Review: NiPoGi AM16 Mini PC with AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 5675U

The NiPoGi AM16 is an offer that immediately catches the eye due to its low price of 300 euros, its AMD graphics chip and the high number of cores.

In this review, we want to find out what the NiPoGi AM16 can do and what you can expect from it in terms of performance, build quality and user-friendliness despite its low price.

We will take a close look at its specifications and test its performance in various applications.

Package contents

The package contents includes the mini PC, its power supply, an HDMI cable and a VESA monitor mount, including screws.

Technical data

The NiPoGi Mini PC provided for testing includes the following specifications:

• Processor : AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 5675U, 6 cores and 12 threads. 4.3 GHz max.
• Memory : 16GB 3200MHz (2 x LD4S08G32C22ST)
• NVMe SSD: BIWIN CE480V6D10H-512G 512GB
• Power supply : 19V 3.42A (AD0651-1903420F)
• Network: RealTek Semiconductor RTL8168/8111
• Wi-Fi adapter: RealTek Semiconductor RTL8852BE WiFi 6 802.11ax
• USB: 2 x USB 3.2 Gen2, 2 x USB 2.0, 1 x USB Type-C
• GPU: AMD Radeon™ Graphics
• Monitor connections : 2 x HDMI
• Audio connectors : 3.5 mm jack
• Expansion : M.2 NVMe (occupied), M.2 SATA slot, SATA internal

First impressions

The mini PC is predominantly plastic, which is evident in its feel. The design is simple and unobtrusive. A Kensington lock is integrated into the case design. Since it is made entirely of plastic, you shouldn't expect too much from it.

The four stickers affixed to the case don't necessarily make the mini PC look any prettier; they would be better placed on the bottom of the case.

The mini PC's AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 5675U dates from early 2021, so it is no longer the latest processor. However, this may not be a disadvantage when compared to current Intel processors; the test will show this. The rest of the hardware meets modern standards, the mini PC offers all current wireless standards, and the connection options are versatile.

At first glance, the features and workmanship seem appropriate for the 300 euros price.

Case and Build Quality

As mentioned above, the NiPoGi mini PC is impressive due to its good workmanship. The casing is basically stable, although not particularly robust, as it is made of plastic. The plastic also makes the mini PC very light.

The high-gloss elements such as the logo are relatively susceptible to fingerprints.

There are rubber pads on the bottom of the case; underneath these are screws that must be removed to clean the mini PC or to access the internal connections.

Pre-installed operating system

The NiPoGi Mini PC comes with Windows 11 Home 64-bit pre-installed in a clean, fresh installation without any third-party software.

Driver updates are provided through Windows Update.

Only the driver for the Realtek 8852BE WiFi 6 WLAN adapter is not available via Windows Update.

NiPoGi does not provide a download for this, but it is easy to find it on the Internet. It would of course be better to offer a download directly on the manufacturer's website.

Cooling system

The cooling system uses a radial fan that blows the air out through a medium-sized heat sink. This works very well, even though the heat sink is not particularly large. The temperatures stay below 80 °C and the system operates almost silently.

I liked the cooling system of the Intel N97 from NiPoGi a little better because the components are cooled a little better. However, this is also based on a newer design.

The AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 5675U has a TDP of 15 watts and therefore produces little waste heat. This means that the built-in cooling system is absolutely suitable and can only be perceived by ear on the mini PC.

What I like about the design of the NiPoGi AM16 mini PC is that there is space for a small heatsink on both the M.2 NVMe and M.2 SATA SSDs. The installed M.2 NVMe SSD already has one.

Maintenance

If you want to access the M.2 SSD and the RAM, you have to remove the rubber pads and then loosen the screws underneath. In addition, the hard drive cage has to be removed to access the M.2 SSD and RAM.

To remove dust or foreign objects from the fan, you need to use light force to slide the mainboard out of the plastic casing. Then you can carefully lift the board sideways and carefully brush away the dust with an ESD brush.

Office performance

All office applications or web apps in the browser can be used with the mini PC easily and without restrictions.

