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The GEEKOM IT13 with the Core i9-13900H is a three-drive, 14-core mini PC that earns its place as a compact Plex and Proxmox host, and a weak choice as a router or a dense VM server. What carries the machine is not the i9 badge but the platform around it: Intel Quick Sync for hardware transcoding, room for a 2280 NVMe drive plus a 2242 SATA drive plus a 2.5-inch disk, and a single 2.5GbE port that rules out a conventional dual-interface firewall. The complete homelab starter guide sets the baseline for this class of machine; this review measures one box against it.
One warning before any number. "GEEKOM IT13" stopped naming a single product some time ago. The original arrived in August 2023 with 13th-generation Core i5, i7 and i9 options, a Core i7-13620H configuration followed, and the same chassis was reused in March 2025 for an IT13 2025 Edition on the Core i9-13900HK. By late 2026 the badge covers a DDR5 IT13 2026 Edition built on a Core Ultra 7 356H, with a regional Core i5-13600H variant alongside it. DDR4 and DDR5 do not mix, Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 are different radios, and a benchmark run on one generation says nothing about another. This review covers the Core i9-13900H original and names its generation at every step.
The verdict up front. GEEKOM runs this i9 at roughly 35 W sustained, below Intel's 45 W base power rating, and that one decision shapes everything: transcoding and container duty stay comfortable, all-core bursts do not, and the cooling stays inside a 117 mm-wide box only by refusing to push harder. Buy it for Quick Sync and the three-drive layout in a chassis that disappears behind a monitor. Skip it if you need two network ports, AV1 hardware encoding, or a machine that holds a full i9 power budget without a raised power limit.
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| Spec | GEEKOM Mini IT13 (Core i9-13900H) |
|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i9-13900H, Raptor Lake-H, 14 cores / 20 threads (6P + 8E), up to 5.4 GHz |
| Sustained power | ~35 W PL1 / 80 W PL2 |
| Integrated graphics | Intel Iris Xe-class, 96 EUs, up to 1.50 GHz |
| Memory | 2× DDR4-3200 SO-DIMM, 64 GB maximum per GEEKOM |
| Storage | 1× M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 ×4 NVMe, 1× M.2 2242 SATA, 1× 2.5-inch SATA (7 mm) |
| Networking | 1× Intel 2.5GbE RJ45 |
| Wireless | Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 |
| Video out | 2× HDMI 2.0, 2× USB4, up to four displays |
| USB | 2× USB4 40 Gbps Type-C, 3× USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, 1× USB-A 2.0 |
| Other | SD-card reader, 3.5 mm audio, DC input |
| Power supply | External 120 W, 19 V / 6.32 A |
| Dimensions | 117 × 112 × 49.2 mm |
| Weight | ~650 g |
| OS | Windows 11 Pro preinstalled |
| Warranty | 3 years from GEEKOM |
Quick verdict: a well-shaped homelab node let down by one network port. Quick Sync, dual USB4, three storage positions and a sub-10 W idle make it a genuinely useful always-on Plex and Proxmox host. The 35 W sustained ceiling, the 64 GB DDR4 memory limit and a single 2.5GbE jack are the reasons it is not a router or a storage server.
GEEKOM IT13: Overview
The original Mini IT13 reached retail in September 2023 after an August launch, offering the Core i5-13500H, Core i7-13700H and Core i9-13900H, with the Core i7-13620H joining the line later. It is a Windows mini PC first, but the specification is unusual for the category: three internal drives, two USB4 ports and a 14-core mobile i9 cooled by a single fan.
The family has moved twice since. The 2025 Edition swapped the i9-13900H for a Core i9-13900HK and kept the chassis, the ports, the DDR4 platform and the single 2.5GbE jack, pairing the higher-clocked part with a revised IceBlast 2.0 cooling implementation and a more conservative power profile. The 2026 Edition moved to DDR5 with a Core Ultra 7 356H, and current regional pages disagree on whether that machine uses Wi-Fi 7 or an AX211 Wi-Fi 6E module.
| Generation | CPU options | Memory | Wireless | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mini IT13 (2023) | Core i5-13500H, i7-13700H, i9-13900H, later i7-13620H | DDR4-3200 | Wi-Fi 6E | Legacy |
| IT13 2025 Edition | Core i9-13900HK | DDR4-3200 | Wi-Fi 6E | Limited |
| IT13 2026 Edition | Core Ultra 7 356H, Core i5-13600H (regional) | DDR5 | Wi-Fi 7 or 6E by region | Current |
For homelab work that history matters less than it looks. The 2023 machine has the longest community track record and the widest pool of documented deployments, and its DDR4 platform is cheaper to fill than the DDR5 successor. GEEKOM's own brand history, including which IT, GT and Air lines are current, is mapped in the GEEKOM brand guide if you are choosing between the IT13 and its stablemates.
