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Anyone have a Beelink mini PC?

P

Peat Moss

Gawd
Joined
Oct 6, 2009
Messages
646
Specifically a Beelink SER9 Pro ?

I am thinking of getting one, but wondering about fan noise compared to a laptop. When I am just web browsing or playing youtube videos, my Lenovo laptop is dead silent. If I start opening a whole bunch of tabs, I can just barely hear the fans ramp up a bit.

I'm hoping it would be the same for the Beelink, I've just never used a mini PC before. The Beelink specs say the fan noise is 32 d/BA, but not sure whether that's idle or load. Either way 32 d/BA seems like it would be louder than my laptop. So hoping someone here might be using or have used a Beelink mini PC and be able to describe what the fan noise is like.
 
There are a few around here with Beelink stuff. I never used their products but if it's like the Minisforum mini Pc's. I've flogged the hell out of a couple of them, never made much noise. It's powered with a mobile processor that uses all of 35w.

Maybe someone with Beelink experience can chime in.


Ugh, the model you mentioned has soldered in ram.
 
Noise all depends on the model. I'd think a well-designed mini-PC could be quieter than a laptop. It could be taller and have less restricted airflow while still taking up a lot less space than a laptop.
 
I got the Beelink Ser9 for a few days (non Pro, but same components), the cooling is very very good and you can definitely make it quiet!

The default fan curve however (which reviewers found "silent" at 32db 1m away) is actually extremely agressive, with about 1300rpm idle. Under load the CPU is below 80c, but at 2000rpm+ it's too loud for me (even though that's only like 35db at 1m or whatever, my room is dead quiet while testing this).

But 80c for a chip that doesn't throttle before 95c (AMD specs) is total overkill in my opinion, unless you want to run the machine at full CPU load 24/7. Beelink even sets the throttling point to 90c by default, adding further safety margin.

So my advice is to go in the BIOS and tame the fan curve! You can make it as low as 700rpm idle for example (totally inaudible, but very good temps), with a slow ramp up under load, so that it remains inaudible all the way up to 60-70c or whatever you are comfortable with. You can also add a 100% fan speed point, if you want the machine to never go above a certain temperature (by default, that point is set to the same as the 90c tjmax), this will of course trigger a loud outburst from the fan when hitting said temp, so best have a curve that prevents it but that is thankfully easy.

The TDP is also configurable, 54w is default on most models but there is a 35w mode if chasing absolute silence at all times, performance remains quite good but there is a tradeoff. 65w is a tiny bump and I assume that's why Beelink picked 54w in most versions of the box.

Overall I'm happy with the little box and it fits my use case (frequent travelling with a compact baggage to a place where there is a screen and other peripherals waiting for me).

I am new to Beelink but the machine screams "quality". Future will tell if it proves durable.
 
kalston said:
I got the Beelink Ser9 for a few days (non Pro, but same components), the cooling is very very good and you can definitely make it quiet!

The default fan curve however (which reviewers found "silent" at 32db 1m away) is actually extremely agressive, with about 1300rpm idle. Under load the CPU is below 80c, but at 2000rpm+ it's too loud for me (even though that's only like 35db at 1m or whatever, my room is dead quiet while testing this).

But 80c for a chip that doesn't throttle before 95c (AMD specs) is total overkill in my opinion, unless you want to run the machine at full CPU load 24/7. Beelink even sets the throttling point to 90c by default, adding further safety margin.

So my advice is to go in the BIOS and tame the fan curve! You can make it as low as 700rpm idle for example (totally inaudible, but very good temps), with a slow ramp up under load, so that it remains inaudible all the way up to 60-70c or whatever you are comfortable with. You can also add a 100% fan speed point, if you want the machine to never go above a certain temperature (by default, that point is set to the same as the 90c tjmax), this will of course trigger a loud outburst from the fan when hitting said temp, so best have a curve that prevents it but that is thankfully easy.

The TDP is also configurable, 54w is default on most models but there is a 35w mode if chasing absolute silence at all times, performance remains quite good but there is a tradeoff. 65w is a tiny bump and I assume that's why Beelink picked 54w in most versions of the box.

Overall I'm happy with the little box and it fits my use case (frequent travelling with a compact baggage to a place where there is a screen and other peripherals waiting for me).

I am new to Beelink but the machine screams "quality". Future will tell if it proves durable.
Click to expand...


Great information, thanks so much. Didn't realize the fan curve and TDP were configurable. That makes it more appealing.

I'm just going to be using it for office work, productivity, some light graphics. I may be getting a 5K monitor at some point, but I think the IGP in the SER9 Pro should be able to handle it. I only wish Beelink had a 3 year warranty like Geekom.
 
Yea, the warranty is the bare minimum sadly. :(

But their new cooling system (vaper chamber and a heatsink that covers everything inside, RAM and SSD included) and the pricing got me convinced to try it (my unit has 24GB of soldered 6400Mhz RAM and a 1TB SSD, a luxury in this economy). It means low noise and no throttling under sustained loads, which is uncommon in small boxes.

You might be happy with 35w in your use case (but give 54w a chance with a handmade fan curve too), and the iGPU is quite good. I've made it run some modern games on the lowest settings (like BF6) and while it doesn't look great, it actually runs remarkably good (60ish fps with upscaling at 1080p), with clean frametimes and no stutters, so there is quite a bit of horsepower there.

I've made it run 4K in office use and old games, I don't own a 5K display but as far as I know it should work seamlessly.
 
I just built an asrock desk mini b860 with a 250k plus. I'm really enjoying it.
 
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