The Geekom IT15 mini PC's power impressed so much, I'm rethinking my desktop

Geekom IT15: 30-second review

The Geekom IT15 Mini PC is part of the IT series from the company and is aimed at users looking for a high-performance compact computer that is ideally suited for office use. As such, and differentiating itself from other mini PCs, it puts a lot of emphasis on processing power and features the latest Intel Core Ultra 9 CPU, which is coupled with the Intel Arc 140T GPU, a powerful combination that will meet the demands of most users when it comes to Microsoft Office applications as well as many creative programs such as Photoshop, Lightroom and CapCut.

That CPU/GPU combo, alongside the impressive M.2 SSD and RAM, also enables this machine to happily tackle 4K video editing and more advanced tasks. While the integrated GPU might struggle with the latest games, in this test, it performed well across the board.

One of the things that instantly struck me about the Geekom IT15 was just how small and compact it is. While there are many other mini PCs of this size, those that pack in this amount of processing power are generally a little larger. While the outer casing is plastic, the internal metal frame and large cooling fan do help to dissipate heat, and there's a good volume of venting around the sides and back to be able to cope with the high-powered processor and GPU. One issue, however, is that the fan is almost always audible.

In use, the minimalistic front with 2 USB Type-A ports offered the bare minimum, and I would've liked to have seen a USB4 in place of possibly one of those Type-A sockets. However, around the back, there's a good selection of options with a further 2 USB4 Type-A and 2 HDMI ports, enabling easy connectivity to up to four 4K monitors.

In use, there is absolutely no underestimating the power. Once again, the Ultra Core CPU proved just how efficient and powerful it is, handling both office and creative applications with ease. The only time it started to struggle slightly was when playing the latest games. Even then, the Intel Arc GPU, while not as impressive as a dedicated GPU, was still able to render the latest games at a decent frame rate.

All this power in one small box, however, does come at a price, and while there are some expansion options, due to the small form factor of the machine, items such as the second M.2 use the smaller form factor, which can often be a little more expensive and it's limited to SATA rather than the latest NVMe technology likewise the max RAW is just 64GB.

Ultimately, if you're short on space or just need a very portable, high-powered mini PC, then there is very little to fault with the Geekom IT15 when it comes to power in such a small package. It's one of the best mini PC machines I've ever tested.

Geekom IT15: Price & availability

• How much does it cost? $1199 / £999
• When is it out? Now
• Where can you get it? Widely available

The Geekom IT15 is widely available and starts from around $1199 / £999. It is available directly on the Geekom website in the US (click here) and the UK (click here).

It's also available from many online retailers such as Amazon. The machine comes in several different configurations. The version reviewed here features the Intel Ultra 9-285H CPU, 32GB of DDR5 SDRAM, and 2TB of M.2 SSD running on Windows 11 Pro.

• Value: 5 / 5

Geekom IT15: Design

The Geekom IT15 is one of the smallest mini PCs on the market and also one of the most powerful, featuring one of the latest Intel Ultra 9 CPUs. As seen previously with machines like the Geekom GT1 Mega, which featured the earlier Ultra 9-185H CPU, it's surprising just how much power these small machines can pack in.

The machine measures just 117 x 112 x 45.5 mm, yet despite its small size and powerful CPU, there's plenty of venting around the machine to help keep it cool. During this test, as I pushed processing power to the max, the fan noise was always present, helping to manage the heat being generated.

In terms of weight, at 595g, considering the size, it is a little more weighty than I'd expected, but in the grand scheme of things, it is still very portable.

Around the body, there are plenty of ports, slightly reduced due to the small size, but still enough to satisfy most users. On the front, there are 2 USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, a 3.5mm audio jack for headphones, and the power button. On the left-hand side, as you look at the machine, there's an SD card slot, which is good to see and will please many creative users.

On the back, there's the power socket, 2 USB4 ports that support power delivery and a 4K display at 60Hz; below that, 2 HDMI ports, an RJ45 networking port, another USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, and a USB 2.0 Type-A port. Finally, on the right side of the machine is a Kensington lock, so you can secure it to a desk if needed.

The design of the machine is something Geekom has highlighted in its advertising material. The outer casing is made from ultra-tough ABS plastic, the same material used for Lego, with a UV coating, so it won't fade over time. Inside, there are two 3D stereo Wi-Fi antennas, which, in this test, showed exceptionally good reception and Wi-Fi speed, proving to be stable and fast.

If you plan to transport the machine, it's good to know that inside the ABS case is a full metal frame and base. This gives the machine extra rigidity and strength and also helps with dissipating heat.

As seen with other Geekom mini PCs, there's the IceBlast cooling system, a large fan that sits on top of an all-copper heatsink to keep the CPU, GPU, and other components cool. On the main motherboard, there's the large CPU that promises to provide desktop-style performance, and then the main M.2 2280 SSD, and an optional secondary lot for another SSD (M.2 2242 SATA 3), this SSD interface won't perform quite as well as the primary drive, but it's still useful.

