GTi13 Ultra+ Docking Station: The Ultimate Mini PC Perfect?

In the field of mini hosts, performance and scalability have always been a game between fish and bears, and the launch of the GTi13 Ultra+ docking station combination at Zero Moment attempts to break through the many limitations of mini hosts in the "ontology performance monster + docking station ecological chain". Today, with this question in mind, we will test the two forms of "body" and "docking station" respectively to verify whether it achieves the ultimate goal of "desktop replacement".

In addition to supporting PCIex8 socket docking station scheme and lossless expansion of discrete graphics cards, this host is also top-notch in terms of configuration: intel Core i9-13900HK processor, also built-in dual speakers and 145W power supply, and adopts the manufacturer's self-developed MSC2.0 heat treatment heat dissipation scheme, which can be said to be directly full of performance. Coupled with its own EX graphics card docking station, it is easy to realize lossless expansion of A card and N card, making up for the shortcomings of the mini host's core display in weak graphic display, and the use scenarios are suddenly enriched!

What are the highlights of the GTi13 Ultra's form revolution?

External graphics card to meet all your mini fantasies: the biggest bottleneck of the mini host is from the graphics card, the current solution is nothing more than Thunderbolt interface external, Oculink to PCIe and PCIe direct connection several solutions, the first two are not only limited in performance, but also the compatibility is not good, the key cost is relatively high, are more than 1,000 yuan or even 1,000 yuan, so the best is the zero moment GTi13 Ultra+ docking station PCIe direct connection this solution.

The PCIe x8 slot expansion solution seems simple, but in fact, it is not easy to run the full transmission bandwidth of 128Gbps and release the performance of the external graphics card without loss. The GTi Ultra series is the first manufacturer to adopt this lossless method, and the docking station is completely self-produced, and the cost price is given to the user, and it only takes 299 more to perfectly achieve the effect of lossless expansion of the external graphics card, which is completely comparable to the traditional host.

The extreme challenge of space magic: the small size not only has a built-in 145W power supply, but also inherits dual speakers and array microphones, which can communicate online without relying on any external audio equipment, which really makes the best use of the limited internal space. And the interface is also a grand slam, even the uncommon SD slots are arranged, showing the terrifying industrial integration ability.

MSC2.0 reconstructs the heat dissipation order: the biggest concern for everyone when choosing this kind of small host is the heat dissipation problem, especially for the performance of the GTi13 Ultra, which is a key item. The MSC2.0 heat dissipation system developed by Zero Moment from various aspects such as heat dissipation medium, air duct design, noise source, algorithm, etc., the effect is really not blown, and there will be special tests later.

Silent performance synergy makes 1+1>2: The mute effect of the host is definitely related to office efficiency, relying on a single fan strategy to weigh the relationship between heat dissipation and mute, it limits the imagination space, zero moment Since the advent of the MSC2.0 cooling system, the mute effect is indeed unique in the market, which we will test later.

No price increase: Compared with the barebones price of GTi12 Ultra is 2599 yuan, the barebones price of GTi13 Ultra is 2799 yuan, a price difference of 200 yuan. Similarly, the prices of 32GB+1TB machines are 3699 yuan and 3899 yuan respectively, which is also a difference of 200 yuan. In other words, upgrading from 12900K to 13900HK only costs 200 more, do you think it's worth it?

Next, let's look at the design of the host, the integrated aluminum alloy shell is a bit of the taste of the Mac Studio workstation, this CNC molded plain metal material is not only good-looking, but also has higher body strength. Due to the built-in power supply, both the weight and the volume are a little larger than the usual mini hosts.

Its fuselage is not large, but it still embraces the full-interface ecosystem. In addition to the common USB3.0 (10bps), USB-C (10bps) and 3.5mm audio jacks, the front panel interface also has an uncommon SD slot, and the power button also integrates fingerprint recognition function, and the top is a four-array microphone for voice pickup. It is worth mentioning that the microphone equipped with AI chip also has a noise reduction function, even if it is within 5 meters, multi-angle conversations can be clearly picked, which is very good for video conferencing or voice calls.