Even with computationally intensive processes running in the background, the mini PC continues to run smoothly and without any problems. This is thanks to the high number of cores in the AMD APU.

The RAM is sufficiently dimensioned at 16 GB and does not represent any limitation.

The lesser-known SSD also performed well in the test and only showed slight weaknesses at 80% capacity.

Video streaming, YouTube, Netflix and Co.

Simultaneous playback of multiple video streams, for example from Netflix, YouTube and similar platforms, is easily possible up to a resolution of 4K.

The integrated graphics card does not support decoding the AV1 codec, which is preferred by YouTube and is mandatory for resolutions of 8K and above. However, this is not a problem these days, as most streaming providers also offer videos in older codecs, all of which are supported by the integrated GPU.

Geekbench

SSD benchmark

Creative performance

Programs such as Photoshop, Lightroom, Blender or video editing programs can be used without any problems. In some cases, the slight acceleration provided by the AMD graphics chip can even be used.

When exporting photos, rendering images or transcoding videos, you must expect longer waiting times if you do not use the hardware support of the AMD graphics chip.

Gaming performance

The gaming performance of the AMD APU is in the range of the Intel Alder Lake generation. The performance is sufficient for simple titles without demanding graphics. Since both the iGPU and the CPU are used during gaming, the maximum performance is limited by the heat generated by these components. The processor or the integrated graphics card then throttle the performance.

Performance overview

Benchmark GFXBench

Compared to the Intel Core i7-12650H, the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 5675U offers around 20% worse graphics performance. The graphics performance is not worse in every game; from game to game it can actually be better than that of a comparable Intel iGPU. One example of this is League of Legends.

Networking capabilities

The mini PC is equipped with a Realtek Gigabit LAN adapter and a Realtek RTL8852BE Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax adapter.

The performance of the Wi-Fi adapter was tested with a Wi-Fi 6 access point. At a distance of 5 meters, the mini PC achieved a data transfer rate of up to 900 Mbit/s in the speed test.

When using a network share, a stable transfer rate of 80 MB/s up to a maximum of 102 MB/s could be achieved.

The Realtek Gigabit LAN adapter consistently achieves maximum speed.

Noise Level

The NiPoGi mini PC can be described as silent in office use, as its fan is imperceptible. At maximum load, the mini PC is not immediately audible; after a while, you will hear the fan in phases. However, this is not particularly disturbing and only occurs at maximum load and when the chip temperature is above 80 degrees.

This makes the mini PC suitable for very quiet living areas such as bedrooms, living rooms or work rooms.

Expandability and connection options

The NiPoGi mini PC offers several expansion options. The RAM, the M.2 NVMe SSD, the M.2 SATA SSD, a classic SATA hard drive, the WiFi adapter and the power supply can be replaced or expanded.

It is possible to install a combination of a 4 TB SATA SSD, a 2 TB M.2 SATA SSD and an M.2 NVMe SSD.

According to the manufacturer, the RAM can be expanded up to 64 GB.

Examples of expanding the mini PC:

• ORICO M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure USB-C Adapter 10Gbps *
• Lexar NM790 4TB, M.2 2280 NVMe SSD *
• Samsung 990 EVO NVMe M.2 SSD 2TB *
• WD Blue SA510 SATA SSD 2 TB M.2 2280 *
• Samsung 870 EVO SATA III 2.5 inch SSD *
• Samsung 870 QVO SATA III 2.5 inch SSD *
• Crucial RAM 64GB (2x32GB) DDR4 3200MHz *

The mini PC has one USB-C port and four USB-A ports, which is a comprehensive range of features for a mini PC. There is also a 3.5 mm jack port.

In addition to a USB-C port, there are also two HDMI ports available for monitors that support 4K.

In addition to WLAN, the mini PC also has a gigabit network connection.

Power consumption

We tested the power consumption of the NiPoGi Mini PC under both Windows and Linux with a desktop interface.

