GEEKOM Mini IT13 Review: Core i9-13900H in a 4x4 Package

GPU Performance: Synthetic Benchmarks

Intel did not make significant changes in the integrated GPU when moving from Alder Lake to Raptor Lake. Process maturity has allowed it to clock the iGPU a bit higher, but the number of EUs remains the same as in the previous generation. GPU performance evaluation typically involved gaming workloads, and for select PCs, GPU compute. Prior to that, we wanted to take a look at the capabilities of the iGPU in the Core i9-13900H. With 80 EUs, the iGPU is not the top-end in the Raptor Lake family (which goes up to 96 EUs). However, the extra power headroom allows it to clock as high as 1500 MHz.

The Intel Iris Xe Graphics in the GEEKOM Mini IT13 is essentially a couple of generations old, and that reflects in the benchmarks below.

GFXBench

The DirectX 12-based GFXBench tests from Kishonti are cross-platform, and available all the way down to smartphones. As such, they are not very taxing for discrete GPUs and modern integrated GPUs. We processed the offscreen versions of the 'Aztec Ruins' benchmark.

The performance of the GEEKOM Mini IT13 in both workloads is similar to that of the Arena Canyon NUC. This is expected because the hardware configuration of the iGPU of the Core i7-1360P and the Core i9-13900H are very similar. The new crop of RDNA-based iGPUs in the Ryzen mobile SoCs make up the top of the pack.

UL 3DMark

Four different workload sets were processed in 3DMark - Fire Strike, Time Spy, Night Raid, and Wild Life.

The Fire Strike benchmark has three workloads. The base version is meant for high-performance gaming PCs. It uses DirectX 11 (feature level 11) to render frames at 1920 x 1080. The Extreme version targets 1440p gaming requirements, while the Ultra version targets 4K gaming system, and renders at 3840 x 2160. The graph below presents the overall score for the Fire Strike Extreme and Fire Strike Ultra benchmark across all the systems that are being compared.

The Time Spy workload has two levels with different complexities. Both use DirectX 12 (feature level 11). However, the plain version targets high-performance gaming PCs with a 2560 x 1440 render resolution, while the Extreme version renders at 3840 x 2160 resolution. The graphs below present both numbers for all the systems that are being compared in this review.

The Wild Life workload was initially introduced as a cross-platform GPU benchmark in 2020. It renders at a 2560 x 1440 resolution using Vulkan 1.1 APIs on Windows. It is a relatively short-running test, reflective of mobile GPU usage. In mid-2021, UL released the Wild Life Extreme workload that was a more demanding version that renders at 3840 x 2160 and runs for a much longer duration reflective of typical desktop gaming usage.

The Night Raid workload is a DirectX 12 benchmark test. It is less demanding than Time Spy, and is optimized for integrated graphics. The graph below presents the overall score in this workload for different system configurations.

The relative performance of the GEEKOM Mini IT13 across almost all of the 3DMark workloads is the same as what was observed in the GFXbench workloads. The AMD-based systems come out on top and the Mini IT13 performs similar to that of the Arena Canyon NUC. The lower overall power budget affects the Mini IT13 negatively in the 3D Mark Wild Life workloads that involves Vulkan APIs, but DirectX 12-based workloads result in the expected ordering based on the paper specifications.