Why you may belief TechSwitch
We spend hours testing each services or products we assessment, so that you could be positive you are shopping for the perfect. Find out more about how we test.
Alliwava GH8: 30-second review
The previous Alliwava machine I covered, the U58, was based on solid but slightly older Ryzen Zen 3 silicon, but the GH8 covered here uses more recent AMD technology.
In the GH8, it has two 16GB DDR5-5600 memory sticks, for a total of 32GB, but it can be upgraded to 128GB with larger modules. The default storage is 1TB NVMe, but this can be upgraded to a 4TB module, and a second slot enables this machine to have 8TB, or potentially more, internally mounted.
The port selection is reasonably flexible with USB4, USB 3.2 and USB 2.0 ports, along with dual video outputs (HDMI and DisplayPort), and dual 2.5GbE LAN ports. These ports make this machine decidedly more adaptable than the U58, and the platform is significantly more powerful.
The only connectivity caveat is that it doesn’t support Oculink for external GPUs. AMD has since made even more powerful platforms with the Hawk Point refresh and the new Strix Point, Krackan Point, Strix Halo and Fire Range, all with Zen 5 or Zen 5c architectures.
But machines based on these technologies are significantly more expensive, making them exclusively for creative and power users.
The platform used in the GH8 provides a nice balance between the cheaper options, like the 58U, and the expensive Zen 5 product lines. Those who need more power or use USB4 will appreciate the enhanced experience over cheaper NUCs, and the pricing is competitive.
The GH8 probably lacks some of the breakout technologies that would justify its inclusion in our best mini PC round-up, however it’s a lovely choice for many who need a NUC that may simply be repurposed for a variety of makes use of.
Alliwava GH8: Price and availability
- How much does it cost? From $900/£680/€770
- When is it out? Available now
- Where can you get it? Direct from Alliwava and by way of on-line retailers
Note: The costs quoted listed below are a part of a promotion Alliwava presently has, and the web site would not say when this sale will finish or whether or not costs will revert to pre-Christmas ranges.
At the time of writing, there are solely two SKUs of the GH8, one with 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, and one other with 64GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. Both are available direct from the Alliwava website.
However, on the time of writing, the 64GB mannequin isn’t accessible, which makes the pricing of this product remarkably easy.
The normal worth is $898.33 within the USA, £679 within the UK and €766.84 within the EU. Based on the present change charges between the US Dollar, UK pound and the Euro, the UK is the most costly by about £14, however the EU is simply a Euro greater than its American counterpart.
The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS processor used on this system has been widespread with different mini PC builders, and I’ve personally reviewed the Geekom A8.
Geekom now promote the A8 with the identical specification because the GH8, and that’s $859 by way of Amazon within the USA. In the UK, the identical machine by way of Amazon is £899.
While I’ve not examined it, the equally specced Minisforum UM890 Pro sells for $899.90 within the US and £739 within the UK by way of Amazon.
Better worth is the GMKtec Ok11, which could be gotten for $739.99 within the USA, and £629.96 within the UK, once more from Amazon.
These costs make the GH8 appear like one thing of a cut price, with the attainable exception of the GMKtec K11 within the UK.
However, a few of these options have a slightly higher spec, with the Ok11 having twin USB4 ports and Oculink, as does the Miniforum UM890 Pro. Where the Geekom A8 presents USB4 Elite Connectivity as a substitute for Oculink.
Unless you particularly need these applied sciences, the GH8’s pricing appears aggressive, although for European prospects, the GMKtec Ok11 presents higher worth in some respects.
Alliwava GH8: Specs
|
Item |
Spec |
|---|---|
|
CPU: |
AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS Processors( 8C/16T, up to 5.2GHz) |
|
GPU: |
AMD Radeon 780M, up to 2.8 GHz |
|
RAM: |
32GB DDR5-5600 (16GB x 2) expandable to 128GB |
|
Storage: |
1TB M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 4 |
|
Expansion: |
1x M.2 NVMe |
|
Ports: |
1x USB4 Type-C, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 2x USB 2.0, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x 3.5mm Audio |
|
Networking: |
2x 2,5GbE, WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 |
|
OS: |
Windows 11 Pro (pre-installed) |
|
Base Power: |
35-54W |
|
PSU: |
19V 6.32A 120W |
|
Dimensions: |
130 x 127.5 x 52 mm |
Alliwava GH8: Design
- Basic build quality
- VESA mountable
- Easy internal access
The build quality of the GH8 seemed more than familiar, as it follows the same well-worn construction path as the U58 from the same brand. The plastic case is given a metal banding that encircles the plastic frame, with a plastic floor and lid attached to that.
It looks fine, but if this got knocked off the edge of the desk, it might not survive the impact with a solid concrete floor.
Like the U58, it has threaded inserts on the base that enable it to be VESA mounted, and I noted this time that the mounting hardware has holes for both 100 VESA and 80 VESA, which should cover the majority of monitors with VESA holes.
Access is identical to the U58, with four screws holding a plastic floor to the chassis, and once this is removed, you can get to the memory and storage easily.
