Mini PCs continue to carve out a significant space on our desks, and GEEKOM is a familiar name in this arena. They’re back with an update to their popular IT line, dubbing it the GEEKOM IT13 2025 Edition. The headline feature here is the jump to an Intel Core i9-13900HK processor, a potent mobile chip promising serious performance in a box barely bigger than a sandwich. For its asking price, typically around $699.00 on Amazon for the configuration with 32GB of DDR4 RAM and a 1TB NVMe SSD, it aims to hit a sweet spot for power users needing more than basic web browsing.
We’ve spent some time putting this little machine through its paces, looking beyond the specs at how it handles everyday productivity, creative workflows in apps like Photoshop and Premiere Pro, and even a bit of casual gaming using its integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics. The IT13 has always appealed with its sturdy build, generous port array featuring dual USB4 ports, and notably straightforward upgradability – something GEEKOM seems to have refined further here. Let’s dig in and see how this ‘2025 Edition’ truly performs and stacks up against the competition in today’s mini PC landscape.
Unboxing and First Look
Okay, let’s get this GEEKOM IT13 2025 Edition out of its box. Inside, you find the usual suspects: the mini PC itself, a 120-watt power brick with its accompanying “Mickey Mouse” style power cable, an HDMI cable which is always handy, and a VESA mounting bracket complete with screws. GEEKOM also includes a small thank you card and a concise user manual covering both the IT12 and IT13 models. Picking up the IT13, the first impression is one of solidity. The full metal case feels quite premium and gives it a reassuring heft, tipping the scales at 652 grams. It’s genuinely compact, measuring just 11.7 by 11.3 centimeters, and standing 5 centimeters tall. This thing will disappear on most desks or tuck neatly behind a monitor using that included VESA mount.
Taking a tour around the chassis reveals a practical design focused on function. The top is clean, featuring just the GEEKOM logo. Air intake happens through metal mesh panels on the left and right sides. The front panel keeps it simple with a headphone/microphone combo jack, a square LED-lit power button, and two blue USB-A ports – these are the faster USB 3.2 Gen 2 type, good for up to 10 gigabits per second.
Flipping to the right side, besides the mesh, there’s a Kensington lock slot, useful for securing the PC in public or shared spaces. The left side mirrors the mesh intake but adds a very welcome feature: a full-size SD card reader. This is a huge plus for photographers, videographers, or anyone frequently moving files from cameras.
The rear panel is where most of the action happens. You get two HDMI 2.0 ports, capable of driving 4K displays at 60Hz. Alongside those are two more USB-A ports: another blue 10Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 port, and a standard black USB 2.0 port, perfect for keyboards or mice that don’t need high speed. The stars of the show here are the two USB4 ports. These USB-C style connectors run at 40Gbps, are Thunderbolt compatible, and can also output video. GEEKOM states you can connect up to four displays simultaneously (two via HDMI, two via USB4), supporting up to 8K resolution at 30Hz through the USB4 ports. A 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet port provides fast wired networking, and finally, there’s the DC power input jack. It’s a thoughtful touch that the main exhaust vents are also on the rear, directing warm air away from the user.
Easy Upgrades Inside
One of the key advantages mini PCs like this offer over many laptops or integrated systems is user access for upgrades. GEEKOM makes this particularly easy on the IT13 2025. Flipping it over, you just need to remove four standard Phillips-head screws from the bottom feet – no prying off sticky rubber strips here. Once the screws are out, the bottom panel lifts off. Be mindful of the fairly sturdy ribbon cable connecting the bottom panel (which houses the 2.5” drive bay) to the main motherboard. Carefully setting the bottom panel aside reveals the main components.
RAM and Storage Options
Inside, you’ll find two DDR4 SODIMM slots, populated in this configuration with two 16GB sticks running at 3200MHz, totaling 32GB of RAM. This can be user-upgraded to a maximum of 64GB. Next to the RAM is the primary M.2 slot, a standard 2280 size using the NVMe protocol. Our unit came with a 1TB Kingston SSD, though GEEKOM states support for up to 2TB drives in this slot. Speeds from this drive, measured by CrystalDiskMark, hit around 4620 MB/s for sequential reads and 3211 MB/s for sequential writes – decent performance for an NVMe drive.
