GMKtec NucBox K13 “Intel Core Ultra 7 256V” Mini PC Review: Lunar Lake In A Pocket-Sized Machine

GMKtec has been making Mini PCs for years now. They are based out of the technology hub of Shenzen, China, and have maintained strategic partnerships with AMD, Intel & Microsoft, and currently offer a wide array of solutions, all the way from entry-level to enthusiast-grade designs based on mobility chips from AMD & Intel.

The latest offering from GMKtec that targets mainstream users is the NucBox K13, a small form factor design that is equipped with Intel's Lunar Lake SoCs, specifically the Core Ultra 7 256V. We have already tested this SoC on 14" laptops, so now let's see what kind of performance it offers on a compact Mini PC.

GMKtec NucBox K13 Mini PC - Specifications At A Glance

In terms of specifications, the GMKtec NucBox K13 is equipped with the Intel Core Ultra 7 256V CPU. This is one of the many Lunar Lake SoCs in the Core Ultra Series 2 lineup, with specs that mostly match those of the higher-end SKUs. The only difference is that it runs at a slightly lower clock speed and supports 16 GB of onboard LP5X memory.

The Intel Core Ultra 7 256V is based on TSMC's N3B process technology in a tiled fashion. It features a total of 8 cores, of which 4 are based on the Lion Cove P-Core architecture, while the rest of the 4 cores are based on the Skymont LP E-Core architecture. The CPU carries 12 MB of Intel Smart Cache.

The CPU has a base frequency of 2.2 GHz for both the P-Cores and LPE cores, while the boost frequencies are rated at 4.8 GHz for the P-Cores and 3.7 GHz for the E-Cores. The chip has a base power rated at 17W, a minimum assured power of 8W, and can dial up to 30W at the standard boost and 37W at MTP.

For the iGPU, Intel's Lunar Lake CPUs pack the Xe2 architecture. The configuration specific to the Core Ultra 7 256V is the Arc 140V, which offers 8 Xe2 cores rated at up to 1.95 GHz clock speeds.

The iGPU supports all the latest APIs and AI Frameworks; you will get newer Ray Tracing Units and even support for XMX, which is far better than the DP4a model on the older Alchemist-based iGPUs. This allows games with RT to run a bit faster, while XMX enables better support for AI-based upscaling methods such as XeSS and also supports XeSS3 Multi Frame-Generation. The GPU itself is rated at 67 INT8 TOPS.

The chip in total offers 120 platform TOPS, which include 48 TOPS from the NPU4 and 5 TOPS from the CPU itself. The new NPU supports the latest AI frameworks such as Open VINO, WindowsML, DirectML, ONNX RT, and WebNN.

Intel Lunar Lake "Core Ultra 200V" CPU Lineup:

SKU Name	Cores / Threads	Cache (LLC)	P-Core / E-Core Boost	GPU (Max Clock)	PL1/Min/MTP	Memory Configuration	NPU / XMX (GPU) TOPs
Core Ultra 9 288V	8/8	12 MB	5.1 / 3.7 GHz	Arc 140V @ 2.05 GHz	30/17/37W	32 GB (2R) LPDDR5X	48/67
Core Ultra 7 268V	8/8	12 MB	5.0 / 3.7 GHz	Arc 140V @ 2.00 GHz	17/8/37W	32 GB (2R) LPDDR5X	48/66
Core Ultra 7 266V	8/8	12 MB	5.0 / 3.7 GHz	Arc 140V @ 2.00 GHz	17/8/37W	16 GB (1R) LPDDR5X	48/66
Core Ultra 7 258V	8/8	12 MB	4.8 / 3.7 GHz	Arc 140V @ 1.95 GHz	17/8/37W	32 GB (2R) LPDDR5X	47/64
Core Ultra 7 256V	8/8	12 MB	4.8 / 3.7 GHz	Arc 140V @ 1.95 GHz	17/8/37W	16 GB (1R) LPDDR5X	47/64
Core Ultra 5 238V	8/8	8 MB	4.7 / 3.5 GHz	Arc 130V @ 1.85 GHz	17/8/37W	32 GB (2R) LPDDR5X	40/53
Core Ultra 5 236V	8/8	8 MB	4.7 / 3.5 GHz	Arc 130V @ 1.85 GHz	17/8/37W	16 GB (1R) LPDDR5X	40/53
Core Ultra 5 228V	8/8	8 MB	4.5 / 3.5 GHz	Arc 130V @ 1.85 GHz	17/8/37W	32 GB (2R) LPDDR5X	40/53
Core Ultra 5 226V	8/8	8 MB	4.5 / 3.5 GHz	Arc 130V @ 1.85 GHz	17/8/37W	16 GB (1R) LPDDR5X	40/53

