Minisforum Mini PC X1 Review

A mini PC with a weirdly awesome spec: 64GB RAM in a tiny box. The CPU is good, the graphics are fine for light work, but gaming isn't its thing. The OCuLink port is a cool trick for adding an external GPU later. Worth it if you find it near $749 and need lots of memory in a small space.

The MINISFORUM X1 Lite-255 is a mini PC that packs a surprising punch, especially if you look past its gaming score. It's built around AMD's Ryzen 7 255 CPU and the solid Radeon 780M integrated graphics, but the real headline is the 64GB of DDR5 RAM it throws in right out of the box. That's a massive amount of memory for this form factor and price.

It's clearly designed for power users who need a compact workstation, not gamers. The inclusion of an OCuLink port is a forward-thinking move, letting you plug in an external GPU later if you want more graphical muscle. For a tiny box, it's loaded with modern ports and connectivity options.

The Ryzen 7 255 is a capable 8-core chip, landing in the 58th percentile for CPU performance in our database. It's plenty fast for office work, coding, and multitasking. The integrated Radeon 780M graphics are decent for an iGPU—it's often compared to a GTX 1650—but our data puts it in the 8th percentile for GPU power. That means it's fine for light gaming or video playback, but don't expect to run new AAA titles. The 64GB of RAM is its superpower, sitting in the 98th percentile. That's overkill for most, but fantastic for virtual machines or heavy development work.

Prices swing from $749 to $959 depending on the vendor, so shop around. At the lower end, getting a Ryzen 7 system with 64GB RAM and a 1TB SSD is a legitimately good deal, especially for developers or homelab users. At the high end, it gets harder to justify unless you specifically need that OCuLink feature. You're paying for the unique RAM configuration and the niche OCuLink port more than raw, top-tier performance.

Compared to something like the MINISFORUM UM880 Plus with a Ryzen 7 8845HS, you're trading a slightly faster CPU (5.1GHz vs 4.9GHz) and potentially better efficiency for double the RAM here. The UM880 Plus often comes with 32GB. Against traditional towers like an HP Omen or Dell Alienware, you're giving up all gaming prowess and easy upgradeability for a fraction of the footprint and power draw. The Lenovo Legion Tower will run circles around it in games, but it's also a massive desktop. This mini PC is for a different user: someone who values space and specific features over raw, balanced power.

Hardcore gamers should look elsewhere immediately. Our score puts it in the 12th percentile for gaming. If you want to play new releases, get a proper gaming desktop or a mini PC with a much more powerful GPU. Also, if you don't need tons of RAM, you can find better all-around performance for less money.

Buy this if you need a compact, powerful workstation for software development, homelab projects, or office multitasking and that 64GB of RAM calls your name. The OCuLink port is a bonus for future-proofing. It's a niche product that nails its niche.