MINISFORUM MS-01 SE

The MINISFORUM MS-01 SE is a cheaper version of the MS-01 workstation, launched in September 2026 for home lab builders and small offices that want three NVMe drives and a card slot without paying for 10GbE. It keeps the MS-01 chassis, its three M.2 slots, two USB4 ports, and the physical PCIe x16 slot. To cut the price, MINISFORUM removed both 10GbE SFP+ ports, moved the memory from DDR5 to DDR4, and wired the card slot at x4 instead of x8. If you need 10GbE SFP+ or a card that uses eight lanes, the MS-01 is the better buy.

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MINISFORUM MS-01 SE Comparison Chart

	MINISFORUM MS-01 SE	MINISFORUM MS-01 SE
Price	List Price: $375.00 Amazon Prices: Loading prices...	List Price: $775.00 Amazon Prices: Loading prices...
Version	Barebone/Intel Core i5-12600H	32GB/1TB/Intel Core i5-12600H
Performance Rating	4.8	5.2
Operating System	No OS	--
Processor	Twelve-core 3.30 Ghz (max 4.50 Ghz) Intel Core i5-12600H	Twelve-core 3.30 Ghz (max 4.50 Ghz) Intel Core i5-12600H
GPU	Integrated Intel Iris Xe Graphics	Integrated Intel Iris Xe Graphics
RAM	0 GB DDR4 SO-DIMM, 2-channel (DDR4-3200, 64GB max)	32 GB DDR4 SO-DIMM, 2-channel (DDR4-3200, 64GB max)
Internal Storage	0 GB NVMe SSD	1 TB NVMe SSD
Dimensions width x length x thickness	7.72 x 7.44 x 1.89 inches (196.09 x 188.98 x 48.01 mm)	7.72 x 7.44 x 1.89 inches (196.09 x 188.98 x 48.01 mm)
Weight	2.87 lbs (1.3 kg)	2.87 lbs (1.3 kg)
WiFi	Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax)	Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax)
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 5.3	Bluetooth 5.3
Ethernet	2 Ethernet ports at 2.5 Gbps	2 Ethernet ports at 2.5 Gbps
HDMI	1 Full-Size HDMI Port	1 Full-Size HDMI Port
DisplayPort	DP Alt Mode 1.4 via 2 USB4 ports	DP Alt Mode 1.4 via 2 USB4 ports
VGA	No VGA Ports	No VGA Ports
USB Ports	4 USB 2.0, 3 USB 3, 2 USB-C (2 USB4) 2x USB4 (40Gbps), 2x USB-A 10Gbps, 1x USB-A 5Gbps, 4x USB 2.0	4 USB 2.0, 3 USB 3, 2 USB-C (2 USB4) 2x USB4 (40Gbps), 2x USB-A 10Gbps, 1x USB-A 5Gbps, 4x USB 2.0
Thunderbolt Ports	No	No
OCuLink	No	No
Internal SATA Ports	No SATA ports	No SATA ports
Card Reader	No Card Reader	No Card Reader
Headphone Jack	combo	combo
Fanless	No	No
VESA Mount	No	No
In the Box	Main unit, 180W power adapter, power cord, HDMI cable, SSD heatsink, manual	Main unit, 180W power adapter, power cord, HDMI cable, SSD heatsink, manual
Expandability	Up to 64GB DDR4-3200 (2x SO-DIMM). Three M.2 2280 NVMe slots. PCIe 4.0 x16 slot wired x4 for half-height, single-slot cards.	Up to 64GB DDR4-3200 (2x SO-DIMM). Three M.2 2280 NVMe slots. PCIe 4.0 x16 slot wired x4 for half-height, single-slot cards.

What changed from the original MS-01

The SE uses the same 196 x 189 x 48mm chassis as the MS-01 (about 7.7 x 7.4 x 1.9 inches), with the same slide-out internal layout, and the bare unit weighs about 2.9 pounds. On the back panel, the MS-01’s two 10GbE SFP+ ports on an Intel X710 controller are gone, and the SE’s networking is two 2.5GbE RJ45 ports: an Intel I226-LM that supports vPro remote management and an Intel I226-V. VideoCardz noted that “Two USB 2.0 Type-A ports have also been added to the rear, occupying the area used by the SFP+ ports on the regular MS-01.”

