MSI Cubi CUBI512M286 2024, Core i5-1235U, 16GB, 1TB SSD, Black

A tiny, quiet Windows box that's great for office work and terrible for games. Get it cheap or get something else.

The i5-1235U is a low-power chip built for efficiency, not raw speed, and it shows. Our database puts the CPU at the 29th percentile, which means it's fine for office tasks but nothing to brag about. The 1TB NVMe SSD is the real star here, sitting at the 64th percentile and making boot times and app launches feel snappy. RAM is the weak link at the 33rd percentile, 16GB of DDR4 is workable but not future-proof. The port selection is actually decent at the 67th percentile, which surprised us for a box this small.

The obvious alternative is the Apple Mac mini M4 Pro, which absolutely destroys this Cubi in CPU and GPU performance, but it costs more and locks you into macOS. If you need Windows and want actual gaming chops, the Lenovo Legion Tower 5a Gen 10 or HP OMEN GT16-0364 are real desktops with real GPUs, but they're also much bigger and thirstier. The Cubi's only real advantage is size and silence. If you just need a tiny Windows box for email, Office, and Netflix, this works. If you want to play anything newer than Minesweeper, look elsewhere.

Pricing is all over the place in the US, from USD 730 to USD 913 across five listings. That's a USD 183 spread for the exact same box, so shop around before you click buy. At the low end it's a reasonable deal for a compact office PC. At the high end you're paying too much for hardware that's already a generation behind. Newegg tends to have the sharper pricing in our data, so start there.

The MSI Cubi 5 12M is a tiny desktop that nails the basics for home office work and media streaming, but don't expect it to flex any gaming muscle. You're getting a 10-core i5-1235U, 16GB of DDR4, and a 1TB NVMe SSD in a 0.55kg box that can drive three monitors via HDMI, DisplayPort, and Thunderbolt 4. That's a solid little productivity rig if your day is spreadsheets, video calls, and browser tabs. Just know the integrated Iris Xe graphics put gaming firmly in the 'not happening' column.

If you're looking for any kind of gaming performance, this isn't it. Go get a Lenovo Legion Tower 5a Gen 10 or HP OMEN GT16-0364 instead. And if you want a tiny desktop with actual CPU muscle, the Apple Mac mini M4 Pro runs circles around this thing, just be ready to pay for it.

The MSI Cubi 5 12M is a fine little office companion if you find it near the USD 730 mark and your needs stop at productivity and streaming. The 1TB SSD and triple display support are genuinely useful. But the weak CPU, dated DDR4, and useless-for-gaming graphics mean it's not a great long-term investment. Buy it for what it is, not what you hope it could be.