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- Nowadays, Mini PCs have become relatively affordable and are sufficiently outfitted with competent CPUs and GPUs.
- Mini PCs’ manufacturers have stepped up their game by launching uniquely aesthetic designs with competitive price tags to match.
- You can lug around your Mini PCs for travel purposes thanks to their portability and enjoy gaming on the go as long as you have a power socket.
Welcome back to another rant about my love for Mini PCs.
It’s 2024, and the era where the average gamer would bash Mini PCs for their lack of gaming prowess, ability to handle heat dissipation in an efficient manner, and ludicrous pricing schemes, to name a few, are long gone.
You want to run your favourite games in 1080p and even 1440p?
Perhaps you don’t want to be crippled by a limited selection of I/O ports?
Or maybe you’re concerned about upgradability?
Worry not. Simply allow me to convince you to look out for a Mini PC as your next purchase.
But first, let’s have a look at the issues that prevented the earlier Mini PCs from succeeding in their niche.
The Initial Problems
If you dove into the market to find prospective options for Mini PCs about 5 years ago, you would certainly encounter a few key problems.
To begin with, the Mini PCs of yesteryears were detrimentally underpowered and under-specced as compared to their fellow full-sized Desktop PCs.
Those antique Mini PCs would inherently struggle to maintain satisfactory CPU and GPU temperatures thanks to their miniature designs and closed enclosures.
This would cause your system to consistently thermal throttle and therefore, reduce the performance output.
Let’s also not forget the absolutely abysmal pricing tactics manufacturers would employ to extort money in the name of Mini PCs.
But that’s all in the past. What do today’s Mini PCs have in store for you and I?
Mini PCs: Putting Their Money Where Their Mouth Is
For you, I’ve got two worthy contenders who have been subjected to strenuous in-house benchmarks and tests along with a thorough overall review, collectively speaking.
Of course, I’m talking about the Blackview MP80 Mini PC and Beelink SER8.
Blackview MP80 Intel N97 Mini PC
First off, the Blackview MP80 Mini PC packs an Intel N97 (4-core, 4-thread) SoC that also includes the Intel UHD 730 integrated GPU (iGPU) for an all-in-one solution, along with 16 GB LPDDR5 RAM and a 512 GB M.2 SSD (which performs similarly to a SATA SSD).
Moving on, the Blackview MP80 also boasts Bluetooth 4.2 and WiFi 5, which are slightly outdated, but hey, it’s better than nothing.
Furthermore, the MP80 Mini PC also offers you a 3.5mm auxiliary jack, a pair of RJ45 Gigabyte Ethernet ports, a trio of USB 3.0 connections, and three HDMI ports that support graphical output of 4K @60 FPS for your multiple-monitor setup.
The best part? You can get the Blackview MP80 Mini PC for $170-$200, even though it carries an MSRP of $300.
Beelink SER8 AMD Ryzen 7 Mini PC
Maybe the Blackview MP80’s power isn’t enough to suit your intensive needs.
That’s where the Beelink SER8 steps in with an AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS CPU (8-core, 16-thread), a Radeon 780M iGPU, 32 GB (16×2) of (upgradeable) 5600 MHz DDR5 SODIMM RAM, a 1 TB NVMe M.2 SSD from Crucial along with an additional empty slot, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, and a 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet port.
I wasn’t finished. The Beelink SER8 also manages to incorporate a 40 Gbps USB 4 connection, a USB 3.2 Type-C port, a pair of USB 3.2 Type-A connectors, and a duo of USB 2.0 ports, but what takes the cake is the inclusion of an HDMI 2.1 port and a DisplayPort 1.4.
That’s because when combined with the latter two ports, the Beelink SER8 can push a triple display setup in 4K @120 Hz.
Understandably, the Beelink SER8 AMD Ryzen 7 Mini PC with its top-tier specs usually retails for about $650, $100 off its $750 MSRP.
Mini PCs: Worth Your Hard-Earned Money Or Not?
Depending on your budget and power requirements, you can find a competent Mini PC for as little as $150, all the way up to $650 at the top end of the spectrum.
Regardless, if you go with any of the variants of the two Mini PCs I’ve mentioned above, I think you’ll be good to go for the next couple of years.
Let’s not forget that you can definitely game immediately with these Mini PCs, especially the Beelink SER8 with its Radeon 780M iGPU.
All in all, Mini PCs in 2024 are giving full-sized Desktop PCs a run for their money, quite literally, and you should take advantage of it before its too late.
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[Hardware Reviewer]
After many years of exploiting various pieces of hardware, Abdul Hannan now serves as an editor at Tech4Gamers. He’s been in the PC hardware reviewing industry for almost a decade, and his staff of passionate geeks and reviewers is second to none.
Abdul Hannan is constantly seeking new methods, you will always see him running into New Computer Courses to improve the performance of his computer components since he is an ardent overclocker. He is well-known for providing the most extensive and unbiased analysis of the newest and greatest hardware for PC gaming, including everything from GPUs to PSUs.
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