Can this be upgraded to Win 11?
Specs tab says, “Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (does not support Windows 11)” 
If you’re a windows fan, I’d stick with 10 on this one to be safe. I snatched one up specifically to run test builds of my apps on it, juuuust in case something catches fire
So I’m extremely curious if this B300 chipset based machine can be upgraded to a Ryzen APU that is supported by Windows 11 (3400G would be my preferred sweet spot). The B300 chipset can support up to a 5000 series APU, but it’s dependent on a BIOS update that Lenovo may or may not offer. According to the spec sheet from Lenovo, it only officially lists A-series APUs (A6/A10/A12 and PRO variants) as compatible but I’d love to try out a Ryzen APU in it just to see what happens. I’m not in a position to blow $140 on this and another $100 on a Ryzen APU just to find out if Windows 11 (an OS I refuse to run) would work, but maybe someone out there would be willing to give it a shot?
Spec sheet: https://download.lenovo.com/parts/ThinkCentre/m715q_tiny_spec.pdf
I love the pencil in the pic. Design team did a fine job pointing out that this is a tiny desktop. But now I must know, does Lenovo make pencils too?!? Are these exclusive or elusive?
Can this Lenovo M715q be upgraded to Win 11 Pro?
(Please note: I don’t work for Woot, I just volunteer to help out here on the forums.)
Can we install Debian on it?
(thought I’d check, ran into an issue with a previous mini-pc once before)
Unfortunately Win10 is scheduled for End of Support on 10/14/2025. This tiny and powerful PC has a short life expectancy or you can later install Linux.
So the CPU on this is super, SUPER, slow it appears. I was comparing it to a PC I have running an i3-7100 (PC exists literally to just run one program 24/7 and reboots everyday so the application doesn’t kill it). That i3 is 40% faster than this CPU.
I’m not really sure what this PC can accomplish. True it won’t take up much space, but I’d 100% consider this a Linux machine before a Win machine, considering how far even a modern browser with a few tabs would push it.
As for price, looking on eBay see this going for $50-$65 with NO SSD/drive, though, so take that into account as you get 512 here, so the price is fair-ish. Just, consider more that modern PC needs have gotten very bloated to even do the most basic things. Yeesh. If you tossed Linux on it and did basic things, this could, possibly, be a nice out of the way PC - but I’m not even sure as a media PC this could work. Netflix would crush this thing, most likely.
Can this run Crysis?
I looked into this as I have a 3000G sitting around and the answer is no unless you solder a new bios chip onto the board.
Is this a good alternative to a raspberry pi?
Thanks for satisfying my curiosity. Not worth the $140 then unless you have a A12 Pro chip already that is drop-in compatible, and even then it won’t be much faster.
EDIT: The mothership has the same model listed with a Ryzen Pro 2400GE, so maybe it is possible after all? Or maybe you have to order that variant from Lenovo (or find it used/refurbished) to get one with a compatible BIOS. The one listed on the mothership is also $450 with half the RAM and storage, certainly not worth it at that price.
It depends on your use case. If you just want a cheap desktop computer that’s faster than a Pi, this would work especially given the Pi’s current cost when you can find one. If you need GPIO for your project you’re better off with a board like the LattePanda which is x86 but has GPIO and a MCU built into it.
The m715q Gen 2 topped out with a 2400GE, which is a 35w Zen 1 APU – and I don’t believe they ever updated the AGESA beyond that. So I would not try it.
(Note that I am not staff. I just volunteer to help out on the forums.)
Perhaps an ASRock X300w Deskmini?
https://www.asrock.com/nettop/AMD/DeskMini%20X300%20Series/index.asp
