MINISFORUM is one of the largest Mini-PC manufacturers and has a catalog covering all types of uses and budgets. But from time to time it offers products to achieve the same goal (creating compact computers) but using CPU and cooling motherboards where the user installs their own memory, storage, dedicated graphics or chassis.

Species bare bonesalthough indeed the MINISFORUM AR900i is mini ITX board which includes the processor (soldered on the board) and the corresponding cooling system, which includes the fan and coolers of all components including the SSD.

Considering that the CPU cannot be updated, the manufacturer chooses to assemble a high-end model that should serve for several years and various use cases, commercial, office or consumer desktops. As with the vast majority of Mini-PCs, we are betting on the mobile version of those used in notebooks, and specifically on one of the most powerful Intel Raptor Lake, Core i9-13900HX with 24 cores (8P + 16E) and 32 threads32 MB L3 cache and stratospheric operating frequencies that can reach 5.4 GHz.

It includes an integrated Intel UHD graphics card with 32 execution units that can transmit content up to 4K resolution via three outputs, HDMI 2.0, Display Port 1.4 and USB Type-C. This iGPU should be enough for anything but gaming, though it’s ready for those scenarios as well one PCIe Gen5 x16 slot with 20 PCIe lanes and full support for dedicated high-end graphics.

It has two SODIMM slots for installing DDR5-5600 RAM (overclockable up to 6400 MT/s) and with a capacity of up to 96 GB. The storage part is even better, with four M.2 2280 slots to install SSDs under the PCIe 4 interface. Its connectivity is completely complete with respect to the size contained in the mini-ITX standard, 6.7″ or the same, 170 x 170 mm:

• 1 2.5GbE Ethernet LAN
• 1 HDMI 2.0
• 1 DisplayPort 1.4
• 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (with DisplayPort alternative mode)
• 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type A
• 2x USB 2.0 type A
• 1 3.5mm audio
• 1 E-Key M.2 2230 to install (optional) wireless card for Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5x.

MINISFORUM says the included 120mm fan can dissipate heat while the processor runs at up to 100 watts, and the fan speed can be adjusted via the UEFI/BIOS settings. It also includes coolers for SSDs.

MINISFORUM AR900i, price

The board has an official price of $689, but is available on the manufacturer’s website with a special introductory price 559 dollars. Interesting for anyone who wants to build a compact computer with a good level of hardware. If you prefer a similar solution, but from AMD, you have the MINISFORUM BD770i ITX with Ryzen 7 7745HX for 559 euros.