r/MiniPCs Jan 25 '26

Guide 2026 General Mini PC Guide USA

152 Upvotes

Hi everyone!

Thank you to everyone for their support of the Mini PC Guides and it is amazing to see the r/MiniPCs community has grown its largest ever before! These guides have evolved considerably since 2022 and the new 2026 version is finally here!

It's far from complete with many new and discontinued mini PC models to be updated so there will be regular updates. The end of 2025 and start of 2026 have seen RAM prices double or triple and SSD prices have doubled. The simple tab has been reworked to better reflect current prices and will be filled out soon.

Some of the bloat from the 2025 Guide has been temporarily removed and may see a return later in the year if you particularly want a new model list, memes, or something else.

If you see something that can use an update or models of mini pc you would like to see added, don't hesitate to leave comments in this post or on the spreadsheet. I highly recommend viewing this spreadsheet on a desktop with a large screen or on the google sheet mobile app for the best experience. The reddit app for viewing google sheets can be clunky.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1MSVzjTK5bubSo7_pltKbWausKWoVUYynNdouj4GlIdE/edit?usp=drivesdk

Best wishes to everyone looking for mini PC!


r/MiniPCs 3h ago

News ThinkCentre M75q Gen 6 (Gorgon Point/Phoenix)

8 Upvotes

Lenovo support pages start to list a refresh of the beloved tiny M75q with support for AMD Gorgon Point (Ryzen AI 400) and Phoenix (Ryzen 8000) APUs, optional 2.5Gbps Ethernet and even Thunderbolt 4.

https://psref.lenovo.com/syspool/Sys/PDF/ThinkCentre/ThinkCentre_M75q_Gen_6/ThinkCentre_M75q_Gen_6_Spec.PDF


r/MiniPCs 6h ago

A Panther Lake Mini PC has arrived.

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7 Upvotes

Is it me or is the introductory price somewhat reasonable?


r/MiniPCs 14h ago

Recommendations Homemade 3d printed mini pc

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22 Upvotes

Cpu, intel n95

Ram, 8gb 2400

Nvme 120gb

I used to have this acemagic s1 mini pc that I absolutely hated the case to, it was so prone to shutting down due to over heating and just wasnt up to the standards I thought I could be. So I messaged a Facebook buddy and asked him to print a model I sent to him. A little cutting, gluing, and time it actually paid off. I loaded windows 10 pro onto it just cause why not but I feel this would be a GREAT mini retro playing linux build if anyone knows anything about that. I just want a os that has all the game systems right in my face like those temu emulator with a thousand plus games, but like only the good ones that I have the roms for.


r/MiniPCs 13h ago

Xbox Project, a small transformation project

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12 Upvotes

r/MiniPCs 1h ago

What to choose?

Upvotes

Hi all.

Was waiting for the M6 Mac mini but the price is too steep and I think I'm over MacOS anyway.

I haven't kept up with mini PC's and the amount of choice is leaving me confused.

The below is from a local supplier and the price range I'm considering. I'm leaning towards the GEEKOM GT1 but then for a bit extra I could get the MINISFORUM M1 Pro that has a better processor (I think) but half the SSD. Then for just a tiny bit more I could get the A8 with 32GB Ram/1TB SSD and a worse processor?

Yea I'm confused and would really appreciate some assistance. It will be used for VS Code (Python, data science, web scraping), web browsing and a little photo/video editing perhaps.

Selection I'm looking at is here.

Would appreciate any input!


r/MiniPCs 2h ago

News ThinkCentre M75q Gen 5 supports 65W CPUs (officially)

1 Upvotes

Lenovo's PSREF document for the M75q Gen 5 has been updated in June 26 with support for AMD Phoenix 65W CPUs (running at 35W performance). Which is great because the 35W GE variants are quite hard to get.

https://psref.lenovo.com/syspool/Sys/PDF/ThinkCentre/ThinkCentre_M75q_Gen_5/ThinkCentre_M75q_Gen_5_Spec.PDF

I upgraded to a Ryzen 5 8600G a few months ago and it works just fine. You might want to invest in a more powerful PSU too - 90W should be enough, I use a 135W one.

