Minisforum just dropped a curveball in the compact gaming PC space. Their new AtomMan G1 Pro crams a full desktop Nvidia RTX 5060 GPU into a 3.8-liter tower for $1,440, directly challenging Valve's upcoming Steam Machine with more power and connectivity options at a premium price point.
The compact gaming PC market just got more interesting. Minisforum is taking aim at Valve's upcoming Steam Machine with their AtomMan G1 Pro, a 3.8-liter mini-PC that stuffs a full desktop Nvidia RTX 5060 GPU into an impossibly small form factor.
What makes this machine fascinating isn't just the size – it's the engineering feat of cramming desktop-class components into such tight quarters. The G1 Pro houses what Minisforum calls a "lilliputian" desktop graphics card that sits in the top of the chassis, delivering the full 145W of power you'd expect from a standard desktop RTX 5060. That's significantly more muscle than most mini-PCs can muster.
The timing couldn't be more pointed. While Valve has been teasing their Steam Machine revival with AMD RX 7600 graphics, Minisforum is betting users want the raw performance of Nvidia's latest silicon. The G1 Pro pairs that RTX 5060 with an AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX CPU that can hit 100W in "Beast Mode" – numbers that would make most laptop users jealous.
But power density comes at a cost. At $1,440 for the 32GB/1TB configuration shipping in mid-January, the G1 Pro is positioning itself as a premium alternative. There's also a barebones version for $1,040, though it's not available for order yet. These prices put serious pressure on Valve to deliver their Steam Machine at a more accessible price point.
The connectivity story is where Minisforum really flexes. The G1 Pro offers five display outputs – two DisplayPort 2.1, one DisplayPort 1.4, and two HDMI 2.1 ports – capable of driving four displays simultaneously. Add two M.2 2280 NVMe slots and SO-DIMM slots supporting up to 96GB of DDR5 RAM, and you've got a productivity powerhouse that happens to game exceptionally well.
What's particularly clever is how this plays into current market conditions. With RAM prices spiraling upward due to supply constraints, that $1,440 price tag for a fully loaded system is starting to look reasonable. Building an equivalent system yourself might not save much money in today's component market.
The Linux angle adds another wrinkle to this story. While Valve's Steam Machine will likely ship with SteamOS optimized for AMD hardware, the G1 Pro's Nvidia GPU means users interested in Linux gaming might face driver complexity. However, recent benchmarks from GamersNexus show desktop RTX 5060 performance on Linux distributions like Bazzite, suggesting the gap is narrowing.
Minisforum has been one of the few companies pushing discrete GPUs in mini-PC designs, with their earlier AtomMan G7 PT being the closest competitor to Valve's original specifications. The G1 Pro represents their most direct challenge yet, complete with an integrated power supply that mirrors Valve's approach.
This isn't just about specs – it's about market positioning. Minisforum is betting there's room for a premium compact gaming PC that prioritizes raw performance over price optimization. Whether that bet pays off depends largely on how Valve prices their Steam Machine and how much users value that extra GPU horsepower.
The compact PC space is heating up just as gaming handhelds and mini-PCs are finding their audience. With Valve still not revealing Steam Machine pricing, Minisforum has thrown down the gauntlet with a machine that's undeniably powerful, if not exactly affordable.
Minisforum's G1 Pro represents a fascinating alternative approach to compact gaming – prioritizing raw performance over affordability. At $1,440, it's not cheap, but it delivers desktop-class gaming in a form factor that seemed impossible just a few years ago. The real test will be whether users are willing to pay premium prices for premium performance, especially with Valve's Steam Machine looming as a potentially more affordable alternative. Either way, competition in the compact gaming space is heating up, and that's great news for consumers looking for powerful small-form-factor systems.