The rear panel of the GTi 13 Ultra has two 2.5G Ethernet ports, four USB3.0, one Thunderbolt 4 (40Gbps), one HDMI (4K 60) and one DP1.4a (4K 144Hz). In this way, the keyboard and mouse, screen hanging lights, monitors, printers and other devices that are often used in daily life have a place to be directly connected.

The bottom is made of honeycomb open-hole ABS material, which is also the only air inlet channel of the whole cooling system, ensuring that the external air can flow through every component such as the processor, motherboard, SSD, etc., and finally the air outlet at the back of the internal vapor chamber flows out from the rear side of the fuselage to form a complete heat dissipation air duct.

Tear off the silicone strip at the bottom, you can see the slot used to connect to the EX docking station, through this PCIe X8 standard interface, you can connect the host computer to the external desktop graphics card, increasing the graphics power of the whole machine. Remove the bottom plate, you can see the high-density breathable etched metal mesh, the function of this metal mesh is to facilitate ash cleaning in the later stage, and can also effectively prevent large particles at the bottom from being sucked into the inside of the host, causing damage to the host components.

Remove the metal dust filter, you can see the speaker and the built-in power supply, the power supply supports up to 19V 1.63A DC output, providing a maximum output power of 145W, and the power supply to the 65W 13900HK is more than enough.

This speaker has a power of 4W and also has a silicone cushion in the screw holes and bottom to avoid sound resonance problems. The sense of hearing is also not bad, similar to that of Mac mini, and the general demand is enough. Further down, the structure becomes complicated, and even a 4.5mm hexagonal sleeve is needed, and the metal bracket must be removed before the installation and replacement of SSD and memory can be installed.

It is worth mentioning that the front and rear interfaces are PCB independent, and the advantage of this small board is that it can effectively isolate the heat between the motherboard and external devices, so as to make the transmission more stable. Of course, this design is a challenge for the manufacturer's internal design, assembly and cost.

Let's look at the EX docking station, it is specially designed for the zero moment GTi Ultra series, and the PCIe slot at the bottom can be matched losslessly, compared with Thunderbolt, USB4, OCuLink and other solutions have more advantages, and this graphics card docking solution manufacturers have been open source, looking forward to more and more manufacturers to join in the later stage, after all, the price of a few hundred yuan is really cheap.

The advantage of the EX graphics card docking station is that it is more compatible, not only supports the expansion of desktop graphics cards on the market, but also supports the expansion of SSD and Wi-Fi modules, and also has a built-in 600W power supply.

The PCIe slot is reinforced with metal, 2 8Pin power supply ports, with 2 power supply cables, directly connected or converted, graphics cards on the market can be adapted, and USB ports and Wi-Fi antenna interfaces are also prepared for users, which are convenient for later expansion on demand.

The installation is very simple, and it can be fixed with a bracket at the end, and it is compatible with all PCIe desktop graphics cards on the market. It is worth mentioning that the docking station is covered with soft materials on the contact surface of the host, which protects the paint surface of the fuselage.

The GTi13 Ultra is equipped with Intel's 13th generation Core i9-13900HK processor, with a maximum turbo frequency of 5.40 GHz for performance cores, a maximum turbo frequency of 4.10 GHz for energy efficiency cores, 14 cores and 20 threads (6 performance cores + 8 efficiency cores), and a base power consumption of 45W, which can be adjusted to a maximum of 65W, which is the most powerful model on the mobile platform.

The TDP can be changed in the BIOS, and the extreme performance only needs to be changed to 65W in the BIOS, and the extreme performance brings more excellent capabilities in high-load and multi-threaded tasks, of course, power consumption and heat generation will also increase relatively, and the following tests are carried out under the TDP of 65W.

Master Lu's processor has a comprehensive score of 1.31 million, of which the processor score is 738726, the graphics card is 113075, the memory score is 277074, and the hard disk is 181549, beating 75% of the users in the country.

Judging from the CineBench 2024 score, the single-core score of 99 and the multi-core score of 763pts are better than the previously tested 12900H and 8845HS, and the single-core score is much higher.

If it is just daily study and office, the performance of the Intel Iris Xe graphics card with 96 execution units and a maximum dynamic frequency of 1.5GHz is sufficient, but for professional users such as game users and designers, the performance of the graphics card is the bottleneck.

