In recent years, the mini-PC market has been growing thanks to more energy-efficient processor architectures. Nowadays, it is easy to find an 8-core chip with powerful built-in graphics, primarily from AMD. The company recently introduced Hawk Point processors based on Zen4 and RDNA3 architectures for desktop platforms. The Ryzen 8000G series works with any AM5 motherboard with the appropriate BIOS version.
Using the new processors, Gigabyte has created the Metal Gear Plus ITX mini-PC in an aluminum Mini-ITX motherboard chassis. The computer uses the AORUS B650I ITX board, which supports full-size DDR5 memory, with a low-profile CPU fan. The case has dimensions of 200×210×58 mm and a volume of 3 liters.
The entire Metal Gear Plus ITX hardware is interchangeable, just like a regular self-assembled PC. You can replace the processor, memory, cooler, even the motherboard itself.
An interesting feature of Gigabyte ITX systems is that they come with AC-to-DC power converters, meaning that the power supply is external and the chassis does not contain an internal power supply. Compared to some mini-PCs that can be powered by USB Type-C connectors, this can be a disadvantage because the computer will not work with standard power supplies. However, the existing mini-PCs on the market do not support processors with 65W TDP, which is why the Gigabyte PCs require a more powerful solution than conventional external GaN power supplies.
There are three main configurations of the Gigabyte Metal Gear Plus ITX Gigabyte. All systems are equipped with the same AORUS B650I ITX board with Wi-Fi 6 support. They are equipped with 16 GB of XPG D300 memory, 512 or 1 TB of NVMe M.2 drives, and use a 180W DC-ATX power supply.
Unlike some compact computers, Metal Gear Plus will not have any problems with BIOS updates to support the new hardware. The standard Mini-ITX board will receive the same updates as any other AMD 600 board. So, when the appropriate BIOS becomes available, the PC will support AMD Ryzen 9000 processors without any problems.
The system should also be compatible with standard Raphael processors that have integrated RDNA2 graphics, although the GPU performance will naturally be lower. The only issue here will be the power of the cooling system — you will need to adhere to a TDP of 65 watts.
Source: VideoCardz