Specs and What's in the Box
Three internal drive positions is the headline for a chassis this size. The primary is a single M.2 2280 slot wired for PCIe 4.0 ×4 NVMe. The secondary is an M.2 2242 slot that runs SATA rather than NVMe, which catches people out when they buy the wrong stick. The third is a 2.5-inch SATA bay that takes a drive up to 7 mm thick, which rules out most high-capacity spinning disks. Official capacity figures cover up to 2 TB in the 2280 slot, 1 TB in the 2242 slot and 2 TB in the 2.5-inch bay, and all three can be occupied at once.
Memory is governed by the same rule that trips up mini PC buyers everywhere: the vendor specification wins over the CPU specification. Intel's memory controller for the i9-13900H can address more than 64 GB, but GEEKOM validates 64 GB for the IT13, and 64 GB is the figure to plan around rather than an enthusiast extrapolation. Both SO-DIMM slots take DDR4-3200, and a 32 GB original configuration used a matched 2×16 GB pair.
The factory drive inspected in one unit was a Lexar NM7A1 PCIe 4.0 NVMe on a Maxio MAP1602 controller, reading at roughly 4,854 MB/s and writing at 4,474 MB/s sequentially. Shipped SSD suppliers change between SKUs and batches, so the useful takeaway is the performance class rather than the exact figure.
Box contents are the machine, a 120 W 19 V / 6.32 A external adapter, a VESA mounting kit and a preinstalled Windows 11 Pro licence. Every official IT13 ships as a configured system rather than a bring-your-own-RAM kit. Warranty is three years from GEEKOM.
Build Quality and Port Layout
The chassis is carried across all three IT13 generations, and GEEKOM did not re-tool it between the 2023 original and the 2026 Edition. The criticisms aimed at the newest version (no front USB-C, HDMI 2.0 rather than 2.1) apply to the same body and the same port cut-outs as the original.
At 117 × 112 × 49.2 mm and around 650 g, the IT13 sits in the compact-but-not-tiny class. The rear carries both USB4 40 Gbps Type-C ports, two HDMI 2.0 outputs, the single 2.5GbE RJ45, three USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports, one USB-A 2.0 port, an SD-card reader, 3.5 mm audio and the DC input. Four displays can be driven through the two HDMI ports and the two USB4 ports together.
On wired networking, the port is a single Intel 2.5GbE controller. An original unit enumerated an I225-V part, while replacement machines have reportedly arrived with I226-V silicon, so the accurate claim is Intel 2.5GbE with the exact controller varying by production. Throughput runs around 2.35 Gbps in each direction.
The VESA kit mounts the machine to the back of a monitor, which is the natural deployment for this footprint. Keep the rear exhaust clear when you do, because the single fan needs the space to work.
Performance: Transcoding, Containers and the 35 W Ceiling
The i9-13900H is a 14-core, 20-thread Raptor Lake-H part with six performance cores, eight efficiency cores, up to 5.4 GHz on a P-core and 24 MB of cache. Intel rates it at 45 W base power and up to 115 W maximum turbo. GEEKOM runs it lower than either figure: roughly 35 W PL1 and 80 W PL2, and that gap explains most of how the IT13 behaves under load.
Cinebench R23 single-core lands near 1,943 points, with multi-core around 11,855 at the default power limit. Raise PL1 to 45 W and multi-core climbs to about 13,356, roughly a 13% gain. That is the trade the chassis makes available. Pushing the limit higher drives P-core temperatures into the 79 to 92 °C range, which is precisely why the stock 35 W setting exists.
Wall power tells the same story in cheaper units. Idle consumption sits around 8.6 to 9.2 W under Windows and 7.5 to 7.8 W under Linux. Sustained CPU load settles near 53 to 66 W depending on the operating system and workload, with short turbo bursts briefly crossing 100 W. On a machine that runs all day, the idle number matters more than the peak, and a host that parks under 10 W is cheap to leave on.
