MSI’s Cubi PCs have been well-liked within the mini desktop PC scene, offering customers with highly effective but small and quiet gadgets over time. The newest Cubi, the Cubi NUC 1M (begins at $649.99; $999.99 as examined), adopts the NUC branding that Intel handed off to its OEMs to hold on the legacy. It comes with Intel’s latest-generation cell processors, as much as 64GB of DDR5 reminiscence, two M.2 sockets and a SATA port for storage, built-in Wi-Fi 6E, twin 2.5GbE ports, and extra, all inside a tiny 0.8-liter package deal and at all kinds of worth factors. Nonetheless, it isn’t fairly as efficient because the Asus NUC 14 Professional and, due to this fact, falls in need of an Editors’ Alternative award.MSI has a number of completely different SKUs (15, truly) of the Cubi NUC 1M with processors from the Intel Core 3, 5, and seven households. You get a alternative of chips, from the essential Core 3 120U (finest for signage and basic PC features) as much as a succesful 10-core/12-thread Core 7 150U. Opponents just like the Asus NUC 14 Professional serve up the Core Extremely 165H, which has extra cores and threads, a neural processing unit, and Arc-based built-in graphics. Cubi NUC 1M choices differ from preconfigured with an working system and able to exit of the field to barebones choices the place you may add your individual, or increased capability, reminiscence (SO-DIMMS, as much as 64GB) and storage. MSI stands behind the tiny cubes in each kinds with a three-year guarantee comparable with Asus’.
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(Credit score: Joseph Maldonado)
MSI’s Cubi NUC 1M was constructed with look after the surroundings in thoughts. Its black plastic shell comprises 42.9% post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic, serving to to scale back landfill waste. You may spy MSI branding on the semi-gloss-finished case, however it’s in any other case a plain black field. Measuring 5.3 by 5.2 by 1.9 inches, it’s barely bigger than the Asus NUC 14 Professional and the ECS Liva Z5 Plus however nonetheless simply matches within the palm of your hand and can be VESA mountable (100×100).
(Credit score: Joseph Maldonado)
On the underside, MSI makes use of a perforated aluminum plate to entry ambient air. A small fan strikes air internally round a heatsink hooked up to the CPU and out the rear. The fan was audible throughout benchmarking, however the tone is not off-putting, nor does it get excessively loud. I can barely hear it sitting a couple of ft away on the desk for typical desktop features (suppose Microsoft Workplace work, watching movies, and the like). It will be even tougher to listen to if mounted behind a monitor or beneath a desk.
Utilizing the MSI Cubi NUC 1M: Twin NICs, Thunderbolt 4, and Antenna-Free Wi-Fi 6EMSI packs loads of connectivity into the Cubi NUC 1M. For networking, you get built-in Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 for wi-fi. On the wired aspect are two Intel-based 2.5Gbps Ethernet jacks. MSI says the twin configuration helps with troubleshooting and redundancy, together with community segmentation and safety, however doesn’t point out the power to group them up for even quicker speeds. (Is that wanted in a NUC?)The sub-liter-size field has six USB ports. Together with the ability button, in entrance are two USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) Sort-A ports, an SD card reader, a 3.5mm mixture microphone/headphone jack, a recessed round energy button, and a blue drive-activity gentle.
(Credit score: Joseph Maldonado)
On the again, the system has two extra USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) Sort-A ports, and it is the place you’ll discover the twin Thunderbolt 4 ports. You’ll be able to ship energy to the NUC (as much as 100W) and join screens with them, minimizing the wires coming from the again. Two HDMI ports full the video outputs, which, when used collectively, can run 4 screens at as much as 4K decision and 60Hz refresh price for the last word in multitasking. The 2 2.5GbE ports are in between, whereas the AC adapter plug is on the precise.
(Credit score: Joseph Maldonado)
Accessing the internals is as simple as loosening the 4 screws on the underside and pulling on the plate to pop it off. Inside, you’ll see the 2 DDR5 SO-DIMM RAM slots and two M.2 sockets supporting PCIe 4.0 x4 speeds. One M.2 socket helps 80mm modules beneath a heatsink (together with the CNVi2-based Wi-Fi card), whereas the second helps as much as 42mm gadgets.Testing the MSI Cubi NUC 1M: Quick, However Not the FastestThe Cubi NUC 1M on the check bench is a pre-configured mannequin that comes with the Intel Core 7 150U processor (12 complete cores, as much as 5.34 GHz turbo), Intel built-in graphics, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD, and Home windows 11 Professional.
