Disk
Here are the results with KDiskMark, an open-source benchmark software for storage devices. It’s a GUI tool that uses fio, the Flexible I/O Tester.
I also ran a Windows disk benchmark for completeness.
KDiskMark produced lower figures than CrystalDiskMark for the largest sequential read and write, but the results aren’t directly interchangeable. KDiskMark uses fio on Linux, so it tests the drive through a different operating system, driver stack, filesystem, caching model, and I/O scheduler. CrystalDiskMark on Windows may use different queue depths, buffering behaviour, and write handling even when the test names appear similar. As a result, KDiskMark can be a stricter or simply different test of the same SSD.
The different scores show that storage benchmark results should be compared only when the test engine, operating system, filesystem, queue depth, block size, caching mode, drive fill state, temperature, and power settings are closely matched.
Summary
The performance benchmarks show the Minisforum M2 is a strong all-round mini PC, with its best results coming in CPU and memory-heavy workloads. It performs particularly well in Smallpt, CoreMark, Crafty, RAMspeed, and TinyMemBench, where it sits close to, or ahead of, several higher-profile mini PCs. Its dual-channel memory configuration is especially important, delivering excellent bandwidth and helping both system and graphics performance.
The M2 is less convincing in some multi-threaded compression and OpenSSL tests, where the cheaper Ryzen 9 8945HS system remains a difficult comparison. Graphics performance is solid for integrated graphics, but it trails the stronger AMD Radeon 780M and 890M systems, so the M2’s main strengths are CPU speed, memory performance, platform features, and AI capability rather than gaming performance. Overall, the M2 is a very capable Linux mini PC, although not always the best value in every benchmark.
I will be publishing a separate article benchmarking the M2’s NPU.
Pages in this article:
Page 1 – Introduction / Processor
Page 2 – Graphics
Page 3 – Memory
Page 4 – Disk and Summary
Complete list of articles in this series:
| MINISFORUM M2 Core Ultra 7 356H Mini PC | |
|---|---|
| Introduction | Introduction to the series and interrogation of the machine |
| NPU | Setting up and testing the NPU |
| Next article in the series will focus on benchmarks | |