Memory moves to two DDR4 SO-DIMM slots rated for DDR4-3200 and 64GB, so DDR5 modules from an MS-01 will not carry over. The PCIe x16 slot is still full length, but MINISFORUM wires it at PCIe 4.0 x4 rather than x8. Four PCIe 4.0 lanes carry about 63 Gbps, enough for a 10GbE or 25GbE network card, but a card built for eight lanes, such as a GPU or a large storage controller, runs on half of them. The slot takes half-height, single-slot cards only, the same size limit as on the MS-01.

The rear also has two USB4 Type-C ports (40Gbps, DisplayPort 1.4 Alt Mode, 15W power out), one HDMI 2.0 port, two 10Gbps USB-A ports, and the two USB 2.0 ports. The front carries one 5Gbps USB-A port, two USB 2.0 ports, and a combo audio jack. Each USB4 port drives a display up to 8K at 60Hz, and together with HDMI that makes three screens. Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 come from a MediaTek MT7902 module in an M.2 2230 slot. A 180W adapter powers the unit.

Processor, memory, and storage

The only processor is the Intel Core i5-12600H, the same chip that ships in the lowest MS-01 tier. It is an Alder Lake laptop part from early 2022 with 4 performance cores, 8 efficient cores, and 16 threads, boosting to 4.5GHz. Its PassMark CPU Mark of about 22,000 is enough for a handful of virtual machines and containers. It sits well behind the roughly 29,600 of the Core i9-13900H in the top MS-01 build. MINISFORUM runs it at 55W sustained and 75W turbo in its balanced mode, cooled by an 83mm centrifugal fan over phase-change thermal material, and rates the noise at 30 dB idle and 42 dB at full load in its own lab.

The Iris Xe integrated graphics run at full speed only with memory in both slots. With a single stick the chip falls back to the slower Intel UHD Graphics mode, so a barebone build should start with two matched DDR4 SO-DIMMs. Iris Xe handles multi-monitor office work and light games at low settings.

The three M.2 2280 slots run at PCIe 4.0 x4, PCIe 3.0 x4, and PCIe 3.0 x2, the same split as the MS-01, so the boot drive or the busiest data drive belongs in the first slot. Each slot takes a drive up to 4TB. MINISFORUM sells the SE as a barebone with no memory, storage, or operating system, and as a 32GB and 1TB build.

Launch coverage

Coverage so far is launch news and one show-floor look; no outlet has published benchmarks, power draw, or noise measurements for the SE. NASCompares filmed the SE at the MINISFORUM booth and said “I think this is going to be the first of many times we see Minisforum and other brands doing this,” pointing to the removed SFP+ ports and the switch to DDR4. Its written launch piece summed up the tradeoff: “For users who were primarily interested in the MS-01 for compact compute, multiple NVMe drives and basic PCIe expansion, much of the platform remains intact, but users building around 10GbE networking or higher-bandwidth PCIe cards are giving up considerably more.”

NotebookCheck’s launch report pointed to storage use: “With the dual 2.5GbE ports, this NVMe SSD slot setup makes the mini PC capable of acting like a NAS if required.” It also noted that “There’s currently only one option available for the SE mini PC, and unlike the slightly expensive system, it doesn’t bring DDR5 memory support.” VideoCardz covered the same spec changes.

Conclusion

The MS-01 SE suits a Proxmox or Docker host or a small NAS build where 2.5GbE is fast enough and the card slot holds something modest, like a 10GbE NIC or an HBA. If you already own DDR4 laptop memory, the barebone build can reuse it.

Skip it if your network runs on 10GbE SFP+, if you plan to fill the slot with a card that needs x8 bandwidth, or if you want DDR5 and a faster processor. In those cases the original MINISFORUM MS-01 is the closer fit, and the MINISFORUM MS-A2 pairs the same two 10GbE SFP+ ports with an AMD Ryzen chip. Compare it with other mini PCs in the Mini PC Comparison Tool.

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