Prime Computer Primemini 5

Inconspicuous PC is a hidden gem

We’ve reviewed a few mini PCS recently, which are incredibly useful if you’re short on space or just don’t want a huge PC taking up room around your desk. This Primemini 5 is a bit taller than the HP Elitedesk 705 that we reviewed in Issue 576, but it’s about the same width and not quite as deep (see the specifications below). It’s also more than twice the price.

We suspect that some of the extra height is to help with cooling. This is a fanless PC, which means it runs silently. When you switch it on, the only sign that it’s operational is the blue LED surrounding the power button. This feels luxurious, when most desktop PCS and laptops accompany your work with, at best, the gentle whir of a fan or two.

Another benefit is that it doesn’t use as much power, because no electricity is used to keep mechanical parts moving. To give you an idea of the difference this makes, a standard desktop PC tends to consume around 80W, even when sitting idly. The Primemini 5 consumes 13W in general use, and even at its peak it only draws 30W. Based on average use and typical electricity prices, this will probably save you only £30 per year, so it’s not enough by itself to justify the high price.

There’s one more benefit to running a PC without a fan: it doesn’t suck unwanted dust and dirt from the air around the PC as it’s cooling. This keeps the inside of the computer cleaner and should make it more reliable.

In fact, with the protection provided by its sturdy aluminium case, the manufacturers (Swiss firm Prime Computer) are clearly confident about the PC’S longevity, providing a generous five year warranty.

The key component behind its ability to run without a fan is its low-power mobile processor, the Core i5-8365u, which needs only a handful of Watts to run. The downside is that it hasn’t got as much computing power as regular desktop processors, but with 16GB of RAM the Primemini 5 runs office apps without difficulty.

The quoted price includes a 250GB Samsung Evo 860 M.2 SSD for running Windows and other storage. Open the case by releasing the four crosshead screws and there’s space for both M.2 and standard 2.5in SSDS, so you could add a second drive if you wish. It’s also possible to upgrade the RAM.

What you can’t expect this system to cope with is gaming. The processor comes with Intel’s UHD Graphics 620, but it wasn’t up to running games in our tests. It managed a barely satisfactory frame rate in a few basic tests, with the screen resolution turned down to 720p, but failed to run many games.

The model we reviewed has two USB 3.0 ports and a headphone jack on the front. On the back there are two HDMI ports, a USB-C port, another USB-3 port and a USB 2.0 port. There’s also an Ethernet port and 802.11ac Wi-fi. It would have been nice to see Wi-fi 6, but you can’t have everything.

What you do get, however, is a pair of antenna extensions (pictured below left), which attach to the back of the device if you’re going to be using it with a Wi-fi connection. These make the PC look like a router, but they certainly help it to catch your Wi-fi signal, particularly if you need to locate it a fair distance from your router.

It’s quiet, energyefficient and compact, but not cheap