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Full Performance Review ASUS Mini PC PN50 with the Ryzen 4000 & Wi-Fi 6, the long-awaited mini barebone PC by AMD lover

Mini PC Review for AMD fans with the latest Ryzen 4000 & Wi-Fi 6 technology

Story Highlights
  • ASUS Mini PC PN50 is powered by the latest AMD Ryzen™ 4000 mobile processor.
  • It delivers a system performance uplift of up to 14% and provides up to 35% better performance in daily multitask computing.
  • PN50 also supports stunning 8K UHD through DisplayPort 1.4 or Type-C DisplayPort, for detail that's 4X times greater than 4K or a remarkable 16X higher than traditional Full HD output.

Review ASUS Mini PC PN50. Many people choose a laptop when buying a PC, but the disadvantage of a laptop is its smaller screen size. Of course, it’s okay to use a laptop with a large screen, but it’s fair to think that a small desktop PC would be fine. Especially if you know where to use your PC.

Mini barebones PCs are very popular among these people. It’s a small, palm-sized desktop with a mobile CPU that doesn’t crash when placed on a table, and saves space because it can be mounted behind the display monitor using the VESA stand.

Intel’s “NUC” products, long known as tiny barebones, are often compared to palm-sized products on the market. Many AMD fans are fed up with it. Of course, there are NUC-sized PCs and barebones kits that come with AMD CPUs, but they’re not widely used in some countries, or adopting embedded CPUs, so it’s not very common.

The Review ASUS Mini PC PN50 was introduced this time is a barebone kit which is good news for AMD fans. Interestingly, this mini PC is equipped with the latest notebook PC mobile processor AMD Ryzen 4000 series” (hereinafter, we call it the Ryzen 4000 series), which has recently increased sales due to its high-cost performance. This processor has been widely used in notebook PCs, and its high performance has been discussed in many articles, so there are many people who are expecting even NUC size.

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Review ASUS Mini PC PN50: It’s a desktop mini PC enough to easily hold in one hand, but while it’s very small, it has the Ryzen 5 4500U which has up to 6-core CPU.

There are two “Mini PC PN50” models equipped with AMD Ryzen, namely the Ryzen 5 4500U series and the Ryzen 3 4300U series, but this time, I have a product equipped with a higher spec model, the Ryzen 5 4500U, so from the internal structure to the performance Let’s take a closer look.

A body small enough to fit in one hand. The VESA mount is included as standard!

The “Mini PC PN50” measures only 115 x 115 x 49 mm, which is small enough to fit in one hand. Even though the power supply is an AC adapter, I am glad it is not stiff in size even though it is placed next to the screen.

The interface of Review ASUS Mini PC PN50 is equipped on the front and back. There are one USB Type-C and one Type-A on the front, an audio jack, and a micro SD slot. Of these, Type-C supports USB 3.2 Gen2 with a maximum speed of 10 Gbps. Even when a high-speed external SSD is plugged in, it’s not easy to bottleneck, so it’s a specification appreciated by those who frequently copy large files like videos. It also supports display output, so it’s useful when you want to temporarily connect multiple displays.

On the back, USB Type-C x 1, USB Type-A x 2, LAN port, HDMI output, DisplayPort output, and many more interfaces have been prepared. Like on the front side, Type-C supports USB 3.2 Gen2 and display output. It’s interesting that you can output up to 4 displays as standard by using it together with HDMI and DisplayPort on the main unit.

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By the way, Review ASUS Mini PC PN50 which supports 8K output is also possible with display output from DisplayPort or Type-C. There aren’t many opportunities to use it as the number of displays that can display the 8K at the moment is still small, but it is great to be able to display in full resolution without having to change the main unit even though 8K displays will become more accessible in the future.

One of the good things about this product is that it comes with a VESA mount adapter. If you use this, you can attach the main body to the back of the display, and the advantage is that you can use it like an integrated PC. It’s easy to use, and the stand that comes with the VESA mount on the screen is built-in. All you have to do is screw the body and screw it in to fix it.

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Review ASUS Mini PC PN50: Includes VESA mount and mounting screws from scratch. If you don’t have a place to store the main unit and want to hide it as much as possible, use it positively.
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Review ASUS Mini PC PN50: I put it on the back of the screen. It’s completely invisible from the front, and cables can be easily adjusted.

