Ryzen mini PCs
Minisforum MS-A2
- Processor
- AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX
- RAM
- 96 GB
- Network
- 4 × 10 GbE
Media server:Good
Sixteen Zen 5 cores, two 10 GbE SFP+ ports, three SSD slots and a PCIe slot in two litres.
from $799 (typical price)Highly recommended
Mini PCs and single-board computers
Every mini PC, Raspberry Pi, Orange Pi and other board worth buying, with ports, storage, RAM, software support, what each is good for and prices.
18 devices
Intel N mini PCs
Beelink EQ14
- Processor
- Intel N150
- RAM
- 16 GB
- Network
- 2 × 2.5 GbE
Media server:Great fit
Two Intel 2.5 GbE ports, two M.2 slots and a built-in power supply around an N150: the all-rounder home server.
from $385 (typical price)Highly recommended
Intel Core mini PCs
Minisforum MS-01
- Processor
- Intel Core i9-13900H
- RAM
- 96 GB
- Network
- 4 × 10 GbE
Media server:Great fit
The Intel twin of the MS-A2: 10 GbE SFP+, USB4, three SSD slots and Quick Sync.
from $679 (typical price)Recommended
Mac mini
Apple Mac mini (M6)
- Processor
- Apple M6
- RAM
- 32 GB
- Network
- 1 × 2.5 GbE
Media server:Good
The fastest and most frugal small desktop, but a closed box: no Linux, no Proxmox, no upgrades.
from $899 (launch price)Recommended
Intel N mini PCs
Beelink ME mini
- Processor
- Intel N150
- RAM
- 16 GB
- Network
- 2 × 5 GbE
Media server:Great fit
A 10 cm cube with six M.2 slots and fast networking: an all-flash NAS that uses a few watts.
from $525 (typical price)Recommended
Ryzen mini PCs
Beelink SER8
- Processor
- AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS
- RAM
- 128 GB
- Network
- 1 × 2.5 GbE
Media server:Good
Eight Zen 4 cores and Radeon 780M graphics in a quiet box: a real desktop that also runs a homelab.
from $799 (typical price)Recommended
Intel Core mini PCs
ASUS NUC 14 Pro
- Processor
- Intel Core Ultra 5 125H
- RAM
- 48 GB
- Network
- 1 × 2.5 GbE
Media server:Great fit
The classic NUC, now by ASUS: tidy, well-built, two Thunderbolt 4 ports and Quick Sync with AV1.
—Recommended
Other boards
ZimaSpace ZimaBoard 2
- Processor
- Intel N150
- RAM
- 16 GB
- Network
- 2 × 2.5 GbE
Media server:Great fit
A silent, fanless N150 board in an aluminium case with two Intel 2.5 GbE ports, two SATA ports and a PCIe slot.
from $279 (typical price)Recommended
Other boards
FriendlyElec NanoPi R6S
- Processor
- Rockchip RK3588S
- RAM
- 8 GB
- Network
- 3 × 2.5 GbE
Media server:Good
A fanless three-port router board with an eight-core RK3588S, made for OpenWrt.
—Recommended
Orange Pi
Orange Pi 5 Plus
- Processor
- Rockchip RK3588
- RAM
- 32 GB
- Network
- 2 × 2.5 GbE
Media server:Good
The RK3588 board with the most I/O: two 2.5 GbE ports, a full-speed NVMe slot, HDMI in and up to 32 GB.
from $109 (launch price)For advanced users
1-litre business PCs
Lenovo ThinkCentre M920q Tiny
- Processor
- Intel Core i5-8500T
- RAM
- 32 GB
- Network
- 1 × 1 GbE
Media server:Great fit
The off-lease favourite of homelabbers: six cores, up to 32 GB and a PCIe slot for a network card.
—Good budget option
Radxa
Radxa X4
- Processor
- Intel N100
- RAM
- 16 GB
- Network
- 1 × 2.5 GbE
Media server:Great fit
An Intel N100 PC in Raspberry Pi size, with a Pi-style GPIO header driven by an RP2040.
—Recommended
1-litre business PCs
HP EliteDesk 800 G4 Mini
- Processor
- Intel Core i5-8500T
- RAM
- 32 GB
- Network
- 1 × 1 GbE
Media server:Great fit
Two NVMe slots plus a 2.5" bay make this the storage-friendliest of the renewed 1-litre PCs.
—Good budget option
1-litre business PCs
Dell OptiPlex 7070 Micro
- Processor
- Intel Core i5-9500T
- RAM
- 32 GB
- Network
- 1 × 1 GbE
Media server:Great fit
A cheap, quiet 1-litre PC with six cores and room for 32 GB: an easy start with Proxmox or a family desktop.
—Good budget option
Intel N mini PCs
GMKtec NucBox G3 Plus
- Processor
- Intel N150
- RAM
- 32 GB
- Network
- 1 × 2.5 GbE
Media server:Great fit
A small, cheap N150 box with one 2.5 GbE port and room for a second SSD.
from $330 (typical price)Good budget option
Orange Pi
Orange Pi 5 Max
- Processor
- Rockchip RK3588
- RAM
- 16 GB
- Network
- 1 × 2.5 GbE
Media server:Good
A full RK3588 in Raspberry Pi size, with LPDDR5, 2.5 GbE and Wi-Fi 6E.
from $95 (launch price)For advanced users
Radxa
Radxa ROCK 5B
- Processor
- Rockchip RK3588
- RAM
- 32 GB
- Network
- 1 × 2.5 GbE
Media server:Good
An RK3588 board with one of the best mainline Linux efforts among Arm SBCs.
—For advanced users
Orange Pi
Orange Pi 3B
- Processor
- Rockchip RK3566
- RAM
- 8 GB
- Network
- 1 × 1 GbE
Media server:Good
A cheap board in Pi 4 format with an NVMe slot: slower than a Pi 4, but with proper SSD storage.
—Good budget option