GEEKOM A5 mini-PC Review: Affordable Cezanne Zen 3 at 35W

Setup Notes and Platform Analysis

Our review sample of the GEEKOM A5 came with all necessary components pre-installed - including the OS. Prior to setting up the OS on first boot, we took some time to look into the BIOS interface. Unlike the GUI-based UEFI interface offered by tier-one vendors, the BIOS here is a vanilla one with keyboard-only navigation. There are plenty of configurable options, and the video below presents an overview of the features.

The GEEKOM A5 is one of the first UCFF systems to expose overclocking features in the BIOS, albeit behind a bunch of warning screens. The thermal solution is limited by the form-factor. This makes the BIOS feature more of a novelty rather than something really useful. A lot of the other options seem to be OEM control knobs that have been inadvertently left enabled in the shipping BIOS.

One of the drawbacks of using a 2021 processor is the absence of support for the latest high-speed I/Os such as USB4. However, that has not prevented GEEKOM from packing the A5 with relatively high-end connectivity features for a sub-$400 system. The PCIe lane allocations from the Cezanne SoC are detailed below.

• PCIe 3.0 x1 port #2: In Use @ x1 (O2Micro Integrated MMC/SD Controller)
• PCIe 3.0 x1 port #4: In Use @ x1 (Realtek RTL8125 Gaming 2.5GbE Family Ethernet Controller)
• PCIe 3.0 x1 port #5: In Use @ x1 (Realtek RTL8852BE Wireless LAN WiFi 6 PCIe Network Adapter)
• PCIe 3.0 x4 port #1: In Use @ x4 (Maxio MAP1202 NVMe SSD Controller)

The set of USB ports and internal SATA ports are all direct from the Cezanne SoC.

In today's review, we compare the GEEKOM A5 and a host of other systems based on processors with TDPs ranging from 28W to 65W. The systems do not target the same market segments, but a few key aspects lie in common, making the comparisons relevant.

The next few sections will deal with comparative benchmarks for the above systems.