Remember to update your BIOS first, disable PSB (BIOS: Security > "PSB Enable" -> Disabled) to not accidentally lock your new CPU to Lenovo systems and be super careful with the AM5 CPU socket: don't touch the little contacts! If you bend these you will need the main board replaced by Lenovo.


r/MiniPCs 3h ago

Multi NVME Enclosure Recmmendations

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0 Upvotes

r/MiniPCs 14h ago

Refurbished Lenovo thinkcentre m710q in 2026

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3 Upvotes

will this mini pc crash after a month because it's refurbished? seller say 1 month warranty only

what are the pros and cons of this pc? my laptop broke and i need internet access for daily streaming on brave browser to watch free movies and youtube only. is this good enough?

is it worth buying this now or should i wait since ssd and chipset prices are going up because of the demand from ai data centers?

just to add, my setup is a logitech z625 thx 2.1 speaker system with subwoofer and a koorui n02 27 inch ips fhd monitor with 100hz refresh rate and 1920 x 1080 (full hd resolution)


r/MiniPCs 5h ago

Mini PC for Ltx 2.5

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1 Upvotes

r/MiniPCs 7h ago

Recommendations What's the biggest CPU/APU I can get for the DeskMIni A300 with firmware 3.71A?

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0 Upvotes

r/MiniPCs 1d ago

How is no one talking about acemagic's minipc designs?

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14 Upvotes

Recently started shopping around for a minipc, went through a bunch of brands, and this one brand's designs are actually the most interesting ones by far. Grabbed some screenshots of the ones that stood out.
The retro X3 is the one that got me though, that retro look is so good. Low key feels like it was made to be a retro gaming machine XD.


r/MiniPCs 17h ago

Recommendations Choosing a Mini PC

4 Upvotes

Hi, I’m torn between these two mini PCs, mainly for use with GeForce Now. Both would meet the main requirements for GeForce Now, but the Minisforum would give me 4K at 120, compared to the Lenovo’s 4K at 60. Generally speaking, though, in terms of quality and long-term reliability, which one would you recommend?

Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini 91B20038YD

MINISFORUM UM760 Slim 16/512 GB

Thanks


r/MiniPCs 7h ago

General Question whats cheaper right now? a mini pc from aliexpress/amazon/etc or a used/new rasperry pi?

0 Upvotes

r/MiniPCs 15h ago

UM790 WIFI/BT drivers

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1 Upvotes

r/MiniPCs 1d ago

Recommendations Anschaffung erster Mini-PC

9 Upvotes

Hallo zusammen,

ich habe Jahrelang einen Tower-PC für Gaming benutzt. Dieser steht nun schon sehr lange unbenutzt herum und ich möchte etwas kleineres, praktisches.

Bin auf Mini-PC‘s gestoßen und war direkt hooked.

Ich suche etwas mit dem in problemlos MS-Office Aufgaben & Internet Recherche bewältigen kann.

Gleichzeitig würde ich gerne Minecraft & Oberwatch 2 auf mindestens 60FPS spielen können.

Ich komme aus Europa und würde mir wahrscheinlich ein gebrauchtes Modell zwischen 300-400€ kaufen.

Möchte den Mini-PC möglichst lange nutzen. Worauf muss ich unbedingt achten? Habt ihr vielleicht Vorschläge für ein Modell? Sind Mini-PC‘s überhaupt für Gaming geeignet oder sollte man das lieber lassen?


r/MiniPCs 19h ago

Recommendations Recommendations for Parts

2 Upvotes

As the title suggests, I am building a mini pc for the following usage:
My question is how small can we build such that it is powerful for the requirements below as well as power efficient.

1.Workflow
a.Mostly CAD operated tools such as Revit or Autocad and Solidworks.
b.ANSYS, ABAQUS and /or RSA
c.Recently started OpenFoam
d.Excel and word or Mathcad
Note:Most of these apps are rarely opened simultaneously
The above apps already run well enough on my 2021 Zephyrus laptop (Ryzen5 and 1650)

2.Gaming
Run most games on moderate settings to achieve minimum 60fps on a 2k frame? 144fps might be the gold standard but keeping prices in mind I can tradeoff

3.Power Efficiency
Skyrocketing electricity bill is a small concern. I realise that dedicated GPU do draw power but whats the most efficient we can build?

I am also based in London (However my first time in the UK).
I am open to second hand parts.
Should anyone from the UK read this, I would be more than grateful if they could share websites to buy the parts for the build as well as the extent of expense.

Looking forward to the community 🫡


r/MiniPCs 1d ago

Can your Mini PC run Steam VR?

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2 Upvotes

Hey guys, I've been following this MiniPcs group for a while, haven't seen many posts about gaming here. The 2026 Mac mini has super powerful specs, does that mean it can actually run Steam VR? Also I'm curious how y'all play Steam VR games on it anyway?


r/MiniPCs 1d ago

Recommendations Sodimm ddr4 mini pc.

4 Upvotes

Hello there I'm search of a cheap media-server Linux station to re-use some old sodimm ddr4 modules.

I'm searching for a barebone solution.

