Minisforum BD795i SE Motherboard Review for Home Lab

Minisforum is a name that is synonymous with home labs. They have one of the best mini PCs available for home lab use in the Minisforum MS-01 mini PC. I also predict we will be saying that about its successor, the MS-A2, soon to be released either this next month or in April. However, you may not know that Minisforum also produces motherboards that can be used in DIY projects. I recently used their Minisforum BD795M motherboard in my Proxmox home lab server build. However, I was also sent over the BD795i SE motherboard that in a couple of ways is superior to the BD795M motherboard. Let’s take a look at the Minisforum BD795i SE motherboard review for home lab and see what features it offers.

Is it best to build your own server?

I have talked about this in quite a few blog posts and other content I have created. There are pros and cons to both. Building and buying are both definitely suitable for home labs and can both lead to a great learning environment.

• See my recent post here: Should You Build or Buy a Home Server in 2025?

However, building your own server actually teaches you other skills that you don’t get by buying an off the shelf server or mini PC. When you build, you have to think about the components, and put things together. Then you have to potentially troubleshoot if things don’t work as expected. So, arguably there is more that can be learned from going this route.

The heart of any good build is the motherboard. The motherboard is the focal point of your server or workstation build. So starting there with a high quality board is key. Minisforum boards are definitely good boards from the ones I have had experience with.

Let’s take a look at the specs of the BD795i SE motherboard and see what it brings to the table.

Minisforum BD795i SE motherboard specs

The MINISFORUM BD795i SE is a compact Mini-ITX motherboard designed to deliver high-performance computing in a small form factor. It comes with an integrated AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX processor, offering robust capabilities for various applications, from gaming to content creation.

Key Features:

• Integrated AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX Processor: This 16-core, 32-thread CPU is based on the Zen 4 architecture, with a base clock speed of 2.5 GHz and a maximum boost speed of up to 5.4 GHz.
• Dual PCIe 4.0 M.2 Slots: Supports two M.2 2280 SSDs, enabling high-speed storage solutions for faster data access and system responsiveness.
• PCIe 5.0 x16 Slot: Allows for the installation of high-performance graphics cards, providing flexibility for gaming and professional workloads.
• DDR5 Memory Support: Equipped with two SO-DIMM slots supporting up to 96 GB of DDR5 RAM at 5200 MT/s, catering to memory-intensive applications.
• Triple Display Output: Features HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 1.4, and USB-C ports, supporting up to 8K resolution at 60 Hz, ideal for multi-monitor setups.
• Comprehensive Connectivity: Includes multiple USB ports, a 2.5G Ethernet port, and an M.2 E-Key slot for optional Wi-Fi module installation, ensuring versatile networking options.

Specifications:

The MINISFORUM BD795i SE motherboard offers a powerful and compact solution for users seeking high performance in a small footprint, making it suitable for various demanding applications.

AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX processor benchmarks

Below is a look at the benchmark information from cpubenchmark.net: AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX Benchmark.

Minisforum BD795i SE vs BD795M motherboard

Let’s look at a few differences between thie BD795i SE board and the BD795M motherboard. Both are really great boards. Note the following differences.

These two boards are part of what Minisforum calls the MoDT (Mobile on Desktop) series that integrates low-power mobile processors into desktop platforms. As Minisforum knows well, it helps to balance performance and energy efficiency. There are several similarities in these boards, but there are also differences to make note of.

Form Factor and Size:

• BD795i SE: This board is a Mini-ITX standard motherboard. It measures 170 x 170 mm. It is a more compact size when compared to the BD795M. Its size is ideal for small form factor builds especially for space-constrained cases.
• BD795M: This motherboard is a Micro-ATX (M-ATX) standardl size board. It provides a larger footprint compared to the Mini-ITX. You can more easily install devices into expansion slots and it has better heat dissipation. If you are looking for adding additional peripherals or expansion cards, this board is the choice between the two.

Below is a comparison of the BD795M on the left and the BD795i SE on the right:

Processor and Performance:

Both motherboards come with the AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX processor. This is a flagship mobile CPU that has 16 cores and 32 threads. It delivers performance on par with the desktop-grade Ryzen 9 7950X. It has only slight reductions in frequency and power consumption for the mobile processor.

Cooling Solutions:

• BD795i SE: Designed to accommodate a standard 120 mm fan for cooling. This setup is straightforward and efficient, fitting well within the compact Mini-ITX form factor. It’s important to note the BD795i SE comes with a CPU cooler preinstalled. You just need to supply the 120mm fan.
• BD795M: Offers greater flexibility by supporting LGA1700-compatible coolers, including both air and liquid cooling solutions. However, it does not include a CPU cooler preinstalled. Still this versatility of installing your own cooler gives you the flexibility to install more advanced cooling systems in a build around this board.

Expansion and Connectivity:

• BD795i SE: Due to its compact size, there are only the bare minimum expansion options. This may be suitable for most users who are more focused on space than anything else.
• BD795M: The larger M-ATX form factor of this board allows you to install additional expansion slots. This of course allows users the ability to install multiple GPUs, storage controllers, or other peripheral cards, which I think is a win in the home lab use case.

Choosing Between BD795i SE and BD795M:

• BD795i SE: Ideal for users who want a very compact build without skimping on performance. It’s good for tight space setups or very minimal builds.
• BD795M: This one is suited for users who need better expandability and are considering advanced cooling solutions. It also has 2 SATA ports that gives you more options when it comes to hard drives, etc.

Unboxing pictures and layout of the board

Getting the BD795i SE unboxed, it is amazing how small the board is and just how much power is packed on this board for its size, a 32 thread processor! Pretty cool to see the design of this board. Below are a few pics of getting the board unboxed and out of packaging. You can see the preinstalled heatsink on the CPU here.

A view of the back ports of the board. Here from left to right, you can see the audio ports, 2.5 GbE LAN port USB-A ports, USB C port, display port, HMDI port, and (2) USB-A ports.

Another view of the back port connections.

The (2) SODIMM RAM slots.

Another view of the RAM slots.

the pic is a bit blurry but the (2) M.2 slots on the other side of the heatsink.

A top down view of the Minisforum BD795i SE motherboard.

Pros and cons of this motherboard

Note the following pros and cons of this motherboard and things you might consider:

Pros:

• Comes with the AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX processor
• This board is super small with the mini-ITX form factor
• Has a heat sink already preinstalled from Minisforum
• PCI-e expansion slot is PCI-e 5
• (2) M.2 slots

Cons:

• There are no SATA ports on this motherboard, unlike the BD795M
• Networking is a Realtek NIC, meaning if you want to run VMware on this board, you will need to install a PCI-e NIC card, same with the BD795M
• With heatsink already installed, there are not really any advanced cooling configurations possible, unless you remove and come up with your own solution

Buy the Minisforum BD795i SE motherboard

You can buy the Minisforum BD795i SE motherboard from Amazon for $399 here:

• https://amzn.to/3QtdJPz

Wrapping up

There is a lot to like about this board honestly. It is super small, includes the AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX processor and CPU cooler. So, you will get plenty of processing power with this setup for virtualization and running your workloads. The PCI-e 5 slot will be able to run powerful GPUs especially if you are wanting to do GPU passthrough for your home lab, running AI workloads, etc.