16 cores, 5.2 GHz, and 55 TOPS: Minisforum's newest AI workstation is mostly a massive upgrade to 192GB of memory - and that is not necessarily a bad thing (www.techradar.com)

Minisforum has announced the MS-S1 MAX-P495 workstation, now available for pre-order at $7,399, featuring 192GB of unified memory and a 2TB SSD. The workstation is powered by AMD's Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 495, equipped with 16 cores, 32 threads, and boosted clock speeds up to 5.2 GHz. While the CPU and NPU improvements are modest—offering a 10% increase in NPU performance to 55 TOPS—the standout upgrade is the substantial memory capacity, supporting complex AI models with greater efficiency. The generous 192GB memory allocation, with 160GB available for the GPU, provides the capability to run large-scale mixture-of-experts (MoE) models, including a 284-billion-parameter model at impressive speeds. This advancement allows developers and small teams to store and manage larger models locally, enhancing privacy and reducing latency. Despite the high price, this new model greatly surpasses its predecessor's memory capabilities, making it particularly appealing for serious AI/ML practitioners requiring substantial computational resources.