Beelink SER8 vs Minisforum N5 Pro
Minisforum N5 Pro is the more capable pick; Beelink SER8 is the cheaper one - which wins comes down to the job below.
The verdict
- CPU
- Minisforum N5 Pro has 1.2x the CPU throughput (33,292 vs 28,621 PassMark).
- Idle power
- Beelink SER8 idles lower (10W vs 33W) - cheaper to run 24/7.
- Networking
- Minisforum N5 Pro has more NICs (2 vs 1) - better for a firewall or VLAN trunk.
- Local AI
- Minisforum N5 Pro has a PCIe slot for a low-profile GPU - the other needs a DIY build for local LLMs.
Which wins for each job
| Job | Beelink SER8 | Minisforum N5 Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Plex / Jellyfin | ~5 streams | ~5 streams |
| Frigate NVR | add a detector | add a detector |
| Proxmox / VMs | 28,621 PassMark | 33,292 PassMark win |
| Firewall / router | 1 NICs | 2 NICs win |
| Local AI / LLM | no slot | PCIe GPU slot win |
Approximate - capacity estimates from curated specs, the same logic as the recommender. Verify against your exact setup. Prices move; check the retailer.
Full specs
| Spec | Beelink SER8 | Minisforum N5 Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Price (list) | $499 | $899 |
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 8745HS | AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 370 |
| Cores / threads | 8 | 12 |
| PassMark | 28,621 | 33,292 |
| iGPU | Radeon 780M (RDNA3) | Radeon 890M (RDNA3.5) |
| NICs | 1 | 2 |
| NIC model | Realtek RTL8125 | Marvell AQC113 10GbE plus Realtek 5GbE |
| RAM max (GB) | 96 | 96 |
| M.2 free | 1 | 3 |
| PCIe slot | none | x16 |
| Idle (W) | 10 | 33 |
| TDP (W) | 54 | 54 |