Mini PCs. They’re like regular PCs, only less so. And they’re getting very, very popular because they combine laptop components and low-cost upgradeable options in a teeny, tiny, often affordable package. Today, Adam is in the PCWorld Labs to get a top-tier Geekom mini PC box, tear the box open, then tear the mini PC open right after that.
The Geekom IT15 mini PC is a shockingly powerful option that retails for around $1,199.99. Using the latest “Arrow Lake” Intel Core Ultra 9 mobile CPUs and some speedy RAM, with up to 64GB of memory and 2TB of storage right from the factory. Despite the tiny size, it has tons of port options—around back are two each of USB-C 4.0 (both with DisplayPort over video, one with power delivery), USB-A, and HDMI ports, plus 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet. On the front are another two USB-A ports with up to 3.2 Gen 2 speeds. And on the side, wonder of wonders, is a full-sized SD card slot. (I know some photographers who just squealed in delight.)
But what about the guts? If you unscrew the feet on the bottom (which also includes a VESA mount for sticking it on a monitor), you get access to three M.2 slots, one 80mm-long one for SSDs, a 42mm slot for additional storage, and a 30mm slot for a laptop wireless card (which is included). There’s an additional SATA connection right on the board if you want to slide a 2.5-inch drive into the combination slot and M.2 cooler built into the case, a very cool touch. There are two SO-DIMM slots, filled with 16GB modules on our example.
If you pop off the plastic top, you can take a look at the internal cooler and fan, which is pretty tightly spaced in there. If you’re brave enough to continue, you’ll need to take the case retention screws out of the bottom to slide the plastic portion off and unplug the wireless antenna. There’s really no point in going any further, since it’s a laptop chip underneath there and nothing user-upgradeable… but Adam kept going, of course.
It’s pretty cool to see every functional part of the Geekom IT15 mini PC sitting on a board barely bigger than a Raspberry Pi. For more deep dives into the latest hardware, be sure to subscribe to PCWorld on YouTube and check out our weekly podcast The Full Nerd.