GMKtec NucBox K17 review: This Lunar Lake mini-PC punches above its price | usagoldmines.com

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Mini PCs featuring Intel’s Lunar Lake chip were a rarity until recently. GMKtec first incorporated the platform into the NucBox K13 and is now following up with the K17, a more affordable model. Instead of a Core Ultra 7, this model features a Core Ultra 5 226V. We put the device through our benchmark suite. The test shows how the more affordable model stacks up against the K13 and Ryzen competitors.

GMKtec NucBox K17 design and build quality

The K17 returns to the classic rectangular shape that GMKtec had most recently abandoned in favor of the flat K13. The case measures 5 x 5 x 1.75 inches and weighs 16.2 ounces. This results in a volume of around 0.76 ounces. Although the K13 is smaller at 0.63 ounces, its elongated shape means it occupies a similar amount of space on the desk.

Christoph Hoffmann

The top panel is made of light gray brushed aluminum and features the engraved manufacturer’s logo. Fingerprints are barely visible on it. The edges are generously rounded, and the gaps are uniform. A yellow-green power button on the front breaks up the understated design. Right next to it is the recessed reset button. It restarts the computer and, when pressed in the correct manner, also serves to clear the CMOS settings.

The cooler draws in air through slits on both sides and expels the heated air towards the rear. There, three wide ventilation grilles span the entire rear panel. Under the hood, two copper heat pipes and a turbine fan are at work. The external power supply delivers 100 watts at 20 volts and is compact in design. A Kensington lock is located on the left-hand side.

Christoph Hoffmann

GMKtec NucBox K17 specifications

Inside, the Intel Core Ultra 5 226V is at work. Lunar Lake utilizes, among other things, TSMC’s 3-nanometer manufacturing process and combines four Lion Cove cores with four Skymont Spark cores. As Lunar Lake does not support Hyper-Threading, the eight CPU cores can process a maximum of eight threads simultaneously. The clock speed ranges from 2.1- to 4.5GHz, and the Smart Cache measures 8MB. HWiNFO reports a base processor power of 17 watts. GMKtec provides three profiles set at 20, 25, and 35 watts. A peak of 37 watts is permitted for short periods.

Graphics are handled by the integrated Arc 130V with seven Xe cores and a clock speed of up to 1.85GHz. Some diagnostic tools report an Arc 140V here, but the number of Xe cores confirms the smaller variant. The NPU achieves up to 40 TOPS. The advertised 97 TOPS also includes the graphics unit and CPU.

Christoph Hoffmann

In Lunar Lake, the RAM is integrated into the processor package. HWiNFO lists eight Samsung chips, each with 2GB, connected via four channels. Together, this amounts to 16GB of LPDDR5X running at 8,533MT/s. An upgrade is not possible, and GMKtec does not offer a higher-capacity version either. For memory-intensive applications or virtual machines, 16GB can quickly become insufficient.

Two M.2-2280 slots are available for mass storage. The test unit features a 1TB EXT X200E SSD, connected via PCIe 4.0 with four lanes. The system features one M.2 slot with PCIe 5.0 x4 and a second with PCIe 4.0 x2, allowing for a total capacity of up to 16TB.

Christoph Hoffmann

At the front are two USB-A ports with speeds of 10- and 5Gbit/s respectively, a USB4 port with 40Gbit/s and a 3.5mm jack. The USB4 port accepts up to 100 watts via Power Delivery and outputs DisplayPort signals.

Christoph Hoffmann

Unlike the K13, this means there is a USB-C/USB4 port located directly on the front panel. At the rear are three USB-A ports at 5Gbit/s, an older USB 2.0 port, two HDMI 2.1 outputs, and the power socket. One of the two video outputs supports 8K at 60Hz, while the other supports 4K. Together with USB4, three monitors can be operated in parallel.

Christoph Hoffmann

Network speeds remain at 2.5Gbit/s via an Intel i226-V adapter. The K13 has the edge here with its 5Gbit port. The K17 connects wirelessly via Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2.

Christoph Hoffmann

It comes pre-installed with Windows 11 Pro version 25H2, build 26200; the BIOS is dated March 2026. Upon first start-up, several security updates were pending, which we installed before carrying out the measurements.

Christoph Hoffmann

Computing performance

In PCMark 10, the NucBox K17 achieved a total of 7,789 points. It scored 9,934 points for everyday tasks. PCMark 10 recorded 14,350 points for productivity and 8,996 points for content creation. Photo editing performed particularly well, scoring 15,417 points. Spreadsheet and writing tasks also performed strongly, scoring 14,059 and 14,648 points, respectively. Rendering and visualization scored 7,246 points, while video editing scored 6,518 points. The K13 with Core Ultra 7 256V achieved 7,695 points in our tests.

Christoph Hoffmann

The CPU profile in 3DMark clearly highlights Lunar Lake’s distinctive characteristics. At full load, the processor scores 4,614 points, putting it almost on a par with the K13, which achieves 4,698 points. Both processors are limited to eight threads, which restricts scaling under high levels of parallelization. The K16, with its 16-thread Ryzen, scores 6,691 points, while a Ryzen AI 9 scores over 9,700 points. In the single-core test, the picture changes: 1,093 points are on a par with the most powerful AMD models. The high single-core performance benefits applications that utilize only a few threads.

