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Ask HN: What alternatives exist to a Mac mini but for Windows?

by halftheopposite on 1/8/24, 2:53 PM with 48 comments

Hey HN,

As the title already states I am currently looking at some hardware alternatives that could replace my current, and very outdated, Windows PC with the same form factor as Mac minis.

I already own several Mac devices (phones, MBPs M1/M2), and mostly kept a Windows PC for so long for:

- Gaming (mostly old games from my Steam library and ISOs).

- Pictures & videos.

- NTFS HDD and USB keys (ex-FAT and other formats do not always work reliably).

With these current usages, my ultimate goal is to find something as powerful as what I have right now (GTX 260 SLI over 13 years old, 10 years old Intel core i5, 16GB DDR3, and an SSD), which shouldn't be that hard, but have it as small as possible, and within the same price point as the Mac minis.

The closest thing I've found so far is a brand called GEEKOM which seems to produce exactly what I need, but I do not have the impression to find genuine feedback on the hardware capacity and quality.

EDIT: I live in Europe if that matters for availability and shipping.

  • by syspec on 1/8/24, 3:47 PM

    The fine folks over at /r/minipc Reddit forum keep a whole spreadsheet tracking nearly all the best options with columns for various features.

    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IjCpi4_z_WfO0G53E_mW...

    Personally I purchased a beelink ser7:

    - AMD Ryzen™ 7 7840HS

    - Radeon780M (RDNA 3)

    - 32Gb ram

    All for about 700 IIRC

  • by beschizza on 1/8/24, 3:47 PM

    The hidden pitfall in this question is that the most obvious answers come with external power supplies. Some are half the size of the computer.

    e.g. https://www.servethehome.com/lenovo-thinkcentre-m920x-tiny-r...

    Some models can be powered over USB-C, allowing them to run off compact GaN chargers, monitors, etc.

    https://www.amazon.com/MINISFORUM-7940HS-Radeon-USB3-2-PCIe4...

  • by markphip on 1/8/24, 3:41 PM

    System76 sells the Meerkat. You cannot buy it with Windows installed but it does support Windows according to their support page:

    https://system76.com/desktops/meerkat

    https://support.system76.com/articles/windows

  • by leetharris on 1/8/24, 4:01 PM

    I am a big "mini PC" guy. We've owned a bunch of NUCs, custom SFF builds, custom laptops, etc to try and get generally the best bang for the buck in a small form factor.

    My recommendations:

    - Intel NUC. You can pickup a used Skull Canyon NUC if you can find one at a reasonable price, will easily handle all the games and things you mentioned. I owned one and loved it!

    - Asus ROG Ally with the Z1. $399 at Best Buy, can handle all your gaming needs, only needs a single USB C hub to connect to everything. I currently use the Z1 Extreme version (more powerful) as my PRIMARY desktop. I love it.

    - Get a cheap laptop. Find something with the bare minimum specs to run the things you need and just keep it closed.

    - Build your own SFF. Find a really tiny case, get a really tiny power supply, and get an APU from AMD that has a built-in GPU. They run cool, they are cheap (though not as cheap as a cheap laptop or steam deck), and you can customize whatever you want. You can get pretty tiny with these, but not exactly Mac Mini sized.

    - Get a base iPad (~$230 on sale), Samsung tablet ($99+), Android stick (< $99), whatever and do a remote desktop. I use GeForce Now for a ton of my gaming and Microsoft just released a new "Windows as an app" concept for iOS that gives you a remote desktop.

  • by astrodust on 1/8/24, 3:39 PM

    There are some new AMD-based NUC-type systems which seem to be picking up the NUC mantle that Intel abandoned.

    https://www.amd.com/en/products/embedded-minipc-solutions

    Serve The Home is also a big fan and reviews anything in this form factor that comes out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzXkGrVBQ_4

  • by Matsta on 1/8/24, 4:01 PM

    You could look into the new Minis Forum MS 01 (which is already on sale?): https://store.minisforum.com/products/minisforum-ms-01

    Starts from $549 for the barebones with an i9-12900H. You could argue it is a better option as it has an internal PCIe slot for a half-slot GPU, which will be much less bulk than a mini PC + eGPU. Plus, it would probably be cheaper since eGPUs aren't cheap.

    ETA Prime did a review on it the other day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUlptjU0vFQ

  • by Clubber on 1/8/24, 3:38 PM

    I bought an Intel NUC for my Windows work. I don't play games on it though. They have a bunch of variants.

    https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?d=intel+nuc

  • by metadat on 1/8/24, 3:39 PM

    HP G series mini computers. Reliable machines, especially the g6 and g8.

