GEEKOM IT8 Mini-PC Review – A turbulent history and hidden features

1 - Einführung und technische Daten 2 - Optik und Haptik 3 - Innenaufbau 4 - BIOS 5 - Benchmarks: CPU, SSD, Cache 6 - Benchmarks: GPU, Spiele 7 - Stresstests und Lautstärke 8 - Zusammenfassung und Fazit

Summary and conclusion

Before we get to IT8 itself, a few words about GEEKOM. As mentioned at the beginning, I find it a bit strange that a computer company supposedly founded in 2003 is only launching its first product 19 years later. If you search for the company, you will only find very fresh results for the IT8. And also the German as well as English website was registered only at the end of last year. But perhaps one was previously under a different name or not represented in Western countries. Doesn’t make any difference in the end, I just noticed.

However, what gives more reason for criticism is the fact that currently the drivers downloadable from the official website are hosted by Mediafire. That’s where you end up on the landing page when you click download. Not a leg break, but just not what you’re used to. By the way, the chipset driver could not be used at all at the time of the review, because someone overwrote the zip file extension before uploading, rendering the file useless.

By the way, I found out the fact that the system has a microphone on the front by accident. This was neither in the press release nor on the product page or specifications. Somehow everything is a bit chaotic at GEEKOM.

But now let’s get to what counts in the end: Was the IT8 Mini-PC convincing in the end? Externally, it really looks EXTREMELY similar to the classic Intel NUC, so I was almost expecting a simple rebranding here. However, I could not find exactly such a system, so it seems to be a proprietary design after all. The connectivity is really good for such a compact computer, and the somewhat hidden option of controlling the computer via infrared and a suitable remote control is also really great for use as an HTPC. However, the small cooling system then buckles under admittedly unrealistically high load in Prime95. Up to 50 watts of consumption could be measured in the peak, but temperature and wattage level off further down after a short boost phase.

The Geekom IT8 is currently available for just 289€ directly from the German Amazon store in the variant with 8G RAM and 256GB SSD. If you look at the offers for similar, but even slightly slower systems like the SEi8 from Beelink, there is actually nothing to complain about here.

UPDATE:

After a hint from the manufacturer, I have updated the links to the German Amazon store, since the Mini-PC was no longer available at the old ones. However, the IT8 with 8GB RAM + 512GB SSD now costs a hefty 459€, which of course completely overturns my conclusion. The system is much less attractive for the new price, which is a shame!

Manufacturer Shop (Direct)
Manufacturer Shop (Amazon)
Price comparison

The test sample was provided by GEEKOM without obligation. There was and is no influence on the tests and results. There was also no compensation for expenses and no obligation to publish.