There’s also a shorter M.2 2242 slot positioned centrally. Importantly, this slot is for SATA M.2 drives, not NVMe, and supports capacities up to 1TB. Finally, tucked into the bottom cover itself is the bay for a traditional 2.5-inch SATA drive (SSD or HDD), up to 7mm thick and 2TB in capacity. Adding a drive here requires connecting it to the port on the bottom cover before reassembly. The internal layout is clean, and the absence of fragile Wi-Fi antenna wires snaking around makes swapping RAM or SSDs less nerve-wracking compared to some other mini PCs.
Performance Under the Hood
Now, let’s talk about the engine driving this machine: the Intel Core i9-13900HK. This is a mobile powerhouse CPU with 14 cores (6 high-performance P-cores and 8 efficient E-cores) and 20 threads, capable of boosting up to 5.4 GHz. GEEKOM configures it with a 45-watt power limit (TDP). That boost clock speed sounds impressive, but the 45W limit dictates real-world performance, especially under multi-core loads. Running Cinebench R23 gives a good illustration. In the single-core test, the CPU stretches its legs, hitting speeds up to 5.2 GHz and scoring a respectable ~1680 points. However, even a single P-core can pull around 30 watts and push hotspot temperatures towards 100°C before the fans really spin up.
When all cores are engaged in the multi-core test, the 45W power budget has to be shared. Performance here is still decent for a mini PC, but it can’t match desktop counterparts like an i5-13600K, which scores roughly double in Cinebench R23 multi-core despite having similar core counts on paper. This isn’t really GEEKOM’s fault; cooling such a potent chip in a tiny chassis is inherently challenging. Compared to other mini PCs and laptops, however, the IT13 holds its own. Geekbench single-core scores are highly competitive, putting it on par with devices like an Asus Swift 14 AI equipped with a newer Core Ultra 7. Multi-core Geekbench scores are less dominant, occasionally falling slightly behind some 8-core laptop chips found in machines like the Asus Swift or Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro.
Integrated Graphics Performance
Graphics are handled by the integrated Intel Iris Xe GPU. This is a capable integrated solution, but it’s not the latest generation found in Intel’s Core Ultra chips or AMD’s Ryzen processors. Synthetic benchmarks paint a clear picture. In the popular 3DMark Time Spy test, it achieved a score of 1975 points. While respectable for this class of iGPU, it trails behind newer integrated solutions significantly. Other tests like 3DMark Wild Life Extreme show a similar trend, where the IT13 reportedly scores about 20% lower than some laptops equipped with more modern Intel graphics. Tests like 3DMark Fire Strike also show decent, but not outstanding, results. This performance level is adequate for general use and light graphical tasks but sets expectations for gaming. Crucially for sustained performance, the IT13 achieved a very good 98.9% stability score in the 3DMark Time Spy Stress Test, indicating it maintains its performance well under prolonged load without significant thermal throttling.
Real-World Application Use
This performance profile translates interestingly into real-world applications. For tasks that lean heavily on single-core speed, like digital audio workstations (DAWs) such as Ableton Live 12, the IT13 shines. It handles numerous live effects and MIDI instruments smoothly where lower-end hardware might stutter. Productivity tasks like web browsing with many tabs, office documents, and general multitasking feel fast and responsive. On the Browserbench Speedometer test, it scored 24.3, a decent score though slightly behind some machines with the latest Ryzen AI chips.
Creative Workloads
Creative work is a bit more mixed. Adobe Photoshop runs most tasks well, but the mismatch between the powerful CPU and the older iGPU becomes apparent. Simple actions like dragging text around a large image can feel laggy with the default graphics processor setting enabled. Disabling GPU acceleration in Photoshop makes these actions smoother, letting the CPU shoulder the load. In Adobe Premiere Pro, editing 4K footage is manageable for basic cuts and effects. The system starts to struggle noticeably when dealing with 6K RAW footage, multiple superimposed video layers, or when setting playback resolution to full, highlighting the iGPU’s limitations. You could connect an external GPU (eGPU) via one of the USB4/Thunderbolt ports for more demanding graphical work, but that adds significant cost and bulk.
