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Hi guys, I have just noticed that my windows key on my K65 RGB mini has been stuck red and if I try to alter colors or change anything, the rest of the keyboard changes totally fine but this is stuck at red. I dont know exactly when it happened. Any way to fix this issue?
A big reason why? Graphics acceleration and other essential features, handled in the past by separate chips or bulky cards, have been subsumed under the CPU. Nowadays, miniaturization is getting to the point where you can't go all that much smaller. You need to leave some space for ports to plug in a thing or two.
Our guide here will explore the nuances of today's smallest PCs. First, we've broken out the best mini PCs for 2023 that we've tested below, according to the usage case. Following that is a detailed breakdown of how to buy the right model for you. We wrap up below that with a chart-style spec breakout of all our top picks.
The Core i7 chip and Iris Xe integrated graphics give the NUC 12 Pro solid productivity performance, while three USB 3.0 ports, two Thunderbolt 4/USB-C ports, two HDMI ports, 2.5Gbps Ethernet, and Wi-Fi 6E give it a ton of connectivity. It's the current flagship from the mini-PC leader, with particular appeal to picky configuration choosers. Ready for a dual-monitor desk setup, the little Intel is a great choice for any office job shy of a professional workstation's.
If you're on a budget and not into the hobbyist aspect of bare-bones kits, the DP21 is a great way to get into mini PCs. The four antique USB 2.0 ports on the front panel aren't too useful, but you get four USB 3.2 ports (three Type-A, one Type-C), 4K HDMI and DisplayPort monitor connectors, Gigabit Ethernet, and audio jacks around back. Inside, Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth share the space for up to 64GB of RAM, two 2.5-inch drives plus an M.2 SSD, and even an Intel 12th Gen CPU upgrade instead of the usual fixed mobile processor. What's not to like?
With ISV certifications and enterprise-class security, the P360 Ultra is a worthy alternative to the Z2 Mini or Apple's Mac Studio. Two Thunderbolt 4 ports join a USB-A 3.2 port and audio jack up front, with Gigabit and 2.5Gbps Ethernet ports, four more USB 3.2 ports, and three DisplayPorts (plus the GPU's four mini DisplayPorts) around back.
The models next up in size are a bit more dynamic, a bunch we might term the "NUC class." NUC stands for "Next Unit of Computing," a longtime initiative by Intel to spur the development of very small Windows-based desktop PCs using its mobile-centric processors. The chip giant has released a series of NUC-branded mini PC kits in its own line, and several of the traditional PC-component makers have followed suit with similar models (Asus with its VivoMini line, and Gigabyte with its Brix models, for example).
The NUC PCs and their ilk tend to be around 5 or 6 inches square, though Intel's 2020 NUC 9 Extreme (followed by NUC 11, 12, and 13 Extreme versions) changes this somewhat. The NUC 9 Extreme was a new mini PC platform that Intel is encouraging partner manufacturers to utilize for many different types of PCs, based on a core-computing module called the Compute Element. While it's technically a mini PC, full retail models from partners, such as the Razer Tomahawk, can be much larger than the small square boxes we're used to associating with NUCs.
Separate from those is a host of PCs that are undeniably small but follow their own shape and size rules. Zotac, a major player in small PCs (and one of the category's unsung innovators), offers a huge range of Zbox PCs that range in size from a fat smartphone to a bulky Discman. Shuttle, too, is another small-PC pioneer, offering machines in a host of shapes. On the macOS side of things, the venerable Apple Mac mini is a sleek, square silver box with rounded edges that saw a big update in in January 2023. Like the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, it received Apple's homegrown M1 and M2 processors, greatly increasing its performance.
This arrangement is what's called in reseller lingo a "bare-bones PC." You'll want to make sure you know what you are getting. In some cases, a given mini system is sold in bare-bones form, as well as in pre-configured versions with storage, RAM, and Windows present.
The form factor of the storage varies more. Depending on the mini PC you are looking at, you may need a 2.5-inch drive (a solid-state or hard drive, the size that goes into most full-size laptops), or a slimmer variety of SSD that's known as an M.2 SSD. Such drives are the size and shape of a stick of chewing gum. Check out our guide to these complicated drives at the link; if you need to install an M.2 SSD in a bare-bones desktop, you need to know about some interface/bus and sizing subtleties before you shop. (It's too easy, otherwise, to buy an incompatible drive.)
