Mid-tower PC circumstances dominate price range desktop procuring, however why not go smaller? Beginning at $329 ($471 as examined), the MSI Professional DP21 is a mini PC that holds simply as a lot functionality in about one-tenth the house. Compact sufficient for VESA mounting behind a monitor or beneath a desk, it nonetheless has loads of ports, Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth wi-fi connectivity, and a perky Intel Core i3 processor. The ECS Liva Z3 and Intel NUC 12 Professional are even smaller, however neither balances value and efficiency in addition to the Professional DP21. With that, this mini MSI simply earns an Editors’ Alternative award amongst price range mini PCs.
The Exterior: Perform Over Kind
MSI’s Professional DP21 is geared toward residence and enterprise customers with on a regular basis wants resembling workplace productiveness, internet browsing or video streaming, and point-of-sale operations. Our entry-level assessment unit has a quad-core Intel Core i3-12100 processor, 8GB of reminiscence, a 256GB solid-state drive (SSD), and Home windows 11 House. The PC is able to run out of the field and features a fundamental USB keyboard and mouse. All you may want so as to add is a monitor.
This PC’s no-nonsense case measures 2.2 by 8 by 8.2 inches (HWD), which works out to a quantity of simply 2.3 liters. That is virtually nothing when you think about a typical mid-tower is round 30 liters.
(Credit score: Kyle Cobian)
As talked about, the Professional DP21 helps VESA mounting, permitting you to place it behind a monitor, on a wall, and even hooked up to the underside of your desk. In the event you do not wish to mount it, that is high quality; it might lie horizontally or be positioned vertically in its included stand.
(Credit score: Kyle Cobian)
Design-wise, the Professional DP21 will not appeal to second glances, although its entrance panel makes an try at standing out with plastic ridges for definition and a silver MSI emblem. Ports up entrance embrace 3.5mm headphone and microphone jacks and 4 retro USB 2.0 ports. The ability button glows white when the system is powered on.
(Credit score: Kyle Cobian)
Across the again, you may discover HDMI 2.0b and DisplayPort video outputs, every supporting 4K at 60Hz for a contemporary dual-monitor setup. Along with these are Gigabit Ethernet, serial, three USB Sort-A (two variations of three.2 Gen 1 and one 3.2 Gen 2), one USB Sort-C (3.2 Gen 2), and microphone-in and line-out audio jacks. A ultimate connector accommodates the laptop-style 120-watt AC adapter, as this desktop is just too small for an inside energy provide.
(Credit score: Kyle Cobian)
This little desktop permits for commendable serviceability. Eradicating two Philips screws permits you to slide the highest panel rearward. The 6.5-inch-square motherboard has every part in plain sight, together with an M.2 2280 slot for SSDs, an M.2 2230 wi-fi card slot, and two DDR4-3200 SO-DIMM slots for as much as 64GB of RAM (two 32GB modules). The included Intel AX201 wi-fi card helps Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2. Its antenna is constructed into the chassis.
(Credit score: Kyle Cobian)
Two 2.5-inch storage drives may be put in within the steel cage above the reminiscence slots. Even the Professional DP21’s processor may be upgraded; the motherboard helps socketed FCLGA1700 Intel “Alder Lake” CPUs with a 65-watt base energy ranking. Mini PCs usually resort to non-upgradable cellular chips, so it is a nice shock.
Cooling wants are minimal in a PC this small. The fan atop the CPU heatsink is the one one on this unit; it stays quiet even beneath intense use.
Testing the MSI Professional DP21: On a regular basis Efficiency, Verify
To recap, our $471 MSI Professional DP21 (mannequin 12M-407US) options an Intel Core i3-12100 CPU (4 3.3GHz Efficiency cores, no Environment friendly cores, eight threads), Intel UHD 730 built-in graphics, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, and Home windows 11 House. The guarantee is one 12 months, and a USB-wired keyboard and mouse accompany the bundled stand. I briefly noticed the system on the market for $429 on Amazon.