• Design: 4.5 / 5

Geekom IT15: Features

The Geekom IT15 is marketed as a machine that essentially packs in the same power as many desktop PCs. With the Intel Core Ultra 9-285H and support from the integrated Intel Arc 140T GPU, it certainly has that power on paper. The Intel Core Ultra 9 processor features 99 TOPS and MPU plus GPU plus CPU and AI performance all in one chip. The integrated Intel Arc 140T GPU also supports ray tracing and XeSS. While it's not a dedicated GPU, the performance this small machine offers is still exceptionally high.

As this machine is focused on the office environment, connectivity is exceptionally important. To that end, it has a standard 2.5G Ethernet port, Bluetooth 5.4, an upgrade from the 5.2 seen in many mini PCs in the last year or two, and also an upgrade to Wi-Fi 7 over the more common Wi-Fi 6, again ensuring ultra-fast wireless data transfer, which is essential for office use.

Getting away from wireless transmission and connectivity, the machine, despite its small size, is also well-equipped for data ports, with two ultra-fast USB4 ports on the back that offer DisplayPort and power delivery, and, most importantly, 40Gbps data transfer rates. So, if you are editing video or have another use that requires ultra-fast transfer speeds, this machine will keep up.

Alongside the powerful CPU is dual-channel DDR5-5600 SODIMM RAM. In the review sample, the machine arrived with 32GB in two 16GB modules, but it is possible to upgrade to a maximum of 64GB with two 32GB modules.

As previously mentioned, there's 2TB of internal storage, and this is an M.2 2280 NVMe PCIe Gen4x4 SSD. Alongside that SSD, there is an empty slot which will take an M.2 2242 SATA 3 SSD, again up to 2TB. However, because it's SATA 3, the speed of that drive will be considerably less.

The features of the Geekom IT15 clearly show that this is a machine designed for office and creative use rather than gaming due to its lack of a dedicated GPU. However, the CPU/GPU/MPU combo offers serious power and should see you through most office-based graphics work. With 2 USB4 and 2 HDMI ports, there's also support for up to four monitors, making it ideal for a creative studio or office environment.

• Features: 4.5 / 5

Geekom IT15: Performance

From the outset, the Intel Core Ultra 9 processor really came into its own. Starting the test with relatively lightweight tasks in Microsoft Office, writing, browsing, and using the mini PC for video calls, proved that it can handle everyday tasks with absolute ease. This was reflected in the PCMark score of 7752 and the Windows Experience score of 8.4. This mini PC is perfectly tuned for office-based work and can handle everything from large Excel spreadsheets to complex PowerPoint presentations with ease.

The more I used the machine, the more impressed I became with just how powerful the internal CPU was. Running Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom showed that, although there's only the Intel Arc GPU, it was still able to run both imaging applications smoothly, with filters, effects and multiple layers applied quickly. Lightroom and Adobe Bridge were also able to browse through large image libraries quickly without long waits for thumbnails to render. The Geekbench multicore score of 14,981 highlights this in the benchmarking tests.

I then moved on to video editing. One thing I did note was that even when running Office applications, the fans kicked in and were audible, whereas I normally expect a machine of this type to be quite quiet. Loading up Adobe Premiere Pro, the Geekbench multicore and Cinebench multicore scores of 15,043 reinforced how powerful this small machine is.

In real-world tests using Premiere Pro, it was able to handle 4K video with relative ease for short edits. However, as I started to load in S-Log footage shot on the Sony A7 IV and apply effects, the machine did begin to struggle in Lumetri colour, showing where a more powerful GPU would be beneficial.

What was surprising after completing most of the standard tests was moving on to some of the latest games, including Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. While some graphics options needed to be lowered, gameplay was still relatively smooth. The same was true for Hogwarts Legacy, where settings had to be adjusted, but the gameplay was decent.

This is impressive, considering that this is a mini PC with integrated graphics, few others can achieve this level of performance. However, as with video editing, the fans do kick in to keep everything cool, so that's something to be aware of.

• Performance: 5 / 5

Geekom IT15: Final verdict

The Geekom IT15 should be seen as a mini PC that is perfectly suited to replacing your desktop computer for office and administration work, as well as mid-level creative applications. The Intel Core Ultra 9 CPU, Intel Arc GPU, and NPU all come together to offer an extremely powerful package. When it comes to Microsoft Office and most other Windows applications, this machine has more than enough power to run them smoothly. Switching between apps, copying and pasting documents, updating data, and even importing and editing images in Adobe Photoshop all work seamlessly on this small machine.

The only real downside is that you will always have some fan noise as the system keeps things cool and running.

As demands increase and you move into Adobe Premiere Pro for video editing, the IT15 handles 1080p video without issue and enables you to make colour corrections, apply effects, and perform complex edits. This is impressive for a machine of its size. When moving up to 4K resolution, the machine does start to struggle with more advanced effects, but again, it's remarkable how much it can handle.

When pushing the machine further by loading Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, I expected it to fall short in graphics performance. However, I was again surprised. While graphics needed to be lowered and resolution reduced from my usual gaming setup, it was still able to render the visuals and deliver a playable frame rate.

While this machine is extremely capable and can match the power of a desktop, it is also quite expensive, and you must factor in the constant fan noise. However, if you're tight on space or just want a capable mini PC, the Geekom IT15 is a superb option.

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