    E.g. g8 https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c07588846

  • by ryankrage77 on 1/8/24, 3:48 PM

    The Lenovo ThinkStation Tiny Workstation series looks to be about the right form factor (can be mounted on the back of a monitor too). Only missing criteria is a dedicated GPU, but Iris Xe iGPU's outperform a GTX 260, so for only gaming it might be an OK compromise. They can be had cheaply second-hand.

    If you're willing to go slightly larger, Mini-ITX PCs are still quite small, but have the benefit of all desktop-class hardware and easier upgrades. There are too many options here to make a specific recommedation, but if you search for Mini ITX on /r/battlestations, you can find some inspiration.

  • by puzzlingcaptcha on 1/8/24, 3:58 PM

    If you don't need a lot of performance (depending on how old those games are) you can get a second-hand HP EliteDesk 705 G5 Mini or Lenovo M75q Tiny (both with AMD Ryzen 3200GE / Vega 8) for very little money.

  • by amir_karbasi on 1/8/24, 3:18 PM

    The minisforum UM790 Pro is something I've looked at too.

    https://store.minisforum.com/products/minisforum-um790-pro

    It can handle many games at good settings already. It also has USB 4.0 which will allow you to connect it to an eGPU for higher end gaming.

    EDIT: Today, I'm running a Lenovo P14s AMD Gen 4 which is slightly slower. For the price, the performance has been amazing.

  • by paulpan on 1/8/24, 3:51 PM

    If you're flexible on the NTFS storage requirement, then one of the newer Windows handhelds like Lenovo Legion Go or Asus ROG Ally could be a good fit.

    They both contain the AMD Z1 Extreme SOC, which not only has 8 cores but contains a pretty good iGPU (780M is comparable to Nvidia's 1050Ti in benchmarks). Added bonus is that it contains a battery and display, so very portable and fairly good gaming machines.

    Maybe get an external HDD adapter for when you need to access old files.

  • by mysteria on 1/8/24, 3:39 PM

    I like Lenovo's Thinkcenter Tiny mini business PCs. Considering your performance requirements you might be able to get away with an older/off lease version.

  • by ochronus on 1/8/24, 4:24 PM

    I bought this some time ago: https://www.amazon.de/-/en/gp/product/B0CNQV8MLC/ (MINIS FORUM BD770i) and though I'm using it as a homelab server, it's a pretty capable desktop machine. Not sure if it fits your GPU requirements, of course.

  • by blutack on 1/8/24, 3:46 PM

    Steam Deck as a left of field option with the best supported gaming outside windows and very competent linux machine when docked (might want an alternative OS such as Bazzite[0]).

    Fan noise audible if it's permanently loaded up but that's like many of the knockoff NUC or litre PCs.

    0: https://github.com/ublue-os/bazzite/

  • by gumballindie on 1/8/24, 4:10 PM

    This sounds like the perfect use case for Linux. Regardless, there are plenty of options outside the mac world. I also recommend: beelink ser7. Particularity since it supports USB4 which is compatible with Thunderbolt. It means you can expand it in the future with external PCI cards. Also it supports ddr5, which is quite neat. Linux will let you play old games via steam and then more.

  • by kumarakrishnan on 1/8/24, 8:05 PM

    Windows Dev Kit - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/d/windows-dev-kit-2023/94K0P... Powered by an ARM chip. The form factor is the same as a Mac Mini. Ideal for light-mid workload.

  • by tempest_ on 1/8/24, 4:12 PM

    You might find these interesting, though I have never used them.

    https://www.khadas.com/

    https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/khadas-mind

  • by Zetobal on 1/8/24, 8:46 PM

    I am really happy with my Minis EM680. With FSR3 Frame Generation it's a smooth 60 on high setting in cyberpunk.

    https://store.minisforum.com/products/minisforum-em680

  • by mcmcmc on 1/8/24, 3:42 PM

    Dell Optiplex and HP Elitedesk both have lines of SFF boxes similar in size to the Mac Mini. You can get great deals on refurbed ones that have cycled out of business use. They’re also pretty easy to work on if you want to upgrade components.

  • by jbellis on 1/8/24, 3:54 PM

    I'm very happy with the Dell 3260 as a workstation for dev work (it's available w/ Ubuntu preinstalled). Discrete GPUs are a configuration option but I have no idea how they spec out for gaming.

  • by AlexeyBrin on 1/8/24, 3:38 PM

    I used some Beelink Mini PCs for that. I found these on Amazon, pretty good compromise quality/price.

  • by citrusx on 1/8/24, 6:50 PM

    I've had a good experience with a Geekom mini pc so far.