by Minisforum NUCXi7 Specifications
Price: From $1,309
PROCESSOR: Intel i7-11800H
RAM: 16GB, 32GB
GPU: RTX 3070
Storage: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB
Ports: 3 x USB-A 3.2, 1 x USB-C Thunderbolt 4, 1 x HDMI, 1 x 2.5GbE, 1 x SD, 1 x 3.5mm audio jack
Dimensions: 15.5 x 10.2 x 3.2 in (393.5 x 260.1 x 80.1 mm)
When you think of a gaming PC, your first thought might not be something like the Minisforum NUCXi7. Mine certainly not. But don’t discount this beast as it packs a serious punch in a body slimmer than a PS5.
With the powerful Intel i7-11800H CPU and RTX 3070 mobile GPU, the NUCXi7 makes the case for small form factor gaming PCs that use laptop-grade components. Minisforum has created a great machine here that is perfect for any desktop or even living room console setup.
As you will see in this Minisforum NUCXi7 review, I can’t get enough of this PC. While I wish it had more ports, it gets the job done with flying colors while making hardly any noise.
Minisforum NUCXi7 review: price and availability
The NUCXi7 comes in a single CPU/GPU configuration, although you do have some choice regarding RAM and storage. The PC starts at $1,309 for the model with 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage.
For 512 GB of storage you pay more than $1,339. A variant with 32 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage costs $1,409 and the top model with 32 GB of RAM and 1 TB of storage costs $1,469. You can buy it directly from Miniforum.
There aren’t many mini gaming PCs like the NUCXi7. You could draw comparisons to an Intel NUC 11 Extreme, which supports full-sized graphics cards, but for about the same price as the NUCXi7 you get an i7-11700B and no GPU. So all things considered, while the Minisforum option is pricey (certainly more so than a console), it’s one of the least expensive options for a gaming PC of this form factor and caliber.
There’s also the NUCXi5, which comes with an Intel i5-11400H CPU and an Nvidia RTX 3060 laptop GPU.
Minisforum NUCXi7 review: design
I call the NUCXi7 a mini gaming PC because it is significantly smaller than a traditional gaming desktop. It’s more of a big gaming laptop minus the screen. Quite tall, it’s extremely thin at 80.1mm – think of it as a thinner PS5 as it’s about the same length at 393.5mm.
On the front is a skull logo like Intel’s gaming NUCs, which might put some people off. It certainly doesn’t suit my aesthetic preferences. I wish Minisforum had left the front of the NUCXi7 blank as a plain aluminum chassis would have looked much better in my opinion. The back of the PC almost entirely serves a vent. This helps keep the machine nice and cool, keeping the fans quieter.
The NUCXi7 is unfortunately intended to stand upright and includes a base to which it sits quite firmly. The front is pretty bare, save for the three USB-A 3.2 ports, an SD card reader and a 3.5mm combo audio jack. At the back are a USB-C Thunderbolt 4, an HDMI and a 2.5 gigabit Ethernet port.
Minisforum NUCXi7 review: ports and upgrade options
The NUCXi7’s port selection disappointed me. You can output to two monitors using only the HDMI and Thunderbolt 4 ports, although you can probably connect more monitors via a suitable Thunderbolt dock. Three USB-A ports seems a bit low for a device of this size. (I’ve seen more on much smaller mini PCs.) Consider that your keyboard and mouse take up two of those three and you’ll see why I’m disappointed.
In addition to HDMI, I would also have liked to see a DisplayPort/mini DisplayPort, but the Ethernet port is at least 2.5Gb. The SD card reader seems a bit odd on a gaming PC, but with the hardware present here, the NUCXi7 should be able to do well with content creation too.
Minisforum has added some upgrade options to the NUCXi7. You can upgrade the SODIMM RAM to 64 GB and add a second m.2 NVMe drive. You could top the NUCXi7 with 4 TB of super-fast NVMe storage, along with 64 GB of RAM. That would be a powerful and fast machine.
Minisforum NUCXi7 review: performance
The NUCXi7 is equipped with laptop hardware, including the i7-11800H processor, 16 GB or 32 GB SODIMM RAM at 3200 MHz and an RTX 3070 mobile variant. But its design keeps it much cooler than a gaming laptop, which helps avoid thermal throttling, as you’ll see in a moment.
