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Mini PC: which one to choose? Office, gaming, development,...

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Published on: 23-02-2025 / Modified: 23-02-2025

Looking for a mini PC? I've got a few tips to help you, depending on what you need

Why this article?

I've been using mini PCs for a number of years for a variety of purposes. At the time of writing, I'm using the following:
- 3 HP mini PCs bought second-hand for development and testing concepts without having to rot my main machine with non-essentials
- 1 Lenovo mini PC bought second-hand to run HomeAssistant with a Zigbee antenna to control around twenty connected devices
- 2 Raspberry PI 4 for script/robot automation
- 1 Chinese mini PC as a game server for Minecraft, Conan Exiles and sometimes other games depending on what my son is playing
- 1 Chinese mini PC used for retro gaming
- 2 Chinese mini PCs for office use, one of which is used for cloud gaming with XBOX Gaming Pass Ultimate

There are no doubt loads of other articles to "advise" you, mine will be based on my personal experience rather than a list of products at Amazon

I'll be tackling the following categories: office (light and advanced), retrogaming, gaming (casual or hard core), development, home automation

Why a mini PC?

Mini PCs have the advantage of not taking up a lot of space, which is more or less the only thing they have in common with all the usage scenarios we can envisage. They are generally silent and energy-efficient, although there are a few exceptions depending on the type of use.
Price can also be a determining factor, as entry-level mini PCs can already be found for around €100.
Manufacturers' marketing is always pushing buyers to buy more powerful machines, but apart from gamers and a few other cases, this is generally totally unnecessary. The Mini PC can therefore play an interesting role here

Types of use

I'm now going to take a closer look at the different usage scenarios, and propose a few solutions for each of them

My article is aimed primarily at a non-technical audience, so the more experienced among you probably don't need me to help you find your way around

Light Office

If you use the "Office" suite or this kind of software, you don't need a very powerful or expensive computer. Most mini PCs have enough performance to run this software, and you can already find them for around €100 or even less sometimes if you're willing to buy a refurbished mini pc

I just have to mention one important point for those who would like to buy a refurbished pc. You need to make sure that the mini pc can run a recent version of Windows. Older models may not be compatible and you'll end up with a computer that can no longer be updated. You can, of course, opt for a mini PC running Linux, as the machine will be better exploited, but there is a learning curve to get used to Linux

For this kind of use, there are many solutions on Amazon. If you're buying outside China, you can opt for a mini PC with a Celeron processor, which will be more than enough for your office needs

I bought a Beelink mini PC on Amazon:

Beelink Mini S N5095 review / test

I've prepared an Amazon search link for you to find the best mini PCs in this category:

Celeron mini PC under 200€ on Amazon

If you're not afraid of buying in China, there are more powerful alternatives on Aliexpress for the same price. I've bought several without ever really encountering any problems

Here's one of the models I bought:

Mini PC XCY / Aliexpress

If you're worried about it getting too hot, you can always add a fan on the back

Advanced office automation

If you're using heavier software for photo or video processing, for example, an entry-level mini PC just won't cut it. Here, you need to look for more solid solutions, such as a Mac Mini or an Intel NUC (or similar) mini PC. The Intel NUC range has been discontinued, but the concept remains valid with other brands

There are also solutions involving the association of a graphics card via a Thunderbolt port. In this case, you need to buy an eGPU-type box, insert a graphics card and connect it to the mini PC. This is a technical possibility, but it's not the ideal scenario: a desktop computer is a simpler, more powerful solution

Here's a search link for the best Intel NUC-like products on Amazon:

Intel NUC-like Mini PC / Amazon

If you prefer the MacOS option:

Mac Mini / Amazon

Retrogaming

If you want to rediscover the sensations of your childhood by playing games of the era on a modern machine, you've got to try retrogaming. Today, there are a whole range of free solutions for accessing thousands of games

If you opt for a dedicated machine, you'll probably have to leave the world of Windows behind and move towards machines that can run Linux. You don't need to be an expert to run these solutions, because most of the time, you can install them from a USB key

Some examples of solutions:

Batocera

Recalbox

Retroarch



The Raspberry PI4 (and higher) represents a practical solution to this need. I've been using several of them for years, just look at the dust on the photo! Raspberrys are also available in packs, with all the necessary accessories. A Raspberry 3b should already be sufficient for most older machines (Commodore or Amstrad type), but to run games on more recent consoles, you'll need to step up the power a bit. Don't forget a large memory card to store all your games (512 Gb minimum) and 8 Gb of RAM so that the game emulator can work in good conditions.

