For game-loving players, laptops can bring enough portability, but the relatively "weak" GPU performance will greatly reduce the gaming experience. In order to cope with the problem of insufficient performance of notebook graphics cards, the graphics card docking station came into being. At present, the mainstream graphics card docking station uses Thunderbolt 3 for connection, which will cause certain performance loss.
However, mini host manufacturer Miniforum announced the upcoming B550 mini computer, which uses the AM4 socket Ryzen processor and also supports full-length discrete graphics cards. Minisfroum first unveiled the mini PC details with the B550 chipset in November 2021 and is minisfroum's strongest product to date, supporting up to 12 core Ryzen™ 5000 processing, but thermal design power consumption (TDP) is limited to 65W.
The Minisforum B550 mini computer is a semi-open design, in which the mini host is not much different from the traditional product, the only difference is that the bottom provides a PCIe 4.0 x16 slot, which can be closed when not in use. With this PCIe x16 slot, this mini console can be perfectly connected to expansion graphics cards. The free expansion base that comes with the host will provide a PCIe extension cable, so that the host and the graphics card can run on the same plane.
In terms of power supply, Minisforum said that if you use amD 5600G or 5700G APU, you can use the 19V power adapter in the package, and the gaN adapter with a rated power rating of 120W is not required, and there is no need to match the base. If the player uses a discrete graphics card, an SFF or standard ATX power supply can be attached behind the host, and the user can DIY configuration to 1000W.
Not only that, if the player wants to use the Ryzen™ 5600X processor, they can also choose to use SFF live ATX to power the host, but the high-intensity use may fall on the host temperature is higher. The motherboard offers two M.2 2280 SSD slots that support NGFF SATA and NVMe SSDs.
In terms of interface, the host potential has a 19V DC power interface, 4 USB interfaces, two HDMI and a DP display output, 3.5mm headphones, microphone interface, RJ45 network cable interface and full-featured Type-C, and mobile portability is quite excellent.
MINISFORUM has not yet announced the pricing or release date of the B550 mini computer, the basic configuration version should be priced around $899 to $999, and users will need to buy their own CPU, GPU, PSU and storage devices.
Editor's comments: Mini host has always faced the problem of poor game performance, although there are many docks that support the Thunderbolt interface in the early stage, but the PCIe version can bring no loss of performance, and it is more in line with the needs of gamers. As for portability, as long as players are equipped with AMD's Ryzen series APUs, they can ensure good mobile performance, which is also a very good choice.