Minisforum Announces B550 Mini-PC with External Graphics Card Support

by sunny yang on Feb 15, 2022 0 comments

The company announced an AMD B550-based Mini-PC that works without integrated graphics. The Minisforum B550 Mini PC is bundled with a mounting dock for an external full-size discrete graphics card and SFF power supply. The Mini-PC has an exposed PCI-Express 3.0 slot to work with an external GPU when plugged into a dock. So users can choose between buying the Ryzen 5 5600G and Ryzen 5 5600X for example, but the latter option requires a discrete GPU.

By providing two options, this solution is a hybrid between a Mini-PC and a typical desktop system. If a discrete GPU is not connected, it can be powered by the bundled 19V power supply or alternatively powered by an ATX or SFX (12V) power supply. Minisforum has confirmed that the Mini-PC will support up to 65W TDP CPUs, including the Ryzen 5000G series and some Ryzen 5000X SKUs such as the 5600X. It's up to the customer to decide which PSU they need, and the company claims that a 5600X-enabled system will require 600W of power.

Minisforum has stated that the system at its base specs will feature SFF/ATX power supplies with 120W power consumption and can be scaled up to 1000W depending on the configuration you select. The platform will be based on the B550 chipset and will support PCIe 4.0 SSD storage. Power will be provided by a 120W gallium nitride adapter compatible with an ATX (SFX) power supply for a 12V connection (only). Some of the features of Minisforum B550 Mini PC are listed below:

the motherboard is exclusively customizable
DIY compatibility; ATX or SFX power supply can power both mini pc and graphics card separately
it has good cooling performance and supports a 65W CPU TDP in silent state;
0 X16 connector (*To use this function, you need to use the support docking board)
4K video, enough for office use, plus all configurations come with a free expansion dock to support regular discrete graphics, fast rendering, accelerated editing, and great games

There is no information on the price or availability of the Minisforum B550 Mini PC, but the basic configuration should cost around $899 to $999 US. Users will have to purchase the CPU, GPU, power supply, and storage themselves. Look forward to Minisforum sharing more information about its AMD-powered Mini PC soon!