Geekom mini PC review: single-channel RAM iGPU bottleneck

The most expensive bottleneck in a tiny computer can be the part that looks least dramatic on the spec sheet. Not the processor badge, not the metal chassis, not the ports lined up like a little I/O city skyline, but the RAM configuration. One lonely memory channel feeding an integrated GPU is like hiring a getaway driver for a vault job, then discovering they arrived on a folding bicycle. That is the useful hardware lesson inside the Geekom A9 Max review trail. The machine is not interesting because it is bad, it is interesting because it shows how a very capable mini PC can be kneecapped by a configuration choice buyers often skim past. Integrated graphics live or die by memory bandwidth, and in a mini PC, that detail is not academic. It is the difference between the silicon doing the job and the silicon waiting in line at the cafeteria.

The buried spec that changes

the teardown TechPowerUp reports in its GEEKOM A9 Max (2026 Update) Review that the A9 Max 2026 Edition is listed at US$1,699 with 32 GB single-channel RAM and a 2 TB SSD. That is the spec that makes the whole board-level story pivot. The same TechPowerUp conclusion notes that its sample shipped in single-channel memory mode, and that this hurts Radeon 890M graphics performance. Let’s talk about what they did not put in parade lights: the memory topology. A Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 and Radeon 890M sound like the starring actors, but an integrated GPU does not have its own private memory estate like a discrete graphics card. It shares system RAM, so if the memory path is narrow, the GPU spends too much time politely asking for pixels like it is at a deli counter with one ticket machine. That flow is the teardown without removing a screw. The processor can be modern, the graphics block can be competent, and the chassis can feel premium, but the path between compute and memory still decides how much work gets done per breath. In small systems, the unglamorous plumbing often wins the argument.

Why the Radeon 890M wants

a wider hallway TechPowerUp’s most important sentence is not the price, it is the observation that Radeon 890M graphics are still strong for an integrated GPU when properly fed by memory bandwidth. That qualifier is the trapdoor under the marketing stage. The GPU block is not the only performance part in the system, because the RAM arrangement controls how quickly it can be supplied. This is counterintuitive if you shop by processor names. A buyer sees Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 and assumes the iGPU result follows naturally, like ordering a large coffee and receiving a large coffee. In reality, the memory channel count is the barista, the grinder, the water pressure, and the person yelling that the oat milk is out. If that side of the system is constrained, the graphics engine does not become worse silicon, it becomes underfed silicon. That distinction matters for mini PC buyers because the workload determines whether the bottleneck shows up. Office work and media use may still feel tidy, while gaming, GPU accelerated creation, and heavier visual workloads are more likely to expose the squeeze. The lesson is not to avoid the A9 Max by reflex. The lesson is to read the RAM line with the same suspicion you bring to wattage claims and cooling diagrams.

The rest of

the box is not the villain TechPowerUp’s review also credits the A9 Max with a compact metal chassis, dual USB4, dual HDMI 2.1, dual 2.5 GbE, Wi-Fi 7, SD 4.0, and two internal M.2 slots. That is a serious little connectivity spread, the kind of port layout that makes a desk setup easier without dragging a hub octopus into the room. The storage expansion note is especially useful, because mini PCs often live or die by how many compromises they hide under the bottom plate. This is why the memory issue is so instructive rather than merely annoying. The surrounding design gives the machine a lot of practical appeal, according to TechPowerUp, and the iGPU warning does not erase that. It simply tells you where the configuration is spending, and where it is saving. Hardware is a budget of electrical, thermal, mechanical, and bill of materials decisions, all crammed into a box small enough to disappear behind a monitor. The review also notes that the physical design and port layout are largely unchanged from the 2025 model, and that there is no front USB-C port. Those are usability details, not mortal wounds. But they reinforce the same buying principle: do not stop at the headline chip. Follow the electrons, then follow your cables.

The buyer move is simple: check

the RAM path first TechPowerUp says the A9 Max can be moved to dual-channel memory with a second compatible RAM module, while also noting that getting the best iGPU performance means adding RAM, which raises the total cost. That is the practical takeaway buried under the review dust. If the configuration ships in single-channel mode, the purchase price is not the whole performance price. For buyers, the checklist is wonderfully unromantic. Before falling for a processor badge, confirm whether the mini PC ships with dual-channel memory, whether the RAM is upgradeable, and whether adding the second module changes the real cost of the system. If you plan to lean on integrated graphics, treat memory bandwidth as part of the GPU spec, not as a side dish. For builders and tinkerers, this is also a reminder that upgrades are sometimes less about capacity and more about topology. Adding memory is not only about having more room for applications, it can change how well the iGPU is fed. Watch the next wave of mini PC reviews for the same tell: if the CPU name sounds heroic but the RAM channel count looks lonely, the bottleneck may already be standing there with a clipboard.