Should you bother with… mini PCs?

I’m hoping you’ll forgive a spot of mission-bending here, given Should You Bother With? Is usually intended to test out the new and the strange of gaming hardware. Instead, I want to talk about mini PCs – not just small-form-factor desktops, but properly tiny, box o’ chocolates-sized computers – which have, of course, been around for decades.

Recently, however, I’ve been wondering if mini PCs are finally on the cusp of having their moment as serious games machines. Between rising desktop component prices and ever-ballooning electricity bills, it would make sense that a smaller, cheaper system would take on a new appeal, and the success of handhelds like the Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally show that convenience still trumps out-and-out performance for a lot of PC players. There have even been hints that Valve are resurrecting their Steam Machine mini PC concept, years after a flopping first attempt. Should you be interested?

To find out, I’ve dedicated really very little of my desk space to two modern mini PCs. First, there’s the Zotac ZBOX Magnus EN374070C, which is basically a shrunk-down RTX 4070 system using laptop-grade parts, and should give us a good idea of what higher-end mini PC life looks like. Second is the Acer Revo Box, an even dinkier (and much cheaper) slice of circuitry that relies on Intel’s Iris Xe integrated graphics.

Both of these are perfectly tolerable to live with, a general usability sense. They both run the same Windows OS you’ll be familiar with, they’ve both got multiple monitor outputs (including two DisplayPorts, in the ZBOX’s case), and the only way you’ll feel short on USB ports is if your setup includes multiple cabled or dongled accessories on top of the standard mouse and keyboard. The lack of rear audio jacks might be a worry for speaker users, though there’s nothing that would trip up a headset.

They’re quiet, too – under load, the ZBOX can’t entirely shush its fan noise, but they’re both far more hush-hush on desktop browsing duty than my usual desktop is. And there’s nothing else better for keeping your desk (or floor) clear, as both of these are small and light enough to mount to the underside of a table or the rear of a monitor. To a wall, even, if you want to get all hammer-drilly about it.

Also: they’re cute. Look at them! Whole computers, in dimensions akin to that of the box that Domino’s send their cookies in. A docked handheld PC might be smaller by volume, but then that approach forces compromises to connectivity (and stability) that these kinds of mini PC would not.

Granted, there are compromises elsewhere. Mini PCs aren’t as modular or upgradable as, for instance, a mini ITX-based desktop. With both the ZBOX and Revo Box, you can open up the chassis and swap in more RAM or a bigger SSD – indeed, the ZBOX is available as a barebones system, which requires sourcing and installing these parts yourself before its first boot. But the CPU, GPU, motherboard, and case are all more of a package deal.

Because their tight internals also necessitate the use of smaller, more efficient laptop-style components, there’s always going to be some degree of performance disadvantage. This ZBOX’s RTX 4070 is, unavoidably, going to be slower than the aircraft carrier-sized RTX 4070 that a tower-style desktop can take.

Still, a dedicated GPU is a dedicated GPU, and the ZBOX has little trouble running some of the biggest framerate-destroyers in recent years. 1440p included:

Sadly, mini PCs with integrated graphics are going to be more of a lucky dip. You’ll notice I didn’t put the Revo Box on the graph, and that’s because of the six games, it could only actually run two without crashing. Or, in Cyberpunk 2077’s case, replacing the visuals with a blinding mass of bugged-out lights. As for the successful finishers, F1 22 needed dropping from High quality to Ultra Low to massage its initial 24fps up to a playable 42fps, while Apex Legends only managed a middlewhelming 39fps. I remember when Intel launched this particular version of Iris Xe, as part of their 13th gen CPUs, and hearing a lot of talk about its improved gaming performance – it turns out that for big, high-fidelity 3D games, that’s a similar kind of improvement to replacing your chocolate teapot with one made out of ice.

Then again, maybe those aren’t the games you’re interested in playing, and the Revo Box does have the legs for undemanding indie works and older classics. No, I could not get 100fps out of any ray-traced shinyshooters, but Portal 2? Vampire Survivors? Deus Ex? Neva? All ran perfectly fine. Well, even. And on a machine that’s whisper-quiet and costs less than a Zotac Zone.

Should you bother with mini PCs? I’m not saying you should already be halfway down to CeX to turn your desktop into mini PC money, especially if you are among the framerate-minded. I know I, personally, will be going back to my big rig after this, not least because of my insatiable need for that sweet, sweet, Line Out port.

Even so, I don’t doubt for one second that there are prospective PC owners out there who’d be served just fine by a mini PC. Largely because – as just these two Zotac and Acer models show – it’s already a pretty diverse patch of computerdom, ready to cater to almost anyone. There’s a very likeable elegance to them, too: nothing is wasted, down to the air inside the case. If PC gaming is a broad church, there’s more than enough room on the pews for these little’uns.