Prolonged all-core stress drives CPU temperature toward 96 °C and can trigger thermal throttling. A longer Linux run settles nearer 80 to 82 °C once clocks stabilise. The fan is audible, and at close measuring distance sustained load noise reaches roughly 49 to 55 dBA. That figure depends on how near the meter sits and against what background, so treat it as a loudness signal rather than a calibrated benchmark. Fan behaviour has changed across firmware and EC revisions, and current firmware exposes Quiet, Normal and Performance modes.
Media and transcoding
The reason to buy this machine for a media server is Quick Sync, not the core count. The Raptor Lake media engine decodes H.264, HEVC, VP9 and AV1, including 10-bit AV1 decode, and hardware-encodes H.264 and HEVC. It does not hardware-encode AV1 at all. A transcode outputting to H.264 or HEVC uses the fixed-function encoder, and the presence of AV1 decode does not turn the IT13 into an AV1 encoding box.
Quick Sync also makes the i9 partly redundant for transcoding. Video conversion runs on the media engine, which idles while CPU cores sit largely unused, so a Core i5 IT13 of the same generation transcodes the same formats. The extra P-cores earn their keep on containers, virtual machines, compilation and databases, not on the transcode path. If Plex is the whole workload, matching the CPU to the media engine is more sensible than paying for cores the encoder never touches. The Plex minimum requirements breakdown covers where the real bottlenecks sit.
A documented IT13 i9 deployment runs Proxmox VE with a privileged LXC container and Plex, with Quick Sync hardware acceleration working and HDR and Dolby Vision tone mapping applied to a 4K source transcoded down. A second IT13 build confirms the same pattern: expose the render node at /dev/dri/renderD128 to the container and hardware transcoding follows. Share the render device rather than passing the whole iGPU into a Windows VM, which is the less consistent path, and do not hard-code card0 in a container config because DRM device numbering can shift between boots.
There is no established stream ceiling. There is no controlled test giving a repeatable count of simultaneous 4K-to-1080p transcodes on this exact machine, and the factors that move the number (codec, bitrate, HDR tone mapping, subtitle burn-in and audio conversion) move it a long way. Treat any "handles X 4K streams" claim for a mini PC with suspicion unless the test conditions travel with it.
Virtualization
Virtualization is supported rather than merely possible. Current IT13 BIOS documentation shows Intel VMX and VT-d enabled by default, alongside Wake-on-LAN, automatic restart after power loss and scheduled power-on. That firmware picture is more reassuring than early owner reports, which complained about a sparse BIOS; GEEKOM's current documentation formally exposes those controls, and an official utility unlocks further advanced settings. The caveat is that no published IOMMU group map for this board exists, so passthrough planning begins with testing on the actual unit rather than assuming a topology. For buyers comparing hosts on virtualization support specifically, the Proxmox mini PC roundup ranks the field on that basis.
GEEKOM IT13 vs Minisforum MS-01: Head-to-Head
The most relevant comparison is the same CPU in a very different machine. Minisforum sells the Core i9-13900H in the MS-01, and the difference between the two is everything around the processor.
| GEEKOM IT13 (i9-13900H) | Minisforum MS-01 (i9-13900H) | |
|---|---|---|
| Memory | 2× DDR4-3200 SO-DIMM, 64 GB per GEEKOM | DDR5 SO-DIMM, up to 96 GB |
| Networking | 1× 2.5GbE | 2× 10GbE SFP+ and 2× 2.5GbE |
| Storage | M.2 2280 NVMe + M.2 2242 SATA + 2.5-inch SATA | Multiple M.2 NVMe positions |
| Expansion | None | PCIe slot (PCIe 4.0 ×8 electrical) for NIC, HBA or GPU |
| USB | 2× USB4 | USB4 |
| Management | Not listed | Intel vPro-capable configurations |
| Footprint | 117 × 112 × 49.2 mm, ~650 g | Larger workstation chassis |
The MS-01 wins on the two things that limit the IT13 most. Its dual 10GbE SFP+ and dual 2.5GbE ports solve the single-NIC problem outright, and its PCIe slot accepts a NIC, an HBA or a GPU that the IT13 has nowhere to put. Its DDR5 platform also raises the memory ceiling from GEEKOM's validated 64 GB to 96 GB, which matters for VM density. A machine that expands through a slot does not need workarounds.
