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Review cover GEEKOM GT13 Pro Mini PC GBAtemp review
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A powerful i9 in a compact shell, we put GEEKOM's GT13 Pro to the test!

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It's been a short while since I've had the opportunity to try a Mini PC on for size. Coming back to Geekom with its ever-confusing naming, I'm here with their GT13 Pro, a compact system sporting a fairly stellar i9-13900H inside. Before diving in though, I do want to address that 13th generation Intel chip. This wouldn’t usually be such a notable aspect, but amidst major instability issues for both 13th and 14th generation chips it does have the potential to completely ruin a system like this. Thankfully that issue, according to Intel themselves, only affects desktop CPUs. Like the vast majority of Mini PCs before it, the GT13 Pro makes use of a mobile CPU in the i9-13900H, and I’ve personally not experienced any of the issues I could glean from a search around online in my time testing the unit. With that out of the way though, let’s get right into the specs.

Return of the Mini PC

You already know what’s under the hood since I felt like I had to get that out of the way, so let’s just finish up the internals. Alongside the i9-13900H we’re looking at 32GB of DDR4 RAM and a 2TB SSD. If you think the shell of this system looks familiar, well, it’s because it is! We’re looking at an identical chassis to the A7 and A8 models from Geekom, with all three also sharing the same ports on the back as the XT12 Pro. It does seem like there are plans to mix things up in the near future, with the XT1 Mega and A8Max being featured at Japan IT Week back in April, but for now we’re looking at a familiar spec sheet with a new CPU swapped in. Let’s recap what’s on offer!

  • Front Panel
    • 2x USB A 3.2
    • 3.5mm headphone jack
    • Power button
  • Left Panel
    • SD reader
  • Right Panel
    • Nothing!
  • Back Panel
    • 1x USB A 3.2
    • 1x USB A 2.0
    • 2x USB C 4.0
    • 2x HDMI 2.0
    • 1x 2.5G RJ45
    • 1x 19V barrel for power
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There’s nothing especially surprising on show here, but it is good to see an SD card still present, even if it is just because it’s the same shell design we’re used to. I will note that there is one difference externally, and that’s the colour of the shell. The GT13 Pro is slightly darker than the A7 and A8. That’s something! Much like the A7 and A8, access to the system's internals is as simple as removing the four rubber feet and unscrewing a few screws. From there you can pop out the RAM and SSD with little obstruction. I do think this comes with a reasonable configuration out of the box, but if you wanted to try to push for some faster hardware, the option is certainly there.

Putting It to the Test

Before diving any further, let’s get some basic numbers on the table. As usual I’ve run the system through Geekbench 6.2.2 and Cinebench 2024.1.0’s respective benchmarks, as well as the Dartmoor benchmark of Hitman 3, and the DX12 benchmark of Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Note as usual that the game benchmarks have the games on their lowest graphical settings at 1080p.

  • Geekbench 6.2.2
    • Multi-Core: 10856
    • Single-Core: 2313
  • Cinebench 2024.1.0
    • Multi-Core: 656
    • Single-Core: 108
  • Game Benchmarks
    • Hitman 3: 44.25 FPS Average
    • Shadow of the Tomb Raider: 36 FPS Average

After some odd results from the A8, I’ve been watching the temperature a little more closely, as well as repeating each of the game benchmarks to ensure consistent results. Hitman 3 put out a good showing, with its minimum FPS throughout the benchmark managing to stay above 30 and being pretty consistent on reruns. Shadow of the Tomb Raider did push limits somewhat, but was again consistent across multiple runs. Of the 14 cores, 12 peaked in the high 80s, with one hitting the low 90s, and a single core hitting 98C for just a moment on one run. On subsequent runs the peak was generally in the high 80s and low 90s. A 36 FPS average might not be the most impressive compared to what we’ve seen from AMD’s iGPUs, but it does at least hit that 30 FPS sweet spot at 1080p, and that’s with minimal tweaking of settings. Intel’s Iris Xe graphics just don’t pack the same punch, but I’m somewhat looking forward to seeing how the integrated Arc graphics hold up in the coming months and years.