The power consumption can be reduced by around 2 watts by removing the NVMe SSD and installing a SATA SSD. Removing the WiFi module saves another 0.4 watts.

Energy efficiency

To measure the CPU's energy efficiency, we rendered the classroom scene in Blender.

The energy efficiency surprised us. Although the CPU is a bit older, it can still keep up with or significantly outperform current Intel systems. This is mainly because the AMD APU was manufactured years ago using a more advanced process than current Intel processors.

Selection of components

The component selection is consistent; well-known and lesser-known OEM manufacturers are used, but they still impress with their performance.

Lexar's high-clocked RAM complements the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 5675U well to get the maximum performance out of it.

The Realtek WLAN adapter supports all important standards with Wi-Fi 6 and also offers Bluetooth 5.2 support.

The BIWIN CE480V6D10H-512G is ideal for office applications. It performs significantly better than SSDs with QLC memory that are often available in this price segment.

In our SSD endurance test, the SSD writes 70 GB at 1600 MB/s, then the write rate drops to 290 MB/s; once the hard drive reaches 80% capacity, it drops to 80 MB/s.

Purpose of use

Below we have put together a few uses for the NiPoGi AM16 Mini PC for which we consider it particularly suitable:

• Office PC: Supports all common office applications, both natively and in the browser, ideal for word processing, spreadsheets and presentations.
• Creative tasks : Suitable for Photoshop, Lightroom, DaVinci Resolve and Blender.
• Development environment : Suitable for Linux and Windows.
• Mini Server : Can be used for light server applications such as Proxmox.
• Demonstration PC : Compact and versatile for presentations.
• Media and game streaming computers : Perfect for smooth streaming and media playback.
• Gaming computers: Suitable for games with low graphics requirements.

Pros

• Quiet operation : Very quiet at low load and rarely audible even under load.
• Good expandability : Allows you to replace the NVMe SSD and install two SATA hard drives.
• Versatile : Perfect for content creation, office applications, streaming and multimedia.
• Practical monitor mount : Includes VESA mount for space-saving installation behind the monitor.
• Good SSD speed up to 80% full.
• Cooling: M.2 hard drives with space for heatsinks.
• Energy efficiency: More efficient than most mini PCs with Intel processors.

Cons

• Use of adhesive strips in the housing , which must be removed as required.
• Maintenance involves loosening some screws and adhesive strips/pads.
• No download for the WLAN driver directly from the NiPoGi website.

Conclusion

The NiPoGi Mini PC is versatile; its strengths include office applications, multimedia, low-demand games and video streaming.

The mini PC in use

Creative tasks such as Photoshop, Lightroom or Blender are also possible without any problems, but sometimes require a little patience.

When it comes to video processing, it depends on whether the AMD APU hardware encoder is used. Although the CPU processing power is at the top end, hardware video encoders are significantly faster.

Simple games like Rimworld, League of Legends and Fortnite in performance mode can definitely be played on the mini PC.

Its use as a mini server, for example with Proxmox, is also one of its strengths. Here, the mini PC particularly shines with its decent CPU performance and low power consumption.

Accessories and expandability

The expandability with a SATA hard drive, an M.2 SATA hard drive and RAM up to 64 GB is very good. The mini PC therefore offers a lot of flexibility in its use in the future.

The included monitor mount is practical for those who prefer a tidy desk.

Price and purchase recommendation

At the time of our test, the NiPoGi AM16 mini PC was available on Amazon for 299 euros. Since the mini PC surpasses current Intel systems in terms of performance and efficiency, some of which are also significantly more expensive, you can't go wrong with the NiPoGi AM16.

If you ignore the design, workmanship and the materials used in the case and limit yourself exclusively to the computing power offered, the NiPoGi AM16 has the best price-performance ratio of all the mini PCs we tested and therefore receives an absolute purchase recommendation.

Buy NiPoGi AM16

• NiPoGi AM16 Mini PC 16GB *
• NiPoGi AM16 Mini PC 32GB *

* Affiliate Links: By purchasing from Amazon you support us. There are no additional costs for you when purchasing ❤️

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