M7

Depends on overall expectations. I know a few people in recent months have bought the Aoostar MACO PRO 6850H "barebones" (soldered memory/missing SSDs) specifically for HTPC/emulation machines. Usually running Windows from one drive slot and Bazzite OS/EmuDeck from a 2nd. These were only $300 a few

AceTragic isn't known for build quality or customer service while the Geekom A5 Pro 7430U (2021 5425U rebadge) has weaker Radeon GCN 5 Vega integrated graphics by 2026 standards. https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/compare/5051vs4685/Radeon-Ryzen-5-7430U-vs-Radeon-Ryzen-7-PRO-6850H With a 10% brand p

The problem is with RAMpocalypse/RAMageddon $900 AUD doesn't buy what it did last year. You have to either cut back on build quality or performance. If you're already in the Apple ecosystem the Mac Mini M4 is the clear choice here. If you're focusing on gaming 32GB of dual channel RAM and AMD Radeon

The M7 Ultra PRO 6850U may possibly be a better choice. Better features and better serviceability in my opinion. LPDDR5 memory can be better but I've seen too many people already who found 32GB a limiting factor in some experiments. GMKtec allows the 6850H to be set to 7735HS performance levels (54W

I've basically settled for buying the GMKTEC M7, the price of which has been lowered twice this summer and I find it to be the best price/performance for my needs in combination with having replaceable RAM-memory and the Oculink connection. The Beelink SER5 MAX is in close competition, but lacking b