For years, desktop has been synonymous with big tower. Clearly, a large box serving as a central unit – CPU for short –, placed vertically – hence the name tower, tour in English –, on which all the classic peripherals are connected: keyboard, mouse, screen(s), webcam, speakers, microphone, external hard drive, printer, etc. Admittedly, there have long been other fixed PC formats, such as the “all-in-one”, where all the electronics are integrated into the screen – like Apple’s iMacs – or the ” pizza box” – a flat box placed horizontally – which has now fallen into disuse. But it is clearly the towers, small, medium or large, which have dominated the sector.
Fortunately, that time is over. Because, in the vast majority of cases, you can easily replace a bulky tower with a mini PC. In other words, by a tiny box that offers the same functions without taking up as much space. Much more discreet in an office or living room, a mini PC can even be shown behind a screen, thanks to the standardized VESA mounting system. A very appreciable gain in space which is combined with other advantages.
The mini PC is not a new concept. Ultra-compact computers have long been found in industrial environments and even in PLCs. Apple launched its Mac mini – the smallest in its line – in 2005 and Intel followed a few years later with its NUCs – Next Unit of Computing –, miniature PCs most often sold in the form of barebones, that is to say computers to be completed with RAM and a storage device. But the market has grown considerably in recent times and there are now a host of mini PCs that are not only ready to use, but also really equivalent to classic towers, minus the bulk.
Because contrary to popular belief, mini PCs are not cheap computers. Their incredible compactness is explained by the fact that they use components originally designed for laptops. In other words, circuits designed to operate in a reduced volume. And their designers redouble their ingenuity to optimize the use of their interior space. Not to mention that their power supply is most often deported in an external adapter, as for laptops.
And the qualifier of miniature is really not exaggerated when we speak of mini PC: most of the models currently on the market measure approximately 13 cm in width, 12 cm in depth and 4 or 5 cm in height. Clearly, they are almost half the size of an ATX format power supply found in a traditional tower and even four times less bulky than a Mac mini! They easily fit in the palm of one hand. And since they generally weigh a few hundred grams – most of them 500 g – they can very easily be taken on a trip – even if they do not offer the comfort and functions of laptop PCs, due to the absence of keyboard, touchpad and screen. But what progress compared to the towers of yesteryear!
Especially since, despite their small size, they generally have a good range of sockets for connecting peripherals: many offer three or four ports in USB-A format – for external drives, keyboard, mouse , etc. –, two or three USB-C type ports – sometimes Thunderbolt compatible –, an Ethernet port for a wired connection to a local network, a memory card reader, as well as several video outputs – in HMDI and.or in DisplayPort – for connect screens! All of this is obviously accompanied by Wi-Fi and Bluetooth interfaces for wireless connections. In short, connectivity similar to that of towers and much richer than laptops!
In addition, since they are designed with low-power components for laptops, they are both quieter and less energy-consuming than classic tower PCs. Many are content with around ten watts in basic operation: this is significantly less than towers equipped with power supplies delivering several hundred watts – when they do not exceed 1000 W… A significant asset at a time when energy costs increase, especially when using a PC all day long…
In terms of computing power, mini PCs deliver performance similar to that of laptops – and for good reason! Which, given the huge progress made by processor designers, allows them to compete with traditional towers. Equipped with the latest chips from Intel and AMD, the best models can thus run demanding applications without any problem to carry out heavy processing, whether photo editing, video compression, audio mixing, DTP , CAD, etc. And even the most modest are sufficient for the most common uses (office automation, web browsing, audio and video playback, etc.).
The only area where they show their limits for the moment is gaming. Admittedly, like laptops, they can run old titles that are not too demanding in 3D. And the most advanced models oriented gaming are able to “motorize” very correctly greedy games. But, given their reduced interior space, they cannot accommodate very high-end graphics cards from AMD or Nvidia. This is also the reason why gamers still prefer to use custom-assembled tower PCs, with carefully selected components and accessories, the only ones capable of hosting the huge graphics cards of the latest generation. More generally, uses requiring the installation of expansion cards in PCIe format – in particular professional applications requiring powerful graphics processing units (GPUs) – are not suitable for mini PCs.
Apart from a few very specialized models, current mini PCs must therefore make do with GPUs designed for laptops, and most often integrated directly into the main processor (CPU). Less efficient circuits than dedicated graphics cards. But this limitation is not eternal: and we are already seeing the appearance, especially at AMD, of new generation chips integrating excellent GPUs. Undoubtedly, the time is not far off when even demanding gamers will also be able to abandon their big towers in favor of mini PCs…
The other advantage of mini PCs, when compared to laptops, is their scalability. Of course, because of their compactness, you can’t change everything as you can with a lathe. but it is generally possible to easily replace or supplement certain elements. This is the case for RAM, placed on standard interchangeable modules – in SODIMM format, as on laptops –, but also for storage, generally entrusted to SSDs in NVMe M2 format – small memory chip boards Flash. In most cases, it is enough to remove four screws to access the bowels of the device and change these components, which is not the case on laptops. Better still, some models even have a special space for installing, in addition, an additional storage device in 2.5-inch Sata standard format – hard drive or SSD. In fact, mini PCs prove to be more durable than laptops, which are most often condemned to remain in their original configuration. An advantage that brings them closer to traditional fixed PCs.
Curiously, apart from Asus which has a few models in its vast catalog and Intel which continues to develop its NUC family, the mini PC market is mainly occupied by specialized manufacturers, most of them Asian, such as Beelink, Geekom, Minis Forum or NiPoGi. And their offer is much wider than you might think at first glance, ranging from minimalist machines – and very economical – intended for basic office automation, to high-performance models, capable of running all kinds of professional applications, such as classic “big PCs”. If you want to replace your standby tower with one of these miniature computers, here are the criteria to take into account to find the model that suits your needs.
The processor. Mini PC manufacturers offer a fairly wide choice of chips to animate their models.
Interfaces. If they are all more generous than laptops in terms of connectivity, mini PCs are distinguished from each other by their sockets. We still find USB-A and now USB-C, but not always to the same standards (USB 3.0, USB 3.1 Gen 2, USB 4, Thunderbolt, etc.), nor in the same quantity, Ditto for the other types of ports and interfaces, the supported standards varying from one model to another (HMDI 2.0, HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 1.4, Wi-Fi 5, Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.1, Bluetooth 5.2, Gigabit Ethernet, 2.5G Ethernet, etc). Take a complete inventory of the sockets and interfaces available to check that they correspond to your needs, knowing that it is always possible to use USB-C hubs to add additional ports. This is clearly a very differentiating chapter on mini PCs.
Scalability. Even if they remain limited, do not neglect the possibilities for upgrading a mini PC, whether for RAM – for example, to go from 8 to 16, 32 or even 64 GB of Ram – or for storage – in replacing or supplementing the original SSD to have more space. This is the condition sine qua non to be certain that you will be able to keep the computer for a long time, by adapting it to your needs and to changes in operating systems (Windows or Linux).
The format. If mini PCs are by nature compact, they do not all have exactly the same dimensions. Many take the format of Intel NUCs, to within a few millimeters. The thicker models generally have a slot for installing an additional disk.