Minisforum Elite Mini M2 Air Packs Dual 2.5GbE And Wildcat Lake Power
Some applications demand a big CPU with eight or more big cores and a fat discrete GPU drawing 300W. Most don't, and if you disagree, let's interrogate how much time you spend on your smartphone. The fact of the matter is that you simply don't need a lot of hardware to Get Stuff Done these days, and in light of that, Minisforum's new Elite Mini M2 Air-304 looks like a incredible value for folks who need a PC just to get things done.
This machine is minuscule, at just under 4.5 square inches and about an inch and a half tall. Specifically, Minisforum gives the metric values of 112× 112 × 37.15mm and 0.44kg, or just under one pound. In volume, it's 0.466 liters, or about 28.5 cubic inches. You'd be right to not expect much of such a micro machine; it uses an Intel Core 3 Processor 304, which is a Wildcat Lake chip with four Darkmont E-cores and just one Cougar Cove P-core, the same architectures used in Panther Lake.
Still, that's the same core configuration we tested in the HP Elite t660 thin client, and that part was remarkably pleasant to use. It was based on older Raptor Lake tech, so this Wildcat Lake processor should be significantly faster. Plus, the Minisforum micro-PC here has some impressive specs otherwise for its size: support for DDR5 CSODIMMs up to 6400MT/s and 64GB, a PCI Express 4.0 x4 M.2 slot, dual Intel-powered 2.5-Gigabit Ethernet, four display outs (though Wildcat Lake can only drive 3 at once), Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.4, and a MicroSD card slot for removable storage.
Perhaps best of all, this machine is radically affordable. You can preorder it from Minisforum's web shop right now for $263. That's a barebones machine, to be clear; you'll have to provide your own RAM and storage. Still, it's 20% off the final retail price of $329, which ain't a bad deal at all. For the price of some DDR5 SODIMMs you could pull out of a busted laptop and an NVMe SSD, you've got a potent Windows 11 or Linux workstation. Alternatively, you could slap OPNsense on here and have a wildly overspec'd home gateway (unless you have a fancy 2-Gigabit fiber connection.)
Minisforum says that the Elite Mini M2 Air-304 is expected to start shipping to customers in "Early September," which is just a few weeks away. The firm offers free shipping for both sales and RMA returns, a two-year warranty, and even a 30-day money back guarantee if you turn out to be unsatisfied with your super-small system. If you're interested, head over to the company's shop to preorder this mighty mite.
Thanks to Videocardz for the spot.
