GEEKOM Mini IT8 PC Review: ‘Low-Key Streaming PC’

GEEKOM MINI IT8 PC REVIEW.

Mini PCs have been around for a long time now. Often they’ll use power-sipping laptop components that can be easily crammed into a small enclosure, suitable for mounting below a desk or on the back of a monitor. This makes them ideal for schools, offices, and home theatre setups, where they can be tucked out of the way. The Mini IT8 PC from GEEKOM is no different really, but for this GameRevolution review, I wanted to put it through its paces for gaming and, more importantly, high-quality game streaming.

Smaller than you expect

As teased by the incredibly small box storing the device, the GEEKOM Mini IT8 is adorably small. At 117 mm x 112 mm x 45.6 mm and weighing only 1 kg, this mini PC is both tiny and lightweight. This makes it ideal for tucking out of the way behind a monitor. There’s even an included mount provided in the box, alongside a charger and HDMI cable to complete the setup.

Buy the GEEKOM Mini IT8 PC on Amazon here.

Before booting into the provided version of Windows 11 Pro, I plugged in a keyboard, mouse, ethernet, HDMI, and capture card (the AVerMedia Live Gamer Portable 2). In total there are three USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, two USB-C ports, one HDMI port, one Mini DisplayPort, one Gigabit Ethernet Port, and an SD card reader. That’s a whole lot of I/O and it’s up to date, too.

Boot it up

Upon first boot, I was impressed with the overall speed of Windows 11 Pro. It’s my first time using the OS, as I haven’t gotten around to updating my other PCs or laptops. With regards to the GEEKOM Mini IT8 itself, I was very happy to see zero bloatware installed. From what I can tell, this was a completely clean version of Windows 11 Pro, which is very refreshing to see.

With a configurable amount of DDR4 RAM up to 16 GB and M.2 PCIe up to 512 GB, the 8th Gen Intel Core i5 processor still trucks away nicely with normal web use and video playback. Editing typical 1080p video inside of Adobe Premiere Pro worked perfectly well, too.

Let’s get gaming

To really test this system, I wanted to put it through scenarios that aren’t actually mentioned on its product page. That might make this an unfair test, but here at GameRevolution we care about gaming and recording/streaming those games.

I started with gaming. While you will absolutely be able to play less-demanding competitive titles like Fortnite, CS: GO, and Valorant at 720p/1080p Low/Medium settings, games like Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Cyberpunk 2077 fell flat even at 720p/Low. While it’s fine in a pinch, running games on the GEEKOM Mini IT8 isn’t a main selling point.

A surprisingly capable streaming PC

When it comes to game-streaming, however, through Nvidia’s GeForce Now, performance was great. This might be expected, considering how phones are now powerful enough to handle this demand, but I feel that it’s still worthy of note.

So it can handle incoming streams just fine, but what about actually streaming from the GEEKOM Mini IT8. Well, it’s fantastic! Using Quick Sync, I was able to send the footage of my gaming PC using a capture card and send a 1080p 60 FPS 6,000 KB/s stream to Twitch via OBS. There were zero dropped frames and the stream looked great.

As someone who has been desperately hunting for a compact streaming PC, as I hate the impact that even lightweight capture can have on a powerful gaming PC, the GEEKOM Mini IT8 is a legitimate solution that I think many won’t have considered. It’s best to think of it as a capable laptop, but without a screen and the large form factor.

The Mini IT8 has caused me to rethink what a streaming PC needs to look like, even though the folks over at GEEKOM probably don’t intend for it to be used that way!

Cool enough

Throughout my heavy use, the PC was kept at around 55-65 degrees via a very quiet fan. Thanks to the low-power “U” processor, thermals appeared easy to keep under control.

After testing the system, I opened it up by removing four (just four!) captive screws. Inside, there’s an empty slot awaiting an optional 2.5” drive for additional storage and you can clearly see the RAM and SSD. Curiously, despite “Dual Channel” being advertised on the product page, my 16 GB configuration came with a single stick of 16 GB (rather than two 8 GB sticks). A small thing, but worth mentioning.

GEEKOM Mini IT8 PC Review: Is it worth buying?

Starting at $439.99, the GEEKOM Mini IT8 PC is well-priced for what’s on offer here. It’s also a nice foundation to build upon, with the opportunity to expand storage with a 2.5” slot waiting for an SSD/HDD.

Though the brand name itself isn’t something I’m familiar with, and therefore I can’t speak to customer support over time, I must say that I’ve been impressed by the power of the 8th gen Intel CPU contained in this little system and I’m especially happy with streaming performance. It really can be a low-key streaming PC tucked behind your monitor!

If you’re on the hunt for a small PC for anything from viewing websites or consuming media to editing video or even streaming to Twitch/YouTube, the GEEKOM Mini IT8 is worth adding to your shortlist when comparing prices and configurations.

Mini IT8 PC review unit was provided by GEEKOM.