Since then, larger NUC models have even offered support for full-size GPUs, but in a notably larger form factor. Some of the Extreme Kit NUCs make room for a dual-slot graphics card up to 12 inches long. That opens up some serious productivity and gaming power, but the NUC Extremes really take you out of the true "mini" size category. It's all relative.
The thing is, if you're sticking with a truly small PC, a dedicated graphics chip is seldom an option, simply because of space and thermal-design reasons. The peppier Iris Xe integrated graphics introduced with Intel's 11th Generation "Tiger Lake" CPUs is one helpful solution for those unable to use a discrete GPU. Designed for mobile systems, it would also seem a perfect fit for mini PCs, and Iris Xe has shown solid improvement over the built-in graphics on older Intel chips.
Some mini PCs include mounting kits that let you attach them to the back of an LCD monitor. Check for that feature if space savings of that kind is important to you. And check the back of your monitor for mounting holes, which, if present, normally comply with the VESA mounting standard.
How to tell? Most of the mini PCs on the market make use of Intel silicon, and the dead giveaway whether you're looking at a mobile CPU or a desktop one is usually the letter at the end of the processor's number. Look for a "T" or a "K," or no letter at all, as a dead giveaway for a desktop chip (for example, Core i5-9400T), or a "U" or "Y" (or possibly a "G3," "G5," or "G7") for a mobile one. The chip family and generation being equal, you can generally expect more muscle (usually a consequence of more cores and higher base clocks) from the desktop version of, say, a Core i5 than from a mobile Core i5.
In addition, Intel chips ending in "H" are a higher-powered grade of mobile processor, occupying the middle ground between the mainstream mobile chips and all-out socketed desktop chips. They are uncommon in mini desktops, though. There are now some occasional AMD flavors as well, such as the AMD Ryzen V1605B in the ECS Liva Q3 Plus.
What to glean from that mobile-versus-desktop insight? Our benchmark testing will quantify the trends, but none of the mobile-grade chips in these small PCs is a proper substitute for a desktop chip if you're a heavy multitasker, or a media pro who needs real processing muscle, say, to convert lots of video or photo files from one format to another. In most cases, the CPU is the single biggest factor in the cost of a mini PC, so keep an eye on the performance numbers in our reviews for a relative idea of what you are getting.
Rule of thumb? For light office work, you can get by with a mobile or desktop Core i3- or Pentium-based mini PC, but you'll want to err on the side of a higher-end, desktop-strength Core chip if you'll need extra pep for serious multitasking, file conversions, heavy calculations, or multimedia content manipulation. Celeron chips, meanwhile, are okay for only the very lightest of tasks, or undemanding digital display/signage use.
Check out the spec breakout below for our latest mini PC recommendations, which parallel the models we outlined above. If you're shopping for a small desktop to save money, you'll also want to check out our picks for the top cheap desktops.
We then connected each mini PC to a series of 24-inch, 27-inch, and 4K monitors to test its display outputs and used it for a few days of ordinary work. This process usually consisted of running a web browser with at least 15 tabs open at a time (Google Docs, Sheets, Gmail, Slack, and plenty more), streaming music through the Spotify desktop application, video chatting, and recording audio. The testing allowed us to get a feel for how each mini PC performed on a daily basis, and it also gave us time to discover any quirks related to bloatware or driver issues.
For anybody who does processor-intensive work, the Apple Mac mini with an M2 Pro processor is a tiny powerhouse that can fit under a monitor. Its processor is wickedly fast for converting file types, rendering video, or working in 3D. Because the unified 16 GB of RAM works with either the central processing unit or the graphics processor, you can also more quickly handle enormous video files. The Mac mini with the M2 Pro also has two more USB-C ports than the standard model, so you can have peripherals aplenty.
Upgrading to the M2 Pro chip also upgrades the number of ports you get. The M2 Pro version of the Mac mini has two more USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports than the standard version, for a total of four, and the computer can support three monitors instead of two. It also has two USB-A ports, an SD Card reader, an HDMI port, a Gigabit Ethernet port, and a headphone jack. Thanks to this collection of ports, you should be able to connect just about any accessory, peripheral, storage drive, or monitor with little issue.
Measuring 7.7 inches wide, 7.7 inches long, and 1.4 inches tall, the Mac mini system is extremely quiet even under heavy load, and the noise is almost unnoticeable even when the computer is on a desk.
For 10 years, Intel has sold a line of mini PCs called NUC, or Next Unit of Computing. These little PCs, which are mainly intended for enthusiasts, have laptop components crammed into a tiny box, rather than the desktop processors and RAM found in our Windows pick.
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