Minisforum, a Hong Kong-based small PC manufacturer, is working on an ultra-compact yet powerful mini-gaming PC with a chassis volume of only 6 liters. While mounting a full-size GPU in a chassis of this size is a challenge without overcoming some serious technical challenges, this as-yet-unnamed little PC supports a full-size discrete graphics card.

How does Minisforum get around this physical challenge, allowing the graphics card to be mounted on top of the case? That's right, this as yet unnamed Minisforum mini-PC concept proudly features a PCIe 5.0 x16 slot at the top of the case. In the photo below, you can clearly see the PCIe x16 slot as well as the thin slot for what looks like a triple-slot metal mounting bracket. The full-size image below makes this obvious.

The image above is from Minisforum's Twitter account (via Videocardz). However, I am concerned about the card's stability in this condition. If the angle is wrong, it could be catastrophic. We will have to see the system with the card actually attached to see for ourselves, but the idea behind this concept is a sound one.

There are several advantages. First, it frees the card from the compromising constraints of a NUC-style enclosure. This means better airflow, lower ambient temperatures, lower fan speeds, and higher boost clocks.

It also means you can easily upgrade your GPU at any time, even if you don't have an engineering degree. Replacing parts on a compact system is almost always more difficult than on a regular ATX PC.

It also eliminates the need for an external GPU. External GPUs remain a niche market for notebooks, but are compromised by latency and bus overhead requirements. They are a bit more elegant than GPUs like this Minisforum system, where the GPU is in the wind, but they are also generally more expensive.

There are some questions about how the external power cables will be routed, the power supply's capabilities, etc. Also, you might want to avoid having pets. I can imagine that dust control would be difficult.

Of course, the GPU is not the only thing this little PC excels at. For starters, we like its elegant, unassuming appearance, but there is some other tasty hardware under the hood.

Minisforum will offer a choice of AMD Ryzen 7045HX or Intel Raptor Lake HX series CPUs for this system. These are mobile chips with low TDP requirements and are suitable for 6-liter systems. However, ITX systems without GPUs will have more cooling capacity, meaning the CPUs will not throttle as much as laptops.

Now that Intel has divested itself of its NUC business, there may be a void for an enterprising company to emerge and assert itself; the NUC business is in Asus' hands, but a premium-class ROG NUC will need one or two internal organs. The Minisforum PC is truly an innovative device that will appeal to many enthusiastic Mini-ITX fans.

This is a big if, however, if Minisforum can pull this off. Until I see such a system with a top-mounted GPU in action, I remain skeptical, but I like the concept and would like to see more systems like this if it proves successful. minisforum has not revealed a price or ETA, but I would love to try one out!

I'd love to try it out.

If you have an external graphics card placed proudly like this, try to keep cats and children away from it. If you hit the desk at the wrong angle, it could get quite expensive...