GMKtec has been making Mini PCs for years now. They are based out of the technology hub of Shenzhen, 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 the high-end segment with Intel's Core Ultra Series 3 SoCs. For this, GMKtec is introducing its EVO T2S, which is a follow-up to the EVO T1 we tested last year with the Core Ultra 9 285H chip. The new Mini PC packs better specs and better IO, uplifting the capabilities of Mini PCs to new heights for productivity users, content creators, multitaskers, local AI users, and gamers.

GMKtec NucBox EVO T2S Mini PC - Specifications At A Glance

In terms of specifications, the GMKtec EVO T2S Mini PC is equipped with the Intel Core Ultra X7 358H CPU. This is one of the four "X" series SKUs in the Panther Lake stack, featuring the full Arc B390 iGPU. The only difference between this and the higher-end SKUs is the clock speed, which has been tuned.

The Intel Core Ultra X7 358H CPU features 16 cores in total with 16 threads. These are a combination of 4 P-Cores, 8 E-Cores, and 4 LPE cores based on the Cougar Cove P-Core and Darkmont E-Core architecture.

The CPU has a base frequency of 1.9 GHz and boosts up to 4.8 GHz on the P-Cores, while the E-Cores have a base frequency of 1.5 GHz and a boost frequency of 3.5 GHz. The LPE cores clock in at 1.5 GHz base and 3.3 GHz boost clocks. The chip features an 18 MB L3 cache, 21 MB L2 cache, and has a TDP rating of 25W at the base and 80W MTP (Maximum Turbo Power). The chip can also be configured down to 15W as its minimum assured power rating (shouldn't be mistaken with idle power).

For the iGPU, Intel is using an upgraded version of its Battlemage architecture known as Xe3. The Intel Core Ultra X7 358H is configured with the Arc B390 GPU, which offers 12 Xe cores that clock up to 2.50 GHz and feature a maximum TOPS (INT8) rating of up to 122. The iGPU supports all the latest APIs and AI Frameworks, including newer Ray Tracing Units and even support for XeSS MFG, which is far better than the DP4a model on the older Alchemist-based iGPUs.

On the NPU side, the Intel Core Ultra X7 358H is equipped with an updated NPU5, which offers a peak TOPS (INT8) of 50 and supports all the latest AI frameworks such as OpenVINO, WindowsML, DirectML, ONNX RT & WebNN.

Intel Core Ultra Series 3 CPU Lineup Specs (Official):

CPU Model	P-Cores (Cougar Cove)	E-Cores (Darkmont)	LP-E Cores (Skymont)	CPU Clocks (Max)	Xe3 iGPU Cores	TDP (Base / MTP)
Core Ultra X9 388H	4	8	4	5.1 GHz	12 @ 2.50 GHz	25-80W
Core Ultra 9 386H	4	8	4	4.9 GHz	4 @ 2.50 GHz	25-80W
Core Ultra X7 368H	4	8	4	5.0 GHz	12 @ 2.50 GHz	25-80W
Core Ultra 7 366H	4	8	4	4.8 GHz	4 @ 2.50 GHz	25-80W
Core Ultra 7 365	4	0	4	4.8 GHz	4 @ 2.50 GHz	25-55W
Core Ultra X7 358H	4	8	4	4.8 GHz	12 @ 2.50 GHz	25-80W
Core Ultra 7 356H	4	8	4	4.7 GHz	4 @ 2.45 GHz	25-80W
Core Ultra 7 355H	4	0	4	4.7 GHz	4 @ 2.50 GHz	25-55W
Core Ultra 5 338H	4	4	4	4.7 GHz	10 @ 2.40 GHz	25-80W
Core Ultra 5 336H	4	4	4	4.6 GHz	4 @ 2.30 GHz	25-80W
Core Ultra 5 335	4	0	4	4.6 GHz	4 @ 2.45 GHz	25-55W
Core Ultra 5 332	2	0	4	4.4 GHz	2 @ 2.30 GHz	25-55W
Core Ultra 5 325	4	0	4	4.5 GHz	4 @ 2.45 GHz	25-55W
Core Ultra 5 322	2	0	4	4.4 GHz	2 @ 2.30 GHz	25-55W

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 64 GB of LPDDR5X. These are 64-bit DRAM modules that are rated at 8533 MT/s speeds, and this is soldered memory, so you'd better keep in mind the configuration you are purchasing based on your demands. Storage includes a 1 TB Gen 4x4 SSD.

GMKtec is offering two configurations; both feature 64 GB memory, but the storage for one variant is listed at 1 TB, and the other is listed as 853 GB (AI SSD). The 853 GB variant houses a Phison aiDAPTIV+, which is tuned for AI LLMs, offering higher performance.

