AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS performance debut: Beelink GTR7 mini PC review

The GTR7 is the latest mini PC from Beelink designed with H-series CPUs for high-performance users. It’s one of these first in its category to ship with the Zen 4 Ryzen 7 7840HS whereas last year’s SER6 would ship with the Zen 3+ Ryzen 9 6900HX. Our review unit comes configured with the Ryzen 7 7840HS CPU, integrated Radeon 780M GPU, 32 GB DDR5-5600 RAM, and 1 TB NVMe SSD for approximately $780 USD.

No other CPU, RAM, or SSD options are available at the time of writing. We’re hopeful for a barebones version in the near future. Competitors to the Beelink GTR7 include other H-series mini PCs like the Minisforum Mercury Series EM680 , Intel NUC 13 Pro , or the Ace Magician AM08 Pro .

More Beelink reviews: The Beelink GTR and GTI series are upper-end mini PCs when compared to the smaller and less expensive SER and SEI series. Thus, the GTR is more intricately designed with metal materials that are comparable to what you would find on an Intel NUC. All six sides are rigid metal including the top mesh which was a softer fabric on the older GTR6 design .

We especially appreciate the lack of any glossy plastic surfaces which have a tendency to attract scratches and fingerprints very easily. Four color options are available: Green, Gray, Orange, and Blue. These are notable because such options are uncommon on mini PCs where black is by far the only color.

The GTR7 maintains the footprint of the older GTR6 but with a thicker profile and heavier weight likely due to the revised internals and addition of a vapor chamber cooler. It’s now one of the larger and weightier mini PCs in the market not including those with discrete GPUs. While the ports on front haven’t changed from last year’s SER6, the ports along the rear are now different.

The AC adapter port has been redesigned to be magnetic while two of the four HDMI ports have been dropped in favor of full-size DisplayPort. The two rear USB-C ports support USB4 and eGPUs according to the manufacturer similar to last year’s GTR6. However, note that the front USB-C port lacks DisplayPort support and so external monitors are only compatible with the rear USB-C ports.

We would have preferred a universal USB-C AC adapter similar to most Ultrabooks these days instead of a proprietary magnetic one. Attempting to power the unit with our 130 W USB-C AC adapter from Dell would result in an automatic shutdown a few seconds later. This is also one of the very few consumer mini PCs with two 2.

5 Gbps RJ-45 ports and two 3. 5 mm headset ports. Most users likely won’t need so many of each, but the option is there nonetheless.

The system comes with an older Intel AX200 module instead of the newer AX210/211 series. Thus, Wi-Fi 6E or 6 GHz is not supported out of the box which is somewhat disappointing considering the high-end design and performance of the model series. Transfer rates are otherwise steady when paired to our Wi-Fi 6 AXE11000 network.

Two layers must be removed before gaining access to the motherboard: the outer metal plate and the inner fan bracket as shown by the pictures below. Both pieces are thankfully easy to remove with just a Phillips screwdriver. Users can install up to 2x SODIMM modules, 2x M.

2 2280 PCIe4 x4 NVMe SSDs, and the single WLAN module. Unfortunately, the other side of the motherboard with the CPU and vapor chamber were not designed to be easily accessible. Cleaning is therefore difficult since there is a larger fan in between the vapor chamber and top mesh cover that cannot be easily reached.

The retail box includes a wall-mounted VESA bracket, manual, HDMI cable, and AC power adapter depending on the region. The top cover is not removable unlike on older models from Beelink. A standard one-year limited manufacturer warranty applies if purchased in the US.

We set our unit to Performance mode via Windows prior to running the benchmarks below. There are no specialized “Command Center” applications or other pre-installed bloatware included with the mini PC. AMD Precision Boost Overdrive settings are available through BIOS, but these are set to Auto by default.

Attempting to install AMD drivers via the official AMD auto-installer would result in error messages each time. We have our hopes high for the Zen 4 Ryzen 7 7840HS after the disappointing Zen 3 Ryzen 7 7735HS last month. Thankfully, the processor pulls through with excellent results that are comparable to both the Core i7-12700H and Core i7-13700H .

It’s nowhere near as fast as the demanding Ryzen 9 7945HX or Core i9-13900HX , of course, but it’s still appreciably faster than most other mini PCs including the newest Intel NUC 13 Pro . Performance stability is excellent as well with no dips even when stressed over long periods. Upgrading from the barely one year-old Zen 3+ Ryzen 9 6900HX can boost multi-thread performance by about 35 percent.

PCMark scores are some of the highest for any mini PC not powered by discrete graphics. The GTR7 holds its biggest advantages over the NUC 13 Pro in the Productivity and Digital Content Creation subtests where processor and graphics performances matter most. It’s worth noting that the AIDA64 memory results are quite high even when compared to gaming laptops like the MSI Stealth GS66.

This can be attributed to the very fast DDR5-5600 RAM whereas the RAM on most other mini PCs and laptops tend to be at 5200 MHz or slower. Our Intel NUC 13 Pro, for example, shipped with much slower DDR4-3200 memory. Integrated GPUs in particular are known to benefit significantly from faster system RAM since they have no pool of dedicated VRAM.

Our unit would exhibit both DPC latency issues and 58 frame drops during our minute-long 4K60 test video even after multiple retests. The latter in particular is a notable issue as it means 4K video streams from Netflix, Hulu, and others may have unnecessary frame skips or stuttering whereas most other mini PCs or laptops would stream them smoothly. A similar issue was observed on some older Zen 2 laptops before it was quickly patched and so we’re hopeful that a fix will come sooner rather than later.

