It’s the first mini PC I’ve experienced that isn’t limited to integrated graphics, and that opens a whole world of gaming and creative experiences I’ve not previously considered viable on a mini PC form factor like this.
I’ve been using the Beelink GTi13 Ultra for about three weeks now, and here is my full review.
This review was made possible thanks to a review sample provided by Beelink. The company had no input and did not see the contents of this review prior to publication.
Beelink GTi13 Ultra: Pricing & Availability
The Beelink GTi13 Ultra looks premium. (Image credit: Windows Central)
Specs (as reviewed)
Price: $599 from Beelink GPU: Intel Iris Xe GraphicsRAM: 32GB DDR5 5200MHzStorage: M.2 1TB SSDWireless: Wi-Fi 6 / Bluetooth 5.2Dimensions: 158 x 158 x 56 mm
The Beelink GTi13 Ultra is configurable with different RAM and storage options. The base configuration includes 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD storage, and usually retails for around $759 (though right now it’s $599 if you buy direct from Beelink .)
You can also upgrade the storage to 2TB and RAM to 64GB, and there’s an even higher-end configuration with 96GB RAM, which will normally set you back $1,039 (but is just $839 from Beelink right now!)
We’ve reviewed the entry-level model with 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD, which we think is going to be fine for most people buying this PC.
All configurations come with an Intel Core i9-13900HK, and can be configured in either “Frost Silver” or “Space Grey” colorways. Our review unit is of the Space Grey model.
Of course, Beelink also sells the dedicated graphics card docking station separately, which will set you back an additional $159 . This docking station includes one PCIe 8x slot, a USB port, Wi-Fi antenna extenders, and an additional M.2 SSD slot or Wi-Fi card module upgrade slot.
Beelink GTi13 Ultra: Design & Ports
The GTi13 Ultra looks like your typical high-end Beelink PC. (Image credit: Windows Central)
Kicking things off with design, the Beelink GTi13 Ultra looks clean and minimalist on any desk. It’s quite a bit larger than some of Beelink’s other mini PCs, and it’s definitely on the more premium side, with a metal chassis that surrounds all four sides as well as the top of the PC.
In regard to its size, it’s larger than the Beelink SER9, the company’s other flagship mini PC with an AMD Ryzen AI 9 SoC. That device comes in at just 135 x 135 x 44 mm, compared to the GTi 13 Ultra which measures in at 158 x 158 x 56 mm.
That makes it larger in all dimensions, likely to make room for the PCIe x8 slot that’s located on the underside of the PC.
The device is available in two colors, frost silver and space gray. My unit is the space gray one, which pairs very nicely with the Beelink dGPU dock we’ll be talking more about later in the review.
As always, we’ve got plenty of ports on the back. (Image credit: Windows Central)
There are also plenty of ports on the GTi13 Ultra, including a USB-A and USB-C port on the front, along with a full-sized SD card reader and 3.5mm audio jack. Around the back, we have four USB-A ports, a USB-C port, DisplayPort 1.4, and HDMI 2.1 out. We also have two 2.5G ethernet ports.
The front also includes a power button with a built-in fingerprint reader, and a microphone array housed in four small holes that run along the top front of the device.
Beelink GTi13 Ultra: Dock & Features
The PC and dock combo looks pretty good. (Image credit: Windows Central)
The big selling point of the Beelink GTi13 Ultra is that it features an PCIe 8x lane that’s neatly tucked away underneath the PC.
This PCIe lane is designed for dedicated GPUs, and Beelink has even built a special dock designed for this mini PC that lets you hook up pretty much any graphics card of your choice, with the dock supporting a maximum of 600W of power, meaning it should support the NVIDIA RTX 4090.
The dock is made out of plastic, and features a single PCIe lane that carries data from the graphics card to the mini PC.
When connected to the dock, the mini PC itself will sit upright on its side, still giving you access to the fingerprint reader while also leaving enough space for the graphics card and mini PC to get good airflow to remain optimally cool.
Setting up the dock is pretty straight forward, it comes with a universal bracket for the graphics card to hold it in place, as well as a smaller bracket for the mini PC that secures it in place when connected to the dock. The mini PC simply slides onto the area where the dock lines up with the mini PC’s PCIe slot.
The dock is more than just a graphics card device, too. It also includes an additional USB-A port for peripherals or external storage, and can even be opened up to install an additional M.2 SSD.
If you don’t need additional storage, you can use that same M.2 slot for a Wi-Fi card, which can increase the performance of wireless internet with a better antenna.
The PCIe lane runs along the bottom of the device. (Image credit: Windows Central)
The dock is an ingenious idea, and I really love how it looks when the setup is complete. I have it hooked up to my AMD Radeon 7600, and the whole package looks super neat and tidy.
It still takes up less room than a traditional desktop PC does, while maintaining similar performance. And of course, you don’t always have to use the dock if you don’t intend to use a dGPU often.
I do have one minor gripe with the dock, however. The dock has a separate power supply, which makes sense as it will need the extra juice for hungry graphics cards. But what’s annoying is the dock has its own separate power button that you must remember to press before turning on the mini-PC.
This means you need to hit two power buttons to successfully turn the mini PC on when using the dock, which is a bit of a pain.