IO includes a USB 2.0 port (Type-A), two USB 3.2 Gen2 ports (Type-A), a USB4 40 Gbps port (Type-C), a 3.5mm audio jack, a Power Button, and a Reset button on the front. The back features a 2.5 GbE and a 10 GbE LAN port, two USB 2.0 ports (Type-A), a USB4 40 Gbps port (Type-C), a DP port, an HDMI port, an OCuLink port, another 3.5mm audio jack, a Kensington Lock slot, & a DC Power Input jack.

Talking a little bit about the BIOS, it is an obvious upgrade over the K13, giving us access to more features than before. The first page lists various information about the Mini PC and has one important setting, the "Power Limit Select".

This gives three options: High-Performance mode with a 54W target, Balanced mode with a 45W target, and Quiet mode with a 35W target. Then we have all the other settings that let us dive deeper into the power and device tuning, but one thing to keep in mind is that while you can set a higher TDP in the BIOS beyond 60W, it will revert to 60W once the settings are saved and the PC boots up again.

GMKtec NucBox EVO T2S Mini PC - Unboxing & A Closer Look

The GMKtec EVO T2S Mini PC comes in a silver colored cardboard package, which has a simplistic look with a "GMKtec" logo 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 X7 358H variant with 64 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 148.2W of power to the system.

GMKtec's Mini PCs really do stand out from the rest of the market offerings, with a stylish dual-tone design. The front cover is all metallic with a champagne gold hue, while the chassis is a mix of an outer plastic shell with an internal aluminum frame.

There are three exhaust vents/ports on the EVO T2S. One under the top frame, one around the rear IO, and one at the bottom. These ensure that the PC receives adequate airflow and remains cool with higher heat dissipation through the vents.

The front I/O on the GMKtec NucBox EVO T2S Mini PC comes with a Power Button, two USB 3.2 Gen2, and two USB 2.0, a single USB4 port, an audio jack, a power button, and a reset button.

The back I/O on the GMKtec NucBox EVO T2S includes a DC IN 5525 connector, two USB 2.0 ports, one USB4 Type-C port, dual LAN (2.5+10 GbE), OcuLink port, HDMI/DP display outputs, plus one more audio jack.

The back side has large vents that push air out of the chassis. The sides also feature rubber feet so that the PC can sit vertically.

The interiors of the Mini PC can be accessed by removing four screws at the bottom. Upon removing the cover, you are met with two fans: one is a standard 92mm design which cools down the backside that holds the SSD and memory, and the other is a blower-type design which cools the Core Ultra X7 358H CPU.

The only upgradable part of the EVO T2S is the storage, which features two M.2 slots that can be equipped with dual 8 TB drives.

GMKtec NucBox EVO T2S Mini PC - CPU Performance

We start by comparing the 3DMark CPU Profile tests. First of all, the EVO T2S is surprisingly close to the 285H, which has more P-Cores, runs at much faster clocks (5.4 vs 4.8), and has a higher PL rating.

In Blender, the EVO T2S is neck-and-neck with the 285H, while AMD Ryzen chips offer really good performance across the benchmark suite.

The lower clock speeds lead to lower single-core performance than the 285H, but the X7 358H does catch up nicely in multi-threading workloads.

Cinebench 2024 and Cinebench 2026 see the repeat of this across both single- and multi-core tests.

In Geekbench 6, the 358H is faster in single-core, and plenty ahead in multi-core tasks.

For office usage, the Intel Core Ultra X7 388H is a very speedy chip, leading across all office apps.

Winrar sees the performance a good bit ahead of the 285H. We can expect even better results with the faster 9000 MT/s+ configurations.

Lastly, we wanted to share the SPECViewPerf performance across all 11 workloads, which is as below:

GMKtec NucBox EVO T2S 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 180 TOPs of AI compute at its disposal, the GPU and NPU combination provides strong AI numbers.

While on the topic of AI performance, we want to state that GMKtec has loaded several useful AI applications such as its own custom OpenClaw software, Herdsman AI, and its AI PC software on the Mini PC. These provide lots of local AI capabilities, while also enabling users to utilize cloud AI services such as Kimi and DeepSeek. The AI PC software lets users select from various LLMs in the model store, such as Qwen, DeepSeek, and Llama. The GMKtec Claw software has an expert for all your Agentic AI workflows, making it very handy for most users. One thing to note is that the systems will be configured for each region.

We also loaded up LM Studio and tried various models, with the performance of each LLM listed below:

Based on the tests we conducted, most 30-45b AI LLMs ran decently on the machine, making it a replacement for many cloud services which you would otherwise have to pay for. Besides this, the Intel Core Ultra Series 3 "Panther Lake" SoCs are also backed by Intel's powerful AI Playground suite, which we tried out in our Arc B60 review here. You can expect similar features and support on the GMKtec Mini PC.

GMKtec NucBox EVO T2S 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:

The biggest advantage over the EVO T1 comes with the B390 iGPU on the EVO T2S, which offers a spectacular 2x boost in 3DMark SpeedWay.

