FIREBAT MN56 Mini PC AMD Ryzen 5 5500U/5700U/5600H 16GB/512GB Windows 2xDDR4 RAM NVME WIFI6 USBC with code @ Factory Direct Collected Store

Its worth noting that the 5600h can be set to a lower TDP, so you can get he best of bother worlds. the 5700U might have some headroom but it won't nbe miuch if any at all as its tdo might be locked.

still the 5700u 15w with is8c16t is also a good deal (edited)

Prime isn't always direct, I used to work for a company which shipped prime, but we sent from our warehouse not Amazon, just something to note!

You can see from this video what kind of games the weakest of these (5500U) will play. Basically, that processor is 4x more powerful than a 6th gen Intel Core i7 laptop processor (or my Dell XPS13 laptop). The 5600H is almost 6x the power of the Dell. They will play most games except the newer more demanding 3D games. For example, they'll manage the demanding Forza Horizon 4 on low graphics settings. Older games should be fine. Minecraft and Roblox should be fine.

5600H is better (performance wise)

See below for my comparison between the AMD Ryzen 5 5600H and Ryzen 7 5700U:

1.
- Ryzen 5 5600H: 6 cores, 12 threads
- Ryzen 7 5700U: 8 cores, 16 threads
- Yes, the Ryzen 7 5700U has more physical cores and threads, which can significantly benefit tasks that can utilise multi-threading, such as video editing, and heavy multitasking, but below I’ll explain why the 5600H is better in comparison to the 5700U.

2.
- Ryzen 5 5600H: Typically higher base and boost clock speeds compared to the 5700U, offering better single-threaded performance and faster response times in demanding applications.
- Ryzen 7 5700U: Lower base and boost clock speeds compared to the 5600H due to its emphasis on power efficiency and thermal management.

3.
- Ryzen 5 5600H: Generally higher TDP compared to the 5700U, allowing it to sustain higher clock speeds for longer periods under heavy workloads without thermal throttling.
- Ryzen 7 5700U: Lower TDP, typically found in thinner and lighter laptops where power efficiency and battery life are prioritised over raw performance.

4.
- Ryzen 5 5600H: Features a more powerful integrated GPU compared to the 5700U, making it better suited for light gaming and graphics-intensive tasks without the need for a dedicated graphics card.
- Ryzen 7 5700U: Integrated GPU performance may be lower compared to the 5600H, but it still offers decent graphics performance suitable for casual gaming and multimedia consumption.

5.
- Ryzen 5 5600H: Often featured in larger laptops designed for gaming, content creation, and other demanding tasks where performance takes precedence over portability.
- Ryzen 7 5700U: Commonly found in ultraportable laptops where power efficiency, battery life, and portability are prioritized over raw performance.

In summary, the choice between the Ryzen 5 5600H and Ryzen 7 5700U depends on your specific needs and what you will use it for. The 5600H offers better single-threaded performance, higher TDP, and more powerful integrated graphics, making it suitable for gaming and demanding applications. On the other hand, the 5700U with its additional cores and threads excels in multi-threaded tasks and is ideal for seeking longer battery life and portability in a thinner and lighter laptop. (edited)

All it means is that the coding/decoding will be done in software, and this processor is well powerful enough to have no impact on most people. I guess if you're doing video processing work it'll be slower than a Intel processor.

Oh man...I did all that work...


The idle power for 5500U/5700U has been reported as 4 - 6W. The other one 6-10W.
notebookcheck.net/AMD…tml (edited)

I just tried it on mine, yes it works.

You make a good point. People need to be aware they're buying something from the other side of the world from unknown people. Things that are cheap are often cheap for a reason, nothing is for free. When they get these mini PCs they should reformat the disk drive and re-install a copy of Windows obtained from a trustworthy source. And do malware scans and look out for added software that shouldn't be there (whether suspicious looking or not).

Regarding whether these are rebranded AceMagic, I don't think they are. Not that it matters regarding the security issue. These I think are a company called GenMachine (there are review photos showing 'GenMachine' printed on the motherboard). I don't know if they're related to AceMagic, but a lot of these mini pc brands use the same design. Just as a lot of other cheap chinese products are the same design but sold under many different names (power supplies, usb drive cases, etc, etc). That doesn't mean they are made in the same factory or were loaded with software by the same people. Regarding security, however, it doesn't matter if they're related or not - they're all from unknown sources. Just as some cheap unknown brand power supplies you buy from China will blow up while others are brilliant.

The pitfalls of getting PC equipment or software from unknown sources is low reliability/longevity, non-existent support/customer service and severe security risks, apart from the risk of not getting what you ordered and them selling your personal details off.

Regarding the BIOS/firmware being loaded with malware, this is another level and, possible, but very unlikely. [And also very difficult I think as it would still need to link to some software in Windows/data on the disk drive and get through network firewalls.] Apart from the cost of the manufacture becoming a lot more, this will eventually be detected by some security minded techy somewhere. These machines are sold in vast quantities all over the world. A lot of them got to Chinese Internet cafes and businesses. Once this hardware malware is out there, its out there permanently. So, sooner or later this will be found. Once that happens its proof that the COMPANY, not any dodgy individual in one factory, had designed it intentionally. And spent a lot of money on it. This will lead to the Chinese government getting involved and jail sentences and lots of money spent investigating all other products. It would have to because it would mean the end of the Chinese electronics industry and economy. Nobody would buy their stuff. Would you buy a Acer, Asus or Lenovo computer once the US government announces they found hardware malware on these little PCs? ALL businesses in China are effectively state businesses, run by the CCP. Either the CCP did it, or if some company did it on their own, the CCP would be *extremely* unhappy about that.