According to the Alliwava promotional material, the GH8 can take up to 128GB of DDR5, although, realistically, 64GB modules aren’t widely available. But you can get 48GB modules, enabling the two slots to be used to offer 96GB of memory.
This SKU came with a single 1TB Gen 3 M.2 NVMe module in place, but there is room for a second 2280 stick, something the notably U58 lacked.
I’m sure these two M.2 slots are PCIe Gen 4, and therefore, much faster modules can be mounted, and also larger capacities. Having two M.2 slots makes cloning an existing system remarkably easy and fast.
There isn’t anything special about the design and construction of the GH8, but at least it avoids some of the pitfalls of the U58, even if it doesn’t address all of them.
Alliwava GH8: Hardware
- AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS
- Only one USB4 port
- Gen 3 SSD in a Gen 4 slot
Where Intel processors gain cores and threads across Core 5, 7, and 9, AMD takes an entirely different approach. All the Hawk Point chips (8040 series) that are Ryzen 7 or 9 have the same number of cores and threads. Only those classed as Ryzen 5 get fewer cores, and the adjustment between the Ryzen 7 and 9 processors is entirely down to the base, turbo and GPU clocks.
At the top of the Hawk Point (8040) series, the Ryzen 9 8945HS delivers a 4GHz base clock with a boost up to 5.2GHz and a 2.8GHz GPU clock.
However, it’s the AI capability of this chip is only 39 TOPS, of which 16 TOPS comes from the integrated AMD Ryzen AI NPU chip. This isn’t any better than all the Hawk Point processors that support AI, including the Ryzen 5 models.
What’s nice about this silicon is that it offers twenty PCIe 4.0 lanes, providing plenty of bandwidth for peripherals, and the memory channels support both DDR-5600 memory, but also LPDDR5x-7500. This equipment uses the first of these, which has less bandwidth but has the advantage that the memory is socketed, not surface-mounted.
Without the need for additional chips, the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS has two ports of USB4, USB 3.2 Gen 2 and and four ports of USB 2.0.
What’s odd is that according to the Alliwava specs, the GH8 only has one USB4 port, and two USB 2.0 ports. The two USB 2.0 ports are enough, but how did it manage to misplace a USB4 port that required only wiring? On paper, it looked like Alliwave downgraded a USB4 port to become a USB 3.2 port, which is a remarkably poor exchange.
Armed with a Corsair EX400U USB4 SSD, I set out to determine the truth.
Before I get into the results of those tests, the U58 annoyed me with its lack of proper port labels, and unsurprisingly, the GH8 is even worse. There are two USB Type-C ports on the front of this machine, and neither has any label or icon.
And, while these ports look identical, as they have no labels or icons whatsoever, I can tell you that the one on the left, looking at the front, is USB4, but the one on the right is only USB 3.2 Gen 2. Why this was done, I’ve no idea, but given that the processor has two ports by default, it seems incomprehensible.
What’s also mildly amusing is that, presumably due to cost-cutting, Alliwava provided this computer with only a PCI Gen 3 M.2 drive. And, when using USB4, the externally connected Corsair EX400U outperformed the internal drive at both reading and writing.
Therefore, if it booted from the EX400U, it would be faster.
I’d classify this choice as one that makes less of the GH8 for no good reason, although it might be to do with power. Whatever the logic, like the U58, this Alliwava mini PC has a few technically poor choices like this one, though fewer than the U58 had.
A major advantage of this system over the U58 is that it has the Radeon 780M GPU, which is a much better performer than the Vega 8 that came before it. Running graphics benchmarks, it’s at least twice the speed of the Vega 8, but only marginally quicker than the prior 680M.
This doesn’t make the GH8 a gaming system or ideal for CAD, but it’s markedly better than many integrated graphics, even if it’s been overtaken by the Radeon 8060S on the Max AI processors.
Here, using the USB Type-C DisplayPort Alternate mode, it is possible to drive four monitors from this system. Two on the USB-C ports and one each from the HDMI and DisplayPort outputs.
With the exception of the USB-C mess and Alliwava’s aversion to labelling ports, the hardware in this mini PC is decent and should provide a good user experience.
