Posted on 09/18/2025 6:28:11 PM PDT by fireman15
Mini-PCs are space-saving, quiet, versatile and often cheaper than a classic desktop PC. We discuss the advantages and what you should look out for when buying in this guide.
Mini-PCs have been experiencing a real boom in recent years. No wonder, because these small desktop computers are powerful, space-saving, and flexible. This guide shows what a mini-PC actually is, where its strengths lie, and who can benefit the most from buying one.
Also, be sure to check out the PCWorld deals page where we highlight the best deals from around the web on mini-PCs, like the latest stellar deal on a GMKtec M3 Plus mini-PC, and more. In fact, mini-PCs are constantly going on sale for staggeringly low prices, so keep your eyes peeled while shopping and keep checking back with us to see the latest and greatest deals. (If you’re reading this article the day it goes live, we’re also tracking the best Amazon Prime Day mini PC deals.)
What is a mini PC? A mini-PC is a fully-fledged computer in a small format. In contrast to laptops, mini-PCs do without a battery and screen, which saves weight on the one hand and makes the small housing possible on the other—many models have a volume of less than one liter. At the same time, flexibility remains high: a monitor, mouse, keyboard, or external drives can be freely selected and easily replaced if necessary. If you like it neat and tidy, mount the mini-PC behind the monitor to save space or integrate it discreetly on the desk.
Despite their compact design, modern mini-PCs offer enough power for everyday tasks such as office work, surfing, streaming and even gaming. If you know your way around, you can even build your own mini PC with the right components.
(Excerpt) Read more at pcworld.com ...
So the more powerful mini-PC that I purchased the other night on Amazon for $338.99 arrived today. The first thing that I do is make an image of the hard drive (NVME) of any new computer. The quickest and easiest way to do this with this computer was to take the case apart and insert an additional NVME and then boot with Hirens BootCD PE and make an image using one of the programs in the disk imaging menu. I usually use Macrium Reflect and save the image to a file on the 2nd drive. All of this is of course free.
https://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/
I am used to using my very powerful gaming laptop with Microsoft Fight Simulator 2024. It runs very smoothy at the highest detail and resolution with the gaming laptop. In the past I have used Flight Simulators with much less capable computers. It always takes a bit of effort to find the best display settings. This mini-PC runs MSFS 2024 just fine without any warnings when you start it up, it does not run as smoothly as with my more powerful gaming computer which has a very capable Nvidia GPU and 13th Generation Core I7. But MSFS 2025 is not maxing out the CPU or the GPU the way that I currently have it setup.
I’ll stick with building my own.
Just bought the last parts I need to make my next one; not gonna make it yet, and absolutely will not turn it on until I have a UPS to protect it. It’s unfortunately my most expensive build yet, due to current pricing, and no way in hell do I want to lose it.
I certainly believe that building your own PC is the best option in many cases for a desktop computer. Many years ago, I found myself constantly helping friends and relatives with their computers and it was more difficult because each was using a different antiquated machine.
I ended up shopping around and sourcing the parts for over a dozen desktop PCs. I received significant quantity discounts. I worked on the first one for quite a while getting all of the kinks worked out with the hardware and software. I kept that one for myself as a reference machine, then I set up all of the rest identically and set them out. These had amazing longevity and if someone did have a problem, I was able to get them going again very quickly.
I kept a couple extra sets of parts around and when we had a hardware failure, I used these parts to get them going again quickly. The primary source that I used had good warranty replacement policies, so I was able to replenish my stock of parts. Of course, eventually the warranties ran out and the parts that I used originally were no longer available, but everything was basically generic and most of the machines were still being used ten years later. It was an experiment that worked out pretty well, and at the time more economically than what was available at places that people typically purchased PCs from back then.
These days the situation has changed. A couple years ago when I was planning on putting together a gaming desktop for flight simulation. I couldn’t come close to matching the price of a generic off brand machine from Costco, and the warranty was much better as well. I ended up purchasing a gaming laptop instead which was even cheaper with specs and performance that were very close to the desktop that I was thinking of purchasing.
And then there is the used market full of capable used business machines, not to mention the huge variety of mini-PCs that are often heavily discounted. But if you want specific hardware for a certain purpose, it is still difficult to beat building your own.
There are a few YouTube channels where they specialize in upgrading used business machines for gaming or other purposes with the goal of saving money compared to purchasing all the parts new. I did this with some HP Elite 8300 Ultra Slim Desktop Computers where I added RAM, SSDs, GPUs and upgraded power supplies. I purchased and upgraded them 6 years ago now, and they are still going strong.
I do have a couple Uninterruptable Power Supplies. But we have them because our power goes out frequently at our house because we are surrounded by miles of tall fir trees and we have a lot of windstorms. The UPSs keep us from having delays getting the internet going again after I get our generator started. But since we have lightning very infrequently and I use outlet strips that filter voltage spikes I am not aware of any piece of our equipment that has been damaged by a voltage spike that came through the line.
Your warning is a reminder however because we are planning on eventually moving to a different part of the country..