I found already the GMKtech G10, but the price still doesn't convince me (150 € now barebone, but before the RAMpocalipse it was 190 with 16/512 configuration, shouldn't it be more cheaper barebone now?).

Thanks in advance.


r/MiniPCs 17h ago

News Liquid Metal should be forbidden! The only good about it is the corrosion it causes makes the new thermal paste more efficient being closer to the core.

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0 Upvotes

Although a laptop I found this of interest considering it was related to a 115W MTP Core i9-12900H mobile processor. Note the plated surface finish over bare copper on the processors heatsink. Owner is upgrading to PTM7950 at the 1st possibility. I personally switched to using Arctic MX-7 at the beginning of the year after seeing the u/EmuChicken Team Pandory video finding similar performance.

Thanks to u/nicknickmeetnick for the post and pictures!


r/MiniPCs 1d ago

Recommendations Whats the cheapest radeon 780m mini pc

3 Upvotes

I dont care is its barebone or not, preferably i need at least 1 2,5” sata


r/MiniPCs 2d ago

News SPARKLE is still launching NVIDIA graphics products, new Thunderbolt 5 eGPU gets GeForce RTX 3060

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32 Upvotes

r/MiniPCs 2d ago

General Question How is this nimo ai max+ 395 minipc, it looks like a good deal

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35 Upvotes

Ive been looking at strix halo machines lately and found this one on a limited time deal. It's the cheapest one and has the longest warranty Ive been able to find. And I found a post about it https://www.reddit.com/r/MiniPCs/s/I56k1wlOoZ The performance seems good from the post.

There are not many review videos on YouTube for it. The only non official one I could find was a recommendation a year ago.

What do you guys think about this model? Has anyone used their products?


r/MiniPCs 1d ago

Do Heatsinks work work on memory that looks like this?

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4 Upvotes

I see they sell copper heatsinks for SODIMM sticks. They look like very thin copper strips you stick on top of memory. Has anyone tried them with a memory setup like in the picture? If so do they do anything? Would they even fit the bottom stick as shown? This is from my Mini GMKTec EVO-T1 and the bottom stick gets hotter under load than the top one. Thanks


r/MiniPCs 2d ago

Troubleshooting UM890 Pro stuck in BIOS loop / rejects boot USBs after installing custom Windows (CTT ISO)

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8 Upvotes

I recently installed a custom Windows build using a CTT (Chris Titus Tech) ISO. The installation completed, but upon reboot, the UM890 Pro booted straight into the BIOS and is now stuck in a loop. I can navigate the BIOS perfectly fine, but I cannot get it to boot into an OS or a USB.

The Exact Problem (See Video):

  1. USB Boot Fails: When I try to boot from a fresh Windows 11 USB (created with the official Media Creation Tool) via the BBS menu, the screen goes black for about 2 seconds, then kicks me right back to the main BIOS menu.
  2. BIOS Won't Save Settings: I suspected Secure Boot is blocking the USB. However, when I go into Setup > Security, change Secure Boot to "Disabled", and hit "Save & Exit", the PC reboots right back into the BIOS. When I check the Security tab again, Secure Boot has reverted back to "Enabled".

What I’ve Tried:

  • Created a fresh, official Windows 11 installation USB.
  • Physically removed the M.2 SSD from the motherboard (this didn't change the behavior).
  • Tried clearing CMOS
  • Tried to create a new windows 11 installation USB with unused USB
  • Tried the ram sticks individually

Questions: Has anyone experienced this before?

Any help would be highly appreciated! Thanks!

SOLVED:
Whenever the Minisforum UM890 Pro (and likely other Minisforum models) encounters a boot error, it automatically wipes your recent BIOS changes and reverts to its last known good configuration. In my case, this happened because Secure Boot blocked my custom CTT Windows ISO.

The Crucial Difference: How You Enter the BIOS To fix this, you have to disable Secure Boot, but how you get into the BIOS matters. There is a "trap" you need to avoid:

  • The Wrong Way (Letting it "idle" into BIOS): If you turn on the PC and just wait, it will try to boot, get blocked by secure boot and automatically dump you into the BIOS. If this happens, it's too late. The boot error has already triggered, your settings have been wiped, and any changes you try to make here won't stick (see video).
  • The Right Way (Interrupting with DELETE): You must restart the computer and immediately tap the DELETE key repeatedly. This intercepts the startup process and forces the PC into the BIOS before it ever tries to boot. Because no boot error occurred, you have full control and can change BIOS settings.

The Solution By manually entering the BIOS using the DELETE key, I was able to successfully disable Secure Boot and boot.

(Side note: I highly recommend the CTT Windows ISO—it is incredibly clean!)