Small and powerful mini PC - EM780

Various mini PCs have appeared, but their size is at least 0.5 liters or more, and the performance of mini PCs smaller than 0.5 liters is relatively average. In most opinions, the size of the host is directly related to its performance, and larger size often means stronger performance. Now Minisforum has brought an ultra-compact PC-EM780 with high performance onto the market.

1. Appearance

The EM780 features cooling vents on all five sides except the front. There is a CPU fan at the top, and an SSD fan at the bottom, supplemented by liquid gold for cooling, which greatly improves the cooling performance.
The weight of the PC is only 237.9g, length: 80.08mm, width: 80.19mm, height without feet: 40.03mm, height with feet: 43.11mm, calculated volume of 0.257L. The standard 65W GaN power supply weighs 125.4g and the total weight is only 363.3g. It is really palm sized and very comfortable to carry.
In addition, thanks to the USB4 port, the EM780 can be powered by some cell phone chargers or mobile power sources that must support at least 20V/3.25A output power. It is recommended that the output power is equal to or no more than 100W so that you only need to take one power adapter with you when you leave home.

2. Processor

The EM780 is powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 7840U processor with integrated Radeon 780M core graphics, a 4nm process, 8 cores and 16 threads, a huge 16MB L3 cache and a base frequency of 3.3GHz, with a maximum RWI of up to 5.1 GHz, powered. CPU-Z shows that the 7840U has a maximum TDP of 28W.

3. Storage

Currently only the 16GB and 32GB versions are available, which come with LPDDR5 RAM, which is not replaceable. This trial version is the 16GB version, a single storage capacity of 4GB, a total of four storages.
AIDA64 tests the memory read/write speed and timings. The results are shown in the figure, the timings are 19-15-17-34. The performance is not bad, the read/write speed is also very fast, the high-frequency memory is very helpful for the core display, which can effectively improve the refresh rate of the game.

4. Hard drive

The EM780's hard drive is an M.2-2230 specification, a drive with PCIE 4.0 support, currently on sale in 512GB and 1TB versions. Although it is possible to replace the hard drive yourself, it is recommended to prioritize the high storage capacity version due to the hassle of disassembling the device.
Crystal DiskInfo recognized the hard drive as a 512GB SSD from Kingston (It should be noted here that the manufacturer Minisforum points out that the installed hard drive of the purchased machine may vary depending on the batch, therefore there may also be hard drives from other brands), with a PCIE4 .0X4 channel, a read speed of 3,464 MB/S and write speeds of 4957.92 MB/S, which is considered a normal PCIE4.0 hard drive.

5. Network card

The integrated network card is the AX1675w, an on-board network card that cannot be replaced. The performance is strong enough to be playable.

6. Connection

The EM780 features a variety of external ports, including two USB4 ports, three blue USB3 Type-A ports, a 3.5mm headphone jack, an HDMI port and even a TF card port to expand the storage capacity of the device. Also included is a docking station with an RJ45 network port, making it easy to connect the device to a wired network. It can provide better network connectivity, especially in office environments such as video conferencing.

7. Test results

8. Thermal performance

Tests were carried out at a room temperature of 25℃ with a stress test of 20 minutes, with the maximum CPU temperature being 81.6℃. In the first 12 minutes, the power consumption of the CPU could be stabilized at 30W with the maximum temperature reaching 81.6℃, after which it was reduced to 28W for continuous operation with the maximum temperature being only 80℃. The maximum temperature of the hard drive is 63℃, the cooling performance is good.
Even during long periods of high load operation, the overall temperature of the EM780 is always kept within a reasonable range. This provides consumers with a stable and reliable experience without worrying about the impact of heat dissipation problems on the performance of the host computer. In addition, the standby power consumption is approximately 2.5W and the power consumption is approximately 52W when the Stress Test is fully loaded. However, the actual power consumption during operation may depend on the RAM and hard drive space as well as the power consumption of external devices; fluctuations may occur.

Thanks to its excellent performance and rich interface configuration, the Minisforum EM780 Mini PC has a wide range of application scenarios. Firstly, it can be used as a home entertainment center to meet users' entertainment needs such as watching movies and playing games by connecting to a TV or monitor. Secondly, due to its portability and powerful features, it can also be used as an ideal choice for mobile office equipment to meet users' needs for business trips, travel and other office supplies occasions.
In addition, its excellent heat dissipation performance ensures stability during long-term use, so users do not have to worry about the impact of heat dissipation problems on the performance of the host. Its interface configuration is diverse and rich, providing users with a convenient way to connect. Connected to the graphics docking station via USB4 to get a stronger gaming experience, you can also directly insert the TF card into the device without needing the docking station.