MS-01-S1260 Mini PC Barebone with Intel Core i5-12600H,vPro Enterprise Support,2x10Gbps SFP+LAN/2x2.5G RJ45/2xUSB4/HDIM/16xPCIe 4.0/M.2 NVMe SSD/U.2 NVMe SSD,Mini Computer(No OS/RAM/SSD)

The Minisforum MS-01 is hands-down the best mini PC I’ve ever used for a home lab/server setup, and I’ve gone through more than a few (N100 minis, old Intel NUCs, used ThinkCentre tinies, etc.). This thing is a beast in a ridiculously small package. What makes it the “ultimate” for homelabbers: • CPU: The i9-13900H (or 12900H version) absolutely flies. Running Proxmox with a dozen VMs and LXCs (Pi-hole, Home Assistant, Plex, Nextcloud, WireGuard, etc.) and it barely breaks a sweat. Pass-through of the iGPU to a Jellyfin/Immich VM works flawlessly for hardware transcoding. • I/O is insane: Dual 10GbE SFP+ ports AND dual 2.5GbE RJ45. Finally a mini PC that doesn’t choke my network. The PCIe 4.0 x16 slot (x4 electrically) let me drop in a real quad-port 10GbE NIC without any compromises. • Expansion: Two M.2 2280 slots + one M.2 22110 + a U.2 NVMe connector. I’m running 12 TB of fast storage inside with zero external drives. Hot-tier, warm-tier, cold-tier—all in one tiny box. • Build quality & thermals: Surprisingly quiet under normal load, and even when I push all cores it never thermal throttles. The cooling solution is clearly over-engineered in the best way. • Power draw: Idle at ~18-22 W with everything running (Proxmox + services). That’s stupidly efficient for this much performance. Minor nitpicks (because nothing is perfect): • It’s not exactly cheap, but you get what you pay for. • The internal USB header situation is a little awkward if you want to run a Coral TPU or something similar. • BIOS is still getting updates—some early quirks with sleep/resume are mostly fixed now. If you’re tired of outgrowing every “mini PC” after six months and don’t want to run a loud 1U rack server in your apartment, the MS-01 is pretty much the endgame. I wish I bought two. Highly recommended for anyone serious about self-hosting or building a compact, high-performance home lab. 11/10 would buy again. Lots of ports,games ok, fast speed and easy to setup

The "MinisForum" presents a visually captivating design, embodying both aesthetic appeal and substantial power. Upon closer inspection, I found myself intrigued by the intricate design of the device. It is evident that the construction is not only advanced but also exceptionally well-organized, reflecting a high degree of technological craftsmanship. The interior layout showcases a modular design that facilitates easy access and customization, indicating a thoughtful approach to user experience and functionality. Upon utilizing the computer, I was thoroughly impressed by its operational performance. The efficiency and speed with which it processes tasks demonstrate its formidable capabilities. Indeed, this device can be aptly characterized as "A Small Monster," conveying not only its compact size but also its impressive ability to handle demanding applications with remarkable ease. Overall, this computer represents a noteworthy achievement in modern technology, combining aesthetic charm with robust performance in a seamless package.

After reading so much hype about the MS-A2, I couldn't wait to get my hands on one! I already have an MS-01 and MS-A1, so I was super excited to see how much the tech has evolved in the last year. The MS-A2 is essentially in the same case as the MS-A1, but packed with a lot more power! I was a bit saddened to see there is no USB4 support or Gen5 NVME and has just one HDMI video output . It does have two type-C USB 3.2 Gen2 10Gbps ports that support display port out, so you can add two additional monitors (for a total of three monitors at the same time.) It has two 2.5GbE ethernet ports. One is Intel-based, the other is Realtek based. In addition, it also has two SFP+ ports based on the Intel X710 network chip. The WiFi 6E and Bluetooth are from a Mediatek RZ616 m2 network adapter inside. It is now possible to get 64GB DDR5 SODIMM memory modules, so two of those DO work in this system for a total of 128GB of RAM!!! Of course, I had to get the Ryzen 9 version 9955HX, which has 16 cores and 32 threads. That CPU can turbo up to 5.4GHz! For storage, there are three M.2 slots that can fit either M.2 2280 (80mm) or M.2 22110 (110mm) NVMe SSDs. Yes, you can use RAID 0 or RAID 1 on them! It also includes an adapter if you want to use U.2 enterprise-class server storage drives. This Mini PC is no toy! The power brick is 240 watts! It's amazing how much power, performance and reliability you get for such a low price in such a small and quiet package! Yes, you can absolutely hear the CPU fan ramp up when it's under a heavy workload, but it is much quieter than the CPU coolers of yester-year! Opening up the system to work on it is just a push button away. No tools required! You push a button in the back and the entire case pulls off like a sleeve! There is an option to slot in a OcuLink PCEi card if you want to have an external GPU, though I'd just get a regular tower PC if that was my intention, personally. This is THE best value homelab computer available today! I am absolutely smitten with this workhorse!!!

