MINISFORUM Launches BD770i ITX Board With AMD Ryzen 7 7745HX

[Fouquin]

MINISFORUM today is launching their BD770i ITX "Mobile on Desktop" motherboard which comes equipped with AMD's 8-core "Zen 4" Ryzen 7 7745HX. Upon the CPU sits a custom "integrated advanced cooling system" which partially exhausts out of the I/O shield and supports installation of a 120 mm fan, which is not included. The board features dual actively cooled M.2 2280 PCI-E Gen 5 SSDs plus M.2 2230 E-Key for WLAN cards, 2.5G Ethernet, a pair of USB 2.0 ports, another pair of USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, and a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port that also supports display out as DisplayPort 1.4. The BD770i also features dual SODIMM slots for up to DDR5-5200 DRAM, as well as a full length PCI-E Gen 5 x16 for dedicated graphics cards. A small detail we noticed in the product images is the silhouette of two more M.2 ports on the rear of the board that aren't in the specifications. On the product page there are mentions of a higher-end BD790i with the Ryzen 9 7945HX which does not seem to be available yet, so perhaps this higher end board will feature these extra ports.

Despite the AMD Ryzen 7 7745HX supporting overclocking features such as an unlocked multiplier, AMD EXPO, and Precision Boost Overdrive; MINISFORUM has chosen to not support those features on the BD770i. Perhaps the upcoming BD790i will include OC support and features, we'll have to wait and see. Pricing for the BD770i is currently set at $399 USD for early orders, however the price is expected to increase to $499 USD after the launch period promotion expires.



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[P4-630]

Noice!

 

[Selaya]

what a waste.
7840/7940 when

 

[Fouquin]

what a waste.
7840/7940 when

Why is it a waste? Also: https://store.minisforum.com/products/minisforum-um790-pro

 

[Chaitanya]

Not sure if its limitation of CPU used but SO-DIMM slot is quite interesting also CPU being soldered means no cooler change after the fact. Great to see dual M.2 slots on backside of board.

Edit: Also no SATA ports, but there are quite a few M.2 SATA controllers available these days so one of those rear M.2 slots can be converted to add SATA controllers.

 

[LabRat 891]

Reminds me of the BC-250.
Seriously, this looks like an SBC in ITX, w/ a PCIe receptacle instead of plug.
I think it's the cooler and I/O shield arrangement that's doing that.

 

[Space Lynx]

i feel like the 7940hs at 479 bucks is the better deal here, cause you get the next level APU graphics instead of old 610m graphics with this one.

dead on arrival?

 

[Selaya]

Why is it a waste? Also: https://store.minisforum.com/products/minisforum-um790-pro

i know of that, but for an sff build i'd still want the most power-efficient cpu, not this delidded 7800x w/ a boxed cooler strapped onto

 

[konga]

As long as you're aware of and plan around the board's limitations, it definitely has its uses. $399 for an mITX motherboard, an 8-core CPU, and a heatsink is a pretty good deal. You just have to know what you're getting into.

The biggest disappointment is the lack of memory overclocking with the max listed speed supported being DDR5-5200. That will nerf the gaming performance a decent amount, especially if you're trying to pair it with a high-end GPU.

 

[Fouquin]

i know of that, but for an sff build i'd still want the most power-efficient cpu, not this delidded 7800x w/ a boxed cooler strapped onto

7840H and 7745HX overlap on rated power. 35-54W vs 45-75W. Very strange to argue power efficiency since they are both Zen 4, and will both be equal in efficiency at any given power rating. The 7745HX also has more cache and more PCI-E lanes to tap into, which makes a board like this viable. With a 7840H you would need to chop lanes off the PCI-E slot to accommodate the M.2 drives.

 

[Space Lynx]

7840H and 7745HX overlap on rated power. 35-54W vs 45-75W. Very strange to argue power efficiency since they are both Zen 4, and will both be equal in efficiency at any given power rating.

7745HX is 5nm node though, not as a good a node as 7840hs and 7940hs which have better graphi 700m vs 600m and on 4nm node

7940hs at 479 bucks last was the better deal imo

[US] - [USA] Zen 4 Ryzen 7940HS 5.2Ghz Minisforum PC $479

https://store.minisforum.com/products/minisforum-um790-pro?variant=43865372492021 has wifi 6 and bt 5.3 and all you need to buy is 2x16gb crucial ram sticks off amazon for 85 at 5600 rated speed (2x8gb crucial is 44) to pop in this, and if you have some storage laying around, install linux mint...

www.techpowerup.com

 

[Selaya]

7745hx is essentially a delidded 7800x, it's chiplet and got the power-gobbling iod
not a very good plan when space for your cooling solution's at a premium

 

[Fouquin]

7745HX is 5nm node though, not as a good a node as 7840hs and 7940hs which have better graphi 700m vs 600m and on 4nm node

7940hs at 479 bucks last was the better deal imo

[US] - [USA] Zen 4 Ryzen 7940HS 5.2Ghz Minisforum PC $479

https://store.minisforum.com/products/minisforum-um790-pro?variant=43865372492021 has wifi 6 and bt 5.3 and all you need to buy is 2x16gb crucial ram sticks off amazon for 85 at 5600 rated speed (2x8gb crucial is 44) to pop in this, and if you have some storage laying around, install linux mint...

www.techpowerup.com

TSMC N4 is still just tweaked N5/5nm. The improvement between N5 and N4 is effectively a single-digit percentage overall. At 54/55W Dragon Range and Phoenix are very close in aggregate scoring. Phoenix makes sense in a mini-PC with no PCI-E expansion capabilities, that's where you do want a stellar iGPU. BD770i/790i have PCI-E for whichever GPU you want.

not a very good plan when space for your cooling solution's at a premium

The cooling solution is gigantic for the power rating of that chip. Dual heatpipes and ~80x120mmx45mm fin stack, that's borderline overkill for even the worst-case scenario of 75W, and it's mounted direct-die, AND it partially exhausts out the rear. If this board has thermal issues I would be stunned. If this were thin-ITX with only 20-30mm of cooling clearance MAYBE I'd agree with you, but that cooler is bigger than something like a Cryorig C7 which is rated for 100W.

