MSI Cubi 5 Mini-PC

With so many affordable laptops around, is MSI’s Cubi a bit like a square PC trying to fit a round hole?

If you’ve got an old monitor, keyboard, and mouse lying around and you just want a basic PC that’s capable of web browsing and light office tasks, then there’s plenty of suitors, but not many are as affordable as you might think. The absolute best value PCs will be built in the same chassis as ones that are far more capable, which means they contain a heap of dead space that’ll end up occupying your desk.

All-in-one’s are still a viable option, but if you have screen and interface options already then the new display is an unnecessary cost. Buying a laptop and running a HDMI, DisplayPort or USB Type-C/Thunderbolt to a monitor is still the best option, price wise at least. This is especially true if you’d get any use out of a PC that you can use on-the-go, but if you’re certain you’ll never need a computer outside the home and would really prefer a non-laptop-shaped PC then there are at least some options in the NUC space that’ll scratch your very particular itch.

MSI’s Cubi is one such box; the 12.4cm square is just 5cm tall and comes with a full suite of connectivity options from USB Type-C to a DisplayPort, or Ethernet to 3.5mm headphone and mic jacks. While not all the available configurations come with Windows 10 Home preinstalled, or even a storage solution for that matter, the Cubi we tested ran on an Intel Core i5-10210U CPU, 8GB of RAM and a 512GB m.2 PCIe SSD. This particular unit retails for around $949 but you can get MSI Cubis for as little as $529 if you bring your own RAM, SSD and OS.

The i5-10210U CPU has more than enough power to push through most modern work tasks, and while you won’t want to tackle any Photoshop work with just 8GB of RAM, you should be OK to do some lighter photo editing with less demanding image editing apps if need be.

The onboard Ethernet port means we can overlook the fact that this unit missed out on Wi-Fi 6, but it will give the device a much shorter shelf life for anyone planning on using it with a cord-free internet connection.

If you do get a unit with an included m.2 SSD you’ll be looking at respective read and write speeds of 2800MB/s and 2500MB/s, which is a big step up from a hard disk drive or SATA 3 connected SSD. It makes this lightweight device feel responsive and powerful.

The integrated Intel UHD Graphics is capable of a maximum output of a little more than 4K at 60Hz, so you won’t have trouble connecting multiple monitors at up to1440p using the HDMI and DisplayPort connections. The Cubi also comes with VESA mounting screws so you can attach it to the back of one of your screens to keep it out of the way.

To many the MSI Cubi will be a bit of a hard sell since you can get more powerful laptops for less, but if you’re after a barebones NUC, this one ticks all the boxes. JOEL BURGESS

A decent compact PC for lightweight workloads that will appeal to a niche market.