I wanted to mention that the “BIOS/UEFI” has many settings that can be changed in this mini-PC. It runs very cool even under load and Ryzens tend to be extremely good candidates for overclocking and increasing the TDP. So, I will be spending some time tweaking this thing and the settings in MSFS 2024 and 2020 to get the best performance possible from it.
So far, I am pleased with my purchase.
Thanks for the suggestions. When I do get one it will likely be one with muscle.. one that can do 4k / 30 fps (preferably 60 fps) with graphics resolution set to very high.
Since I don’t have a windows based system at the moment I tried the cloud gaming route - signed up for Xbox cloud gaming but just could not get the joystick to work with my Mac.
I got a refurbished Mac mini on eBay for a few hundred bucks and it has been great.
The one that I just purchased is probably not the one for you. The Ryzen 7 6600H is powerful, but it was released approximately 3 years ago. The GPU seems to be throttled at approximately 75% of its actual capacity... I still have some tweaking to do with it using the available tools.
Thanks for the information.
It is performing fairly well, but it seems to be underperforming when benchmarked. I am not sure why, but at this point I am a little disappointed. It often takes me a while to figure out the best settings for MSFS and also when setting up a computer. Usually, I am able to figure out where the bottle necks are.
My phone lets me switch from desktop mode to mobile mode.
But not for what I use a laptop for like Excel. Laptops sort things easier like photos.
I really wanted to love it, but the mini-PC that I purchased the other day is going back... The Ryzen 7 6600H normally has a TDP of 45 watts. Beelink has locked the TDP on this mini-PC to 28 watts and made it impossible to use any of the normal overclocking software solutions. It is benchmarking at a fraction of what it should be. The power supply they included would not be able to provide the wattage needed to run this at the typical TDP which was the first clue that this computer is a typical Chinese/Amazon hardware scam. So much for Beelink’s stellar reputation.
I would never be able to do the things you did to try to mak the thing work. So it’s a blessing you’ve share the reality. Thanks again.
This is the text that I sent back to Amazon with the Mini-PC. Not that it will do any good...
To Whom it May Concern,
This Beelink SER5 MAX Mini PC has an AMD Ryzen 7 6800H which normally has a 45 watt TDP. When I saw that the power supply was very small I could tell that this PC must be severely hobbled. When I looked this up on the official Beelink Customer Support Forum, I found that in this version of the SER5 Max Mini the UEFI has been locked to only 28 watts which works out to approximately 15 watts for the CPU and 13 watts for the GPU.
This means that the computer will not work for the purpose that we purchased it for. Most people would not suspect without some type of warning that the APU in a computer has been limited to approximately 60% of its normal operating wattage. This obviously has severe repercussions in the APUs ability to perform many types of demanding tasks. This means that the computer will definitely not work for the purpose that we purchased it for.
Persons participating in the Beelink Forum and in other discussions were incensed as am I. I find this to be extremely misleading, and I certainly would not purchase any other product from Beelink ever.
This is not the first time I have been burned by an Amazon seller. Now because of Amazon's new return policies we have to wait a month or more to find out if, when and how much of our money will be returned. The truth is that I have had better luck on eBay a good percentage of the time.
We have spent $Tens of Thousands on Amazon over the last 20 years. Our Prime membership will be ending in about 6 months. I have just about had it with Amazon.
I assume that our money will be returned, but what a waste of time and effort. The last time I went through this it was over an Android Radio for our truck. The thing not only didn't look anything like the pictures, it matched almost none of the listed specifications.
Amazon would be much better off if they read your comments...
I doubt that Amazon cares much about my comments, but I do plan on leaving a negative review on my latest fiasco. But it was a learning experience. The prices on mini-PCs change daily on Amazon, so no link that I have left or will leave is likely to be relevant for more than a short time.
My new favorite search that comes up with good candidates for mini-PC purchase is -— Ryzen Oculink -— Oculink allows you to connect a powerful GPU externally if needed with the addition of an Oculink dock. So, you only find them almost exclusively on mini-PCs, eliminating the need for the mini-PC search term which has the effect of filtering out most of the crappy units.
The best deal that I see this morning is https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0F9FB3HZ1
It has a $154 coupon which brings the price down to $445 which is more than $100 more than what I am returning, but the RAM is upgradable to 64GB of DDR5 and is faster than soldered in crap RAM found in the one that I am returning. The APU is two generations newer. There are two 2.5GHZ LAN ports so you could easily use this as a capable locally hosted VPN which if you have a good internet plan will save you quite a bit over paying monthly to a provider such as Hostinger. And of course, if you want to get serious gaming machine you can use the Oculink feature to add a GPU even more powerful than the iGPU included in the Ryzen 7 8745HS.
Here is the comparison made by Grok between the Ryzen 7 6800H that was hobbled in the POS mini-PC I am sending back and the Ryzen 7 8745HS in this one.
https://grok.com/share/c2hhcmQtMg%3D%3D_af703859-55f4-4adf-a29f-d304e30da327
In many ways Beelink did me a favor by opening my eyes.
The Iproda is quirky sometimes with audio, but otherwise pretty good for the price..
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