Mini-ITX is perfect for Dragon Range. Plenty of headroom compared to a laptop. You don't want to stuff 55-75W inside a laptop, just ask Intel...

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

Damn, and I JUST ordered a i5 12400 and h670 itx mobo to upgrade my media PC.

The lack of SATA would do it in for me though. No such thing as a m.2 blu ray drive.

 

[Hardware1906]

7745HX is 5nm node though, not as a good a node as 7840hs and 7940hs which have better graphi 700m vs 600m and on 4nm node

7940hs at 479 bucks last was the better deal imo

[US] - [USA] Zen 4 Ryzen 7940HS 5.2Ghz Minisforum PC $479

https://store.minisforum.com/products/minisforum-um790-pro?variant=43865372492021 has wifi 6 and bt 5.3 and all you need to buy is 2x16gb crucial ram sticks off amazon for 85 at 5600 rated speed (2x8gb crucial is 44) to pop in this, and if you have some storage laying around, install linux mint...

www.techpowerup.com

in this form factor, there is a lot of headroom for overclockable cpu like 7745hx to stretch its leg while 7840HS and 7940HS only have pcie 4.0, only EXPO capable

 

[Selaya]

[ ... ]


The cooling solution is gigantic for the power rating of that chip. Dual heatpipes and ~80x120mmx45mm fin stack, that's borderline overkill for even the worst-case scenario of 75W, and it's mounted direct-die, AND it partially exhausts out the rear. If this board has thermal issues I would be stunned. If this were thin-ITX with only 20-30mm of cooling clearance MAYBE I'd agree with you, but that cooler is bigger than something like a Cryorig C7 which is rated for 100W.

Mini-ITX is perfect for Dragon Range. Plenty of headroom compared to a laptop. You don't want to stuff 55-75W inside a laptop, just ask Intel...

yeah but what if i dont like jet engines

 

[Chaitanya]

Damn, and I JUST ordered a i5 12400 and h670 itx mobo to upgrade my media PC.

The lack of SATA would do it in for me though. No such thing as a m.2 blu ray drive.

There are M.2 sata controller cards, granted you would need large cutout on rear of motherboard panel to access those.

 

[Shou Miko]

This here is a cool idea, I would love get one but it's too expensive for my wallet

I have that the chip has 28 PCI-E 5.0 lanes which means full x16, 2x X4 NVME but where has the last 4 lanes gone?

 

[Fouquin]

yeah but what if i dont like jet engines

It's... It's 55W versus 45W. Where are you buying 10W jet engines?

If you don't want it to be loud, mount a slower fan? Let's again compare to the Cryorig C7, which I'll remind you is a 100W rated cooling solution. With a 92mm fan it has a rated noise level at 30dBA, with 40CFM. If you somehow cannot find a 120mm fan that can't match 40CFM and stay under 30dBA, I don't know what to say.

 

[Shou Miko]

It's... It's 55W versus 45W. Where are you buying 10W jet engines?

Ali-Xtra-Express maybe?

 

[AusWolf]

I want it! I want it now!

Pricing for the BD770i is currently set at $399 USD for early orders, however the price is expected to increase to $499 USD after the launch period promotion expires.

Oh no. I changed my mind.

 

[A Computer Guy]

7745HX is 5nm node though, not as a good a node as 7840hs and 7940hs which have better graphi 700m vs 600m and on 4nm node

7940hs at 479 bucks last was the better deal imo

[US] - [USA] Zen 4 Ryzen 7940HS 5.2Ghz Minisforum PC $479

https://store.minisforum.com/products/minisforum-um790-pro?variant=43865372492021 has wifi 6 and bt 5.3 and all you need to buy is 2x16gb crucial ram sticks off amazon for 85 at 5600 rated speed (2x8gb crucial is 44) to pop in this, and if you have some storage laying around, install linux mint...

www.techpowerup.com

Ugh I wish these had ECC support so I can use them as low power servers.

 

[ymdhis]

Why is it a waste? Also: https://store.minisforum.com/products/minisforum-um790-pro

The 7745HX comes with a Radeon 610M so it's no different than if you bought any other ITX board and any other desktop Ryzen chip except maybe in power usage. Also this board doesn't have much I/O on the back either, to make room for cooling slots. I understand that it's meant to be a slim client / mini PC board, an environment where USB hubs are common, but still.

If it had a Phoenix APU (up to Radeon 780M), and maybe one or two USB3 headers on the board, then it would probably be my next upgrade, especially if the four NVMe slots can all work simultaneously.

 

[trsttte]

I'd rather wait until AMD rebrands the Phoenix apu's as proper desktop parts with AM5 socket. If you're desperate for this kind of solution this board is fine I guess but you could do much better with a regular mITX board with socketable CPU

 

[iO]

$500 will get you an equivalent R7 7700 + A620i or a 12700 + B760i and a cooler but only PCIe4.

So, nice tech but only really worth it for the initial $400 and if you want those PCIe5 lanes...