Every GMKtec machine we’ve looked at recently has asked photographers to accept the same compromise: brilliant integrated graphics, but integrated graphics all the same. The NEO-X1 Series, launching on 17 August, changes that. This is GMKtec’s first compact desktop built around a proper discrete NVIDIA card, and for anyone whose work leans on GPU power — grading in DaVinci Resolve, heavy Premiere Pro exports, 3D and CG — it’s the most interesting thing the company has announced this year. Full details are on the official NEO-X1 Pro page.
Why the discrete GPU matters
The NEO-X1 Pro pairs AMD’s Ryzen 9 9955HX3D, 16 cores, 32 threads, with an extra 64MB of L3 cache, with a full desktop GeForce RTX 5070 carrying 12GB of dedicated VRAM. The standard NEO-X1 uses the Ryzen 9 9955HX and an RTX 5060 Ti 8GB.
That 12GB of VRAM is the number photographers and editors should focus on. Integrated graphics share system memory; a discrete card has its own, and GPU-bound tasks scale directly with it. DaVinci Resolve’s noise reduction and grading, Premiere Pro’s effects rendering and exports, and Lightroom Classic’s AI Denoise all run meaningfully faster with a card like this behind them. It also unlocks NVIDIA’s ecosystem — CUDA acceleration is still better supported across creative applications than the alternatives, and the RTX 5070 supports DLSS 4.5 if you also game.
The memory and storage story
Here’s where the NEO-X1 diverges sharply from the EVO line, and it’s good news. It uses 32GB of DDR5-5600 in dual-channel configuration — actual memory modules, not the soldered LPDDR5X of the EVO-X2, EVO-X3 and EVO-X1 Pro. That means it should be upgradable down the line, which is something none of the AI Max+ machines can offer at any price.
Storage is generous too: two PCIe 5.0 M.2 slots supporting up to 16TB in total, with tool-free access for drive upgrades. For anyone keeping a full photo catalogue and active video projects on internal NVMe, that’s ample, and PCIe 5.0 gives headroom the EVO series (PCIe 4.0) doesn’t have.
The compromises
Two things to weigh. First, this isn’t really a mini PC — at 14.6 litres it’s a small-form-factor desktop, not something that disappears into a camera bag like the 590g EVO-X1 Pro. It has carry handles on top, which tells you GMKtec sees it as transportable rather than portable.
Second, networking is 2.5GbE rather than 10GbE. That’s consistent across GMKtec’s range and remains our standing complaint: if you edit 4K directly off a NAS, this still isn’t the machine for it. Wi-Fi 7 is present.
Cooling and power look serious, at least — an integrated liquid-cooling system with triple fans, a 13-phase power delivery design sustaining 160W to the CPU, and an 850W fully modular 80 Plus Gold power supply. That should mean it holds performance through long renders rather than throttling.
Where it sits against the EVO machines
A word of warning on naming, because GMKtec hasn’t made this easy: the NEO-X1 Pro is an entirely different machine from the EVO-X1 Pro. The EVO uses a Ryzen AI chip with integrated Radeon graphics in a tiny chassis; the NEO uses a mobile Ryzen 9 on a desktop board with a discrete NVIDIA card in a 14.6-litre case. Same “X1 Pro” suffix, completely different propositions.
Broadly: if you want maximum GPU power and upgradable memory, the NEO-X1 Pro. If you want a huge unified memory pool for running large AI models locally, the EVO-X2 or EVO-X3. If you want something genuinely pocketable, the EVO-X1 Pro.
GMKtec NEO-X1 Pro: Specifications
Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX3D (16 cores / 32 threads, Zen 5, MoDT — mobile-on-desktop, with 64MB additional L3 cache); NEO-X1 uses the Ryzen 9 9955HX.
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 12GB with DLSS 4.5 support; NEO-X1 uses the RTX 5060 Ti 8GB.
Memory: 32GB DDR5-5600, dual channel.
Storage: dual PCIe 5.0 M.2 slots, up to 16TB total, tool-free upgrades.
Cooling: integrated triple-fan liquid cooling; sustained 160W CPU performance; 13-phase power delivery.
Power supply: 850W fully modular, 80 Plus Gold.
Chassis: 14.6 litres with carry handles.
Networking: Wi-Fi 7 and 2.5G Ethernet.
Front ports: 2x USB Type-A, USB Type-C, 3.5mm audio.
GMKtec NEO-X1 Pro: Price and availability
The NEO-X1 Series launches on 17 August 2026 at 00:00 PST. GMKtec lists the NEO-X1 Pro at $2,099.99, with a $50 early-bird discount available to those who subscribe ahead of launch. UK pricing will be listed via GMKtec’s UK store — we’ll update this story once it’s confirmed.
