[plug] miniPC recommendations?

[Kevin Shackleton]

I've had a Gigabyte NUC for ~ 7 years, love it, very low power.  Always had
16 GB RAM

$ lscpu
Architecture:                x86_64
  CPU op-mode(s):            32-bit, 64-bit
  Address sizes:             39 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
  Byte Order:                Little Endian
CPU(s):                      4
  On-line CPU(s) list:       0-3
Vendor ID:                   GenuineIntel
  Model name:                Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-6100U CPU @ 2.30GHz

It is now somewhat slow on 3D CAD (BricsCAD on Linux).  Also it's not great
with 2 * 4K displays, which may also be a problem for the current
Officeworks PC mentioned.  The display limitation is my main gripe.

It wasn't cheap when I bought it, since everything was an add-on to the
base price.  Over $1k then.  Now (right or wrong) I'd aim for a mid-range
CPU that has dual same-video ports e.g. 2 * HDMI, on the basis that this
will run 2 screens well, and of course 32 GB RAM - not a big step up over 7
years.  I'd be considering RAID 1.  No need for large SSDs as I use a NAS.

Regards,
Kevin.

On Mon, 14 Sept 2026 at 16:20, James Henstridge via plug <plug at plug.org.au>
wrote:

> On Mon, 14 Sept 2026 at 13:40, Bruce Axtens via plug <plug at plug.org.au>
> wrote:
> >
> > >  I am curious what are you trying to achieve or the type of work you
> will do with your miniPC?
> >
> > Assorted bits of dotnet development in C#
> > I'm a maintainer and language track developer for exercism.org (helped
> with COBOL, 8th, and Euphoria tracks and working on SNOBOL4 track)
> > I have three Substack accounts I write into occasionally:
> [...]
> >
> > Microsoft Teams and PowerPoint (I'm the "Order of Service" builder for
> my church (Three Crosses WPC))
> >
> > That's the top four of lots of other miscellaneous activity.
>
> Your options are going to be a bit limited given the price range you
> specified. Also, with mini-PCs you're more likely to find some weird
> custom hardware in them making it more difficult to upgrade later.
> That might not be a problem for things at that price point though.
>
> One thing to consider is the amount of RAM in the machine. You
> wouldn't want anything less  than 16 GB today, and I would try for 32
> GB if you can: it will give you a bit more head room as web browsers
> (and websites) get heavier. It won't hurt for photo editing either.
>
> From the refurb website Ono mentioned, this machine might be a good fit:
>
>
> https://reebelo.com.au/collections/hp-prodesk-400-g4-mini-desktop-pc?skuId=sku-mpwfytwvof5LmzYfzn3oAS5
>
> It's a low power (35W max) CPU from 2018, but has 32GB of RAM. The
> storage is a bit on the small side, but you can bump that up if you
> are willing to extend your budget a bit. It has gigabit ethernet, but
> may not have wifi: that appears to be an optional feature, and isn't
> mentioned here.
>
> James.
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