Top 5 Mini PCs for Home Server in early 2024

Mini PCs are a great platform for running a home lab environment. We take a look at the top 5 mini PCs that I have tested for home lab in early to mid 2024 and see which options I would pick.

I have a write up on top mini PCs here:

Introducing the Top 5 Mini PCs for home server - 0:00
Quick reasons you may want to use a mini PC for home server - 0:40
Compact size - 0:48
Energy efficiency - 1:14
They are quiet - 1:39
Cost effective - 2:15
Good performance - 2:38
1. Minisforum MS-01 - 3:15
2. Trigkey S7 Pro - 4:48
3. GMKtec Nucbox M5 - 6:06
4. GMKtec Nucbox K10 - 7:54
5. Beelink SEi 12 - 8:56
Wrapping up thoughts on top mini PCs - 10:05

[AchwaqKhalid]

On-Screen specs are a must on this type of videos 💡

[druxpack]

been using mini-pcs since the HP mini G1's a decade ago...and to be honest, the Asrock Deskmeet is a better option. 4 full size RAM slots (128GB or 192GB in the new x600!!), Desktop CPU, and a PCIe slot that can handle a video card or 10/25/40/100GB networking) in a 8 liter size. just tune the power settings up and down depending on the project and how much horsepower you want/need at the time. minis have too many limitations and lack expandability. Resale value is better as well because you can part it out and sell as you upgrade.

[RutgerJonaker]

Good video, but I think you talk too much about VMware. VMware is not free anymore so I think homelabbers are going to change hypervisor now

[gmullBlack]

I've been using the Minisforum UM790 Pro now for over a year. It's been a great low wattage bastion box/mini server performer. The only gripe with this unit is the CPU fan has been documented to go out, but it's easy to replace and cheaply.

[JamesGreen-gvyn]

I find these Mini PC videos interesting and after watching it I still feel like I made a great choice in selecting a Protectli Vault. These are fantastic for a home lab server running Proxmox. I have two sets of three. One for my home network and one for a lab network. Each set clustered together. 100% fan-less and no noise coming from them. They now have some with 10G networking if that is desired. For those still using 1G network switches, the 6 ports allow for different ports on different VLANS or even creating some redundancy plus faster speeds by bonding them together.

[TontNZ]

I've just purchased a barebones AOOSTAR R7 2 Bay 40T NAS Storage AMD Ryzen 7 5700U Mini PC(8C/16T; up to 4.3GHz, they are currently selling for US$299! I plan to put 64Gb (2xSO-DIMM), a 2Tb M.2, 4Tb M.2 and two Exos 18Gb's into it. I want a basic NAS and would like to try Proxmox for the first time.

[User-zkxr]

As energy efficiency is a key parameter, what are the typical average electricity consumption figures of each mini PC reviewed in this video? Meaning the wattage cosnumed when perdoming standard home assistant tasks, like sensor data collection; not during boot-up or other rare tasks.

[jasonluong]

Can you do a video on what to do when issues arise from using these Intel hybrid CPUs with the performance and efficiency cores? In particular how do these CPUs affect the use of Proxmox?

[polraudiozion]

I been using a reServer i5 1135G7 with 64gb of ram, 1TB NVME for the main drive, 4TB HDD and a 500GB SSD. I have proxmox on it and i use it for hosting game servers and some development things. I dont remember what model but i also have a reComputer with 8gb of ram that i just use for my plex server and NAS. Its got a 6TB and an 8TB HDD connected to it.

[scampi_ml]

At 10:57 the audio cuts out, is this normal? Thx :) Keep them coming

[g.s.]

I think that the only rule is to use a Ryzen and not an Intel with efficient and performance core, so that it is possible to use ESXi but have also stable performance.

[gowinfanless]

Very impressive and I hope you could try the Gowin R86S fanless version!

[zyghom]

the biggest problem with all mini PCs is lack of SATA ports or ways to install it - except maybe MS-01

[enzanto]

Got my self a used dell 3070, with i5-9500t and 256gb nvme disc, and 8gb of ram. ca $100. Just going to add more ram. and a ssd for storage. and i have a perfect proxmox server with NAS for my use

[dukeseb]

I’d swap out your beelink for the EQ12pro….. it’s top notch for clustering proxmox and has both sata and nvme as well as 2 2.5g nics

[inlandchris]

I cannot find a mini pc with access to the pci-e bus; I want to attach 4-8 SSD’s/NVme’s to make a NAS server and configure the HDD to raid, can you help?

[Tanax]

What about Asus NUC 14? They are using Intels new "Ultra Core" 5/7/9

[lsepolis]

Do you mean Vmware esxi needs Ethernet 2.5GHz and up...?

[accesser]

Possibly unlikely, I'd like to see a model with the new laptop LPCAMM2 memory

[christianlohmann]

Xcp-ng on my MS-01; thinking to get a second one