Trying to Play…

New for this Mini PC review, I wanted to deviate a little and pick three reasonably notable games and see just what it would take to get them running at what I would consider a playable level (assuming it is possible at all!). With an i9-13900H under the hood, the GT13 Pro should be capable of a good chunk, so the games I’ve picked for this bout are God of War, Need For Speed Unbound, and the recently released Earth Defence Force 6 since I’ve been playing that a ton. Ideally I’d want to be playing games at 1080p, but without a discrete GPU, compromises usually do have to be expected beyond just setting your games to a low preset.

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Starting with God of War I had the expectation of an uphill battle, and out of the box it did seem a little like that. Using the standard Low configuration at 1080p, even the main menu was only hovering around 20 FPS. From here I’d usually start playing with the resolution to see how much of a difference 720p would make before looking at something like FSR, but weirdly the game doesn’t give me the option to change either the output or render resolution directly. With that in mind my only real option here is AMD’s FSR 2.0, and you really need it set to Ultra Performance for even a chance at a solid 30 FPS experience. I will give due credit, the game is very playable using the Ultra Performance setting, and in the early game I have access to I never saw the framerate fall below that 30 FPS sweet spot. If you’ve ever played a game with the more performance-focused FSR settings, you’ll probably know that the graphics aren’t looking too great. Everything has this weird fuzz to it, but once you’re in the zone it does somewhat blend into the background. After some faffing I did realise resolution scaling was a separate setting, and that 50% scaling for 540p actually looks really solid. With this I got my locked 30 FPS, albeit in some pretty early parts of the game.

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This game gets criminally cheap on sale and comes highly recommended!

Next onto Need For Speed Unbound, we have a game that is remarkably stylish, relying on its graphical style for much of its larger character. Out of the box with settings at 1080p, 100% resolution scale, a Low graphics preset, and dynamic resolution scaling enabled to target 30 FPS, we see a really solid start. What we’re looking at is a 25 FPS average with drops to the low 20s. Even on this Low preset the game manages to look really great throughout. Dropping to 720p and changing nothing else we manage to hit that very close to that consistent 30 FPS I so desire. It doesn’t quite get there at 720p, but with it only occasionally dropping to around 27 FPS, it’s an experience I could more than enjoy.

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Earth Defence Force 6 managed to surprise me out of the gate. At all the default settings, that being 1080p with anti-aliasing and shadows enabled, as well as 16x anisotropic filtering, the game managed to stay above 30 FPS for the vast majority of the time spent in missions. Where there were drops below, it wasn’t something that really pulled me out of the game, still being the high 20s. It’s a brilliantly playable experience, but if we’re shooting for framerate we can do better. My first thought was to just disable the filtering altogether, this pushing us from a 34 FPS up to around a 40 FPS average. It’s not much but it does eliminate those sub-30 lows without really losing much in the way of graphic fidelity. The larger gain to be had came from dropping down to 720p, and while the game is noticeably blurrier, your reward is a framerate that hangs in the mid-50s, with lows in the mid-40s. If you really want to push it, disabling anti-aliasing and shadows will net you a near-60 FPS, with drops only getting to the mid-50s. Personally I’m happy with how the game came out of the box at 1080p with everything turned up, but for a game released just last month it’s a great showing. EDF might not be the most graphically intense series, but with the number of entities on-screen and the attacks coming from them, the power needed to run it can certainly add up. I will note I’m only four hours into the game, so I can’t vouch for how some of the more taxing later missions hold out.

I was keeping a close eye on thermals while playing each of these games, and I won’t sugarcoat it, this PC gets hot. Of the 14 cores, four of them clocked in at 100C during play, with a few cores going this high even on the menus of EDF 6. Despite the high temperatures, performance did appear largely consistent throughout; where I did spot lows, they could be relatively easily explained by the action on-screen. I’m not going to say this’ll be an ideal PC for gaming, but it certainly can pull its weight. If you are wanting a Mini PC that does handle its temperatures better, I do have some hope for the XT1 Mega if only for the larger shell allowing for more breathing room. Time will tell on that front though.

One to Consider?

