MINISFORUM M2 Pro

The MINISFORUM M2 Pro is a Panther Lake mini PC for buyers who want strong integrated graphics, fast wired networking and room for several drives in one box, and who can accept a fixed 32GB of memory. It runs Intel’s Core Ultra X7 358H, the chip that carries the 12-core Arc B390 GPU, so it plays current games at 1080p and often 1440p without a graphics card. The memory is soldered LPDDR5X, which is the deciding tradeoff: the GPU and AI engines share it, and you cannot add more later. It is the higher-end sibling of the MINISFORUM M2-356H, which uses the smaller four-core Xe3 GPU and takes SO-DIMMs instead.

Pros and Cons

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MINISFORUM M2 Pro Comparison Chart

	MINISFORUM M2 Pro	MINISFORUM M2 Pro
Price	List Price: $1439.00 Amazon Prices: Loading prices...	List Price: Amazon Prices: Loading prices...
Version	32GB/1TB	32GB, no SSD or OS
Performance Rating	6.3	6.3
Operating System	Windows 11 Pro	No OS
Processor	Sixteen-core 1.90 Ghz (max 4.80 Ghz) Intel Core Ultra X7 358H	Sixteen-core 1.90 Ghz (max 4.80 Ghz) Intel Core Ultra X7 358H
GPU	Integrated Intel Arc B390	Integrated Intel Arc B390
RAM	32 GB LPDDR5X (Soldered LPDDR5X-7467, not upgradable)	32 GB LPDDR5X (Soldered LPDDR5X-7467, not upgradable)
Internal Storage	1 TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD	0 GB NVMe SSD
Dimensions width x length x thickness	7.68 x 7.68 x 1.87 inches (195.07 x 195.07 x 47.5 mm)	7.68 x 7.68 x 1.87 inches (195.07 x 195.07 x 47.5 mm)
Weight	3.06 lbs (1.39 kg)	3.06 lbs (1.39 kg)
WiFi	Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be)	Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be)
Bluetooth	6.0	6.0
Ethernet	2 Ethernet ports at 10 Gbps	2 Ethernet ports at 10 Gbps
HDMI	1 Full-Size HDMI Port	1 Full-Size HDMI Port
DisplayPort	1 DisplayPort (DP 1.4 and 3x USB4 to 4K@144Hz; 4 displays)	1 DisplayPort (DP 1.4 and 3x USB4 to 4K@144Hz; 4 displays)
VGA	No VGA Ports	No VGA Ports
USB Ports	1 USB 2.0, 2 USB 3, 3 USB-C (3 USB4) Front: 1x USB4, 2x USB-A 10Gbps. Rear: 2x USB4 (one 65-100W PD in), 1x USB 2.0	1 USB 2.0, 2 USB 3, 3 USB-C (3 USB4) Front: 1x USB4, 2x USB-A 10Gbps. Rear: 2x USB4 (one 65-100W PD in), 1x USB 2.0
Thunderbolt Ports	No	No
OCuLink	No	No
Internal SATA Ports	No SATA ports	No SATA ports
Card Reader	SD Card Reader	SD Card Reader
Headphone Jack	combo	combo
Fanless	No	No
VESA Mount	Yes	Yes
In the Box	Main unit, base bracket, vertical stand, SSD heatsinks, power cord, HDMI cable, screws, manual	Main unit, base bracket, vertical stand, SSD heatsinks, power cord, HDMI cable, screws, manual
Expandability	32GB LPDDR5X soldered. 3x M.2 2280 (two PCIe 4.0 x4, one PCIe 4.0 x1), up to 24TB total. Internal 134.9W PSU.	32GB LPDDR5X soldered. 3x M.2 2280 (two PCIe 4.0 x4, one PCIe 4.0 x1), up to 24TB total. Internal 134.9W PSU.

Three USB4 ports, 10GbE and three M.2 slots in a 1.8-liter case

The M2 Pro measures about 7.7 inches square and 1.9 inches tall and weighs about 3.1 pounds, so it is much closer to an older Mac mini in size than to a palm-sized NUC. It uses the same chassis platform as the MINISFORUM AI X1 Pro and the AI X1 Pro-470, with the AMD chip swapped for Intel and the OCuLink port replaced by a second rear USB4 port, for three USB4 ports in total. The front carries a USB4 port, two 10Gbps USB-A ports, a 3.5mm combo jack and a Copilot button; the top has a fingerprint reader and the right side a full-size SD card reader. Around the back are two more USB4 ports, a USB 2.0 port, HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 1.4, a 10GbE jack on a Realtek RTL8127 and a 2.5GbE jack on an Intel i226-V. All three USB4 ports run at 40Gbps with DisplayPort Alt Mode, and one rear port also accepts 65 to 100W of USB-C power, though the 134.9W supply inside the case is the normal way to power it.

