30-second evaluate
Another within the large launch of recent GMKtec NucField designs, the K6 takes a step again from the efficiency stage of the K8 and presents a neat mixture of options and suppleness.
If this mini PC appears to be like barely acquainted, and also you caught our earlier K8 evaluate, their similarities are ample for them to be simply confused.
That’s as a result of it makes use of the identical enclosure because the K8 with the identical port association and probably the identical mainboard.
That similarity extends to being largely plastic and having a barely annoying awkward inside entry, nevertheless it’s properly completed, and the gray colouring has a distinctly Star Wars Empire vibe.
It inherits from the K8 (or vice versa) the twin M.2 PCIe 4.0 slots, twin 2.5GbE LAN ports, and an inexpensive choice of USB that features a single USB 4.0 port.
No Thunderbolt, sadly, however at this worth and from AMD, that wasn’t prone to occur.
The K6 presents a barely cheaper choice than the K8. It makes use of a Phoenix 7040 Series processor from a mid-2023 era as a substitute of the brand new 8040 Series Hawk Point silicon that the K8 had.
In the variety of cores and threads, these chips are equivalent, as is the GPU, and so they each use the identical TSMC FinFET 4nm course of. The solely vital distinction is that the Hawk Point chip is rated for Ryzen AI as much as 16 TOPS, whereas this processor is just 10 TOPS succesful. You are unlikely to note the distinction until you have got a particular AI venture.
Like the K8, the K6 is an easy however efficient design that harnesses AMD’s newest cellular platforms to ship a quiet however highly effective platform.
GMKtec NucField K6: Price and availability
- How a lot does it price? From $400
- When is it out? Available now
- Where are you able to get it? Directly from GMKtec
Unlike the K8, which had solely three SKUs, the K6 presents a a lot wider selection. The place to begin is a Barebone mannequin, which may at present be sourced for $399.99 (£315.23).
Above that may be a 16GB RAM choice with a 1TB SSD and 32GB fashions with 512GB, 1TB or 2TB storage. The least expensive with RAM, storage and Windows 11 Pro put in is the 16GB and 1TB SKU, costing $499.99 (£394.04), and the most costly is the 32GB/2TB choice at (£496.49)
All these models can be found within the gray color scheme, known as Space Blue, and an alternate Steel Blue color.
Given the excessive specification of those techniques, the costs appear extremely aggressive. Although that is on a Flash sale, and the MSRP of the Barebone is $180 higher than the sale worth.
If you consider they may ever promote it at that MSRP worth and wish one, you should purchase it now.
However, the GMKtec NucField K3 Pro was launched in November 2023, and the most cost effective SKU that is not a Barebones was $640, which is similar worth right this moment.
GMKtec NucField K6: Specs
| Item | Spec |
|---|---|
| CPU: | AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS (8 cores, 16 Threads) |
| GPU: | Radeon 780M |
| RAM: | 32GB DDR5-5600 (2800 MHz) (16GB x 2) Expandable to 64GB |
| Storage: | 1TB M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 4 |
| Expansion: | 1x M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 4 |
| Ports: | 1x USB 4.0 Type-A, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 1x USB 2.0, 1x HDMI 2.0b, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x 3.5mm CTIA |
| Networking: | 2x 2.5GbE LAN, WiFi 6e, Bluetooth 5.2 |
| OS: | Windows 11 Pro (pre-installed) |
| Base Power: | 35W-54W (configurable) |
| PSU: | 19V 6.32A 120.08W |
| Dimensions: | 123 x 111 x 43 (mm) |
GMKtec NucField K6: Design
- All plastic
- Awkward inside entry
- Lacks Thunderbolt
It appears pointless to enter higher element about this machine than to say it is the identical because the K8, and you’ll learn the evaluate of that right here.
What it presents is strictly the identical catalogue of fine factors and some much less great points, probably the most noticeable being the marginally convoluted entry to the interior components.
Maybe we have carried out this course of too many occasions, however getting inside is getting simpler, and as soon as the lid is popped off, 4 screws get you to the inside sanctum the place the storage and reminiscence are situated.
The snag with this association is {that a} small cable connects the fan within the secondary cowl to the principle board, and with out prior data, somebody pulling it away might so simply rip the top off the connecting cable.
Maybe Pogo Pins would have been a greater concept than an simply damageable connector and ribbon cable mixture? However, as soon as you realize what to anticipate, it is comparatively simple, in contrast to the brand new Asus Nuc 14 Pro that we’re at present taking a look at.
We did not beforehand discover that the place the pre-installed 1TB SSD sits, one other M.2 2242 module sits beneath with the WiFi electronics on it.
Those who intend to straight wire the machine and never use WiFi might exchange this with much more storage in the event that they so wished.
The transition to twin M.2 2280 slots in these designs is a welcome change since you possibly can simply get a sooner or bigger drive than the factory-installed choice. Cloning these drives is way simpler with two slots.
If this design has a weak point, it is that GMKtec solely uncovered one of many two USB 4.0 ports that the AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS natively has, for no matter motive. And as a result of Intel owns the chips for Thunderbolt, that is not an choice.
GMKtec NucField K6: Features
- AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS (8 cores, 16 Threads)
- 20 PCIe Lanes
- Radeon 780M GPU
Technically, the processor on this NUC is a era again from the most recent Hawk Point designs, just like the one within the K8.
However, the variations between these chips are refined since they each provide Zen 4 architectures with RDNA3 and XDNA.