Raspberry Pi 4: test, opinions and prices

Raspberry PI / Amazon

Light gaming / Casual gaming

You're not a hard-core gamer, but you still like to play from time to time. The type of product I recommend will depend on your expectations. If you're prepared to play with diminished graphics quality, the machines recommended for light office use should suffice. I ran Conan Exiles on a Celeron N5100 with reduced detail. It's not very pretty, but it works

If you don't want to sacrifice graphics quality, you'll have to turn to cloud gaming, which is the next chapter

Cloud gaming

Want to play the latest games without having to donate a kidney? There's a simple solution. You can buy a low-performance mini PC and combine it with a cloud gaming subscription. You can then quickly access a maximum number of games in good conditions without having to spend a lot of money

I opted for this solution for my son. I didn't want to invest €1,000 in a gaming PC, so I had a €100 mini PC with which I took out an XBOX Gamepass Ultimate subscription for €17.99 a month. If you do the math over 5 years, you've got a €100 pc and 12x5x17.99, that's €1179. For that price, you don't have to worry about the hardware, and you've got access to lots of games at no extra cost

I've even got a solution to make it even more interesting. You can buy XBOX subscriptions for around €9 a month, and it works really well. With a €9 subscription, the cost after 5 years drops to €640... that's an unbeatable cost

I bought my XBOX Gamepass Ultimate subscription from Livecard:

Livecards.net

There are alternatives to XBOX cloud gaming. I've also tried cloud gaming with Geforce Now. There's a free offer that lets you play one-hour sessions, and it works just as well. The big difference with XBOX gamepass is that you have to own the game to use it in the cloud, and the game has to be available in the cloud. This solution is cheaper (or even free) but you have to buy your games first

Other options are also available but I haven't tested them.

Game server

If you like multiplayer games, you've no doubt been faced with the choice of a server to play with other people. Some games allow you to install this kind of server locally on a

mini PC. What's in it for you? You are the absolute master of the server, you can choose who has access to the game and you can sometimes even install add-ons or access an administrator mode that lets you modify the game rules. I've mainly used this solution to play Conan Exiles and Minecraft

To run these game servers, I've used a Chinese mini PC that's been running 24 hours a day for at least 5 years. To be on the safe side, I've installed a fan on the back of the pc, but I've never had any problems. It's just that as this pc runs under Windows, it sometimes reboots to install an update, which has the effect of stopping the game servers.

Here too, mini PCs for light office use will work perfectly well.

Here's the type of PC I've used for my game server:

Mini PC XCY / Aliexpress

The model I bought no longer exists, but if you take a Core i3, it should be more than sufficient. You'll just need a bit of memory if you plan to use several games at the same time

Intensive gaming

If you're looking for a solution for intensive gaming, the mini PC is probably not the best solution, because nothing beats a normal PC with all the necessary equipment. But if you really want to try your luck, there are mini PCs for gaming that come with a medium-performance graphics card. You can also opt for a configuration with an eGPU, but I've never tested this possibility

Several brands specialize in gaming with mini PC formats:

Minisforum

Acemagic

Geekom

You'll no doubt find a whole range of alternatives on Aliexpress, just be sure to check that the components are recent, as the Chinese tend to sell older generations of processors and graphics cards

HTPC / Media player

HTPCs are small machines designed to broadcast media (films, music, etc.) to an output (TV, projector, speakers, etc.). There are many solutions in this field, starting with well-known brands such as Google's Chromecast TV, Amazon's Fire TV stick and the Apple TV box. These solutions run on Android or iOS and allow you to play movies and music, as well as use applications.

I've tested the Chromecast TV, the FireTV stick and the Nvidia Shield, and these 3 products are perfect for this type of need. The Nvidia is more expensive, but offers far more possibilities. It's really a mini home console for cloud gaming. The other two solutions are perfect for playing movies and music on a budget

Here are some of the products I've tested:

Amazon Fire TV stick: test, review and price
Nvidia Shield TV Android Box test and review

Development

If you're developing applications or sites, the work environment is probably going to be more important than the choice of machine. If you're working in the cloud, you don't need a lot of local power. Even with more power-hungry applications like Android Studio (and simulators), a mini PC should suffice. I've done some application development on an old, second-hand HP mini PC. Access to the simulator wasn't super-fast, but it worked without a hitch

If you're developing solutions where hardware is involved, the Raspberry or Odroid will probably be the best solutions. With these machines, you can interact with a whole range of customizable components to create robots or home automation solutions, for example

Home automation

If you're getting into home automation, you're going to be faced with a huge choice of solutions that aren't necessarily compatible with each other. It's the platform you choose that will largely determine the type of machine you use to run everything

I chose to use HomeAssistant OS because of its unifying nature and its large support community. HomeAssistant is an operating system in its own right. It's easy to install on a dedicated machine. I installed it on an old Lenovo mini PC that cost €70 on Amazon. I also bought a Zigbee antenna to control all devices using this protocol. This mini PC has been running 24 hours a day for over a year and I've never had to reboot it. I first tried HomeAssistant on a Windows 11 mini PC using a virtual machine, but it's not a good solution. Every time you restart Windows, you also have to restart the virtual machine, and that's not counting VirtualBox crashes.

If you opt for a home automation solution, you need to choose one with maximum hardware compatibility. There are lots of products on the market, but they're not necessarily compatible with each other, and centralizing everything can be a nightmare.

More info on HomeAssistant: HomeAssistant.io

The refurbished pc I bought: Lenovo Ultra Mini PC M92p Tiny i3-3220T / Amazon

Here's the Zigbee antenna used on this pc: SONOFF ZigBee 3.0 USB / Amazon

Last word

The world of mini PCs is vast, but there's really no magic solution that can meet every need. The type of use will therefore play a major role in the choice of machine, both in terms of hardware and software.

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