With the internals of the CPU covered, let's talk about the rest of the specifications. First, we have the memory, which comes in the form of 16 GB of LPDDR5x. The Lunar Lake SoC comes pre-configured with on-package LPDDR5X memory, and the memory capacity is defined by the SKU itself. The SKUs ending with "6" support 16 GB LP5X, while the ones ending with "8" support 32 GB LP5X capacities. These are the only two options you can get with Lunar Lake. The LPDDR5x modules on the GMKtec K13 operate at 8533 MT/s.

Our review unit was equipped with a 1 TB Huawei eKitStor Xtreme 200E PCIe Gen4 SSD, which offers 7000/6500 MB/s of Read & Write speeds, respectively. You can upgrade the storage up to 8 TB thanks to a secondary M.2 SSD slot.

IO includes two USB 3.2 Gen2 10 Gbps ports, a 3.5mm Audio jack, and a Power button on the front. The backside features a 5GbE LAN port, a USB 2.0 port, an HDMI 2.1 output, two USB4 Type-C 40 Gbps (PD3.0 @ 100W / DP1.4) ports, a DC IN 5525 port, and a Security Lock slot.

Talking a little bit about the BIOS, it is very barebones for the NucBox K13. The first page lists down the various information about the Mini PC and has one important setting, the "Power Limit Select". This gives three options: High-Performance mode with a 30W target, Balanced mode with a 20W target, and Quiet mode with a 15W target.

GMKtec NucBox K13 Mini PC - Unboxing & A Closer Look

The GMKtec NucBox K13 comes inside a small package with a gold GMKtec logo engraved on the front.

The back of the box has some basic specifications that list the specific configuration for this model. We got the Intel Core Ultra 7 256V variant with 32 GB of memory and a 1 TB SSD.

Within the box, you can find the Mini PC in the top compartment, along with a guide/warranty booklet, the power adapter, the power cable, and an HDMI cable underneath the box. The adapter offers 100W of power to the system.

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I have tested a lot of GMKtec Mini PCs, but the K13 stands out the most. While the previous designs went with a squareish look, the K13 goes for a rectangular look. It is a super compact design that looks nice and is only slightly larger than a standard-sized smartphone.

There are five exhaust vents/ports on the K13. Two on the bottom, two on the sides, and one on the back. Despite its compact nature, GMKtec managed to fit a blower fan inside the chassis.

The front I/O on the GMKtec NucBox K13 Mini PC comes with a Power Button, two USB 3.2 10 Gbps ports, and a 3.5mm audio jack.

The back I/O on the GMKtec NucBox K13 includes a DC IN 5525 connector, one USB 2.0 port, 2 USB4 Type-C ports, 5 GbE LAN, and an HDMI 2.1 port.

To access the internals, you have to unscrew a single screw on the bottom, which lifts the green plate.

Upon removing the top cover, you are first greeted by a large aluminum frame that covers the internal PCB. You can find the CMOS battery, two M.2 slots (one occupied by the pre-installed SSD), and a WIFI card.

GMKtec NucBox K13 Mini PC - CPU Performance

We start by comparing the 3DMark CPU Profile tests.

GMKtec NucBox K13 Mini PC - AI Synthetic Performance

Next up, we have our first AI benchmarks for the latest Intel and AMD CPUs. First up, we have the Geekbench AI benchmark numbers, which are as follows:

For UL Procyon, we again see Intel's latest CPUs and its various AI accelerators, such as the NPU and the GPU, offering better performance capabilities than the Ryzen AI offerings.

With 120 TOPs of AI compute at its disposal, the GPU and NPU combination provides strong AI numbers.

