GMKtec EVO-X2 review: a desktop-sized local AI machine for the price of a gaming laptop

What is it?

The EVO-X2 is built around AMD’s Ryzen AI Max+ 395, nicknamed “Strix Halo”: 16 Zen 5 cores, a 40-CU Radeon 8060S graphics chip and up to 128 GB of fast LPDDR5X memory shared between CPU and GPU. That shared memory is the whole point. A normal graphics card has 8–24 GB of VRAM; here the GPU can use more than 50 GB, which is what large language models need.

GMKtec sells the 64 GB / 1 TB model for $2,199.99 and the 128 GB / 1 TB model for $3,499.99 at the time of writing.

Who it is for

Developers and tinkerers who want to run models like Llama 70B or Qwen 32B privately at home, without paying for cloud GPUs or a $10,000 workstation. If that is not you, keep reading the K8 Plus review instead.

Ports and build

ServeTheHome lists, at the front, a USB4 port, two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, an SD card reader and a headset jack, plus a performance-mode button. At the back are a second USB4 port, HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort, USB-A, USB 2.0 and a single 2.5GbE port. Wi-Fi 7 is built in.

Inside there are two M.2 slots, two blower fans and an RGB fan. The reviewer was not a fan of the layout: screws sit under the rubber feet, the Wi-Fi card is buried under an M.2 slot, and the top section is hard to service.

Local AI results

This is where the EVO-X2 earns its price. ServeTheHome’s 128 GB unit ran:

GMKtec’s own page claims much higher numbers for mixture-of-experts models (55 tokens/s for Qwen3 30B, 19 tokens/s for GPT-OSS 120B). Those are vendor figures with no test method, but they are plausible because MoE models only activate part of their weights. The practical takeaway: 30B-class models feel interactive, dense 70B models are slow but usable.

Gaming

ServeTheHome placed gaming performance between a desktop RTX 4060 and a laptop RTX 4070, with Counter-Strike 2 around 120 fps at 4K. That is impressive for integrated graphics, but the reviewer was clear: you would not buy this as a gaming PC at this price.

Power and noise

Quiet at idle, noticeable under load. The reviewer wished it were a little quieter.

EVO-X2 vs the rivals

• vs Framework Desktop: the same Ryzen AI Max+ 395 chip in a more repairable case. Compare current prices.
• vs Apple Mac Studio: ServeTheHome compares it with a 512 GB M3 Ultra Mac Studio at around $10,000: more capacity, at a much higher price.
• vs NVIDIA GB10 systems: 128 GB machines quoted from about $3,000, with NVIDIA’s CUDA software stack.
• vs GMKtec K8 Plus ($919.99): for office work, light gaming and 3D-printing slicing, the K8 Plus does the job for less than half the price. See EVO-X2 vs K8 Plus.

Price and value

As ServeTheHome put it, about $2,000 feels like a lot for a basic desktop, but from an AI perspective it is a really strong system. We agree. Buy the 128 GB model if AI is the reason you are here; the 64 GB model limits you to smaller models.

Final thoughts

The EVO-X2 makes local 70B-class AI affordable and quiet enough for a desk. It is not perfect to work on, and it is not good value for gaming, but for its real job there is very little competition at the price.

Sources

• ServeTheHome: GMKtec EVO-X2 review, an AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 powerhouse (pages 1–4: ports, internals, AI, gaming, power and noise)
• GMKtec official store: EVO-X2 (price and vendor AI benchmarks)