Minisforum lists HDMI, DisplayPort 1.4 and the USB4 ports at up to 4K 144Hz, and HDMI at up to 8K 60Hz, with four displays at once. Storage goes in three M.2 2280 slots: two run at PCIe 4.0 x4 and the third at PCIe 4.0 x1, each rated for drives up to 8TB. Getting to them takes some work, because the power supply and speaker assembly sit on top of the drive bay and have to come out first. Wireless is Intel’s Wi-Fi 7 BE211 module with Bluetooth 6.0. The box also includes a vertical stand, a mounting plate for a wall or the back of a monitor, extra SSD heatsinks and an HDMI cable.

Arc B390 graphics on a 45W to 65W power budget

The Core Ultra X7 358H has 16 cores and 16 threads with no hyper-threading: four performance cores up to 4.8 GHz, eight efficient cores and four low-power efficient cores. PassMark rates it at about 35,000 points. Minisforum’s BIOS offers three preset power profiles plus a manual mode: Balanced runs at 45W sustained with 65W bursts, Quiet holds 45W, and Performance allows 65W sustained. The Arc B390 is the largest Panther Lake GPU configuration, with 12 Xe3 cores clocked to 2.5 GHz and support for XeSS multi-frame generation, and Minisforum rates the NPU at 50 TOPS and the GPU at 122 TOPS.

The 32GB of LPDDR5X runs at 7,467 MT/s and is shared between the CPU, GPU and NPU. Robtech pointed out that the chip supports up to 9,600 MT/s, and ETA PRIME tied some frame-rate dips in Forza Horizon 6 to the memory speed, noting that other X7 358H machines he had tested ran their memory above 8,000 MT/s. The fixed 32GB also limits local AI: ETA PRIME said the 32GB kept his testing to models of about 20 billion parameters and that larger unquantized models need more memory than this machine has. Minisforum quotes 32.3 tokens per second on a 26B mixture-of-experts Gemma model, and ETA PRIME measured 32.10 on the same model. If you need more memory with the same chip, the GMKtec EVO-T2 ships with 64GB, and our Panther Lake NUC overview covers other Arc B390 machines.

Reviewer Insights

NotebookCheck

NotebookCheck’s review by Sebastian Bade scored the M2 Pro at 88 percent and tested it in the factory default power profile. The verdict opens: “In testing, the Minisforum M2 Pro impresses above all with a successful combination of high performance, extensive features, and surprisingly quiet operation.” Under sustained load the CPU dropped to its 45W limit, and performance eased slightly across a Cinebench R15 loop. The Arc B390 averaged 46 fps over 30 minutes of Cyberpunk 2077 at 1080p on the Ultra preset with FSR off, about twice the Radeon 890M in the MINISFORUM AI X1 Pro. The review also notes that “the performance isn’t always sufficient for more demanding games without some limitations.”

Noise stayed low: the review measured an average of 33 dB(A) under load and a maximum of 34.4 dB(A), and wrote that “the effective cooling system is also impressive, keeping noise levels low despite the high performance.” Measured power draw was 5.8W at idle, about 62W in Cyberpunk 2077 and 82W in a Cinebench R15 multi-core run. The bundled 1TB YMTC PC411 SSD held steady transfer rates under prolonged load. On the downside, NotebookCheck listed the slow SD card reader, only three USB-A ports and the soldered memory, writing that “the mini-PC is less flexible when it comes to RAM, which is soldered in place and therefore cannot be upgraded.”

ETA PRIME

ETA PRIME’s first look ran the machine in the 65W performance profile and compared it with a Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 system. Geekbench 7 single-core landed at 2,580 against 2,558 for the AMD machine, with the Intel chip about 5.9 percent ahead in multi-core, and Cinebench R24 scored 121 single-core and 1,222 multi-core. The graphics gap was much larger: the B390 scored 6,803 in the 3DMark Time Spy graphics test against 3,797 for the Radeon 890M at the same wattage, which he worked out as a 79.2 percent lead. “It’s an amazing performer when it comes down to it as an iGPU,” he said, adding that the synthetic result “really does translate over to real-world gaming.”

