In the computer world, there are two overarching kinds of devices you probably think of first and foremost: laptops and desktop towers. But there's one category that I think doesn't get talked about nearly as much as it should be, and that's mini PCs. Sure, by definition, these are still desktop PCs, but this form factor is still fairly unique, and most importantly, it's the perfect centerpiece for my desktop setup. Ever since I tried a mini PC, I never want to use anything else at my desk. Here's why.

It saves so much space on my desk

Making the most of a relatively small space

I'm not sure exactly if my desk is small compared to most computer users, but more often than not, I find myself not having as much space as I'd like. Fitting a desktop PC on my desk would be almost impossible without making some big shifts to what's on it. Similarly, my previous approach of using a laptop with a docking station took up too much space and added a bit of clutter. Laptops are thin, but the surface area they take up is very large, so without a vertical stand, they're still very inconvenient. Plus, you need to open them to power them on, so it's just not an elegant solution.

Mini PCs just fit so nicely under my monitor. I've had a couple of models, and it's awesome to have something so tiny just tucked in front of my monitor without taking any space away from my keyboard or mouse. I still have space for my wrists to rest while typing, and I don't have to move anything else around to accommodate.

I have a fairly complex setup at my desk, too, so this becomes crucial. I sometimes like streaming my Nintendo Switch games, so I have a Switch dock and a capture card on my desk as well, so these things already take up a bit of space and cause clutter. And as a reviewer and tech writer, things change so much that it's super easy to make my desk a mess. Sometimes I'll be reviewing a dock or USB hub so I have to add that to the mix. I may have to connect my camera to import photos, or in many cases where I'm writing tutorials, I have to have a backup laptop next to me at the same time since most of the time I'm not testing these procedures on my main computer. That means I want my setup stripped down to save as much space as possible so my desk can remain manageable, and mini PCs are perfect for this.

"Just put your desktop tower on the floor"

Before you rush to the comments with the obvious statement, let me add that my desk also happens to be a standing desk. Putting a desktop PC on the floor could work, yes, if I had a long enough HDMI cable and if I wanted it to be able to move around freely. I hate the idea of cables dangling around, so I do what I can to keep them wrapped up and as short as possible (I can't lock them fully because of how fluid my desk setup needs to be). If I used a desktop tower on the floor, the tower would get pulled on whenever I change my desk to standing height, so I can't do that.

They use less power

But they still have great performance

In addition to this, I also tend to be quite cheap, and so if I can save money on energy, I'll do what I can do just that. A desktop PC uses far higher-power components, with the processors alone being rated for at least 65W most of the time. And while a tower desktop can fit a discrete GPU, I also don't want one inside my PC at all times potentially using more power. Mini PCs usually have laptop processors and more integrated motherboards that use significantly less power, and to me, that's perfect.

You might say I'm sacrificing performance for that, and yes, of course I am to some extent. But most of my job is writing and editing, taking screenshots, and doing research. I don't need an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 and an Intel Core i9-14900KS. Using a modern laptop processor is all the power I need or would even ask for in the first place. I've never had issues with performance being lackluster for my needs.

Heck, some mini PCs are so low power that they're even powered by USB-C, so I can actually just rely on the power delivery from my monitor and have even fewer cables at my desk. It's awesome.

External GPUs

More power when I really need it

I may not need the performance of a GPU most of the time, but I will admit, there are times it comes in handy. Thankfully, I recently got to experience the wonder of external GPUs, and now I'm more convinced than ever that I don't need a desktop PC.

The only workload I really need a GPU for is applying the AI-based Denoise filter in Adobe Lightroom, so with my mini PC, what I've done is simply hook up the my OneXGPU review unit whenever I'm editing photos for a review. I plug it in, edit my photos, and turn it off, so I only use more power when I really want to.

And while external GPUs are far from being as fast as an internal GPU, again, it's all I need for my use case. The AI Denoise filter in Lightroom takes almost three minutes to run on the CPU alone, but even with a mid-range external GPU, that gets cut down to around 15 seconds. It's a huge difference, and while I might be able to gain a few more seconds with a more powerful GPU, do I really need that? Honestly, not really.

Mini PCs are great

I'm not trying to lecture anyone on whether you should get a mini PC or not. However, for my typical usage, I've found mini PCs to be incredibly useful, and honestly I could see them being a dream for anyone working in a typicla business office or even working from home, assuming the job doesn't require a ton of power at all times.

I'm honestly surprised there aren't more PCs like this, at least ones that aren't aimed so squarely at businesses. All the notable mini PCs out there are from brands you've probably never heard about, like Geekom or Minisforum. But that shouldn't take away from how great these devices are. I absolutely recommend them if you want a PC for the home that doesn't take up a lot of space.