What it is

The GMKtec EVO-X1 is the company’s first mini PC built around AMD’s Strix Point platform — the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, with 12 Zen 5 / Zen 5c cores, 24 threads, the Radeon 890M iGPU, and a 50-TOPS XDNA 2 NPU. In a roughly 0.75-liter boxy chassis with bent-aluminum end caps and a “floating” plastic midsection, GMKtec packs in USB4, an OCuLink port, dual 2.5 GbE, and 32-64 GB of soldered LPDDR5X-7500.

The EVO line is GMKtec’s design departure from the rounded-NUC NucBox series. The X1 looks more like a small workstation than a streaming-stick chassis, and the spec sheet — particularly the inclusion of an OCuLink port and a 50-TOPS NPU — is aimed at a specific buyer: someone who wants Strix Point performance now, with an eGPU upgrade path later.

What it’s good for

Local AI development. The 50-TOPS XDNA 2 NPU clears the 40-TOPS Microsoft Copilot+ bar with room to spare. In combination with the 890M’s 16 RDNA 3.5 compute units, the EVO-X1 is a credible local-inference machine for the 7B-to-13B class of language model. ROCm support on the iGPU is still maturing on Linux, but DirectML and the AMD AI Hub on Windows are usable. AMD claims up to 80 combined TOPS (NPU + iGPU + CPU) — Hostbor and TechRadar measured this in line with marketing.

1080p and 1440p gaming. The Radeon 890M is a meaningful step up over the 780M — Notebookcheck and TechRadar measured roughly 25-50% faster across modern AAA titles, depending on title. AAA at 1080p Medium is comfortable in the 50-90 fps range with FSR. 1440p is on the table for esports and older AAA titles.

eGPU experimentation. The OCuLink port — separate from USB4 — gives a direct PCIe ×4 link to an external GPU dock. Reviewers consistently call this out as the EVO-X1’s standout feature.

Office and creator work. Twelve cores, 24 threads, and 32 GB of LPDDR5X-7500 handle anything a productivity workload throws at it. Lightroom, Photoshop, Premiere at 1080p, DaVinci Resolve at 1080p — comfortable; 4K work is feasible but tighter than on a discrete-GPU desktop.

Build and connectivity

The EVO-X1 chassis is a departure from GMKtec’s plastic-trimmed NucBox line: bent-aluminum top and bottom plates with a plastic band around the middle, in a more upright “boxy” form factor than a NUC. Reviewers consistently note it feels more professional than the NucBox series.

Port layout is generous:

  • Front: USB4 Type-C (40 Gbps, full-feature with PD + DP), 1× USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, 3.5 mm combo jack
  • Rear: 2× USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, USB-A 2.0, OCuLink, HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 2.1, 2× 2.5 GbE, DC jack
  • Display: up to three 8K outputs across HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 2.1, and USB4
  • Wireless: Wi-Fi 6 + Bluetooth 5.2 (Wi-Fi 7 is not standard at launch)

The OCuLink + USB4 combination is the piece worth paying attention to. It is one of very few mini PCs at this price point with both — and OCuLink delivers meaningfully higher real-world bandwidth to an eGPU than USB4 over Thunderbolt 3.

Memory, storage, and upgrades

Out of the box: 32 GB or 64 GB of LPDDR5X-7500, soldered. There is no SODIMM upgrade path. This is a hard requirement of the Strix Point platform — LPDDR5X is soldered for memory bandwidth, and the chip needs that bandwidth — but it is worth being explicit about. Pick the RAM SKU you want at purchase.

Storage is the more flexible side: 1 TB or 2 TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe in slot one, plus a second M.2 2280 slot for expansion. GMKtec rates total storage up to roughly 8 TB.

Pricing and where to buy

As of April 2026, configurations span:

  • 32 GB / 1 TB: around $899-$929 (Amazon, AliExpress)
  • 32 GB / 2 TB: around $999-$1,049
  • 64 GB / 2 TB: around $1,199-$1,299

GMKtec’s own store sells the same SKUs with their 1-year warranty channel. Micro Center stocks the 32 GB / 2 TB variant in-store. For most readers, the Amazon listing is the practical default.

What we’d flag

This is a positive review, but a fair one — the EVO-X1 is not flawless.

  • The fan is loud under sustained load. This is the most consistent complaint across reviews. NotebookCheck and other reviewers describe the cooling as “industrial” — effective, but audibly present. Power-mode toggling helps, but a 12-core HX 370 in a 0.75-liter chassis cannot run at 65 W and stay quiet.
  • Soldered RAM is a real limit. No SODIMM slots. Pick your RAM SKU at purchase; you cannot grow into it later.
  • One-year warranty. Standard GMKtec coverage, weaker than Geekom’s 3-year offering on comparable hardware.
  • Wi-Fi 6, not Wi-Fi 7. A small but visible gap against newer competing AI mini PCs.
  • Some early units shipped with firmware quirks that required BIOS updates to unlock full power modes; these are addressed in later firmware revisions, but it is worth flashing the latest BIOS before benchmarking.

Verdict

The GMKtec EVO-X1 is one of the most flexible mini PCs in its price band. Strix Point cores, a 50-TOPS NPU, the Radeon 890M, USB4 and OCuLink, and a price that lands between $899 and $1,299 puts it ahead of nearly anything else under $1,300 for the buyer who specifically wants local AI work, 1440p-class gaming, and an eGPU upgrade path.

The fan profile and soldered RAM are real trade-offs. If you can live with both — and a one-year warranty — the EVO-X1 belongs on the short list. If quiet operation and SODIMM upgradability matter more than raw AI throughput, look at a Strix Halo system (the EVO-X2) or step down to the K8 Plus.