(Credit score: Kyle Cobian)
MSI’s low value and desktop CPU are a uncommon combo within the mini PC phase. Efficiency-wise, it competes with small-form-factor PCs, such because the Acer Aspire TC-1760-UA92 ($559 as examined with a Core i5-12400). Mini PCs within the neighborhood embrace the palm-sized ECS Liva Z3, which is cheap ($250) however hobbled by a weak Intel Pentium Silver CPU. We even have the Geekom IT8 Mini PC ($549), which makes use of an older-but-capable, laptop-grade Core i5-8265U chip. Neither of them is as upgrade-friendly because the Professional DP21.
Along with these PCs, we embrace benchmark outcomes for the $1,064 Intel NUC 12 Professional powered by a laptop-grade Core i7-1260P. You possibly can see the contenders’ fundamental specs within the desk beneath.
Productiveness and Content material Creation Assessments
Our first take a look at is UL’s PCMark 10, which simulates quite a lot of real-world productiveness and workplace workflows to measure general efficiency for on a regular basis apps starting from phrase processing and spreadsheet work to videoconferencing. It additionally features a storage subtest for the first drive.
Three different benchmarks concentrate on the CPU, utilizing all out there cores and threads, to fee a PC’s suitability for processor-intensive workloads. Maxon’s Cinebench R23 makes use of that firm’s Cinema 4D engine to render a fancy scene, whereas Primate Labs’ Geekbench 5.4 Professional simulates standard apps starting from PDF rendering and speech recognition to machine studying. Lastly, we use the open-source video transcoder HandBrake 1.4 to transform a 12-minute video clip from 4K to 1080p decision (decrease occasions are higher).
Our ultimate productiveness take a look at is Puget Methods’ PugetBench for Photoshop(Opens in a brand new window), which makes use of the Artistic Cloud model 22 of Adobe’s well-known picture editor to fee a PC’s efficiency for content material creation and multimedia purposes. It is an automatic extension that executes quite a lot of normal and GPU-accelerated Photoshop duties starting from opening, rotating, resizing, and saving a picture to making use of masks, gradient fills, and filters.
MSI’s desktop posts a PCMark 10 rating that clears the 4,000-point hurdle signifying wonderful efficiency for Microsoft Workplace 365 and Google Workspace, outdoing the Geekom and the underpowered Liva Z3. The Professional DP21 additionally places up wholesome numbers within the CPU benchmarks, coming near the six-core Acer in Geekbench. Adobe Photoshop just isn’t this mini PC’s robust go well with, however with extra RAM it in all probability would have fared higher.
Graphics Assessments
For Home windows PCs, our artificial gaming assessments embrace two DirectX 12 gaming simulations from UL’s 3DMark, Evening Raid (extra modest, appropriate for programs with built-in graphics) and Time Spy (extra demanding, appropriate for gaming rigs with discrete GPUs). Additionally looped into that group is the cross-platform GPU benchmark GFXBench 5, which we use to gauge OpenGL efficiency.
MSI’s Professional DP21 does about in addition to may be anticipated from a desktop with Intel UHD built-in graphics—in different phrases, it will not be enjoying the most recent video games anytime quickly. Intel’s NUC 12 Professional, with later-generation Iris Xe graphics, scores significantly higher in these assessments, for instance.
Verdict: Mini Measurement, Mega Worth
Briefly, the Professional DP21 exemplifies what value-oriented mini PCs ought to be all about. Its present connectivity, together with Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth—and its spectacular improve potential—make the Professional DP21 a viable different to small-form-factor towers, and its desktop-grade Intel processor is rather more responsive than many cellular CPUs. For lower than $500 as examined, you may’t go fallacious with the MSI Professional DP21, incomes a well-deserved Editors’ Alternative amongst price range mini PCs.
MSI Professional DP21 4.5 Editors’ Alternative (Opens in a brand new window) See It $439.99 at Amazon (Opens in a brand new window) MSRP $471.00 Execs Compact, VESA-mountable design
Effectively-priced
Peppy Core i3 processor
Ample connectivity together with Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth
Simply upgradable View Extra Cons Not the smallest mini PC The Backside Line MSI’s budget-friendly, desk-space-saving Professional DP21 mini PC delivers loads of efficiency, a lot of wired connectivity, and Wi-Fi 6 for a low value.