MinisForum HM50 vs HM80 Comparison – Is it worth it?

Today we are checking out the MinisForum HM50 Ryzen 5 and MinisForum HM80 Ryzen 7 mini PC’s. We will be unboxing it and taking a look at the features. Then running some system and gaming benchmarks to see their performance and compare the results. In this test between the MinisForum HM50 vs the HM80, we’ll find out if it’s really worth the upgrade.

MinisForum HM50 vs HM80 Comparison Video

MinisForum HM80 Unboxing

Let’s start with the unboxing. Both models are identical in appearance and box contents. We begin with the quick start guide which is in multiple languages including English, German and French. Next we have the MinisForum mini PC which we will show in more detail shortly.

Underneath the packaging are a power brick and power cable. We will include the correct adapter for your country. There is a HDMI cable for connecting to your display. There is a hard drive fitting plate and SATA cable for when installing a 2.5” HDD or SSD inside. And last but not least is a VESA mounting plate and screws to attach the mini PC to the back of your display.

MinisForum HM50 Overview

The HM50 and HM80 measures around 5.9 x 5.9 x 2.16 inches ( 15 x 15 x 5.5 cm ) and weighs 672g. On the front are 3.5mm microphone and headphone jacks. There are two USB 3 ports and a USB Type-C port.

On the back are four USB 3 ports. Beside those are two ethernet ports, one is 2.5 gigabit and the second is 1 gigabit. There are both HDMI and DisplayPort which can be used together for dual monitor display. And there is a second USB Type-C port which is used for the power.

Inside the MinisForum HM80

Both models can be opened and upgraded. You can, if you wish to, upgrade the RAM and NVMe storage. There is also space inside to install two 2.5” hard drives or SSDs to further expand the storage capacity.

MinisForum HM50 and HM80 Technical Specifications

A very brief look at the technical specifications for both models.

	MINISFORUM HM50	MINISFORUM HM80
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 4500U	AMD Ryzen 7 4800U
CORES / THREADS	6 / 6	8 / 16
BASE / MAX FREQUENCY	2.3 Ghz / 4.00 Ghz	1.8 Ghz / 4.20 Ghz
GPU	AMD Radeon Graphics with 6 cores up to 1,500 Mhz	AMD Radeon™ Graphics with 8 cores up to 1,750 Mhz
RAM	16GB or 32GB depending on configuration Dual-Channel DDR4 SO-DIMM 3,200 Mhz	16GB or 32GB depending on configuration Dual-Channel DDR4 SO-DIMM 3,200 Mhz
STORAGE	512GB / 1 TB Depending on configuration PCI-E NVMe SATA SSD	512GB / 1 TB Depending on configuration PCI-E NVMe SATA SSD
CONNECTIVITY	1x RJ45 Gigabit ; 1x RJ45 2.5 Gigabit Wi-Fi 6 (Dual-Band) Bluetooth 5.1	1x RJ45 Gigabit ; 1x RJ45 2.5 Gigabit Wi-Fi 6 (Dual-Band) Bluetooth 5.1

A quick note that you can use the discount code MINIS5 for 5% off any MinisForum EliteForum Mini PC on our store. We are based in the UK and ship and support from there.

System Benchmarks

PassMark

We will start off the benchmarks with PassMark, which pushes the CPU, GPU, RAM and storage to their limits. This provides an indicator of max performance in each key area.

The MinisForum HM50 mini PC scores 4,559

The MinisForum HM80 mini computer scores 4,699

This gives us a score difference of around 3%. It is not a massive difference but we may see larger changes later.

PCMark

Unlike PassMark, PCMark tests more real world usage such as day to day tasks. These tests include performance testing web browsing, working with large office documents, image editing and much more.

The HM50 desk mini PC scores 5,097.

The HM80 scores 5,413.

This gives us a score difference of around 6%. The gap between the two models is slightly growing.

3DMark

3DMark tests the CPU and GPU together to see the video performance which can include usages such as video encoding and decoding, and of course gaming.

The MinisForum HM50 scores 1,111

And the MinisForum HM80 scores 1,361

That’s a score difference of around 20%. We can start to see a larger gap between the two models.

MinisForum HM50 vs HM80 Gaming Benchmarks

Although not a dedicated gaming mini PC, the HM50 and HM80 can play Windows games with good results. For these tests we are running the games on the highest settings to stress the CPU and GPU, normally you would run them at lower settings.

Forza Horizon 4

We start the gaming benchmarks with Forza Horizon 4 running at 1280×720 on the Ultra graphics settings.

The MinisForum HM50 has an average 39 FPS at the end of the benchmark

The MinisForum HM80 has an average of 43 FPS.

This is around a 9.7% score difference.

Street Fighter V

We are running the first match on Street Fighter V at 1920×1080 on the MAX settings.

The HM50 scores 27.02 FPS, and the HM80 scores 31.17 FPS on average at the end of the match.

This gives us around a 14.2 % score difference. A bit less than 3DMark, but still quite a large gap.

Final Fantasy XIV

For the Final Fantasy XIV benchmark we are running at 1920×1080 with the High Desktop settings.

The MinisForum HM50 scores 2,938

And the MinisForum HM80 scores 3,232

There’s around a 9.5% difference in scores for this benchmark.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

We finish the gaming benchmarks with Shadow of the Tomb Raider. We are running at 1280×720 and benchmarking twice using the Lowest and Highest graphics settings.

The HM50 scores 51 FPS on Lowest settings, and 25 FPS on the Highest. And the HM80 scores 53 FPS on Lowest settings, and 28 FPS on the Highest.

That’s around a 3.8 % difference for the Lowest and 11.3 % for the highest.

Benchmark Summary

A quick recap of the benchmark scores for both models

	MINISFORUM HM50	MINISFORUM HM80	% DIFFERENCE
PASSMARK	4,559	4,699	3%
PCMARK	5,097	5,413	6%
3DMARK	1,111	1,361	20%
FORZA HORIZON 4	39 FPS	43 FPS	9.7%
STREET FIGHTER V	27.02 FPS	31.17 FPS	14.2 %
FINAL FANTASY XIV	2,938	3,232	9.5%
SHADOW OF THE TOMB RAIDER	Lowest Graphics Score: 51FPS Highest Graphics Score: 25 FPS	Lowest Graphics Score: 53FPS Highest Graphics Score: 28 FPS	3.8% 11.3%

MinisForum HM50 vs HM80: Which one should I buy?

In terms of performance for day to day tasks, there’s up to 6% difference between the two. Putting them side by side, you would not see a great difference between the two AMD Ryzen mini PC’s. Maybe Windows booting a little faster, software loading quickly or data processing finishing a little sooner. Both small factor PC models are just fine for your tasks from web browsing to working with large office documents.

It’s with the 3D and 2D graphics performance where we can see the differences. With the results ranging from 9% up to 20%, there is a more noticeable difference between the two models. This is not only applied to gaming, but also for tasks involving working with image and video processing for example. If you are involved in the media side of work then we would definitely recommend the HM80 over the HM50. The extra boost in performance will definitely be noticeable in this case.

Where to buy the MinisForum HM50 & HM80

That wraps up this MinisForum HM50 and HM80 review and comparison article, we hope you have found it useful. You can learn more and buy the MinisForum HM50 here, and buy the MinisForum HM80 here. You can browse the range of MinisForum PC’s here.