HP EliteDesk 800 G6 2020, Core i5-10500T, 16GB, 512GB SSD, Black

The HP EliteDesk 800 G6 is a compact business desktop that handles office work and multitasking well thanks to 16GB of RAM and a six-core i5. It's quiet, small, and runs Windows 11 Pro, but the integrated graphics make it useless for gaming. Buy it if you find one under $400, skip it if you're paying more.

The i5-10500T is a six-core, twelve-thread chip that boosts up to 3.8GHz. In practice, that means Office apps, Chrome with 20 tabs, and a Zoom call all at once won't make it sweat. The CPU sits around the 23rd percentile in our database, which sounds rough until you remember this is a low-power chip designed for small cases. It's not going to win any rendering contests, but it's perfectly fine for business tasks.

The 16GB of DDR4 is the real workhorse here. It's enough to keep Windows 11 Pro snappy even with a pile of apps open. The 512GB SSD is a standard SATA or NVMe drive depending on the refurbisher, and it makes boot times quick. The weak spot is the Intel UHD Graphics 630. It can push a 4K display for desktop use, but gaming performance is a 9.9 out of 100 in our scoring. That's not a typo. This thing is not for games, period.

The most obvious competitor is the Apple Mac mini M4. It's smaller, faster, and more efficient, but it runs macOS and costs more upfront. If you're not tied to Windows, the Mac mini is the better buy in almost every way. The Minisforum DeskMini UM880 Plus is another strong option. It has a much more capable Ryzen chip and better integrated graphics, often at a similar price to the higher-end EliteDesk listings.

The Lenovo ThinkCentre M70q Gen 5 is the closest direct rival. It's another tiny business desktop with similar specs, but it's newer and often comes with a warranty. The ASUS NUC 14 Pro is also worth a look if you want something even smaller with better port selection. The Dell Tower Desktop ECT1250 is a different beast entirely, a full-size tower with more expandability but none of the space savings.

Value here depends entirely on which listing you find. At $300, this is a solid deal for a quiet office PC with Windows 11 Pro. At $693, you're getting ripped off. The CAD listing at $650 is also on the high side. For context, a new Mac mini M4 starts around $599 and absolutely destroys this thing in performance, though it's a different OS. If you need Windows and want to stay under $400, the EliteDesk 800 G6 makes sense. Above that, look elsewhere.

The HP EliteDesk 800 G6 is a mini PC aimed squarely at offices and anyone who wants a tiny Windows 11 Pro machine that disappears behind a monitor. It's a refurbished business desktop, so pricing is all over the place depending on the seller and condition. In the US, we're seeing listings from $300 to $693, which is a huge spread for what is essentially the same core hardware. The sweet spot config here is the six-core i5-10500T, 16GB of DDR4, and a 512GB SSD.

People searching for a compact desktop for business usually want to know if it can handle spreadsheets, video calls, and a dozen browser tabs without sounding like a jet engine. The short answer is yes. The i5-10500T is a 35W chip, so it runs cool and quiet, and 16GB of RAM is enough for real multitasking. Just don't expect it to be a gaming PC. The integrated Intel UHD Graphics 630 puts it in the bottom tier for anything beyond 2D work or very light esports.

We've seen a lot of these refurbished HP units come through our database, and the EliteDesk line has a reputation for being easy to service and surprisingly durable. The 800 G6 sits in the middle of the pack for reliability, which is fine for a used office box. It's not exciting, but it's not supposed to be.

Skip this if you want to play games, edit video, or run 3D applications. The integrated graphics are a hard bottleneck. Also skip it if you need lots of internal storage, since the 512GB SSD fills up fast and there's limited room to expand. If you're paying more than $450, you should be looking at a Mac mini M4 or a Minisforum DeskMini instead. And if you need a machine with a warranty and current-gen parts, a new Lenovo ThinkCentre M70q Gen 5 is a safer bet.

Should you buy the HP EliteDesk 800 G6? If you need a cheap, quiet Windows PC for office work and you find one under $400, yes. It's a competent little machine that will handle email, documents, and web browsing without complaint. The 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD are the right specs for this kind of use.

But if you're hoping to play games, edit video, or run anything graphically demanding, this is the wrong tool. The integrated graphics are a hard stop. And if you're looking at listings near $600 or $700, you're better off with a Mac mini M4 or a Minisforum unit. The EliteDesk 800 G6 is a good deal at the right price, and a bad one at the wrong price.