His game tests ran at 1440p where possible. Red Dead Redemption 2 averaged in the high 60s at a high and medium mix, Black Myth: Wukong averaged over 75 fps at high settings with XeSS at 75 percent, and Forza Horizon 6 at high settings with XeSS on quality stayed playable with occasional dips toward 60 fps. Crimson Desert needed XeSS multi-frame generation: at 1080p high with 3x generation it averaged over 73 fps, and 4x added some ghosting. At the wall he measured 7.8W at idle, around 61W while gaming and a 73W peak, with a maximum CPU temperature of 75°C. “It also stays really quiet even in performance mode,” he said.

Robtech

Robtech’s review compared the M2 Pro with two other X7 358H mini PCs and the Bosgame VTI490. He found the silver casing is metal while the black sections are plastic, and said “Build quality feels top-tier with zero creaks or flex.” The Arc B390 took the top spots in his AI GPU test, but the CPU did poorly in the AI CPU benchmark, where a Ryzen H 255 beat it in two of three metrics. Among the three X7 machines, the M2 Pro had the slowest memory and trailed by about 6 percent in Time Spy. He also called the included Gen 4 SSD “not premium” and the slowest Gen 4 drive on his list in real-world use, which differs from NotebookCheck’s result with the same drive model.

The USB-C power input “turned on for 2 seconds and then died” with his test monitor. Getting to the drives took four visible screws, one hidden screw and eight more, and the BIOS hardware monitor does not allow fan curve changes. The machine caps the CPU at 90°C in both profiles he tested, and he said “Fan noise is very good out of the box, but shoots up when performance mode is enabled.” Idle draw was 8W, Windows 11 Pro was a clean install, Ubuntu booted without driver problems, and an eGPU worked over USB4. His verdict: “Overall, I do like the M2 Pro,” though “What I don’t like is the internal power supply and the size of the mini.”

Buy it for the graphics and the ports, and plan around 32GB

All three reviewers found it quiet in normal use, and the built-in power supply and three USB4 ports make for a tidy desk. The main limits are the soldered memory, the missing OCuLink port and the size, which is closer to a small desktop than to a typical mini PC. Minisforum’s own store sells the 1TB build, and a version without an SSD or operating system is also available. If upgradable memory matters more than graphics, the MINISFORUM M2-356H takes up to 128GB in two SO-DIMM slots.

Our Mini PC Comparison Chart lines the M2 Pro up against other mini PCs by processor, graphics, ports and memory.

Upgrades

Accessories that fit the MINISFORUM M2 Pro's USB4 or Thunderbolt ports.

eGPU enclosureRazer

Core X V2

A Thunderbolt 5 enclosure that Razer lists as working with Thunderbolt 4 and USB4 hosts; it fits a four-slot card and needs an ATX power supply.

List price $349.99

Buying options

eGPU enclosureMinisforum

DEG2 eGPU Dock

Connects over USB4 or Thunderbolt 5, with an OCuLink input behind a switch, and adds an M.2 slot; it needs an ATX or SFX power supply.

List price $259.90

Buying options

eGPU enclosureSonnet

Breakaway Box 850 T5

Has an 850W power supply built in, so only the graphics card is extra, and works with Thunderbolt 4 and USB4 Windows PCs.

List price $599.99

Buying options

Thunderbolt/USB4 dockCalDigit

TS4 Thunderbolt 4 Dock

An 18-port dock that CalDigit lists for Thunderbolt 4 and USB4 hosts, with 2.5GbE and a DisplayPort 1.4 output.

List price $379.99

Buying options

Thunderbolt/USB4 dockPlugable

TBT4-UD5 Thunderbolt 4 Dock

Two HDMI ports drive two 4K60 monitors from one Thunderbolt 4 or USB4 port on a Windows PC.

List price $199.95

Buying options

Thunderbolt/USB4 dockUGREEN

Revodok Max 208 Thunderbolt 4 Dock

Adds three Thunderbolt 4 ports for dual 4K60 displays plus gigabit Ethernet; it has no HDMI port, so monitors connect over USB-C or an adapter.

List price $169.98

Buying options

Frequently Asked Questions