This chip has 64 KB (32 KB knowledge + 32 KB instruction) per core L1 and 1MB of reminiscence per core L2 cache, the identical because the Ryzen 7 8845HS seen within the K8, and it additionally has the identical core configurations and clock speeds.
As was talked about earlier, the one vital distinction is that the Ryzen AI efficiency is bigger within the Hawk Point chip, however in each different respect, they’re brothers.
One necessary facet of those processors is that they’ve 20 PCIe 4.0 lanes, permitting for some vital inside bandwidth for storage and peripherals. As every of the 2 M.2 PCIe 4.0 slots will take 4 lanes, that also leaves twelve for use for the WiFi, twin 2.5GbE LAN ports and different USB slots, which is loads.
The variety of PCIe lanes has introduced us twin M.2 slots, and it avoids GMKtec having to make use of PCIe switches to help all of the I/O included.
Where this silicon could be higher is that the Radeon 780M built-in GPU is not considerably higher than the 680M that got here earlier than it. With extra competitors from Intel with the built-in ARC GPU changing the Iris Xe on some Ultra sequence chips, this subsystem is ripe for enchancment.
That mentioned, in comparison with the AMD Radeon Vega 8 and the Intel Iris Xe GPUs, the 780M has extra efficiency, even when it does not make the NucField K6 a gaming machine.
GMKtec NucField K6: Performance
- Matching K8 efficiency
- Radeon 780M
- MasonSemi MC5000 1TB NVMe
| Mini PC | Header Cell – Column 1 | GMKtec K6 | GMKtec K8 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | Row 0 – Cell 1 | AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS | AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS |
| RAM | Row 1 – Cell 1 | 32GB DDR5 (2x16GB) | 32GB DDR5 (2x16GB) |
| Storage | Row 2 – Cell 1 | MasonSemi MC5000 1TB NVMe | Lexar 1TB NVMe |
| Graphics | Row 3 – Cell 1 | Radeon 780M | Radeon 780M |
| 3DMark | WildLife | 17396 | 16149 |
| Row 5 – Cell 0 | FireStrike | 7919 | 7664 |
| Row 6 – Cell 0 | TimeSpy | 3300 | 3102 |
| CineBench23 | Single | 1679 | 1764 |
| Row 8 – Cell 0 | Multi | 15556 | 15691 |
| Row 9 – Cell 0 | Ratio | 9.26 | 8.9 |
| GeekBench | Single | 1955 | 1957 |
| Row 11 – Cell 0 | Multi | 11540 | 11864 |
| Row 12 – Cell 0 | OpenCL | 33826 | 34563 |
| Row 13 – Cell 0 | Vulkan | 38759 | 30270 |
| CrystalDisk | Read MB/s | 7083 | 5105 |
| Row 15 – Cell 0 | Write MB/s | 6700 | 4390 |
| PCMark 10 | Office | 7481 | 7396 |
| WEI | Row 17 – Cell 1 | 8.2 | 8.2 |
Having simply coated the K8, I feel it’s the finest machine to match with the K6.
The outcomes are fascinating for a number of causes, not least as a result of in lots of the graphics assessments, the K6 edged the K8.
In actuality, the distinction between these two platforms when the variance of those benchmarks, if run repeatedly, is taken into account is paper skinny, if not imaginary. Re-running these assessments on one other day may reverse the winners or scale back the margins dramatically.
Most of the benchmarks present that for many customers, there isn’t a large distinction between them {that a} person would instantly discover.
The K8’s benefit is in AI processing, and none of our benchmarks at present take a look at that facet. Hopefully, we’ll add an AI benchmark as soon as extra individuals use this functionality often.
Oddly, the K6 is healthier in a single place: the SSD that GMKtec selected to put in. On the K8, they used a Lexar SSD NM7A1, a drive that does not do justice to the PCIe Gen 4 slot.
The cheaper K6 comes pre-installed with a lesser-known model, MasonSemi, and its MC5000 SSD.
This machine won’t have the kudos of Lexar branding, however its efficiency is markedly higher. It achieves over 7,000MB/s reads and 5,000MB/s writes on CrystalDiskMark.
The higher SSD does not affect the PCMark 10 rating a lot, curiously, nevertheless it appeared to make the K6 launch extra quickly.
GMKtec NucField K6: Verdict
Unless you plan to run AI instruments in your NucField, the K6 is virtually the identical expertise because the K8, however for round $100 much less outlay.
That makes it a robust system that may do the work that will have been solely the remit of a tower desktop system only some years in the past.
Almost all the things about this design is correct, apart from the awkward inside entry and the shortage of Thunderbolt. When GMKtec creates the Okay10, it ought to use each USB 4.0 ports, not only one. But these are comparatively minor points
For the asking worth, the GMKtec NucField K6 offers a wide array of causes to buy and comparatively few to go.
Should I purchase a GMKtec NucField K6?
| Value | For the system inside, the present worth is phenomenal worth | 4/5 |
| Design | The awkward inside entry is the one problem with the engineering of this mannequin. | 4/5 |
| Features | Dual M.2 Gen 4 slots, no Thunderbolt however USB 4.0, triple monitor help and twin 2.5GbE LAN ports. | 4/5 |
| Performance | Comparable with the K8 in lots of assessments. | 4.5/5 |
| Overalls | A small powerhouse of a PC, prepared for nearly any activity. | 4.5/5 |