MINISFORUM MS-S1 Max Mini Workstation (Ryzen AI Max+ 395)

The MINISFORUM MS-S1 Max is a mini AI workstation built around AMD's Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor. Its standout feature is a full-length PCIe 4.0 x16 slot for a discrete GPU, which no other Strix Halo mini PC in its class offers. It suits developers and small studios who want serious local LLM inference now and the option to add a graphics card later without changing chassis.

Who it's for

• Local LLM inference on models in the 30B–70B parameter range
• Agentic pipeline development
• Teams that may need CUDA tooling later by adding an NVIDIA card in the PCIe slot
• Small AI studios and robotics teams that move large datasets and checkpoints over 10GbE

Key features

• AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor: 16 Zen 5 cores / 32 threads at 3.0–5.1GHz, with integrated Radeon 8060S graphics (40 RDNA 3.5 compute units up to 2.9GHz).
• Up to 126 TOPS combined AI performance: The XDNA 2 NPU delivers 50 TOPS on its own; the 126 TOPS platform figure combines CPU, GPU and NPU throughput.
• Up to 128GB LPDDR5x at 8000MT/s: A 256-bit memory bus shared across CPU, GPU and NPU, giving large open-weight models room to load.
• Full-length PCIe 4.0 x16 slot: Add a discrete GPU for CUDA-specific workloads, additional VRAM or gaming.
• Dual USB4 V2 at 80Gbps: The rear pair runs USB4 V2 at double the bandwidth of standard USB4, alongside two 40Gbps USB4 ports up front.
• Dual 10 Gigabit Ethernet: 10GbE on both ports rather than the 2.5GbE common on competing mini PCs.
• Asymmetric dual M.2 storage, up to 16TB: One PCIe 4.0 x4 slot at full speed and a second capped at roughly 2GB/s, both supporting up to 8TB drives with RAID 0/1.
• Copper-substrate cooling: Six heat pipes, phase-change thermal material and dual centrifugal turbine fans up to 3,600RPM, built to sustain the 320W built-in power supply under continuous AI workloads.

Specifications

Good to know

• Put your OS and active model files on the full-speed PCIe 4.0 x4 slot, and use the second, single-lane slot for archival data.
• With a built-in 320W power supply and a 130W performance mode, this is a power-hungry machine by mini-PC standards, and the cooling may be audible under sustained Extreme-mode workloads.
• As with every Strix Halo platform, ROCm software support has matured but still lags CUDA's depth for the newest inference frameworks. The PCIe slot lets you close that gap by adding an NVIDIA card.

Choose the MS-S1 Max if you want a Strix Halo mini workstation that can grow into a discrete-GPU machine. If you will never add a card, a smaller Ryzen AI Max+ 395 mini PC covers the same core specs.