GMKtec NucBox 3chat_bubble_outlineFrom real comments

Numerous owners measured NVMe drives and CPU cores idling in the 60-70C range and climbing higher under load, with the plastic enclosure trapping heat around the storage compartment. One user called it 'very poor thermal design' after a drive failed from heat.

@SamMiorelli

Bought one to use as an opnsense device because of the 2x 2.5G Intel NIC's. Thermals over time is a big problem. opnsense with average throughput of about 10mbps running all the security features (unbound with block list, suricata, zenarmor, and a few wireguard connections) puts the CPUs at about 30% constant load. This causes the whole device to get quite hot to touch and fried the nvme that came pre-loaded from the OEM within about 45 days. Might have just been a one-off bad device so let's see how the RMA goes, but if this was under constant load much higher I can't really imagine how it would go. Very poor thermal design.launch

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May 11, 2025

@YLTsun

I got this couple weeks ago (yeah tariff panic buy). My intention is to make this a HomeAssistant focus devise so I removed the wifi module and replaced with Google Coral. With both Sata and NVME devices plugged the machine does gets warm. It is a shame that G3+ doesn't have any heatsink for the storage devices. Luckily since I removed the wifi module, I also have no use of the plastic liner and the antenna. Removing them and placed the g3+ front side down improves heat dissapation enough that I did not add any fan like many suggested.launch

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May 8, 2025

@suntoryjim

I just got one delivered last night, and I can confirm that the thermal management is a big problem, but I did what any old-school overclocker would do in this situation: add a fan. I added a 40mm Noktua fan in front of the exhaust ports on the side of the unit to help draw the hot air out. This dropped the temps of the CPU and NVMEs 10 deg across the board. \nI had no problems installing TrueNAS Fangtooth over the Ubuntu installation on the EMMC.\nSince not all NVMEs are the same, I would advise that you check the temps of your drives. I had a Teamgroup MP33 in the mix that was idling 64deg (w/heatsink) and 74deg when writing, which I suspect was dumping way too much heat into the NVME compartment. I simply swapped it out for a different drive, which immediately brought the temps of the other drives down. I used the Scrutiny docker app in TrueNAS to monitor the drive temps.launch

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April 20, 2025

@hikaritsumi2123

Just got one of this and the heat problem is somehow worse than mentioned in the vidoe (maybe because of higher ambient) the drive sit idle at 70C which is obviously too hot. I only had several NVME heatsink so tried it and the temp drop by 10C (for the one applied) Some comment mention just leave the ssd cover open or get a custom heat sink to combat the issue I might try those\n\nUpdate: The thing that get hot is just the controller so I put heat sink spread across 4 controller and blow the fan in, temp drop to 50C under load, I'd call this a success!\nUpdate2: 4 months later My eMMC has died so it is now just a 4 NVME miniPC nowlaunch

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March 21, 2025

Buyers found conflicting maximum RAM and storage figures on GMKtec's own product pages (e.g., 16TB vs 32TB max storage, 32GB vs 64GB RAM claims), causing confusion and distrust. One user also found off-brand RAM/SSD components shipped instead of the branded parts shown in marketing photos.

@waxydrgle4600

Confused about max storage.. The GMKtec website says: \"NAS expansion up to 32TB storage (4x 8TB)\", further down the page it says \"Max capacity 16TB, 4TB each slot\"... Which is it!launch

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February 1, 2025

@jonathantee1880

what is the max storage of this device, the GMKtec page shows both max 4tb per slot total 16tb and max 8tb total 32tb so which is it 🤷‍♂launch

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January 31, 2025

@BruceWalker51

When I bought my GMKtec NUCBOX M6 it said 64GB ram and 4TB of storage but the manual reads 32GB ram and 2TB of storage.Did I get hood winked on this buy? None the less it's been a really good computer so far no complaints.Also can you please advise me on what ram and rom I need to upgrade.This M6 came with 16GB ram and 256GB of rom.I want to max it out.Thank you for help you can send my way.Brucelaunch