We have not tested a device with specifications that exactly match the NUCXi7. So I pulled two 11th Gen gaming laptops for this comparison, the results of which you’ll find below.
| Row 0 – Cell 0 | Miniforum NUCXi7 | Razer Blade 17 (Mid 2021) | MSI Katana GF76 |
| Processor | i7-11800H | i9-11900H | i7-11800H |
| Geekbench 5 (single core / multicore) | 1562 / 9116 | 1640 / 7010 | 1589 / 6969 |
| 25 GB file transfer (MBps) | 458 | 1,247 | 260 |
| Handbrake (Min:Sec) | 7:20 | 8:59 | 8:09 |
As you can see in both the Geekbench benchmark and the Handbrake transcoding test, the NUCXi7 even beats the Razer Blade 17 (Mid 2021) with its i9-11900H by a significant margin. It crushes the MSI Katana GF76 despite having the same CPU. I think it comes down to cooling – the NUCXi7 is better at dissipating heat, meaning the i7-11800H can run at full speed inside without as much risk of throttling.
| Row 0 – Cell 0 | Miniforum NUCXi7 | Razer Blade 17 (Mid 2021) | MSI Katana GF76 |
| GPU | RTX 3070 laptop | RTX 3080 laptop | RTX 3060 laptop |
| 3DMark fire attack | 21,090 | 20.106 | 16,909 |
| 3DMark Time Spy | 9524 | 9161 | 7214 |
| 3D Mark Port Royal | 5654 | 6014 | 4306 |
| Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (FPS) | 77 (1080p) / 35 (4K) | 80 (1080p) / 38 (4K) | 58 (1080p) / N/A (4K) |
| Borderlands 3 (FPS) | 78 (1080p) / 30 (4K) | 83 (1080p) / 33 (4K) | 58 (1080p) / N/A (4K) |
| DiRT 5 (FPS) | 81 (1080p) / 41 (4K) | 91 (1080p) / 48 (4K) | 62 (1080p) / N/A (4K) |
| Far Cry 6 (FPS) | 76 (1080p) / 36 (4K) | 65 (1080p) / 36 (4K) | N/A |
| Grand Theft Auto V (FPS) | 109 (1080p) / 33 (4K) | 111 (1080p) / 35 (4K) | 82 (1080p) / N/A (4K) |
| Metro Exodus Original (FPS) | 66 (1080p) / 33 (4K) | 74 (1080p) / 36 (4K) | 54 (1080p) / N/A (4K) |
| Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition (FPS) | 56 (1080p) / 23 (4K) | 74 (1080p) / 36 (4K) | N/A |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 (FPS) | 65 (1080p) / 24 (4K) | 68 (1080p) / 28 (4K) | 52 (1080p) / N/A (4K) |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider (FPS) | 89 (1080p) / 30 (4K) | 81 (1080p) / 33 (4K) | 66 (1080p) / N/A (4K) |
The GPU test is the hardest to compare because all three machines use a different level of the RTX 3000 series. All three are the laptop versions, but the 3070 in the NUCXi7 put up a good fight. I expected the Razer Blade 17 to significantly outperform it, but it only did so in Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition (at Ultra settings).
The NUCXi7 even won in most 3DMark benchmarks, except for Port Royal, which tests ray tracing. (The RTX 3080 has more RT cores to work with, making it an obvious winner in this scenario.)
And, even better, it’s almost inaudible, even under load. Even with the optional game mode turned on (via a button on the front of the PC), I never heard the fans flare up. I found myself puzzled by the reputation of gaming laptops for being mini ovens. I think the NUCXi7 has an advantage without a keyboard, touchpad, battery and display. The massive cooling system that takes up much of the internal area certainly helps too.
All this to say, Minisforum has created a very powerful gaming machine. You certainly pay for all that power, but I liked how the NUCXi7 handled every game I threw at it. For example, Cyberpunk 2077 did a great job with ray tracing and DLSS at 1080p and medium to high settings. I’m actually impressed with how strongly this PC performs considering its size.
Minisforum NUCXi7 review: software
The NUCXi7 comes with Windows 11 Pro out of the box, but you can easily install Linux on it if you want. The Windows installation is relatively minimal with some additional audio control software. Everything else is Nvidia or Microsoft related. I appreciate this because you don’t have to worry about uninstalling too much software before gaming.
I tried to turn it into a Steam Machine with the unofficial Steam OS 3, the same operating system that runs on the Steam Deck. However, the software is still quite buggy, especially on an Nvidia GPU (a notable problem for most Linux gaming PCs). So I left the NUCXi7 on Windows, set my account to auto-login on startup, and told Steam to automatically launch in Big Picture mode.
It’s not a perfect setup yet, but I love having the NUCXi7 as a game console in the living room. With heaps more power than a PS5 in a thinner form factor (and much quieter to boot), I couldn’t be happier with how this turned out. It’s an excellent use case for the NUCXi7.
Minisforum NUCXi7 review: Verdict
The NUCXi7 is a fantastic gaming PC that works well as a desktop or living room console. If Steam OS is still too crazy for you, you can do what I did and stick with Windows, telling Steam to automatically launch on Big Picture mode login, giving you a console-like experience.
The mobile RTX 3070 is a powerhouse and the i7-11800H chews through any task you throw at it. With user-upgradable RAM and storage, you can make this PC even faster. The form factor and temperatures also impressed me, even though I could do without the skull icon.
But at $1,309 to start, the NUCXi7 isn’t a cheap console replacement. It’s almost triple the price of a PS5, albeit admittedly with more power and a slimmer chassis. However, if you want a small form factor gaming PC then put the NUCXi7, or its smaller and cheaper NUCXi5 sibling, at the top of your list.