Alliwava GH8: Performance
|
Mini PC |
Header Cell – Column 1 |
Alliwava GH8 |
Alliwava U58 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
CPU |
Row 0 – Cell 1 |
AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS |
AMD Ryzen 7 5825U |
|
Cores/Threads |
Row 1 – Cell 1 |
8C 16T |
8C 16T |
|
RAM |
Row 2 – Cell 1 |
32GB DDR5 (2x16GB) |
32GB DDR4 (2x16GB) |
|
Storage |
Row 3 – Cell 1 |
1TB NVMe SSD |
512GB NVMe SSD |
|
Graphics |
Row 4 – Cell 1 |
Radeon 780M |
Radeon Vega 8 |
|
3DMark |
WildLife |
16748 |
8218 |
| Row 6 – Cell 0 |
FireStrike |
6655 |
3764 |
| Row 7 – Cell 0 |
TimeSpy |
2789 |
1402 |
| Row 8 – Cell 0 |
Steel Nom Lt. |
2249 |
1307 |
|
CineBench24 |
Single |
97 |
85 |
| Row 10 – Cell 0 |
Multi |
851 |
473 |
| Row 11 – Cell 0 |
Ratio |
8.78 |
5.59 |
|
GeekBench 6 |
Single |
2563 |
1978 |
| Row 13 – Cell 0 |
Multi |
11875 |
7941 |
| Row 14 – Cell 0 |
OpenCL |
21704 |
16925 |
| Row 15 – Cell 0 |
Vulkan |
27657 |
15457 |
|
CrystalDisk |
Read MB/s |
3572 |
3650 |
| Row 17 – Cell 0 |
Write MB/s |
2037 |
2717 |
|
PCMark 10 |
Office |
6815 |
6445 |
|
WEI |
Row 19 – Cell 1 |
8.2 |
8.1 |
Before I get into the benchmarking weeds, I want to mention that the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS platform has a range of performance based on its power rating that, on some systems, can be configured via the BIOS.
The GH8 is one of those systems, and by default, it is set to 45W. It can be set lower, which might be a good option if you are using it in an embedded scenario where ventilation is an issue, but for my tests, I bumped it up to the maximum value of 54W.
This didn’t have any major impact on fan noise, I noted, but it did produce some small improvements in a few of the benchmarks. The results displayed here are for 54W running, although the BIOS also allows for overclocking, which I didn’t attempt on this system.
The unmodified 45W setting produces almost the same numbers with a variation of less than 5% overall.
For this comparison, I thought I’d use the recently reviewed Alliwava U58, an older Ryzen chip that makes use of DDR4, not DDR5. When trying on the variations, it is price noting that the GH8 is greater than double the worth for a similar capability of reminiscence and storage.
If the outcomes of every machine had been adjusted for price, then the U58 would most likely symbolize higher worth, however it could’t ship the processor or GPU efficiency of the GH8, and even shut.
The solely place it edged forward was within the CrystalMark check of the NVMe drive. A much bigger challenge right here is that on the GH8, the makers used a Gen 3 drive in a Gen 4 slot. To show that it was a Gen 4 slot, I put in a second M.2 drive within the second slot, a Kioxia Exceria Plus 1TB drive that’s Gen 4 rated.
It achieved over 5,000 MB/s in that slot, which is its most sequential learn pace, proving that the poor efficiency of the boot drive was all the way down to its specification, not the slot.
What’s barely sobering is that from the angle of the Windows Experience Index, there’s little distinction between these techniques, however that’s most likely extra in regards to the limitations of that Microsoft software than about the true efficiency separation. But the PCMark check infers one thing related, even when the distinction is larger.
What I’d conclude is that you probably have the purposes and jobs that will be impacted by the improved efficiency of the GH8, you then will surely need that machine. But equally, in the event you merely run the occasional Office app and surf the net, you won’t discover the distinction.
Looking again at my benchmarking outcomes over the previous few years, the GH8 delivers good scores, however I’ve seen them bettered by machines that use the AMD Ryzen 7 8745HS, just like the Chuwi AuBox, and the Maxtang FP750, which makes use of the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS. And even the GMKtec K6, constructed on the AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS.
Therefore, the GH8 is sweet, however it’s hardly particular.
Alliwava GH8: Final verdict
I liked this NUC more than the U58, but it does have a few concerning hallmark features of Alliwava hardware. Like the ability to take inherent features and not implement them, and a Les à faire attitude to correctly marking ports.
The GH8 has fewer feature mistakes, but the lack of proper port marking is prominent, and it’s done across two ports that look physically identical but have entirely different specs.
Looking at other machines built on the same AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS platform, most have two USB 4.0 ports and enough PCIe lanes for an Oculink port, which is missing here.
What’s good about it is the extra M.2 slot, even if they supplied the machine with NVMe Gen 3 and not Gen 4, and both M.2 slots are Gen 4. Therefore, if you wish to get the most from this hardware, it might be worth budgeting for a Gen 4 drive and cloning the system to that faster drive.
The minor problem with that suggestion is that it takes away one of the key reasons you might buy it, the low price. That’s annoying, because the cost difference between a Gen 3 drive and a Gen 4 might be only a couple of dollars to a system builder buying in volume, but it ends up costing another $100 on top of the machine to get the extra performance.
That point aside, this is a highly affordable NUC with decent performance out of the box, more than capable of handling any Office applications or more demanding apps.
Should I buy a Alliwava GH8?
|
Value |
At the cheaper end of the Ryzen 9 market |
4/5 |
|
Design |
Dual LAN, dual M.2 and USB4 |
4/5 |
|
Features |
Decent processor and GPU, but only one USB4 port |
4/5 |
|
Performance |
A decent performer that is highly flexible |
4/5 |
|
Overalls |
A good Ryzen 9 NUC, but not a great one |
4/5 |
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
Also consider