This is what is perplexing, it's so random who gets charged & who doesn't for the same items from the same seller!
Is it possible they simply forgot to charge you & it somehow slipped through?
Are you apologising to the others for not getting charged or did the postie leave a sorry note for simply leaving it without knocking? (edited)

A follow up just for completeness: the mini PC I got (looks identical to the one above but ordered as SZBOX brand, turned up with GenMachine branding and I believe both are made by GenMachine) is great. Took 9 days to arrive (5 days early) and no customs charges. Works great, couldn't find any malware on it (checked offline), no added/unexpected software installed, Windows 11 is activated with volume licence key and system is reporting that its got a Kingston SSD.

Plays 4k youtube videos with no problem on wifi at 5GHz (at 50mbps streaming with the router about 5 metres away down one floor - it is a good wifi6 router though). Sound wise, most of the time the fan is off, so no sound at all, but often, when starting up anything it will go into turbo mode and the fan will start up. This still is just the sound of air wooshing, unless it sits *directly* on my wooden desk, in which case there is a noticeable humming. Basically the same as a modern laptop, so nothing to worry about. The only think of *mild* concern I've found so far is the USB ports are quite hard to push into - but I've done it a many times now, with different drives and its not been a problem. Its just not usual with USB sockets. All other sockets fine and work well. It came with a HDMI cable but I haven't tested that yet (also mine was with a UK power adaptor - it cost more than the one above. But I bought it before this offer came out, sadly.).

Will be reinstalling Windows soon *as standard practice* with non-brand PCs. And hope to open it up and install dual channel RAM at some point.

This one is likely the best bang for buck with a R7 7735HS, 680M iGPU & 16Gb+1Tb aliexpress.com/ite…tml - use code 24UK99 & pay in USD with a fee-free card for the price...
CPU diference with the 5600H cpubenchmark.net/com…00H
GPU diference with the 5600H videocardbenchmark.net/com…5HS

Step up would be this hotukdeals.com/com…135, but RAM & storage are not included in that price.

(edited)

@plewis00 this is what I am referring to in my previous comment to you. You can definitely snip off the EU plug and wire it into a 3 pin UK plug fused!

There are USB-C PD to DC jack adapters too, might be a flexible solution

You won't pay import duties. It's now taken directly at the purchase.

A 5600H one would be in a similar ballpark gaming performance wise to a steam deck - ie. decent performance from most games at 720p and some like Forza Horizon etc at 1080p. The newer Ryzens with 680M/780M graphics are a lot faster for games though.

You can install a steam OS clone such as Chimera OS and it’ll function almost exactly like a steam deck. I have a 6900HX version with Chimera OS (Linux) installed on the nvme and a portable version of Windows 11 on an SSD for game pass etc. Works great

Is it? Is it though?

I got one and I couldn't find any 'hackware' on it. Well, if the super-cunningly scary people have done something super-cunning and scary on mine, that lasts even after I install a new copy of Windows, they'll have a great time knowing the crappy video websites I visit anonymously and getting my anonymous VPN password. I'm sure it will have been worth all their effort and expense finding that out and sifting through it to find if there's anything worth anything.

Quite a lot of people buy these things and there are very few 'hackware' reports (mostly related to one company). You get what you pay for.

If you care about transcoding AV1 then the N100 supports HW encode. Though this could probably do SW encode as long as it's not like 4k and crazy high bitrate. Otherwise this is way more powerful than the N100 in general.

Some would say its overkill, the £30 cheaper Intel N100 ones would suffice for that.

If it had been less than £135 then you would have had to pay UK VAT at the Aliexpress checkout....which they then send direct to the UK Gov.

No. There's this one at £209 with discount code, but not 2.5G ethernet:
aliexpress.com/ite…tml

You'll be able to play all the recent civilisation games are reasonable settings on this.

4W or 6W according to this:
notebookcheck.net/AMD…tml

It not as bad mid step especially if you want the cores and threads of the 5700u 8c16t at 15w is still really good

No av1 on this however (edited)

One of the pics shows 19V @ 5A. There is no USB PD profile for that - so no.

Clear your browser cache+cookies & try again.
Also, once you've logged into your account & taken the item to checkout everything should work fine.
If you’re still getting stuck, try using their app or a different browser or device altogether & ensure that UK is chosen as the destination country. (edited)

I wasn't charged VAT on checkout (you get charged if your order is below £135 only). Then there is a *risk* that customs will pick your package out and charge VAT and any customs duty on the type of product (but not on computers) and a postage carrier admin charge (around £10). I got mine a few days ago and no charge.

Regarding resolution...whatever resolution you want. These things will power up to 8k resoluton displays.

I just received a message from royal mail asking for customs charge of 35 pounds

It's a laptop without a screen/keyboard. So it can be used for pretty much anything a standard desktop can, just using a lot less space and power. A lot of people fix them to the back of the screen for an impromptu iMac.

Did you get the UK plug serted? Did you pay in £ or $? Some are saying that paying in £ turns out to be cheaper because fees are already paid. (edited)

Where can you get a similar spec mini pc for £210 ? Link if you have one

Was thinking exactly this.

It will do switch just fine

Yes it will do just fine

Same charge for me will be delivered on 23 Feb. Fine with that also have the n100 great mini PC.

You’ll get a charge when it is to be delivered/when your local courier receives it. If customs held on to it for a week or thereabouts, they’ll 100% issue a charge. Happened to me (edited)