GEEKOM AS 6 Mini PC Quick Review
A Suitable Miniature Companion That Won't Replace Your Gaming Rig
Key Takeaways:
+ GEEKOM condensed a mid-level gaming PC into an impressively small package
+ Overheating isn’t a concern despite what you may put the AS 6 through thanks to the PC’s whisper-quiet cooling
+ Don’t expect the best performance in modern AAA games, especially on higher visual settings
Specs:
+ AMD Ryzen™ 9 6900HX
+ AMD Radeon™ Graphics 680M
+ 32GB RAM (expandable)
+ 1 TB SSD (expandable)
+ 2.5Gb LAN / WiFi 6E / Bluetooth® 5.2
I’m not sure about anyone else with PC know-how, but the first time I heard the phrase “mini PC,” I immediately pictured a tiny little desktop fireball. After all, if laptops have issues with cooling, then how would a PC more than half the size of a standard desktop have enough room for a decent fan?
GEEKOM put the kibosh on that concern with its ASUS-powered AS 6 Mini PC, a 4.7 x 5.2 x 2.3 inch (120 x 130 x 58 mm) mini desktop with enough oomph to warrant a spot in my office as a stand-in gaming PC.
GEEKOM packed a lot into this tiny package, somehow even leaving room for more with upgradable RAM and SSD slots. As shipped, the AS 6 is a quirky powerhouse of a miniature computer that ran applications without pause and didn’t drown out videos or music with an overactive fan. I quite enjoyed it as a workstation, but GEEKOM marketed it as a gaming PC, and so that’s how I treated it.
When I really pushed the mini PC, I started to see where it could benefit from expanded RAM or a newer GPU and quickly understood that this wasn’t going to immediately replace any of my gaming consoles or even my considerably older tower.
Right Out of the Box: A Mid-Level Gaming PC
It’s difficult not to be enamored by the thought of a miniature gaming PC, especially one sporting an AMD Radeon GPU and Ryzen processor. The thing is, it’s all a spectacle. You’re meant to be impressed by the notable components and ample number of ports peppering the front and back of the tiny case. The 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD, both expandable, are there to get you frothing at the mouth.
But unless all of this works together cohesively to deliver a premium gaming experience, they’re just individually impressive-sounding parts of a middling product that you’ll enjoy owning, but won’t ever marvel at. For the AS 6, that’s kind of where you’re going to top out, somewhere hovering between functional and acceptable, which is fine for most casual gamers.
Everything that my Lenovo tower could play, the GEEKOM ran equally as well, if not only marginally better. For reference, the desktop is a non-gaming tower stocked with an Intel Core i7-9700, NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD. It gets the job done and was powerful enough to get me through games like Resident Evil Village, Alan Wake: Remastered, and Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed. The GEEKOM handled Village and Alan Wake marginally better, and I was able to bump the detailing up, but the difference from what my Lenovo tower accomplished didn’t seem worth retiring my trusty desktop.
The limitations of GEEKOM’s hardware were most evident when I tried playing Starfield. I had to drop the graphics quality down to a degree that rolled the game back a few generations. It was, in short, ugly, but to the AS 6’s credit, my tower still studdered even on the lowest visual settings. I understand not being able to max out every setting, though having to drop them that low paints a grim picture for other modern taxing games.
GEEKOM’s AS 6 is far from a bad piece of hardware. Everything it delivers it does so well, especially when it comes to whisper-quiet cooling. It just hovers along the border of gimmicky when a considerably older piece of hardware practically matches its capabilities at nearly every turn.
If you’re light on space and want a mid-level gaming PC, it’s worth considering. The AS 6 does come with a Vespa-compatible mount and can be attached to the back of your monitor so you can save even more space. I would be very, very careful mounting your PC to your monitor and would keep an eye on the heat output of both devices.
Do you need it?
It depends.
The AS 6 is a novelty. If you like the idea of a mini PC or maybe don’t have the space for a full-sized tower and refuse to go for a gaming laptop (a wise choice), then you may want to consider it.
Just be mindful that you’re starting off at the middle, and this isn’t meant to be the equivalent of a high-end gaming tower.
Use Code “as650a” to get an AS 6 Mini PC for $709