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October 31, 2024

@TLC-i2j

I purchased the 16GB RAM / 512GB SSD version, but both components turned out to be from some off-brand Chinese manufacturer. When I left a review on the official product page, it wasn't approved, yet reviews with photos showing LEXAR-branded components were accepted. This feels shady. Returning the units would be too much of a hassle. Lesson learned: stick with reputable brands that have a reputation to protect, not these fly-by-night whitebox resellers. I am posting this on everything i can find related to GMKtec NucBox G3.launch

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August 26, 2024

Multiple buyers were frustrated that RAM appears soldered or hard to find compatible replacement modules for, with conflicting reports on whether 32GB sticks work despite official specs capping at 16GB.

@bens83

I have the GMKTec G3 Plus (8GB RAM, 128 NVME). I'd like to to update both the RAM and add another SATA drive to the open m2 2242. The problem is that there isn't a lot of reports of finding any that work. I'm looking for an exact link to a working module of both the m2 2242 and the single channel DDR4 SODIMM 3200mhz. Thanks in advance!launch

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June 23, 2025

@davidb1412

I wish they would have made ram replaceable and upgradeable. It has an amazing i/o for a mini pc, it does need some cooling fixes but overall good. Have you tried removing the wifi adapter and adapting that port for additional storage?launch

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May 3, 2025

@DiyintheGhetto

I'm just curious if anyone has tried more then 16GB of memory? intel specs says 16GB however I saw some forums in the past people say tehy got it to work on a 32GB stick. I haven't tried this myself but I was curious.launch

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November 25, 2024

@j_m_b_1914

Wow -- I am looking EVERYWHERE to see if the RAM can be upgraded and can't find one review that touches that question.\n\nOnward for my search. All I need to know is if the ram is in a slot or embedded.launch

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March 5, 2024

One user's eMMC died after four months of use, and a pre-loaded NVMe failed within 45 days under moderate load, raising concerns about internal storage durability. Buyers frequently asked about EMMC and RAM reliability before purchasing.

@SamMiorelli

Bought one to use as an opnsense device because of the 2x 2.5G Intel NIC's. Thermals over time is a big problem. opnsense with average throughput of about 10mbps running all the security features (unbound with block list, suricata, zenarmor, and a few wireguard connections) puts the CPUs at about 30% constant load. This causes the whole device to get quite hot to touch and fried the nvme that came pre-loaded from the OEM within about 45 days. Might have just been a one-off bad device so let's see how the RMA goes, but if this was under constant load much higher I can't really imagine how it would go. Very poor thermal design.launch

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May 11, 2025

@hikaritsumi2123

Just got one of this and the heat problem is somehow worse than mentioned in the vidoe (maybe because of higher ambient) the drive sit idle at 70C which is obviously too hot. I only had several NVME heatsink so tried it and the temp drop by 10C (for the one applied) Some comment mention just leave the ssd cover open or get a custom heat sink to combat the issue I might try those\n\nUpdate: The thing that get hot is just the controller so I put heat sink spread across 4 controller and blow the fan in, temp drop to 50C under load, I'd call this a success!\nUpdate2: 4 months later My eMMC has died so it is now just a 4 NVME miniPC nowlaunch

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March 21, 2025

@PantheraTK

How reliable is the inbuilt EMMC storage and RAM?\n\nBecause if they fail the whole unit is gone.launch

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January 31, 2025

Several Linux users reported no driver support for the Realtek Bluetooth chip, monitor resolution restricted to 800x600 under Mint, and no video output from the secondary HDMI port. These issues did not appear under Windows 11.

