Beelink GTR9 Pro Power Consumption
In terms of power consumption, at idle, we were generally in the 16-25W range depending on what Windows 11 Pro was doing at the time. On the noise side, this system was generally great. In our 34dba noise floor studio, we were in the 36-37dba range at idle.
Quick AI model use might get this into the 120W range and not really spike noise. While this is not silent, under normal desktop loads you just do not hear this system. We ran gpt-oss 120B for some time and it would get into the 39-41dba range and 125-128W. Something that is probably overlooked is that while this is nowhere near as fast as running with something like a NVIDIA RTX Pro 6000 Blackwell edition, the entire system is running these large AI models, from memory, with total system power less than half of what a high-end GPU might use.
Key Lessons Learned
There are a lot of ways to look at this one. Between the GMKtec EVO-X2 which was an early AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 system, the Framework Desktop, the Minisforum S1-MAX, and this system, we have four pretty good options. The EVO-X2 was great for an early system, but what Beelink has made is hands-down better. Our review of that system happened four months ago which is a long time in AI and was by far the leading system at the time. The Framework Desktop costs more than this system, and let us just say that we are regretting that purchase over this Beelink GTR9 Pro given the cost was over $2500 for our configuration and the Beelink is hands-down better at a lower cost. The Minisforum S1-MAX arrived later, and that is probably the best competition for this system, albeit at a higher price.
Generally, Beelink did a great job and that is why this system is getting reviewed before the Framework Desktop (the Minisforum just arrived.) We have all four sitting next to each other in the studio so we have a very good sense of each side-by-side.
Still, there were some quirks with this one. The first is that we initially setup the system and the Intel E610 dual 10GbE showed up which we were very excited about.
Then, Windows updated, and we lost the Intel E610 NICs. This is a problem some others have run into.
We asked Beelink about this, and this was an Intel driver/ NIC firmware thing but it appears to be fixed as another update later the Intel E610 NICs came back. These are very new NICs that run at low power and with great features (albeit without RDMA.) We ran into the issue, and it seems to be just an early system/ NIC issue, but we wanted to point out that we were hit with this.
Second, and this one sucks, is that there were a number of pre-installed applications on the system. EdrawMind, Wondershare EdrawMax, and Wondershare Filmora? No thank you.
Not only do these pre-installed applications not provide value, but if anything they de-value the experience. We just want vanilla Windows 11 Pro installed, not this. I know some folks will want to run Linux, we ran Ubuntu off USB as an example, and WSL is pretty good these days. Still, most are going to use this with Windows, and these apps were not even the easiest to uninstall.
To Beelink: you made great hardware and have possibly the best AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 package out there out of the box. Not only do these pre-installed applications not add value, but they do not instill confidence in your product. Please stop this practice.
That probably brings me to the final key lessons learned. At $1999, these systems are no longer in the realm of cheap mini PCs. Instead, they are now competing in the space with higher-end PCs, self-built and pre-built large OEM systems. Service and support are going to matter more as system prices go up. What an Apple Mac Studio has over this is that Apple has much better support.
Final Words
Overall, this system is really good. Seeing Beelink mini PCs evolve over the past few years, this is on a different level of design. The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 with 128GB of LPDDR5X memory is also great. Our big takeaway though is that you purchase this system because you want something that runs Windows, but looks like a Mac Studio. Also, you purchase it because of running large AI models. Frankly, gpt-oss 120B is a great and very useful model. There is a smaller faster 20B version out there, but the full 120B version is extremely useful because it is more accurate, just like running a llama 70B model is a big upgrade over smaller llama models. You can build better gaming PCs for less, but if you are also doing AI work, then the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 is very good.
While testing this, our team kept coming back to this comparison. Beelink has something that is really good, and from a straight hardware perspective, feels like a much better value than the Apple Mac Studio at the $1999 price point.
We are not sure if this is our #1 or our #2 AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 system we have tested at this point (it is #1 for under $2000.) In either case, it offers a lot in the compact package and feels like a very premium product.
I’d love a bit more on how these run Linux, do all the drivers play nice etc
On paper specifications look good. In in practice we bought HP Z1 / Z2 months ago for much less
I returned mine because the fan noise was unbearable, at 52dBA, one full bel above the rate 32.
