T-BAO R5

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• T-BAO R5 $489.99
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T-BAO R5 Mini PC

Want a MiniPC with an original shape for good reasons? The T-Bao R5 is the candidate you need. Proposed under the reference Chartreey AMR5 in the past, it was around 480€ in Barebone version.

A rather high price considering the components that will have to be added to make it a viable machine. The T-Bao R5 is much more interesting in terms of price, as it is announced for pre-order at $489.99 with 16GB of dual-channel DDR4 RAM, 512GB of NVMe PCIe SSD and a Windows 10 license.

For this price, we find the same MiniPC with the appearance of a space base. With a big button on the front, animated LEDs on the side and a very original look. Standing upright, the MiniPC features front panel connectivity including two USB 3.0 ports and a USB Type-C with DisplayPort and data as well as a 3.5mm audio combo jack. LEDs are also present to signal the machine’s power on and data access.

The rear connectivity offers two additional USB 3.0 ports, DisplayPort, HDMI and Gigabit Ethernet. Power is provided by an external power supply. The choice of this device in height is quite interesting for once since this mini tower offers an optimized airflow with a ventilation system that crosses its chassis to extract the heated air to the rear.

On the right side of the shell we find a removable cover that opens access to interesting innards. The two SoDIMM RAM slots in the first place, which will allow the machine to evolve quite easily on this station up to 64 GB of DDR4. Even if the 16 GB on board are, in my opinion, more than enough for the majority of uses of this type of machine. Above, not one but two storage slots in M.2 2280 format. The first one will carry the basic 512GB and your Windows 10 license but the second one will be available to simply add a second NVMe PCIe SSD of your choice if needed.

The network part is provided by a Wi-Fi6 and Bluetooth 5.0 module with antennas integrated in the chassis. The whole thing measures 13.3 cm high for 15.6 cm deep and 7.2 cm wide at the base. Due to its shape, it is impossible to position the T-Bao R5 on a VESA mount. You will have to put it on a desk or a shelf and make sure that the air extraction as well as the spiral are well clear.

With a Ryzen 5 5600U on board, the overall performance level should be excellent for this machine which will have no limits of use for a private profile. Its great particularity, besides its appearance, comes from its button-shaped start button. This one allows to switch between three modes by playing on the TDP of the processor. The Ryzen 5 5600U is a Zen3 processor that offers 6 cores and 12 threads. It embeds a Vega 7 graphics chipset which will be able to drive all the classic uses very well, but also recent and general public games without too many difficulties.

The performance of the Ryzen 5 5600U in gaming is amazing, if the chip does not allow to activate all the graphic fantasies of the most greedy games, it opens the door to very varied titles in good conditions. This does not make this T-Bao R5 a “Gamer PC” and this is not its vocation. But it will be possible to play properly. This makes it a good family solution, a perfect PC for a future schoolboy or student. A machine that can do its accounts as well as edit pictures, edit a video or play a game regularly. All this with a possible evolution of its components and the possibility to drive three screens.

But the T-Bao R5 hides a funny little secret. The Ryzen 5 5600U is a processor that was originally designed for laptops and will automatically regulate the TDP to limit the power consumption of the machine, ranging from 10 to 25 watts. The system will switch to 25 watts when you activate a “gaming” mode or will remain at 15 watts the rest of the time. In mobility, the system will switch to 10 watts and will push 15 watts on demand.

The T-Bao R5 takes up this idea with its rotary knob. Three modes are announced and play directly on the TDP of the processor. The basic mode will probably aim at 15 watts with a behavior that will offer the best compromise between consumption, heating and performance. Perfect for all surfing and office work. The “Silence” mode will probably switch to 10 watts to reduce consumption to a minimum. This mode will allow you to surf and do office work without worrying, but will not give the best of the processor’s capacities in game mode.

Finally, the “Performance” mode will push the processor to 25 Watts to get the best computing capabilities. It will be necessary to play more recent games or launch heavy computing operations such as rendering or video compression. This original approach could have been entrusted to keyboard shortcuts rather than a physical interface, but this avoids the development of the necessary software and offers an excuse for the design of this machine.

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