I wish the mini PC was able to automatically wake and sleep the dock when you hit the power button on the PC itself only, but that unfortunately isn’t the case here.
Additionally, if you do forget to turn the dock on when you turn the PC on, you won’t see a picture on your monitor, and the only way to fix it is to shut off the mini PC, turn on the dock, then turn the mini PC back on.
I guess one solution to this problem would be to simply never turn the dock off. The graphics card will power down when you power off the mini PC, but the dock itself will remain “on” until you manually press the power button on it.
I’m not sure if leaving it on will cause any kind of damage long term, but I’m one of those people who likes to turn things off when I’m done with them at the end of a work day.
The dock is designed to let you connect any full-sized desktop GPU to the GTi13 Ultra. (Image credit: Windows Central)
Additionally, the graphics card you choose to connect will influence how quiet the overall PC is. The mini PC on its own is super quiet, even under heavy load. But with a dedicated GPU connected, the graphics card’s fans will be more audible, and that can be a bit frustrating if you’re sensitive to that kind of thing.
This is enhanced because the graphics card isn’t enclosed in a PC case like it normally would be in a tower PC, so it’s right by your workspace and clearly audible.
The Mini PC also includes other features, including a fingerprint reader that’s neatly built right into the power button on the front of the PC. This fingerprint reader is excellent; it’s nice and large and easy to hit, and is superfast at recognizing your fingerprint too. I love using this for Windows Hello login.
The PC also features upgradable RAM and storage, which you can access by popping off the bottom plastic cover to gain access to the insides. The plastic cover is held in with four screws that are easily removable, and from there you just pull the bottom cover off to gain access to the RAM and storage slots.
There are two M.2 SSD slots, one of which will already be occupied.
Beelink GTi13 Ultra: Performance
There’s lots of ports. (Image credit: Windows Central)
Unsurprisingly, performance of the Beelink GTi13 Ultra is nothing short of impressive. The Intel Core i9-13900HK powering things under the hood is a beast of a PC chip, capable to tackling pretty much any task you’ll likely want to throw at a mini PC, including gaming, photo editing, video editing, and data crunching.
In our Cinebench 2024 testing, the CPU earned a single-core score of 122 and multicore score of 906, placing it amongst other high-end creative PCs such as the Lenovo Yoga AiO 9i and Geekom GT1 Mega.
In our Geekbench 6 testing, the Beelink GTi13 Ultra was a bit more of a let-down. Single-core was good with a score of 2,787, but its multicore score was slightly lower than we were expecting, around 12,573, placing it below the Geekom A7 and GT1 Mega.
In day to day usage and heavy workflows, however, the performance of the Intel Core i9 inside the GTi13 Ultra is nothing short of excellent.
It’s a powerful chip that can handle most tasks. SSD performance is also excellent, with CrystalDiskMark achieving 5195MB/s read and 4742MB/s write speeds.
The same can’t be said for the integrated graphics, which is mediocre and disappointing. You won’t want to use the Intel UHD Graphics for anything intensive, but if you’re buying this mini PC you’re likely interested in utilizing that PCIe lane for a dedicated GPU card, which will boost graphics performance significantly.
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(Image credit: Windows Central)
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For this review, I paired the Beelink GTI13 Ultra with an AMD Radeon 7700X, which allowed me to treat the mini PC as a gaming PC.
With the card connected, I was able to run all my favorite games at a smooth frame rate at 2K resolution, with most games set to medium or high graphics.
For example, in our 3DMark Time Spy test, the GTi13 Ultra achieved a low 2,121 score when using the integrated Iris Xe graphics.
But when a GPU was connected to the dock, the score skyrocketed to 11,015, placing it up there with full-sized desktop PCs with RTX 4070 and 3080 cards.
For the Beelink GTi13 Ultra, you can choose to hook up any dedicated graphics card of your choice, as long as it’s compatible with a PCIe x8 lane.
That includes the new high-end NVIDIA RTX graphics cards. So if you wanted to increase that performance score, you could very easily do so with a GPU upgrade down the line.
Beelink GTi13 Ultra: Should you buy it?
Can’t argue with a good looking mini PC. (Image credit: Windows Central)
You should buy this if …
You should not buy this if …
The Beelink GTi13 Ultra is what I’d consider to be a workhorse mini PC. It’s a device designed to get work done, purchased for a specific purpose that you already know you need it for.
In this case, any task that requires graphics performance. While you can buy the Beelink GTi13 Ultra without the dock for use as a standalone mini PC, I don’t know why you would, as Beelink has better options out there for that, including the SER9.
The GTi13 Ultra’s big selling point is that PCIe lane, which pairs with the dock and allows you to hook up any dedicated graphics card of your choosing.
The integration between the mini PC and dock could be better; I don’t like how you have to manually power on both the dock and mini PC when turning on the PC, but this is a small gripe that most people will get over.
If you’re in the market for a small PC that can take any PCIe 8x graphics card, the Beelink GTi13 Ultra is a great choice. The Dock itself isn’t that expensive either, coming in at just $159 and doubling as an expandable storage bay for an additional M.2 drive.
The Beelink GTi13 Ultra is available in multiple configurations, but we think the most value for money is the model with 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD storage, and an Intel Core i9-13900HK.