A mini PC barebone kit ideal for beginners to make their own. Basically, it doesn’t matter if you install memory and SSD.

If this is a ready-made PC ready for use, the OS will be able to start by simply turning on the power, and it will be fully usable after the setup is complete, but this barebone kit will not work unless all the parts are installed, and it will be classified as a PC that is fully installed and assembled by yourself.

However, the CPU is pre-installed on the motherboard and the power supply is in place. All you have to do is install memory and storage, install an OS, and so on.

My concern is the smaller size, the smaller the workspace, and the more difficult it is to assemble. The “Mini PC PN50” is well designed, and easy enough for anyone to assemble.

Let’s briefly introduce the assembly procedure while looking at this internal structure. First of all, open the case. Use a Phillips screwdriver to remove the four screws on the bottom and slide them in the direction of the arrow to open the case easily.

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Review ASUS Mini PC PN50: To open the case, from below. The slit is created by removing the four screws and sliding them. If you lift it in this state, you can remove the cover.
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Review ASUS Mini PC PN50: There are almost no cables in the case and it is quite neat and spacious. Easy to assemble

The interior of the Review ASUS Mini PC PN50 is sophisticated with some visible wires and doesn’t look cluttered. The two slots on the bottom of the motherboard are for memory. First, let’s install memory here. Memory is a small SO-DIMM used in notebook PCs.

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Review ASUS Mini PC PN50: The memory is fixed when it is inserted at an angle and then tilted. There are only two slots, so I want to keep it at least 8GB x 2

Next up is the storage installation of Review ASUS Mini PC PN50. There are two types of storage, M.2, and 2.5-inch SATA, so you can use whatever you like. Considering the speed and ease of installation, it is recommended to use an NVMe-compatible M.2 SSD as the primary SSD and 2.5-inch SATA for expansion.

The M.2 SSD is designed to be installed on top of the Wi-Fi module. By the way, the model number of this Wi-Fi module is “AX200NGW”, which is Intel’s Wi-Fi 6 board. It is high speed which supports 160MHz and can communicate up to 2.4Gbps. Of course, it will be installed as standard, so this is a great spec for those looking to use high-speed Wi-Fi.

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Review ASUS Mini PC PN50: Equipped with Intel “AX200NGW” as standard equipment. Since many people want to connect a mini PC with Wi-Fi even on a desktop, I was happy that it supports 2.4 Gbps, which is the fastest standard at the moment.
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Review ASUS Mini PC PN50: Installing the M.2 SSD is as easy as inserting it into the slot and installing it. No cable connection required

If you want to use a 2.5 inch SSD or HDD, attach it to the mount on the back of the cover. There is an indication for the connector, so be careful not to mistake the front and back, please ensure it in the right position. When you slide the cover to close it, the SATA connectors will hook up, so you don’t need to plug in any cables here either.

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Review ASUS Mini PC PN50: There is a mounter on the backside of the cover, so let’s screw the SSD or HDD here. If you make a mistake on the front and back, it will not stick to the connector, you should be careful with this.

This completes the assembly job. Even if it is a self-assembled PC, this procedure and the small hurdles of completing it without connecting the cables will become a part that even those who are first-time challenging themselves can feel satisfied. After this, you will need to install the OS, but the procedure is the same as for a typical home PC.

Review ASUS Mini PC PN50: Check the performance! Higher performance than its rival Core i7! Is it true?

The Ryzen 5 4500U installed in the “Mini PC PN50” that I tried this time is a mobile CPU that uses the 3rd generation Zen 2 architecture. Compared to the previous generation, the per-core performance has been greatly improved, and the single-thread performance, which is a weak point, has also been greatly improved.

In addition, although the Ryzen 5 4500U is a mid-range mobile CPU, it has a large number of cores with 6 cores and 6 threads, and its base clock is 2.3 GHz and the maximum boost clock is 4.0 GHz, which is high operation clock. Considering that the previous generation Ryzen 5 3500U had 4 cores and 8 threads, a base clock of 2.1 GHz, and a maximum boost clock of 3.7 GHz, the expectations were high, especially in the performance result.