Comparing the gtr9 pro vs other Halo 395 systems on noise would be nice. I’d pick this over the framework desktop if it was quieter.
i like the GTR9 Pro but i would like it even better with working Intel E610. The NICs keep crashing under load, i have got Windows and Arch Linux. Right now i have got a USB-C NIC as a workaround.
Mark – Where did you get a HP Z2 Mini G1a Max+ 395 with 128GB for less than $1999? I cannot find it. I will buy one at that price to review.
Fazal – That is strange. We have 4 of these Strix Halo systems, and this is the quietest.
Bill – To me, the features are also better, and it is a lower cost. We filmed the Framework very soon after this one, but we put this ahead of the Framework in publishing order.
Todd – Yes. That is why we went into that issue here. I was told it is getting fixed with a new Intel driver, but it is not here yet, so we have that in the review. I feel a bit mixed on that since we can update this review when a fix arrives, but the video will mention that issue even after a fix arrives.
I have the EVO, the Framework Desktop, and the HP Z2 Mini G1a (~2600 usd on sale)
The HP is the loudest under load by a huge margin, and the EVO throttles. The Framework is very quiet but it’s larger and the fan is way bigger.
I’d like to see testing with different hypervisors and the ability to pass through the iGPU, as well as memory split between the different systems.
Obviously, 32GB isn’t a lot to run guest VMs, so other systems that allow more granularity would be great.
Thoughts?
@ThepHuck: do you know if there are any platform-specific considerations that would make Max 395 memory allocation and GPU behavior differ between systems; or is that a more general question about different hypervisors let you chop it up; but not specific to the Beelink take?
Since it’s a part whose main thing is memory allocation it certainly seems worth knowing; but if there are potentially subtle firmware quirks per-vendor that would make me a lot more nervous than if it’s the oddest of the APUs but AMD dictates all the low level behavior.
I cant wait for a noise comparison between this and the geekom a9 mega. This is 18x18x9.1 that is 17x17x7.1, quite a bit more compact
I had one of these. It’s not silent, especially if you enable the full 160W performance. I ended up returning it and getting a framework desktop mobo which performs much better on the noise front. I put the mobo in a custom case with a dual 10gbe card for cheaper than this unit. Neat concept but it fails in the sound and cooling dept.
Thank you for the review, seems like a neatly designed system. Beelink seems to take a lot of pride in the motherboard reinforcement components so that the PCB doesn’t warp under the weight of the cooler, that is completely not mentioned here I don’t take any issue, it is just hilarious to me.
That SSD seems…. janky? Sparsely mounted caps and exposed pads under what looks like the nand package. Do you have any idea what model it is? I think I will swap it out if I end up getting one.
Would be nice to have a comparison between E610 and RTL8127 in terms of driver availability, offload functionalities and OS/Distro/Hypervisor compatibility.
Also, since you have a couple Strix Halo systems, there are the upcoming GB10 systems, and apple probably is releasing M5 based minis and studios soon, any chance you’d make a more comprehensive AI capability piece for these APU boxes? A validation compatibility of these systems w/ popular AI engines and models would be nince for us to decide which one we should buy.
Serious question. Would this machine be absolutely great for Photoshop?
Does the ram work the same as 128gb ddr5?
Or am I missing something here?!
For those interested in this machine, be aware of a current issue with their dual Ethernet 10gbps driver.
https://bbs.bee-link.com/d/7762-gtr-9-pro-ethernet-malfunction-under-load/16
Other than that, it seems like a great machine.
A bit misleading to conclude with best for under 2k when it costs $2099
A number of years ago reviews of the Topton 8x 2.5GbE Router Firewall showed it could not finish a Geekbench 6 run without crashing nor could the Topton 4x 2.5GbE 2x 10GbE Router Firewall.
From the messages on the vendor support forum for the GTR9, the 10GB Ethernet crashes when placing the GPU under high load. Just like with the Toptop units, this does not sound like a driver problem to me but a hardware problem.
What I can’t understand is why anyone would consider hardware that is not stable anything but a not-fit-for-purpose frustration.
Don’t sound so skeptical: “The front has an array of microphones on top that are supposed to help isolate away background noise.’.
See Tait’s video, where they use multiple microphones and signal processing to remove noise and leave only the desired sound:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkuAeRfvbwU&list=PLWa6uO3ZUweCJdkCXWhENecSpwQyN7Jge&index=1