It can be seen from Master Lu's running score that no matter whether this 1070Ti graphics card is placed on a desktop or EX docking station, the performance is completely released, and the loss is basically negligible, and it is significantly improved with the GTi 13 Ultra.

我们使用3DMARK软件分别进行Time Spy Extreme、Time Spy、Fire Strike Extreme、Fire Strike Ultra、Fire Strike等项目测试，可以看出，零刻GTi 13 Ultra搭配EX扩展坞前后差距明显。

In the game test session, it was tested in "Black Myth Wukong" first, under the 1080P image quality, only the single host core display, even if the image quality is set to medium, the average FPS is only 23.

With the addition of the dock's 1070Ti graphics card, the FPS can be 62 fps even if all the graphics are adjusted to high quality.

In the "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" 1080P image quality test, it can be seen that it is very difficult to play under the nuclear display Iris Xe, even if the picture quality is low, it is only more than 40FPS, and the sense of lag is obvious. After connecting the 1070Ti on the external docking station, the full high image quality plus the rendering ratio is 106, and the average frame rate is 137 in one game, which is very smooth.

"Naraka: Bladepoint" 1080P, adjust the model accuracy, surface subdivision, texture quality, and special effect quality to "high", and the average frame rate of the whole copy is 76+fps, the effect is still okay, right?

Also playing "Big Cousin 2", the 1080P image quality is all set to the highest, vertical synchronization is turned on, triple buffering, texture quality, lighting quality are all set to ultra-high, and the average frame rate is 66FPS after a game, which is no different from the traditional console experience.

The GTi13 Ultra was tested at room temperature of 22°C using FurMark+AIDA64, and the continuous pressure test lasted for more than 30 minutes, and the CPU always maintained a maximum of 65W full load output, the core was up to 76°C, and the fan speed was 1753RPM.

During the baking process, the temperature measurement tool was used to measure the temperature of the whole host, the temperature of the back air outlet was the highest, at about 55 °C, and the temperature of the fuselage was mainly distributed in the tail area of the upper cover plate, at about 38 °C, and the temperature of the front panel was about 28 °C.

When the oven is fully loaded, let's measure the noise control, using the decibel tester, we can see that the measured value at a distance of about 20cm is 33 decibels, which is negligible in the ambient sound.

Of course, users who use EX docking station are not only game enthusiasts, but also used to do productivity, for daily processing video, picture partners, with the docking station's independent graphics card, the rendering speed is really a qualitative improvement, about 2 minutes4K video export is only tens of seconds.

Considering that the graphics card is 8G video memory, using Chatbox to deploy the DeepSeek-R1-7B model to the local area, the CPU usage is very low, the GPU occupation is about 90%, and the token generation speed is still very fast.

This configuration is very easy to run the 7B model, but many problems will be beyond the scope of the stem requirements, most of the time can be solved by adjusting the Temperature, but some complex problems will not work. Later, I tried the 8B model, the effect is better, the speed is acceptable, if you have a high-end graphics card in hand, you can try 14B or 32B, as long as the graphics card can withstand it, the CPU is absolutely not stressed.

GTi13 Ultra comes with a built-in SD slot, which is also fast at 312MB/s, which makes it much easier to guide data from cameras, recorders and other devices, without relying on any docking station or card reader.

The GTi13 Ultra looks very pleasing to those who want to create a minimalist desktop, with a Mac-like style and affordable price. In terms of experience, it is more suitable for users who have needs for portability and desktop-level performance, especially after matching the EX graphics card docking station, the performance has really been improved by leaps and bounds, allowing the mini host to officially enter the field of professional productivity. This solution will remain competitive in the coming years, of course, only basic office is required, and it is more cost-effective to buy the ontology separately.

The emergence of the dual-mode strategy of "performance ontology + ecological expansion" in the GTi Ultra product also makes the mini host no longer bound to the label of "performance compromise", and then with fingerprint recognition, dual speakers, SD card slots, dual network ports and other plus points, to meet the needs of users, when the performance is no longer limited by volume, the rules of the mini host will continue to be rewritten.