For 3DMark Steel Nomad, we get to see our first non-RT performance of these iGPUs. Once again, this is almost a 2x lead over the EVO T1.

In 3DMark Port Royal, the Arc B390 is around twice as fast as all chips besides the Radeon 8060S, which is just a tier apart.

In 3DMark Time Spy, the T2S performs well, but it's the CPU score here that shows the biggest lead, even surpassing the Ryzen AI MAX+ 395.

For Fire Strike, Intel offers great performance even on DX11 APIs, which is a good showcase, as many games still run DX11.

Lastly, we have 3DMark Night Raid, where the Arc B390 racks up almost 50K points.

GMKtec NucBox EVO T2S 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 over 50 FPS with the High Preset and RT set to normal. This is without any upscaling.

The Callisto Protocol runs decently at the provided settings.

The entry-level iGPUs barely manage 30 FPS even with frame-gen enabled at the same settings. The Arc B390, however, does surprisingly well.

Lastly, we tried some 1440p gaming across various titles with a mix of upscaling and frame-generation, and the results are as below. XeSS 3 supports MFG up to 4x, so you can get even higher FPS in supported titles. One thing that stood out is that the iGPU only consumed 20-22 Watts of power at 1440p, which is lower than the 30-40W that the Radeon 8060S consumes.

We also wanted to see how the T2S handled Emulators. The one we used was RPCS3, a popular PS3 emulator. We loaded Demon Souls and God of War 3, upscaled to 1440p and unlocked to 60 FPS. The PC ran both games well, and the power consumption during emulation was around 10-15W for the GPU and under 40W for the entire package.

GMKtec NucBox EVO T2S Mini PC - Power & Thermals

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

Following thermals, we have temperatures:

Conclusion - A Complete & Powerful Package

We have been impressed with Intel's Panther Lake CPUs since their launch, and this is my first time trying out a Mini PC featuring this chip (you can read our X9 388H review here).

In terms of CPU performance, Panther Lake builds upon the Core Series 2 offerings in a great way by bringing Lunar Lake's efficiency and Arrow Lake's performance in a single chip that does great across all workloads. It is still 16 cores and 16 threads, but despite featuring fewer P-Cores, the X7 358H was not only on par but was ahead in most benchmarks, and that too in multi-threaded test runs.

The iGPU continued to be the star of the show, delivering great performance leaps over past Xe2 and AMD's RDNA 3.5 iGPUs. Surely, the Radeon 8060S is the most powerful solution, which is also very efficient, but the actual GPU power for the Arc B390 averages close to 20W while the Radeon 8060s averages around 35-40W. So it sips double the performance, while offering 25-50% better performance.

In terms of NPU, you can run up to 35B parameter models with ease, going to 60-70b is going to be a tricky, but for most mainstream and even higher-end users, the EVO T2S is enough to offload most of your AI tasks from cloud to local, saving you lots of expenses that you'd otherwise pay for subscriptions to AI services in the cloud. Intel also has a strong suite of tools for users to harness, while GMKtec sweetens the deal for its EVO T2S with apps such as the GMKtec Claw &AI PC, both super handy.

The 64 GB LPDDR5X memory is great, and what we really would like to see is a configuration that leverages the higher-end 9600 MT/s solution, as that will extract even more performance out of the iGPU. The dual NVMe slots, dual LAN ports, dual USB4 ports, and an OCuLink connector give users lots of room for expandability.

In terms of pricing, well, the EVO T2S does retail for $2099 for the base configuration that comes with 64 GB LP5X memory and a 1 TB Gen4 x4 SSD. The AMD Ryzen AI PRO systems with a 395 & 64 GB memory config retail at $2000, such as GMKtec's own EVO X2. Both are highly capable Mini PCs, and you might find the X2 more appealing for AI workloads and the extra GPU juice, but the T2S is also backed by great Intel software support, especially the better RT and XeSS capabilities, that you can even enable across content creation workloads (Unreal Engine, etc). So the choices are there for users, and GMKtec's offering the best of both worlds.

Our Pros/Cons of the EVO T2S:

• +Strong Performance Capabilities
  +Very Good GPU Performance
  +Surprisingly Efficient
  +Very Low Noise Output
  +Dual LAN, Dual USB4, Dual NVMe
  +OCuLink Port included
  +Sleek and Stylish Design
• -Very High Prices (Due To Memory Shortages)
  -64 GB Ryzen AI MAX+ (EVO X2) costs the same
  -Pre-Loaded AI Apps may not be for everyone

The EVO T2S will also get an X9 388H configuration in the future, and the gap with the EVO X2 is going to get narrower. So overall, the T2S is a strong Mini PC for high-end productivity, multitasking, gaming, and AI users, with lots of performance, IO, and a powerful set of features and apps to back it up.

The GMKtec NucBox EVO T2S can be bought from the following links (Official Page):

• T2S 64+1024 GB: Amazon Link

You can find additional information about our hardware review process and ethics policy here.

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