Gaming
Gaming performance reflects the iGPU’s capabilities, as hinted by the 3DMark scores. This isn’t marketed as a gaming PC, and the experience bears that out. Lighter titles run well; games like League of Legends or Hades can easily achieve high frame rates at 1080p. Fortnite manages an impressive average around 90 FPS at 1080p using the ‘Very Low’ preset. More demanding competitive shooters show the strain. Rainbow Six Siege hovers around 60 FPS (likely on low settings), but intriguingly, the iGPU only draws about 13 watts on average during gameplay, suggesting the power-hungry CPU might be limiting the power available to the GPU within the shared 45W envelope.
Counter-Strike 2 similarly struggles, hitting a maximum of about 65 FPS on the low preset at 1080p, gaining only another 10 FPS (to ~75 FPS) with FidelityFX set to Performance. For truly demanding AAA titles like Cyberpunk 2077, expect frame rates just under or around 30 FPS even at 1080p lowest settings. Casual gaming is definitely possible, but competitive players or those wanting to play modern AAA games should look elsewhere.
Network and Connectivity Tests
On the connectivity front, the wired 2.5Gb Ethernet port performs as expected, capable of saturating multi-gigabit internet connections – tests showed speeds around 2.3 Gbps downstream and upstream. The USB4 ports also deliver, providing full Thunderbolt speeds (in line with 40Gbps expectations) when tested with a compatible external SSD.
Wi-Fi performance, however, was less impressive. Despite having Wi-Fi 6E onboard, tests on a Wi-Fi 6 network yielded speeds around 250 Mbps down and 400 Mbps up, significantly lower than the expected 700+ Mbps. This is a common challenge in compact metal chassis where antenna placement can be difficult, potentially limiting wireless range and speed compared to laptops with antennas integrated into the display lid. Bluetooth 5.2 is also included for wireless peripherals.
Cooling, Noise, and Power Draw
Keeping the i9 cool in this small space requires active cooling. At idle or during light tasks like web browsing, the fan is often very quiet or completely silent. Power consumption at idle hovers around a low 10 watts. When the CPU or GPU is pushed during benchmarks, heavy rendering, or gaming, the fan spins up and becomes audible. It’s not an irritatingly high-pitched whine, but it’s definitely noticeable. The maximum power draw observed under heavy load was around 57 watts.
Thankfully, thermal management seems effective enough to prevent major throttling, as reinforced by the high 98.9% stability score in the 3DMark stress test, meaning performance shouldn’t degrade significantly during long sessions.
Software and OS Compatibility
The GEEKOM IT13 2025 Edition ships with a clean, fully licensed version of Windows 11 Pro. There’s no unwanted bloatware pre-installed, which is refreshing. You just go through the standard Windows setup process. Being Windows 11 Pro, it supports features like Microsoft Remote Desktop, making it suitable for unattended uses like digital signage controllers, kiosk systems, or remote access workstations. Its ability to drive four displays also lends itself well to business or storefront scenarios.
For users preferring a different operating system, Linux compatibility is generally good. Testing with a recent version of Ubuntu showed that essential hardware like video, audio, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth worked correctly out of the box, providing a smooth Linux experience. Dual-booting Windows and Linux is certainly an option given the available storage flexibility.
Final Verdict
So, is the GEEKOM IT13 2025 Edition a good deal at around $699? You get a lot packed into this small metal box: a very fast i9 processor (for single tasks, anyway), plenty of RAM and storage to start, loads of ports including two speedy USB4 connections, and it’s super easy to add more memory or storage later. The build quality feels great, and the SD card reader is a nice bonus.
But, it’s not perfect. That i9 gets held back a bit in heavy multi-core work because of the small size and cooling, and the built-in graphics are okay for everyday stuff but definitely lag behind newer chips for gaming or intense creative work. The Wi-Fi could also be faster.
Thinking about other choices? You might look at mini PCs with newer Intel Core Ultra or AMD Ryzen 7000/8000 series chips. These often cost around the same or a bit more but usually come with much better integrated graphics, which makes a big difference for gaming or video editing. Of course, there’s always the Apple Mac Mini, but that’s a whole different operating system and often a higher price point, especially when you match the RAM and storage. It really depends on what you need those ports and that specific i9 H-series chip for.
