HS used in the Maxtang FP750 scored 18696 on 3DMark WildLife and 2937 on Steel Nomad Lite.
That said, the Maxtang FP750 with this chip costs over $600, while the GMKtec NucBox M5 Plus costs less than $280.
Therefore, the M5 Plus is a much better value for the performance it offers.
GMKtec NucBox M5 Plus: Final Verdict
What’s not to love about a small system with a clean design that effectively utilizes old laptop technology?
The GMKtec NucBox M5 Plus is an inexpensive solution to numerous problems with relatively few flaws. It might not be the right choice for power users, but for general office use, embedded demos, firewalls, and mini-server roles, it fills a lot of boxes.
The lack of faster ports than USB 3.2 Gen 2 may be an issue for some, but USB 4.0 or Thunderbolt will cost more than the list price of this hardware.
For those looking for a practical NUC system that can be easily deployed, upgraded and repurposed, the GMKtec NucBox M5 Plus makes sense.
Should you buy the GMKtec NucBox M5 Plus?
| value | a real bargain | 4.5/5 |
| design | Has the same casing as many of the brand’s NUCs | 4/5 |
| feature | Dual M.2 slots, dual 2.5GbE LAN, but USB 3.2 only | 3.5/5 |
| Performance | Better than expected after performance mode is turned on | 4/5 |
| Comprehensive | Cheap and very enjoyable NUC | 4/5 |
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
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