CherryTree, a brand known for its cases and peripherals themed after both Star Trek and Star Wars, has gone where no system builder has gone before and transformed a GeForce graphics cards into a PC. Better still, though the pixel pusher’s PCIe interface no longer functions, you can still plug it into a motherboard, with accommodations for its power source, computer-ception style.
Dubbed, ‘GeeFarce 5027 POS Underclocked and Overrated’, there’s a knowing tongue-in-cheek air to the entire build. In the creation of its Frankenstein system, CherryTree hollowed out a Gigabyte GeForce RTX 20 Series graphics card. This left enough room to fit a NUC 13 Pro motherboard, including its CPU and storage. In addition to the shell, the brand kept the original triple-fan cooling system in working order, offering extra airflow to its new internal components.
The model received by Gamers Nexus features a 12-core Intel i7-1360P CPU with Iris Xe graphics, 64GB of DDR4-3200 RAM, and 2TB of M.2 SSD storage. Putting it to the test netted an overall 3DMark Night Raid score of 19,029 points. Gamers Nexus compared it to an AMD Ryzen 9800X3D plus GeForce RTX 2070 Super system, which enjoyed a whopping 492% advantage in the graphics test.
On the other hand, this lower performance translated into efficient operation where the GeeFarce 5027 POS pulled around 84W during a CPU stress test and between 10 and 15W while idling. During the test, the CPU cores remained under 76°C, resulting in about 41.5dBA of noise, mainly caused by the NUC’s built-in blower fan.
Of course, the fun of this component isn’t its performance but its form factor. Adding to the creativity of this build, CherryTree includes an external power supply but claims it can run the POS via a 12V PCIe power connector. However, placing this system inside of another system would make pressing its power button slightly awkward.
Connectivity is identical to what you can find on the NUC 13 Pro, but this time accessible from the card’s I/O shield. Specifically, we find two Thunderbolt 4 Type-C, one USB 3.2 Gen 2, one USB 2.0, two HDMI 2.1, plus 2.5Gb/s LAN.
While this build was “because fun” according to CherryTree, there’s an undeniable charm to GeeFarce 5027 POS. It’s a shame then that there are no plans to release this system to market. Perhaps this will inspire skilled modders or even other companies to trial something similar.