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Review ASUS Mini PC PN50: I tried to display details of Ryzen 5 4500U with “CPU-Z”. You can see that it is made with 6 cores and 6 threads, 7 nm

By the way, due to limited time on this review, I borrowed the DDR4-2666 SO-DIMM memory, which is the personal property of the CnwinTech PC Lab, the editor in charge, and verified it. However, the Ryzen 5 4500U supports up to DDR4-3200. Note that using a higher clock memory will increase CPU performance, so some memory will score higher than this result.

Let’s check the maximum CPU performance using benchmark software. This time, I tried CINEBENCH R20, which is the standard benchmark software for checking CPU performance. It displays performance with its own score of CG rendering speed, and the higher the number, the faster the CPU. CG rendering is one area where multithreading is good, so it’s the perfect test to see maximum performance.

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Review ASUS Mini PC PN50: The multithreaded score is 2234pts. It was 455pts in single thread

The results of Review ASUS Mini PC PN50 are as above, 2234pts for multithreading and 445pts for single threading. For reference, the measured number of notebook PCs equipped with the Ryzen 5 3500U in the past was 1448pts for multithreading and 366pts for single threading.

In terms of ratio, the calculation is 1.5 times faster for multithreading and 1.2 times faster for single threads.

Of course, memory capacity and speed differ too, and there are differences between desktop PCs and notebook PCs, but you can see that performance has improved so much that the difference in such conditions seems trivial.

As another reference value of this Review ASUS Mini PC PN50, let’s also take a look at the scores of notebook PCs equipped with the Core i7-10810U. This is 1964pts for multithreading and 469pts for single threading. Even though this is a step short of a single thread, the result is that the Ryzen 5 4500 U is higher than 10% in multi-threaded.

The CINEBENCH R20 is just a benchmark, so this score isn’t all about performance, but at least the Ryzen 5 has the potential to compete well with the superior Core i7.

Speaking of AMD CPUs, the high built-in graphics performance is also a catch. It’s also a benchmark software standard, so let’s check how powerful it is.

I tried “FINAL FANTASY XIV: Jet Black Villas Benchmark” (hereinafter referred to as FF14 Benchmark), which is often used to assess light game performance, and “FINAL FANTASY XV WINDOWS EDITION Benchmark” (hereinafter referred to as FF15 Benchmark).

The first is the FF14 benchmark, but it will be a lightweight one that is said to be playable on a notebook PC depending on the setting. However, this is a hard point whether it is realistic or not as it is only possible to play by configuring the image resolution and quality settings.

Using this FF14 benchmark, I tried it when the image quality was changed to “highest quality” and “standard quality (desktop PC)” under the conditions of 1920 x 1080 resolution and full-screen display.

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Review ASUS Mini PC PN50: Highest quality is a bit heavy, but score is still 2309. Evaluation result is “normal”
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Review ASUS Mini PC PN50: If you reduce the image quality to standard quality (desktop PC), the score will increase. It became 4309 and the evaluation result is “comfortable”

As you can see, there are lots of scenes where it is difficult to play at the highest quality at full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution, even with AMD’s onboard graphics. You can play it somehow, but you need to be prepared for some lag and rattling.

Even with the same full HD resolution, if the image quality is the standard quality (desktop PC), the operation will be greatly improved. Since the judgment was comfortable, it couldn’t be said to move smoothly, but it could be said that it was a level that could be played fairly.

Of course, if you lower the resolution even further, the score will increase, but this time the graininess of the dots will show, and the display will be very low. Therefore, it can be said that it is quite practical to be able to enjoy it in full HD.

Let’s try another heavyweight FF15 bench in this Review ASUS Mini PC PN50. This was really tough in full HD, so it was a challenge to set the HD resolution of 1280 x 720 and the image quality to the lowest “lightweight quality”.

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Review ASUS Mini PC PN50: The score is 2816 and the rating is “a little heavy”. As expected, playing a heavyweight game with built-in graphics is a big burden

That’s a challenge after lowering the resolution and image quality, but the result is not an environment where you can play comfortably. After all, if you want to play this heavyweight game, you need a dedicated GPU.

