GEEKOM IT12

The Geekom IT12 offers two nearly identical configurations of Intel’s 12th-gen flagship mobile CPUs—the unlocked i9-12900HK ($659) and the marginally slower i9-12900H ($549)—but both struggle to justify their pricing against competitors like the Acemagic F1A ($449, 12900H/32GB/1TB) or Beelink GTi12 ($589, DDR5/12900H). The 12900HK’s 5.0GHz boost and overclocking support provide minimal real-world gains over the 12900H (both 14C/20T), with <5% performance differences in Cinebench R23 (HK: 18,200 vs. H: 17,500). The Iris Xe iGPU (96EU) handles light gaming (Genshin Impact at 720p/30fps) but falls short of AMD’s Radeon 680M. Geekom’s compact metal chassis (0.57L) and Thunderbolt 4 ports are highlights, but the single M.2 slot limit upgrades .

Where the IT12 falters is value. The 12900H variant costs $100 more than the Acemagic F1A (same specs) and lacks DDR5 support, which the Beelink GTi12 includes at $589. The 12900HK’s $659 price is especially hard to swallow—it competes with AMD’s Ryzen 9 7940HS mini PCs (e.g., Minisforum UM790 Pro), which offer superior iGPU performance (Radeon 780M) and lower power draw. Geekom’s cooling solution (35dB under load) is quiet but throttles under sustained loads, with the HK model hitting 95°C in stress tests . The dual HDMI 2.0 ports (limited to 4K/60Hz) also feel outdated next to rivals with HDMI 2.1 or DisplayPort 2.0 .

The IT12’s best use case is as a compact workstation for CPU-heavy tasks (video encoding, VMs), where its 6 P-cores excel. However, the Acemagic F1A delivers identical performance for $200 less, while the Beelink GTi12’s DDR5 and dual M.2 slots future-proof it at a similar price. Unless Thunderbolt 4 is critical, the IT12’s pricing undermines its appeal. For context, the GMKtec K10 (Intel 13900HK, 32GB DDR5, 1TB SSD) sells for $569—offering better efficiency and gaming performance. Geekom needs aggressive discounts to compete .

- GhostKeyboard Review.