The IT13 wins on the terms it was designed for: a smaller footprint, a lower complexity build with no PCIe risers or adapter cards to plan, and an integrated Windows desktop out of the box. It also carries three distinct local storage devices where many competitors offer two M.2 slots and nothing else. For a single compact node that transcode and runs a handful of containers, that is a coherent design rather than a compromise.
The choice is a topology decision, not a benchmark decision. Buy the IT13 when compactness and simplicity are the priority and one network port is enough. Buy the MS-01 when storage networking, expansion or multi-node clustering is the point.
Recommended Upgrades and Accessories
The IT13 accepts a small number of high-value upgrades, and they are all about capacity rather than speed.
- Memory to 64 GB. GEEKOM validates 64 GB of DDR4-3200 across both slots, and a 2×16 GB kit such as the Crucial 32 GB DDR4-3200 SO-DIMM kit takes the machine to 32 GB. Reaching the vendor ceiling means a matched pair of 32 GB modules. Populate both slots in matched pairs either way, because a single module halves memory bandwidth and undercuts the Iris Xe configuration Intel lists for this i9.
- A larger PCIe 4.0 NVMe boot drive. The 2280 slot is PCIe 4.0 ×4, so a drive like the Crucial P3 Plus 1 TB is a straight swap if the shipped SSD is too small. On a server, sustained endurance and thermals count for more than peak sequential figures.
- An M.2 2242 SATA drive. Cheap way to separate VM and container data from the boot volume. Note the SATA interface: an NVMe 2242 stick will not work in that slot.
- A 2.5-inch SATA SSD. A drive such as the Crucial BX500 1 TB gives local media or backup storage without consuming the NVMe slot. Keep it to 7 mm thickness.
- The VESA bracket that ships in the box. Mounting the machine behind a monitor tidies the deployment, provided the rear exhaust stays clear.
- A Linux install for server duty. Intel networking, the iGPU and Quick Sync all have mature Linux support on this platform, and a documented Proxmox install ran Ubuntu with working 2.5GbE, Wi-Fi and normal CPU behaviour.
One upgrade to skip: repasting a healthy unit. Enthusiast threads discuss thermal paste and pad swaps, but no controlled before-and-after data establishes a consistent enough gain to justify opening a machine that is running within its limits.
Who Should Buy the GEEKOM IT13?
Buy the i9 IT13 if you want a compact all-in-one node that transcodes in hardware, holds three local drives and idles under 10 W. It suits a Plex or Jellyfin host with an *arr stack, a Proxmox box running a handful of containers plus a Home Assistant VM, a small three-drive media server, or a Windows desktop that doubles as a light hypervisor.
Skip it if you need a router or firewall. One 2.5GbE port means VLAN-on-a-stick through a managed switch, or a USB Ethernet adapter that Netgate-style guidance warns against for reliability; a machine with native multi-NIC ports is a cleaner build for pfSense or OPNsense. Skip it too if you want a multi-bay NAS, since three internal drives, no RAID backplane and a single 2.5GbE link put it well short of a storage server. The NAS mini PC picks are ranked on bays and throughput for exactly that reason.
Two buying notes. First, confirm which generation you are looking at: the 2025 Edition and 2026 Edition are different machines wearing the same name. Second, if your workload is CPU-bound rather than media-bound, the i7-13620H configuration is a more proportionate fit for the same cooling envelope, though it drops to a 64-EU UHD graphics block versus the i9's 96-EU Iris Xe configuration.
Conclusion & Final Verdict
The GEEKOM IT13 with the Core i9-13900H is a compact homelab node built around one genuinely strong idea: give it three storage devices, a good media engine and Intel's virtualization stack, then run the i9 conservatively so it survives in a small box. That idea works. Quick Sync handles 4K HDR transcode and tone mapping under Proxmox, the machine idles in single-digit watts, and two USB4 ports plus a VESA mount make it easy to place and easy to extend.
The limits are equally clear and should decide the purchase. Roughly 35 W sustained caps all-core work, 64 GB of DDR4 is the vendor memory ceiling, and a single 2.5GbE port keeps it out of the router and multi-node roles. None of those are faults in a compact desktop; they become faults only if the buyer expected a workstation.
For a self-hosting reader, the honest framing is that the i9 is optional and the platform is the product. Buy the IT13 for Quick Sync and the drive layout, name the generation before you compare specification tables, and let the Proxmox host roundup and the homelab starter guide settle the rest of the decision. If expansion and native networking matter more than footprint, the Minisforum brand guide points to the machines built for it.
