Mini PC surpasses SteamOS gaming performance at 4K with AMD's latest graphics

A compact mini PC with AMD’s Radeon RX 9060 XT outperforms Valve’s Steam Machine in 4K gaming benchmarks, highlighting a new performance gap amid rising small-form-factor gaming solutions.

A first like-for-like SteamOS comparison is beginning to put numbers on the gap between Valve’s Steam Machine and the new wave of compact PCs using AMD’s latest graphics architecture. In tests published by ETA Prime and subsequently reported by several outlets, Minisforum’s 895D7 beat the Steam Machine in all three 4K games examined: “Cyberpunk 2077” at 26fps versus 19fps, “Shadow of the Tomb Raider” by about 77%, and “Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered” by as much as 127%. Zaikei noted that the comparison was carried out on the same operating system and should be read as one result set under a specific combination of settings, drivers and hardware. (zaikei.co.jp)

The result matters because it is not a simple upset by a cheaper rival. The tested 895D7 specification, with 32GB of memory, a 1TB SSD and the Radeon RX 9060 XT, is priced at $1,639, while Merlin’in Kazani and other reports put the Steam Machine’s starting price at $1,049, leaving a gap of roughly $590. Minisforum’s entry price is far lower at $495, but that is for a barebone system rather than the configuration used in the benchmark. In other words, the new figures make the 4K advantage clearer, but they do not remove the cost premium attached to it. (videocardz.com)

What Minisforum is selling is unusual even by small-form-factor standards. The 895D7 is an 8.47-litre MoDT system, using a laptop-class Ryzen 9 8945HX soldered to a desktop-style board, paired with an internal PCIe 5.0 x16 slot and a 400W power supply. VideoCardz reported that Minisforum launched it alongside an Intel-based sibling, the 139D7, and that the Intel model with the same RX 9060 XT was listed at $1,599, $40 below the AMD version. That makes the 895D7 part of a broader product line rather than a one-off experiment, even if the Steam Machine comparison has given the AMD model most of the attention. (videocardz.com)

The platform details also show where its compromises lie. Notebookcheck reported that the motherboard supports up to 96GB of DDR5-5200 across two SO-DIMM slots and carries two PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots, with Minisforum claiming up to 8TB of total storage. The same report set out a desktop-style I/O mix including USB Type-A, USB Type-C, HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort and 2.5GbE. But it also stressed the key limitation: the graphics card must be low-profile to fit the case. PC Watch’s Japanese coverage added that the machine is being sold there with Windows 11 Pro and described a cooling layout designed to draw air from multiple directions. (notebookcheck.net)

That low-profile requirement is important because the graphics card is doing much of the work here. ComputerBase reported that the Vastarmor Radeon RX 9060 XT LP used in the 895D7 is based on AMD’s Navi 44 chip with 32 compute units, 16GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, 32MB of Infinity Cache and a 140W total graphics power. The card measures 186 x 69.5 x 41mm and uses a single 8-pin power connector. ComputerBase also said ETA Prime’s early 3DMark results put it only 6% behind a standard RX 9060 XT in Steel Nomad and 8% behind in Time Spy, suggesting the low-profile format does not impose an especially severe penalty. (computerbase.de)

Regional launch details give a better sense of how Minisforum expects the machine to be used. PC Watch listed Japanese direct-sale pricing at 87,999 yen for the barebone, 191,999 yen for a 32GB and 1TB model without the discrete card, and 286,399 yen for the RX 9060 XT version with the same memory and storage. It also reported noise figures of 26.4dB at idle and 44.1dB under heavy load in Balance Mode. Zaikei added that the Japanese store was quoting 10 September 2026 for shipment of the barebone kit, making clear that availability still varies by region and configuration. (pc.watch.impress.co.jp)

The wider lesson is more nuanced than a single “wins at 4K” headline suggests. Notebookcheck had framed the RX 9060 XT as an upper mid-range card better aligned with 1440p gaming, which implies that the benchmark says at least as much about the Steam Machine’s limitations at 4K as it does about the 895D7’s ideal target resolution. Zaikei explicitly warned that price, size and ease of use remain part of the calculation. Merlin’in Kazani, while positive about the outcome, said it “clearly demonstrates the advantage of 16 GB of VRAM and the newer RDNA 4 architecture, especially at high resolutions”. That is persuasive, but it is still a case for buyers with a specific workload and budget, not a universal verdict on living-room gaming PCs. (notebookcheck.net)

For buyers comparing the two formats, the distinction is becoming sharper. Valve’s machine still occupies the cheaper, smaller and more appliance-like end of the category, while Minisforum is pushing towards a compact desktop that happens to fit where a console might. The 895D7 offers upgradeable graphics in principle, far more CPU headroom, and fuller PC connectivity, but only within the confines of low-profile cards. What ETA Prime’s test has done is convert that design difference into a concrete number: if the target is demanding 4K play under SteamOS, the extra spend now appears to buy a measurable uplift rather than just theoretical headroom. (videocardz.com)