GMKtec turned its AI mini PC into a tower and nearly quadrupled the price along the way | Daily Reports Online
- GMKtec EVO-X3 abandoned flat mini PC designs for a vertical tower layout
- The Ryzen AI Max+ 395 survives despite newer silicon already existing
- Triple fan cooling replaces the thermal approach used by the EVO-X2
GMKtec has detailed the EVO-X3, an AI mini PC workstation built around AMD’s Ryzen AI Max+ 395 ‘Strix Halo’ processor.
The company is retaining the same silicon used in its predecessor, the EVO-X2, which AMD CEO Lisa Su personally signed as a mark of approval.
GMKtec has, however, made significant changes to the chassis, abandoning the flat square box typical of most mini PCs entirely.
A tower-style redesign built to fix old complaints
The EVO-X3 trades the EVO-X2’s flat footprint for a tall, triple-fan tower that resembles a steel-wrapped graphics card more than a conventional mini PC.
Despite the added height, the footprint remains compact, comparable in size to a PS4 console sitting upright, with GMKtec saying the redesign balances performance, efficiency, and thermal stability across continuous professional workloads.
Reviewers had criticized the EVO-X2 mainly for build quality issues, citing a cheap-feeling case, difficult internal access, and persistent fan noise under load.
This probably informed the design changes on the EVO-X3, though whether the new chassis actually resolves those issues remains to be seen.
GMKtec crushed the expectations of enthusiasts when it snubbed AMD’s newer Ryzen AI Max+ 495 chip for the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 silicon.
The processor combines CPU, GPU, and a large NPU rated at 50 TOPS, comfortably above the 40 TOPS threshold required for Microsoft’s Copilot+ designation.
The EVO-X3 will be available in two storage configurations — 2 TB or 4 TB — and both versions carry the same 128 GB of LPDDR5X-8000 memory.
The device will also feature two M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4x4 slots, allowing total storage to scale up to 8 TB on either configuration.
GMKtec bundles its proprietary Claw+Wrangler suite directly onto the EVO-X3, a local-inference toolkit built for one-click setup and round-the-clock AI agents.
The company claims the 128 GB memory configuration can run models as large as 235 billion parameters entirely on-device, and none of that inference relies on cloud servers, which means no per-token fees and no user data ever leaving the machine.
A steep price jump for a familiar chip
GMKtec lists pre-launch pricing at $3,600 for the 128 GB and 2 TB configuration, rising to $3,849 for the 4 TB version, both described as discounted early figures.
Early access registration opened on June 22, offering a further $20 discount, with the global launch and shipping date both set for July 6.
For comparison, the EVO-X2 launched at $1,999 with 64 GB of memory and a 1 TB drive, making the jump considerable even accounting for the EVO-X3’s larger memory and storage allowances.
It is even a higher jump from the EVO-X1, the model that began GMKtec’s mini PC lineage in late 2024, priced near $900 with a Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor.
This means GMKtec has roughly quadrupled its mini PC pricing within two years, a jump of close to 300% from the EVO-X1’s original $900 price point.
It is even a high jump from where GMKtec’s mini PC lineage began with the EVO-X1 in late 2024, a Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 machine priced near $900
The EVO-X3 will face direct competition from other Strix Halo devices carrying the same 128 GB memory ceiling, including the MINIX ER939-AI Pro and the ONEXStation.
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