@meneguzzo68

I wanted to install Openmediavault in this G3, however I receive these USB errors at boot\n\ngen 23 13:34:20 openmediavault kernel: ACPI Error: AE_NOT_FOUND, During name lookup/catalog (20220331/psobject-220)\ngen 23 13:34:20 openmediavault kernel: ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Could not resolve symbol [\\_SB.PC00.TXHC.RHUB.SS02], AE_NOT_FOUND (20220331/dswload2-162)\ngen 23 13:34:20 openmediavault kernel: ACPI Error: AE_NOT_FOUND, During name lookup/catalog (20220331/psobject-220)\ngen 23 13:45:34 openmediavault kernel: ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Could not resolve symbol [\\_SB.PC00.TXHC.RHUB.SS01], AE_NOT_FOUND (20220331/dswload2-162)\ngen 23 13:45:34 openmediavault kernel: ACPI Error: AE_NOT_FOUND, During name lookup/catalog (20220331/psobject-220)\ngen 23 13:45:34 openmediavault kernel: ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Could not resolve symbol [\\_SB.PC00.TXHC.RHUB.SS02], AE_NOT_FOUND (20220331/dswload2-162)\ngen 23 13:45:34 openmediavault kernel: ACPI Error: AE_NOT_FOUND, During name lookup/catalog (20220331/psobject-220)\ngen 23 13:53:26 openmediavault kernel: ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Could not resolve symbol [\\_SB.PC00.TXHC.RHUB.SS01], AE_NOT_FOUND (20220331/dswload2-162)\ngen 23 13:53:26 openmediavault kernel: ACPI Error: AE_NOT_FOUND, During name lookup/catalog (20220331/psobject-220)\ngen 23 13:53:26 openmediavault kernel: ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Could not resolve symbol [\\_SB.PC00.TXHC.RHUB.SS02], AE_NOT_FOUND (20220331/dswload2-162)\ngen 23 13:53:26 openmediavault kernel: ACPI Error: AE_NOT_FOUND, During name lookup/catalog (20220331/psobject-220)\n\nG3 support replied me that they only support Windows 11 but it seems a Bios issue.\nAnyone is having these USB issues with G3 ?\n\nThankslaunch

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January 25, 2024

@ByteMeCompletely

First, I am very happy with this product, but I have three issues:\n\n1. There is no linux driver support for your Realtek bluetooth chip.\n\n2. Linux Mint 21.2 doesn't recognize my Samsung 4K monitor, and restricts it to 800x600 resolution. debian12 recognizes the monitor and allows 1920x1080 (or higher) resolution.\n\n3. I tried using the second hdmi port, but got no video output. Neither hdmi port is marked as primary.launch

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November 24, 2023

@ByteMeCompletely

I had created a NAS with a Raspberry Pi4B, but got tired of issues with Raspberry OS, and other ARM issues. I bought this NUC to use debian12 amd64.\nI shrunk the win 11 partition and installed debian12. I can't get debian12 to turn on Bluetooth, but I added a keyboard under win 11. The BIOS has too many settings related to Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. But since win 11 worked, Bluetooth must be on in bios.\nPerhaps debian12 doesn’t have a driver for it.\nI tried lsusb and lspci, but couldn't find a bluetooth device listed.launch

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November 24, 2023

A couple of buyers encountered a missing screw in the M.2 slot packaging or a stuck screw that prevented SSD installation entirely, causing frustration during setup.

@pmarengo21

It looks so easy BUT the screw that locks down the SSD card slot will not budge I can't remove it to install my new SSD card. I don't want to force it for obvious reasons. It's frustrating that I can't add a $200 2TB SSD card because of something so stupid.launch

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September 8, 2025

@hammer86_

Nice video. My barebones G3 arrived today. It's missing a screw in the 2280 M.2 slot 😕\n\nUpdate: I was mistaken. Found the screw in a bag of hardware for the vesa mount, for some reason. The screw for the 2242 slot is on the motherboard.launch

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February 2, 2024

At least one owner noticed the fan cycling between loud bursts and silence in a pattern that seemed abnormal, raising concern about fan quality or control firmware.

@MrWilsantiago

I bough mine 2 weeks ago, nice mini pc. However the fan works too loudly for a few secs, then stops, then works loudly again. I don't think its normal.launch

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February 17, 2024