NES-Inspired ACEMAGIC Retro X5 Mini PC Revives the Classics in a Modern Shell

ACEMAGIC has just teased the Retro X5, a mini PC that flawlessly matches the nostalgic look of the original Nintendo Entertainment System from the 1980s. The first thing you notice is the grey plastic casing and front-loading cartridge door, which are similar to the original; even the controller ports have been reduced down to fit on your desk.

This retro-looking beast is powered by an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor, which is a hefty piece of hardware when you consider it. It has 12 cores and 24 threads, including four high-performance Zen 5 cores and eight Zen 5c cores that are designed to be extremely efficient. If you want to get true speed out of it. This beast can run at up to 5.1 Ghz, which is plenty for everyday duties such as web browsing, document editing, and video streaming.

The graphics are handled by the integrated Radeon 890M, which is built on the latest RDNA 3.5 technology and has 16 compute units to play with. So, yes, games operate nicely at moderate settings, particularly older titles or lightweight newer ones. There is also a neural processing unit that handles all of the AI tasks, and it is extremely fast, with up to 50 TOPS of performance. So you can use suitable software to create photos or enhance films.

One of the most important features is the ability to easily update RAM and storage to meet your specific requirements. The dual SO-DIMM sockets support DDR5 modules, while M.2 slots allow for quick SSD upgrades. When it comes to connecting it to your other kit? No issue, with various display outputs and high-speed connections, you can connect multiple monitors.

Now let’s talk about the front panel, which includes all of the practical features such as two USB Type-A ports, a USB Type-C connector, and a headphone jack, which is where you’d connect your controllers or headsets. What about the back? For the time being, it remains a mystery, although we may expect HDMI for monitors and probably even Ethernet for stable networking.

ACEMAGIC is also including RetroPlay Box software with the Retro X5, which is a custom launcher that makes it simple to organize your emulators and game collections, thus transforming the device into a dedicated old console station with powerful visuals. You can load your own game files, and it can happily imitate systems much beyond the original NES, which is really cool.

Now… cooling. We don’t know the specifics just yet, but one thing is certain: with a design like this, it will need to be good at keeping the heat down, otherwise you’ll see some significant performance dips during prolonged gaming sessions. So, when can you get your hands on the Retro X5? It could be released as early as later this month, with confirmation coming possibly during CES 2026 next week.
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