The GT13 Pro is, like many of Geekom’s systems before it, a very solid Mini PC. It’s equipped with some really solid hardware, but the price makes it difficult for me to recommend even over something like Geekom’s own A7 or A8. The system I’m looking at here currently retails for £899, with its full retail price being an astonishing £999. For that you get a really strong i9 processor, but I just can’t see a reason to pick it over the more performant AMD flavours for either the same price or cheaper in the case of the A7. If you spot a good deal I can say the system holds up well, but I would recommend waiting for one or shopping around given how much exists in these upper echelons of Mini PCs.

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If you are still interested in the GT13 Pro, I can at least pass on a small discount code courtesy of Geekom. As always these aren’t affiliate codes and we don’t get any kind of kickback, but they do at least make a dent in that rather hefty price:

Verdict

What We Liked ...
  • Usual good assortment of ports for the compact package
  • Very performant i9 CPU under the hood
  • Solid default configuration
  • Upgradeable RAM and SSD
What We Didn't Like ...
  • System gets noticeably hot
  • Price isn't competitive enough when compared to other high spec Mini PCs in the space
7.8
out of 10

Overall

The GT13 Pro is a solid Mini PC in isolation, delivering on some genuinely impressive performance for its mini form factor. I will however stress that there are more performant systems out there for both the same price and cheaper, even from GEEKOM themselves, assuming you're happy to consider AMD-based systems.
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It's great! Not so bad hardware.



But one problems for all Geekom mini desktop computers don't get new BIOS releases often. Same like Acer, Dell, HP, etc... Example if have AMD CPU inside mini PC and if new PC game name is Dragon Age: The Veilguard means everyone must force to update BIOS to support AMD CPUs on Windows 11 require AGESA V2 1.2.0.7. I don't know if Intel don't need or need to update BIOS to play latest games and support new hardware add to them can be use often time. They need to find out and explain to computer companies about them and will solve their problems.

Similar like Acer, Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc don't do much to release update for BIOS is huge problems for toward future like security (fight against exploit, malware, ransomware, etc by hackers made them), support latest games like Dragon Age: The Veilguard and others also add new hardware support like new CPU upcoming, new GPU graphic video card, storage, etc. If company don't release BIOS often then all computers can become into garbage will end up go to e-recycle often. I can feel about most people would blame on most computer maker for not release out new BIOS updates every months to years.

There are 4 top motherboard companies are best made like ASUS, ASRock, Gigabyte and MSI always release out new BIOS every months to years. That's why I forced myself to move into top motherboard makers. I glad to stopped buy new DELL and HP computers right now. I had old DELL and HP computers don't have many BIOS updates that's what I learn on my lessons. Most computer companies are lazy not release new BIOS updates every months to years, that's why. They will figure it out and understand what computer maker companies are doing. BIOS updates are urgent must have for us and people around the world.

Remember to backup all important files, games, movies, etc first then update BIOS to see what affect or not affect changes made to computers. I know BIOS updates are some risks due to brick. Be careful about bad storm come in our area and never do BIOS update that would brick or damage motherboard would cost big time to send back to company for to repair or replace motherboard.


;) :yay:
 
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Scarlet
chrisrlink said:
@Scarlet what mini do you recommend out of all the ones you reviewed thus far?
Click to expand...
It's challenging, what do you actually need from the system? If you're just wanting something to setup as a small and low power media center, something with an N100 inside will probably be enough for you without costing an arm. Slightly more powerful, there's an N300 PC that's not from Geekom that I should have a review out for on the weekend.

Going up the scale the A5 KiiWii reviewed is a solid option at a more midrange price point, but for the higher end I'd honestly say hold off if you can. I do genuinely think the A7, A8, and even things like the GT13 Pro are hugely capable machines. The form factor is holding them back to some extent though, and cooling seems to be a common issue. If you don't mind a slightly larger system, I have decent hopes for Geekom's upcoming Mega series. I don't have them in hand sadly, but they look to be a decent middle-ground that will hopefully have the space for better cooling. I did also spot the MEGAMINI G1 today from Geekom, and BOY does that look interesting.

I'll also add that there's obviously a world beyond Geekom; Minisforum are supposed to be great, with a number of their systems featuring an Oculink port for solid external graphics. I can't speak to them beyond the old i3 model I have, but definitely look around once you settle on a kinda power expectation. If there's games you're interested in across the systems I've covered by all means let me know and I can try to get it running assuming I own it.
 
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