I wanted to give my experience wit Minisforum. I had purchased the # MS-01-S1260 back in early June to replace one of my old "shoebox" Proxmox hosts, stuck in a bunch of HDs and 96gb ram and it was working wonderfully. Six weeks in, I had even ordered a second to replace the other host. I powered the first down to move it from a temporary location to it's home. It wouldn't boot. Wouldn't power on. After spending most of a day playing, reading reddit posts, and doing the standard trouble shooting stuff, I gave in and opened a case with Minisforum. I traded emails for a few days. Pictures. Videos. The lag mainly due to our time difference (I am in NY). I the end they did replace the device. I had to send mine into the warehouse in California and the sent me a replacement via Amazon. Dealing with support was painless despite the time lag. I am in IT for 30 years and have more painful RMAs dealing with big companies and 24/7 support. AND even though I had issues, I would recommend the product. It's well thought out and put together. The form factor only has one downside. Heat. Recommendation, If you not going to use the SFP ports, turn them off in the BIOS. This will help with heat and power. Do a google search and you will find plenty of BIOS tweaks to meet your needs. The MS-01 makes a great home server or workstation. If your looking for a gaming PC, look elsewhere. The half height PCI slot and heat mitigation will not work in your favor. Minis has other slightly larger and newer offerings (as do others). Thank you Minisforum PS - If anybody is interested, My Proxmox cluster is 2 x MS-01 (96gb ram, 240gb boot & 2 x 2tb drives for CEPH & 2.5gb for production and 2.5gb for CEPH) with a Mini PC Stick S100 as the 3rd node & witness for HA. The Mini PC Stick S100 is powered over POE on the "camera" switch and will be one of the last to go in a power event. With this in mind, it also runs a backup Pihole LXC.

I recently purchased the **Miniforums MS-A01** for my home lab, and I couldn't be happier! The sleek and compact design fits perfectly in my workspace, making it not only functional but also aesthetically pleasing. This little powerhouse handles everything I throw at it—from running virtual machines to hosting my personal website—smoothly and efficiently. It operates quietly, even under heavy loads, thanks to its effective cooling system. This is a huge plus for a home environment! If I could change one thing, it would be to switch the SFP ports to Ethernet. While SFP is useful for certain applications, having more Ethernet options would enhance versatility for home users. Overall, the **Miniforums MS-A01** is a fantastic investment for anyone needing a powerful, easy-to-manage home lab server. Highly recommended!

I absolutely loved this as a homelab machine when it was working, it's a very capable server computer in a very small footprint. The problem was that one of the 10G network ports started malfunctioning. I contacted Minisforum support, went through the troubleshooting steps with them, and they determined that they would send me a replacement after receiving the defective unit. I sent the unit back per their instructions, and never received a message in response, after many messages over several weeks requesting status. I am now out $700 for a computer I returned on the assurance it would be replaced. If you get one, just hope it never breaks.

I am a Mac person through and through but have a few workloads that don’t work well in Parallels, so I started looking for a minimalistic approach that didn’t require me to buy an expensive laptop or bulky desktop. I found great articles about the Minisforum MS-01 and was impressed with its upgradable design, size, and performance characteristics. I bought the largest model and got a 4Tb NMVe SSD and a Yeston RTX 3050 low-profile GPU as upgrades. The PC was super easy to set up. I first cloned the 1Tb SSD to the 4Tb SSD and installed it without any problem by removing just 3 screws. The video card was even easier to install as it required a single screw to be removed. I connected the PC to my 10Gbps network using an SFP+ fiber adapter and was off to the races. The boot time was super fast and after a few obligatory Windows installation steps, I was up and running, connected to the internet, and had a great 4K image. I was glad to see it came with a Windows 11 Pro license and absolutely zero apps; just the necessary drivers. The forums mentioned that upgrading the BIOS was important and that was easy too, although that entire process was much better explained on the forums than in the Minisforum documentation. It took just 5 minutes in the end and allowed me to see a lot of interesting features in the BIOS as well. Now that I’ve run the system for a week, I’m so impressed. It’s unbelievable how powerful this minuscule PC is and how easy it was to expand. It’s not as quiet as my Mac Studio Pro, but it’s totally fine from a noise perspective. I highly recommend the Minisforum MS-01.

((((update - swapped out my indium foil on the amd 9600x cpu in minisforum ms-a1 chassis with thicker foil 8-10c lower at idle, 7-10c lower at load 66c igpu without extra fans 63.8c igpu with extra fans 80-83c cpu temp (core) not bad for such a iffy cooler / heat block design for full socket going to try it in my ms-a1 that has a 7950x3D next - end update)))))) rare setup. very attractive. Pros: * cpu socket * removeable wifi/bluetooth chip * runs old win10 and many *nix os * amazing connectivity port options * bios reset button is hidden for basic security * bios battery wires have a connector to disconnect current to hard reset bios * extreme mobility * barebones option * price Cons: * bios lacks maturity * bios lacks features * bios will not properly reboot after conflicting option changes, meaning you need to take the front flash cover off to access the bios reset button * bios battery appears to be hard to replace as it has some plastic shrink wrap around it. wires might be soldered. idk. * minisforum website drivers appear to only work for win11. there are win10 amd drivers for cpu igpu that work on old win10 * heat sink sucks. 9600x idles around 78 celsius with indium foil, even at 30 watt limited ppd, 7950x3D idles around 90 celsius with a low quality thermal pad from amazon. i aim to customize mine for the new ice giant 360 cooler coming june 2025. however, amd software reports the gpu side of the 9600x to idle at 58 celsius. i ran furmark 2 and Prime95 stress tests for 20 minutes each. igpu max temp 78-80 celcius, cpu max temp 91-92 avg 90 celsius. i think since the igpu reads lower temps on the same die as cpu heat sensor that cpu temp might be a core temp. however amd did say the 9950x3D would have a revised layout so some heat generating parts wont overheat the chip by placing them closest to the surface of the chip... so who knows this heat issue could partly be the combined fault of amd, the bios, and the cooler. custom solution required or dont buy. * many linux distros dont have compatible firmware for network card or graphics, etc. some do though. including older versions of distros oddly. * as ive read online updating the bios is a chore and not for averagw users who have never touched a command line overall, for what it is, i highly value this unique product. it is for niche users, but i own 2.. one from amazon and one ordered from minisforum website. 5 Stars given, but i would deduct 1 for bios and drivers, especially linux drivers and old win10 driver availability. the heat issue deserves 1 star deduction but since i will customize i will allow a pass.