Category: PC Hardware

I’ve been in the hunt for new home-lab virtualisation servers. I previously used two 2018 Mac mini i7/64GB units. They have been solid units, and have served me well. I used Parallels Desktop for 90% of the virtualisation, with some VMWare Fusion in there too. They’ve lasted YEARS and have been rock-solid…but, their performance against their power consumption has been lacking compared to current offerings.

So I took a dual approach – for my constant stuff that needed to be on all the time (backups, some video conversion automation, AdGuard type stuff) I bought an Apple M4 Mini. More on this in another article, however it sips power while also being highly capable.

For my lab stuff – think 90% Windows, 10% Linux – I needed something x86. First, I looked at Geekom and their Mini IT13, and it was disastrous. I actually bought one direct from Geekom, and three from Amazon. All of them after a week or two just wouldn’t turn on.

I returned them all – so much so Amazon put me on the returns naughty step so I had to get AmEx involved, who were, as usual, absolutely badass at getting my money back.

This is when I stumbled on the Minisforum MS-01. The specs on this thing seemed out of this world.

-> Intel i9 13900H

-> Dual DDR5-5200 up to 96GB

-> 2 x USB4

-> 2 x 2.5Gb Ethernet

-> 2 x 10Gb Ethernet

-> HDMI

Have a look for yourself at all these ports – absolutely mad.

Internally, the unit supports up to three NVMe slots. THREE. 1 PCIe 4×4, one 3×4 and one 3×2. Additionally slot 1 can be configured to use a U.2 NVMe too. The graphics are integrated UDH750 I think, but – and here’s something else that amazed me about this unit – it also comes with a half-length PCIe 3×4 slot! With it being half-length you’re limited by what you can put in there, but there’s certainly options out there.

I was quite blown away when I saw the specs of these units, and couldn’t order one fast enough, and to spec it out. The spec I’ve gone for is:

-> 96GB RAM

-> 1 x 4TB NVMe

-> 2 x 1TB NVMe

This is connected now over 10Gbe for the main LAN, and 2.5Gb for my HyperV machines. Absolutely bonkers considering its size.

What’s the performance like? Well, let’s look at the primary SSD to start. This is a Lexar 4TB 4×4 that I already had.

That’ll do. The other two SSD are a bit slower at about 2200MB/s read/write, still really acceptable.

The Intel 13900H in the MS-01 has a base TDP of 45watts but apparently can boost up to 115watts – it’s a mobile processor of course. By way of example, the desktop i-13900 has a base of 65W and boosts to 219W…but requires significantly more cooling.

You can see the Geekbench benchmarks for the 13900H here. If you want a bit of a giggle here’s the comparison between the 13900H and the binned M4 Max (I have the unbinned M4 Max). So processor performance is pretty good too – certainly good enough for what I need it for.

What about power consumption? At idle, the unit seems to average between 25 and 33watts, which is 0.6KwH to 0.8KwH per day.

This does seem a little high compared to what some other people are reporting – several are reporting idle figures of 15-30 watts, but I’ve not seen it go that low. Perhaps it’s the spec and of course I have the 10Gbe interface in use.

What about under load? It seems to peak at about 115-120w but then settles in to about 90w. Assuming 90w consumption that’s 2.2KwH/day (rounded up), which isn’t insignificant, but then how often are you going to have it flat out..?

Assuming you work it hard for 8 hours a day, but the rest it’s fairly idle, running costs at GBP0.29/KwH would be as follows.]

Just for the purposes of comparison – the M4 Mini I bought for my 24×7 automation stuff (Plex, backups etc.) averages about 5w at idle, and uses 65watts under full load.

It’s a fairly decent difference isn’t it? Saying that, the M4 Mini can’t do all the x86 virtualisation that I need, but it’s still a reasonable comparison.

So what do we have at this point? Well, we have a small, powerful PC, with great networking, internal storage, and reasonable power consumption. There must be some downsides, right?

Well, so far, not too many. I do have some observations however. Firstly, noise. If these units are next to you, you will hear the fans. They seem to spin up even with the slightest of activity. They’re not particularly loud however you will hear them. They don’t bother me at all.

I also have a weird issue with the networking. Firstly, those two 10Gbe SFP+ ports. If I try use both of them they work for a little while but eventually I start to get problems with disconnections and the performance plummeting. If I had to guess, it’s because I’m using SFP+ to RJ45 connectors in there, and they’re getting heat soaked – so in effect, I can’t use both SFP+ 10Gbe connections at the same time. Not a huge issue given it also has two 2.5Gb ports.

Next is a weird one, and it sounds like a configuration bottle neck I’m hitting rather than an actual problem with the unit. With HyperV configured to use the 2.5Gbe interface only, and with management etc. on the 10Gbe port, I only get circa 2.5Gb performance not the 10Gbe port. In fact it’s so close to 2.5Gbe it makes me think this is a config issue. If I remove the HyperV configuration I get nearer the 10Gbpe. Something I’ll look into in the future I think, however it’s not that big a deal to me in reality.

2025-02-25 20:32:04: I’ve now resolved this – it wasn’t just suspiciously close to 2.5Gbps it was 2.5Gbps…but it was reporting as 10Gbps. Essentially I was using a cheap non-managed 10Gb/2.5Gb switch, and an SFP+ to RJ45 converter on the MS-01. I swapped the switch for a 10Gbps QNAP managed switch and what do I see… the port running at 2.5Gbps. Swapping out the SFP+ to RJ45 connector and just using a straight fibre connection I now not only have the 10Gbps connection, it’s also running a lot cooler. I’ll test both 10Gbps connections shortly and see if running them both is workable.

What am I running on it? Well, my longer term plan is to configure it as ProxMox unit, for now however it’s running Windows 11 and HyperV. Not a great combination, but good enough for something I’m working on. I mean look what it’s running right now:

That’s not too shabby is it?

Oh while I remember, the unit also supports Intel vPro for remote management – this allows for remote control, including BIOS level KVM access. How cool is that? Very useful for when trying to manage the unit remotely, and far more like grown up server solutions. It’s pretty impressive.

Costs

Now on to the thorny issue of costs. These are not particularly cheap units. Let’s look at this build – although I did have the SSD kicking about already.

NOTE: For my US readers, the above costs include our sales tax (VAT) at 20%.

So the cost isn’t insignificant, but for the capability I think it’s a bargain?!

Support

Now, this is worth being aware of. I’ve seen a few horror stories about dealing direct with Minisforum, and if it was anything like my experience dealing with Geekom I’d be very nervous about buying direct. Buy from Amazon however and any problems you can make their problem, and their returns process is usually excellent.

What’s Coming

It’s also worth being aware of the Minisforum MS-A2 that’s due for release circa April 2025. This has an AMND Ryzen 9 7945HX 16 Core/32 Thread processor in it which will be even faster than the i9-13900H, so perhaps it may be worth waiting for that? Then again if you’re always waiting for what’s around the corner you’d always be waiting for what’s around the corner.

Summary

I’m very happy with this Minisforum unit. The connectivity is bonkers, its power consumption reasonable, and its performance is certainly good enough for my purposes as a virtualisation lab host. I’d go as far to say as I’d be happy to use it as my every day machine should needs be, it’s that capable. It’s a little pricey – certainly compared to the Geekom, but then so far it hasn’t decided to become a paperweight – and there’s some concern about direct support from Minisforum, but so far, everything has been rosey and I suspect I’ll end up buying another one.