Our test unit ships with a Crucial P3 Plus CT1000P3PSSD8 which is a midrange PCIe4 x4 NVMe SSD offering sequential read and write rates of up to 5000 MB/s and 3600 MB/s respectively. The faster Samsung PM9A1 can go up to 7000 MB/s in comparison, but this was likely excluded to cut costs. Nonetheless, our Crucial drive would exhibit no performance throttling issues when subjected to DiskSpd stress as shown by the graph below.

Last year’s integrated Radeon 680M was already leaps beyond the competing Iris Xe series and this year’s Radeon 780M adds more salt to the wound for Intel. Graphics performance is roughly 10 to 20 percent faster than the Radeon 680M for an overall performance boost of 1. 5x to 1.

75x percent over the Iris Xe 96 EUs. Performance is most notably improved when running DX12 titles which was a bit of a weak spot for the Radeon 680M. Strangely, the Blender v3.

3 Classroom HIP benchmark would not run correctly on our unit even after multiple retries and driver updates. This is unfortunate because the Classroom scene would have rendered around 3 minutes faster than without HIP acceleration. The Radeon 780M can be considered a minor refinement over the Radeon 680M.

All games are playable at 1080p including even the most demanding of titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Returnal while many older titles can reach 60 FPS on low-to-medium settings like Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands . The frame rate advantages over Iris Xe 96 EUs can be significant by over 2x in titles like F1 22 and Cyberpunk 2077 . AMD FreeSync is supported which pairs very well the Radeon 780M since it dips below 60 FPS in many cases.

The cooling solution consists of two asymmetric fans plus a vapor chamber cooler. It’s not uncommon to see two fans for a mini PC such as on the Minisforum Mercury Series EM680 , but a vapor chamber is usually reserved for high-end desktop GPUs and gaming laptops. Fan noise has changed for the better when compared to last year’s GTR6.

Most specifically, our complaints about frequent pulsing has been addressed for steadier fan noise levels overall. For example, fan noise on the GTR6 would pulse from silent to as high as 36 dB(A) during low loads like browsing or video streaming whereas our GTR7 would be much quieter in the 28 to 32 dB(A) range instead. Running higher loads like games may induce a fan noise level between 36 and 43 dB(A) which is in the same range as the Intel NUC 13 Pro but still much louder than the Minisforum Mercury Series EM680.

The low 40 dB(A) range is also typical of many Core U-series laptops when running similar loads. Cool air enters from the top and waste heat exits from the rear as shown by the temperature maps below. Thus, placing any items on top is not recommended to preserve optimal airflow.

Standing the unit vertically, however, appears to be safe. Keep in mind that the exhaust heat from the rear can be very warm at up to 50 C which is warmer than on many other mini PCs including those from the same manufacturer. Be sure to leave ample space between the rear of the unit and the wall for safety reasons.

When stressed with Prime95, the CPU would boost to 2. 8 GHz and 35 W and then steadily increase from there until it approaches 3. 6 GHz, 60 W, and 76 C.

The relatively slow boost means it may be more difficult to exploit the high clock rate ceilings of the processor in short bursts such as when editing pictures or launching applications. Repeating the Prime95 test on last year’s GTR6 would result in both lower stable clock rates and a cooler core temperature by about 10 degrees. Running Witcher 3 to represent typical gaming loads would show similar results: higher GPU clock rates than on the GTR6 (2700 MHz vs.

1977 MHz) but with warmer core temperatures as well (68 C vs. 56 C). The Ryzen 7 7840HS is definitely fast, but power demand is on the higher side as well.

When compared to the Ryzen 7 7735H-powered SER6, our GTR7 would demand up to 30 percent more power when running games and almost 50 percent more power when running Prime95 stress. These differences are enough to propel the Beelink to be one of the more power-hungry mini PCs available not including those with discrete GPUs. Interestingly, consumption would slowly increase when initiating Prime95 stress as shown by the graphs below whereas the opposite is true on most other laptops and mini PCs.

This behavior aligns with our Stress Test observations above where clock rates and board power draw would also steadily increase before settling at stable rates. We’re able to measure a maximum draw of 112 W from the small (~6. 9 x 6.

9 x 3 cm) 100 W AC adapter when running both Prime95 and FurMark simultaneously. The system could have likely benefited from a higher capacity AC adapter. The Beelink GTR7 improves upon the strengths of the GTR6.

The CPU and iGPU, which were already some of the fastest in 2022, are now even faster for this year’s refresh. The GTR7 is one of the few mini PCs with integrated graphics that can actually run the latest games to be a powerhouse of an HTPC. The improvements don’t come free, so to speak.

The significant performance increases demand more power from the outlet than many other mini PCs which in turn leads to more heat, warmer core temperatures, a new vapor chamber cooler, and ultimately a larger and heavier chassis design. Don’t expect the GTR7 to be as tiny as many Intel NUCs . The GTR7 isn’t just a rival to the Intel NUC, but it also outclasses them on many fronts.

Some bugs should definitely be addressed. The stuttering 4K60 video playback, lack of support for AMD Auto-Detect and Install tool, and Blender HIP crashes all directly hinder the versatility of the GTR7. We’ve notified the manufacturer about our findings and will update the page should any fixes become available.

We would like to see a few changes to better justify the year-over-year increase in size. Extras features like a Kensington lock, SD reader, easier accessibility to both sides of the motherboard, and default Wi-Fi 6E support would make the already excellent GTR7 an even easier recommendation. The competing Minisforum Mercury Series EM680 , for example, integrates liquid metal cooling for more efficient heat dissipation.

Beelink is now shipping the GTR7 for $789 USD complete with 32 GB of RAM and 1 TB of storage. .