Beelink SER8 PC review: Mac Mini-inspired design with an AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS

[Redaktion]

The SER8 brings about the biggest redesign we've seen for the SER series. Its new Apple-like appearance definitely exhumes professionalism without costing an arm and a leg.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Beelink-SER8-PC-review-Mac-Mini-inspired-design-with-an-AMD-Ryzen-7-8845HS.857066.0.html

[Jakubs]

"Apple-like appearance definitely exhumes professionalism"

... Who buried it in the first place?

[Marco Sosa]

SER7-ZEN 4 RDNA 3 10 TOPS VCN 3.0 RYZEN AI ENGINE. Total Processor Performance:
23.4 TOPS
SER8-ZEN 4 RDNA 3 16 TOPS VCN 4.0 RYZEN AI ENGINE. Total Processor Performance:
38 TOPS

[Marco Sosa]

SER7-ZEN 4 RDNA 3 10 TOPS VCN 3.0 RYZEN AI ENGINE.
SER8-ZEN 4 RDNA 3 16 TOPS VCN 4.0 RYZEN AI ENGINE.

[atomphil2]

How did you achieve these power consumption values? Which operating system, BIOS and driver versions did you use?

I also recently got a Ser8 and it consumes a lot more power under Windows.
I have the latest BIOS (V029 from 10/23/2024).

In each case the OS is freshly installed, with the latest drivers (and the drivers from Beelink as a test), no other devices connected, no programs open, idle in the desktop, I measure the following power consumption via a Wifi socket (so not calibrated, but it's enough to estimate the value)

Windows 10 1809 LTSC:
– Power consumption: 30 – 40 watts

Windows 11 24H2:
– Power consumption: 18 – 21 watts

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
– Power consumption: 8 – 9 watts

Under Windows I noticed an abnormally high CPU utilisation due to the process 'system' and frequent system interrupts.
'system' can be resolved to ntoskrnl.exe in the properties.
Windows 10 1809 LTSC: – CPU load: never below 5%
Windows 11 24H2: – CPU load: never less than 2%

I think the CPU load is the reason for the alarmingly high power consumption in idle mode. The reason is probably poor BIOS customisation and/or a driver problem.