I tested the System76 Thelio Mira: it's the custom Linux desktop of my dreams

Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. Sure, you could build a more powerful Linux workstation, but even then, you'd be hard-pressed to make a better machine than System76's new 2026 Thelio Mira Custom desktop PC. That's because the computer is both very powerful and quiet as a whisper. The 2026 Mira refresh is built around AMD's Ryzen 9000 "Granite Ridge" platform on an X870 motherboard. This setup gives you PCIe 5.0 for GPUs and SSDs, providing up to 32 gigatransfers per second (GT/s) per lane, which adds up to 64 gigabytes per second (GB/s) and 128 GB/s of bidirectional throughput. Combine that power with Gen5 Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) sequential throughput of up to 15 GB/s, and we're talking seriously fast I/O. That's a good thing, because the Mira Custom CPU options range from a 6-core Ryzen 5 9600X at the low end up to a 16-core Ryzen…