(Credit score: Joseph Maldonado)
Trying on-line, we discover the barebones package(s) at three completely different costs for the three processors. The Core 3 100U SOC begins at $379.99, the Core 5 120U at $499.99, and the Core 7 150U barebones at $649.99. Our pre-configured unit (mannequin CUBINUC1M007) goes for $999.99. You’ll be able to construct a extra highly effective desktop for that quantity, however you lose the minuscule footprint. That compares effectively with the quicker Asus, however the ECS Liva Z5 Plus was $630 in its pre-configured kind. Along with the Liva Z5 Plus and the Asus NUC 14 Professional, we’ve included outcomes from the Dell Inspiron 24 AIO and the Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini (2023).
Productiveness and Content material Creation TestsWe run the identical basic productiveness benchmarks throughout each cell and desktop methods. Our first check is UL’s PCMark 10, which simulates a wide range of real-world productiveness and workplace workflows to measure total system efficiency and features a storage subtest for the first drive.Our different three benchmarks deal with the CPU, utilizing all out there cores and threads, to price 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 Geekbench 5.4 Professional from Primate Labs simulates well-liked 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 instances are higher).Lastly, we run PugetBench for Photoshop by workstation maker Puget Programs. It makes use of Adobe’s well-known picture editor, in Inventive Cloud model 22, to price a PC’s efficiency for content material creation and multimedia functions. It is an automatic extension that executes a wide range of basic and GPU-accelerated Photoshop duties, starting from opening, rotating, resizing, and saving a picture to making use of masks, gradient fills, and filters.
On this complete set of exams, MSI’s mini PC fared effectively. Whereas it wasn’t the quickest, the Cubi NUC carried out effectively throughout the board, main all comparability models within the PCMark storage check. In case your workflows reply higher to extra cores and threads, for instance, rendering and encoding, you’ll need the equally priced however extra performant Asus NUC 14 Professional for higher outcomes. Our absolutely up to date system wouldn’t run Geekbench, popping blue screens of loss of life anytime we launched the appliance.Graphics TestsWe check the graphics inside all laptops and desktops with two DirectX 12 gaming simulations from UL’s 3DMark, Evening Raid (extra modest, appropriate for laptops with built-in graphics) and Time Spy (extra demanding, appropriate for gaming rigs with discrete GPUs).To additional measure GPUs, we additionally run two exams from the cross-platform GPU benchmark GFXBench 5, which stresses each low-level routines like texturing and high-level, game-like picture rendering. The 1440p Aztec Ruins and 1080p Automobile Chase exams (rendered offscreen to accommodate completely different show resolutions) train graphics and compute shaders utilizing the OpenGL programming interface and {hardware} tessellation, respectively. The extra frames per second (fps), the higher.
Our check unit once more carried out effectively for the graphics and gaming exams however fell in need of the extra highly effective Asus NUC 14 Professional. Its 3DMark scores have been doubled in Time Spy and round 60% quicker in Evening Raid. Sadly, we couldn’t get GFXBench to run, however we anticipate related efficiency gaps in opposition to the Arc-based graphics contained in the Asus. Once more, in case your workflows embody rendering otherwise you plan to play some video games, the Asus NUC is probably the most highly effective possibility of all of our equally classed machines on this lot.Verdict: Punchy However Dear, and Not the Quickest for ItMSI’s Cubi NUC 1M is a positive mini workplace PC entrant. Not solely does it drive loads of efficiency in a small package deal, however it’s quiet, too. MSI sells customers a variety of choices, from a barebones unit at $649.99 to our absolutely loaded mannequin (CUBINUC1M007 on their web site), which is just below $1,000. The chassis permits for upgrades as effectively, with the SO-DIMM slots, M.2 socket, and a couple of.5-inch SATA bay simply accessible behind a few screws on the underside.The ECS Liva Z5 Plus we reviewed is an honest worth possibility for those who’re in search of a price range mini PC. It gives enough efficiency however a way more palatable $649.99 prebuilt worth. Evaluating the Cubi NUC 1M with the ECS Liva and Asus NUC 14 Professional, the final of these is probably the most highly effective and has related connectivity and growth prospects. Whereas the MSI Cubi NUC ought to be on the shortlist, we want to see the value level decrease, maybe to $899.99 for the prebuilt flagship, to be an much more aggressive NUC product.
Execs
Broad number of connectivity
Helps as much as 4 screens
Twin 2.5Gbps Ethernet connectivity
Quiet operation
View
Extra
Cons
Slower than Asus NUC 14 Professional, regardless of Core Extremely CPU
Dear when absolutely loaded
The Backside Line
MSI’s quiet-running, upgradable Cubi NUC 1M is a worthy mini PC carrying on Intel’s model. It delivers above-average connectivity and first rate productiveness efficiency—although it’s kind of dear in our check configuration.
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