However, there are lots of light games like Fort Knight and Rainbow Six Siege now, and there are many titles that can be played unexpectedly depending on the image quality setting. If you say, “I’m not going to play hard, but I want to try a title that interests me,” it will live up to my expectations.

Heat issues to worry about in a mini PC. How much does the CPU temperature rise when the load is high?

When it comes to CPU performance, what’s worrying is how much the temperature will rise. Therefore, using the stress test function of “CPU-Z”, I briefly investigated how much the temperature would rise in 10 minutes and how the operation clock would change.

Check the temperature change and operation clock with “HWiNFO”. When I looked at the operation, it confirmed that the operating clock was stable at around 3.5GHz at first, but dropped significantly after about 3 minutes and changed to around 2.85GHz.

After that, the operation clock did not change for up to 10 minutes after the test ended, and a certain level of performance was maintained.

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REVIEW ASUS MINI PC PN50: STATUS OF THE OPERATION CLOCKS PER 4 MINUTES SINCE THE START OF THE TEST. IT CAN BE ASCERTAINED THAT THE OPERATION CLOCK OF EACH CORE IS AROUND 2.85 GHZ.

Let’s also see how the CPU temperature is changing at this time. The CPU temperature has steadily increased since the start of the stress test, and by the time it exceeds 3 minutes, it has risen to around 90° C. The Ryzen 5 4500U’s maximum temperature is 105° C, so still, there is room, but for safety reasons, the operation clock should be below that maximum temperature.

After the operation clock drops, the CPU temperature also drops significantly, and it stabilizes around 70° C.

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Review ASUS Mini PC PN50: The maximum core temperature rises to 90.4° C. As expected, it is difficult with this temperature to continue, or the operating clock has dropped.

Even if the operating clock drops, it’s around 2.85GHz, which is much higher than the base 2.3GHz clock, which is something to keep in mind. It would be more correct to know that overheating does not reduce performance, but stabilizes and slows down in high-speed operation.

Tower-type PCs are better suited for long-term high load use, so it would be a mistake to require such performance from mini PCs and very small NUC sized products.

On the other hand, it can be said that the “Mini PC PN50”, which can operate high loads with a high clock even for 3 minutes, has a strong ability to respond to instantaneous loads.

If you want an ultra-compact PC that works comfortably, you’ll want to make the “Mini PC PN50” the first candidate.

If you’re looking for a PC with clear goals like gaming and video editing, and a focus on performance, it’s best to choose a tower-type PC without hesitation. Besides, if you want to move around and use it with ease, you have no choice but to use a laptop.

However, if you are carelessly thinking about using various general-purpose software, “Mini PC PN50” is the right choice. This is also a good choice as it is small and can be used as a live PC by plugging in a TV. Although the hurdle is slightly higher as it is a self-assembled PC, it is undoubtedly usable comfortably, including the environment around the PC, as its compact size takes up space but has performance that exceeds many notebook PCs.

It costs USD 458 on Amazon. If you add memory, storage, and OS, the prices are in the range of USD 671 to USD 766. Notebook PCs with the same CPU are cheap, starting from around USD 575 depending on the product, but the intended use is initially different, and considering the ability to develop, this is not a bad choice.

There is an idea that a mini PC is underperforming, but “Mini PC PN50” has the ability to get rid of it and handle the performance it has unless it’s an application that requires a lot of performance. If you’re having trouble where to put your tower PC, or if you think your laptop has a small screen and is difficult to use, you’ll be happy with that.

Check our store if you are interested to buy this “Mini PC PN50” with great deals and other parts accessories there. You can also click the Shop Now button below to buy it on external vendors.

Score Assessment

Performance - 8.5
Facilities and Features - 8
Design and Easiness - 9
Price - 7.7

8.3

Overall

With support for up to four 4K displays*, ASUS Mini PC PN50 can be used to build high-resolution signage walls at lounges, halls, exhibitions, and retail stores, all powered from just one device – saving on both cost and maintenance. Also, with PN50 quad-displays support*, it would be easier to share information at workplaces, offices, or conference rooms that need people to be informed simultaneously, directly, and without time differences.Shop Now

User Rating: 2.72 ( 78 votes)

Via
GoogleASUS Official Website
Source
CnwinTech Labs

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