Christoph Hoffmann

The K17 performs significantly better in terms of graphics. In Time Spy, the Arc 130V achieves 3,789 points, of which 3,521 are graphics points. Depending on the system, the Radeon 890M achieves around 3,000 to 3,900 points in the Time Spy graphics test, whilst the Radeon 680M in the K16 manages just 1,762 points. The K13, with its larger Arc 140V, is around 6 percent ahead with 4,006 points. In the Steel Nomad Light test, the gap is even wider: 2,575 points and 19.1 frames per second compare with 3,176 points and 23.5 fps. The Fire Strike Ultra score stands at 2,000 points. In all three runs, our test unit outperforms the average for comparable systems as reported by 3DMark.

Cyberpunk 2077 runs in Full HD with low detail settings and XeSS enabled at an average of 38.1 frames per second, with a minimum of 31 fps. Reduced detail settings are required for demanding, modern games. Less demanding titles should run significantly more smoothly.

Christoph Hoffmann

Geekbench AI Pro could not be run on the K17 via the NPU. The test ran via the AVX2 path and thus via the CPU. It scored 2,657 points in single-precision, 1,262 in half-precision, and 5,522 in the quantized test. These figures reflect the CPU’s performance, not that of the NPU. The NPU test via OpenVINO could not be launched in Geekbench AI Pro, even with two different versions of Intel’s NPU driver (32.0.100.4778 and 32.0.100.4841).

Christoph Hoffmann

The SSD also achieves high transfer rates. In CrystalDiskMark, it reads sequentially at 7,123MB/s and writes at 6,335MB/s. This means the sequential read rate is close to the practical maximum for fast PCIe 4.0 x4 SSDs. The K16, with its PCIe 3.0 drive, achieves only about half that speed in sequential operations.

Christoph Hoffmann

Noise levels and power consumption

When idle and during office tasks, the turbine fan remains in the background. It only picks up speed slightly when the graphics unit is under sustained load. From a distance of 3 feet, the fan remained below our reliably measurable threshold while idle. Measured directly at the ventilation slots under full load, we recorded 27.3 dB(A).

In terms of power consumption, the K17 proves to be economical. In idle mode, the mini PC draws less than 7 watts from the outlet; under combined load during the benchmarks, this figure rises to between 25 and 35 watts. The supplied 100-watt power supply is therefore more than adequately rated.

No thermal issues arose during the test. After prolonged use, the SSD registered 42 degrees Celsius. The case surface warmed up noticeably but did not become uncomfortably hot. We found no evidence of throttling in the benchmark measurement logs.

Should you buy the GMKtec NucBox K17?

The NucBox K17 makes Intel’s Lunar Lake platform accessible at a list price of around $650. The Arc 130V graphics deliver high performance for an integrated solution and significantly outperform the Radeon 680M, for example. The SSD reads at over 7,000MB/s, and the range of connectivity options is extensive. With six USB-A ports, the K17 offers plenty of space for peripherals. Added to this are USB4 ports on the front and an 8K-capable HDMI output.

Its weaknesses are clearly defined. The RAM is limited to 16GB; a higher-capacity version is not available. Under multi-core workloads, the K17 lags behind Ryzen systems with 16 or more threads, and the network is capped at 2.5Gbit/s. For workstation tasks, a model with higher multi-core performance and more RAM makes more sense, such as the EVO-T2S.

We take a critical view of the pricing within the brand’s own range. The better-equipped K13, featuring a Core Ultra 7, Arc 140V, 5Gbit LAN, and two USB4 ports, costs only slightly more. Anyone who does not need the K17’s six USB-A ports will get the more powerful spec with its sister model. Warranty details vary depending on the sales channel. GMKtec specifies a warranty of either one or three years. Regardless of this, when purchasing as a consumer from a commercial retailer, you are entitled to statutory rights in respect of defects against the seller.

The K17 is a great value computer for office and multimedia work and is also suitable for gaming to a limited extent. The numerous USB-A ports are particularly handy for extensive peripheral setups.

Technical specifications

• Processor: Intel Core Ultra 5 226V (Lunar Lake), 8 cores/8 threads, up to 4.5GHz, 17 watts base power; profiles with 20/25/35 watts, up to 37 watts for short periods
• Graphics: Intel Arc 130V, 7 Xe cores, 400MHz to 1.85GHz
• NPU: Intel AI Boost, up to 40 TOPS; total AI performance up to 97 TOPS (Int8)
• RAM: 16GB LPDDR5X, 8,533 MT/s, integrated into the processor package, not expandable
• Internal storage: 1 TB M.2 2280 SSD (PCIe 4.0 x4), test unit with EXT X200E
• Expansion: 2 × M.2 2280 (1 × PCIe Gen5 x4, 1 × PCIe Gen4 x2), up to 16 TB in total
• Graphics output: 1 × HDMI 2.1 FRL (8K/60 Hz), 1 × HDMI 2.1 TMDS (4K/60 Hz), 1 × USB4 (4K/60 Hz), up to three displays
• Front ports: 1 × USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbit/s), 1 × USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbit/s), 1 × USB4 (40Gbit/s, DP, PD 100 W), 3.5 mm jack, Power, Reset
• Rear ports: 3 × USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbit/s), 1 × USB-A 2.0, 2 × HDMI 2.1, 2.5 Gbit RJ45 (Intel i226-V), DC-In
• Other: Kensington lock on the left-hand side of the chassis
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6E (RZ616), Bluetooth 5.2
• Operating system: Windows 11 Pro 25H2 (Build 26200)
• Power supply: 100-watt external (DC 20 V / 5 A)
• Dimensions: 5 x 5 x 1.75 inches
• Weight: 16.2 ounces