GMKtec NucBox K13 Mini PC - GPU Synthetic Performance

Now we are going to look at the GPU performance, and before we present to you the gaming numbers, we first have to see how the performance fares in synthetic benchmarks. For this purpose, we first want to outline the single-precision FLOPs each iGPU offers. Intel's Arc and AMD's Radeon series are based on entirely different architectures, and despite the FLOPS of the Radeon iGPU being higher, it doesn't necessarily mean that the Radeon iGPU will be faster. But with that said, the following is how the two chips compare:

For 3DMark Steel Nomad, we get to see our first non-RT performance of these iGPUs. Once again, this is almost a 4x lead for the Radeon 8060S, almost matching the RTX 4060/RTX 5050 graphics cards.

In 3DMark Port Royal, the Radeon 8060S is up to 3.5x faster than the entry-level iGPUs. Once again, very close to the RTX 4060/RTX 5050 graphics cards.

In 3DMark Time Spy, the Radeon 8060S is over 3.5x faster than the entry-level iGPUs. The chip exceeds the performance offered by RTX 4060/RTX 5050 graphics cards.

For Fire Strike, Intel offers great performance even on DX11 APIs, which is a good showcase, as many games still run DX11. The Radeon 8060S crushes the entry-level iGPUs and puts out 10-15% better performance than the RTX 4060/RTX 5050 graphics cards.

Lastly, we have 3DMark Night Raid, where the Radeon 8060S manages to come close to even the flagship RTX 5090 Blackwell (Mobile) GPU.

GMKtec NucBox K13 Mini PC - HD Gaming Performance

With the synthetic performance out of the way, we can start taking a look at pure gaming numbers, and we start off our testing spree with Cyberpunk 2077 running at Medium Preset at 1080p with Balanced XeSS/FSR upscaling.

In Forza Horizon 5, we only ran the game using Quality Upscaling at the Medium Preset at 1080p.

In F1 24, we used the High Preset at 1080p.

In Horizon Zero Dawn at the "Favor Quality" preset, we used the FSR 2 upscaling set to Balanced.

Metro Exodus also runs great, offering up to 101 FPS using the High Preset and RT set to Normal at 1080p.

Lastly, we have The Callisto Protocol, which runs flawlessly at the provided settings.

Borderlands 4 is a heavy game to run, but the Radeon 8060S can manage a solid 60 FPS at 1080p High using Quality upscaling (FSR3) while enabling frame-gen nets you over 100 FPS. The entry-level iGPUs barely manage 30 FPS even with frame-gen enabled at the same settings.

GMKtec NucBox K13 Mini PC - Power & Thermals

Next, we can see the power consumption of the latest Mini PCs.

Following thermals, we have temperatures:

Conclusion - K13 Is A Spectacular Little Powerhouse

We have been impressed with Intel's Lunar Lake CPUs since their launch, and this is my first time trying out a Mini PC featuring this chip.

In terms of CPU performance, Lunar Lake is a perfect fit for your lightweight productivity and office requirements. It may not be the fastest chip around, but for its size, it works great. And the 30W TDP means that you can have it running on a battery pack if you don't have socket power near you. Game performance is too good, given that this is rocking a Battlemage-powered chip. Arc 140V with Xe2 is XeSS3 ready and supports multi-frame-generation too, bringing solid-fast FPS that rival Radeon 890M.

The hidden aspect of Lunar Lake is that it can also be used as a very speedy AI box, too, with 120 TOPS of compute power. Running OpenClaw, or using this machine as a GenAI machine, is fantastic, and with the solid Intel Open framework and APIs, you can expect solid performance and support for various LLMs.

In terms of IO, the GMKtec K13 has an ample amount of ports with dual USB 3.2 on the front, dual USB4 on the back, and a 5GbE LAN in addition to Wi-Fi 6E. You can also install two M.2 SSDs with up to 8 TB of capacity supported. The one downside is that you are limited in terms of memory. It would be nice if the company offered a Core Ultra 7 258V option with 32 GB of memory, as 16 GB can be slightly on the lower side. With that said, the temperatures were good with the machine never going above 60 °C under games or apps.

I really enjoyed my time testing the GMKtec K13, it's a solid little machine with great CPU performance, great GPU performance, and lots of AI power, alongwith a nice set of IO capabilities in a compact form factor.

The GMKtec NucBox K13 can be bought from the following links (Official Page):

• K13 16+512GB: Amazon Link
• K13 16+1024GB: Amazon Link

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