HP EliteDesk 8 G1i 2026, Core Ultra 5 235T, 16GB, 512GB SSD, Jack Black

The HP EliteDesk 8 G1i is a tiny 1.35kg mini PC with a 14-core Core Ultra 5 235T, 16GB of DDR5, and a 512GB NVMe SSD. It's built for office productivity, not gaming, with a gaming score of just 13.8 in our database. Prices range from $1,350 to $1,582 in the US, so shop around before you buy. If you need a compact Windows 11 Pro machine with Thunderbolt 4 and Wi-Fi 7, this is a solid choice.

The Core Ultra 5 235T is a 14-core chip with a 2.2GHz base clock, and in our database it lands at the 72nd percentile for CPU performance among all desktops. That's well above average, and for a mini PC it's genuinely impressive. You're getting enough grunt to run spreadsheets, browser tabs, video calls, and light photo editing without breaking a sweat. The 16GB of 5600 MHz DDR5 RAM is about average for this class, sitting at the 56th percentile, but it's dual-channel and fast enough that you won't feel memory-starved in normal office work.

The integrated Intel Graphics are the weak link if you're hoping for anything beyond basic display output. GPU performance sits at the 52nd percentile, which is middle of the pack, but that's against all desktops including ones with dedicated cards. In practice, this means smooth 4K video playback, fine performance in Office apps, and absolutely no gaming beyond solitaire or 2D indie titles. The 512GB NVMe SSD lands at the 44th percentile for storage, which is about average, but the PCIe 4.0 interface means boot times and app launches feel snappy. There are two empty M.2 slots if you need to add more storage later.

The most obvious comparison is the Apple Mac Studio M4 Max, which is in a completely different performance class but also a completely different price bracket. The Mac Studio will run circles around the EliteDesk in GPU-heavy tasks and creative workloads, but it costs significantly more and runs macOS. If you're locked into Windows and business software, the HP is the practical choice. The Lenovo Legion Tower 5a Gen 10 is another competitor, but that's a gaming tower with a dedicated GPU, so it's really for a different buyer entirely.

The Dell Tower ECT1250 and ASUS ROG GM700 are also in our comparison set, and they highlight the trade-off here. Those machines offer more expandability and better graphics options, but they're full-size towers. The EliteDesk 8 G1i wins on footprint and power efficiency, and the 90W PSU means it sips electricity compared to a gaming rig. If you need a quiet, small, reliable office machine, the HP makes sense. If you need any kind of GPU acceleration, look elsewhere.

Pricing on this thing is all over the place. In the US, we're seeing listings from $1,350 to $1,582 across three vendors, which is a $232 spread for the exact same machine. That's a big enough gap that you'd be silly not to shop around. The cheapest listing in our database comes from Newegg, so start there if you're in the US. Canadian buyers are looking at CAD 1,958, which is a single listing and harder to compare.

For what you get, the value proposition is decent but not amazing. You're paying a premium for the compact form factor, the vPro management features, and the newer Core Ultra platform. If you don't need the tiny chassis or business management tools, you can get more raw performance for less money in a traditional tower. But if desk space matters and you want something that just works in a corporate environment, the price is defensible. Just make sure you're not paying the high end of that range.

The HP EliteDesk 8 G1i is one of those machines that makes you realize how far mini PCs have come. It's a 1.35kg box that sits under a monitor or clips to the back of it, but inside there's a 14-core Intel Core Ultra 5 235T, 16GB of DDR5, and a 512GB NVMe SSD. HP is leaning hard into the AI angle here, and while that's partly marketing, the Core Ultra chips do have dedicated neural processing hardware that can speed up local AI tasks like background blur in video calls or transcription. For a business desktop, that's genuinely useful.

This thing is clearly aimed at office workers, IT departments, and anyone who wants a tidy desk without giving up real desktop performance. The compact form factor score in our database is 79.3 out of 100, which puts it near the top for this category. Home office and business use cases land at 69.4 and 68.6 respectively, so it's solid across the board for productivity work. Just don't expect it to play games, the gaming score is 13.8, which is about as low as it gets.

What makes this interesting is the connectivity. You get Thunderbolt 4, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort, and a mix of USB-C and USB-A ports. That's a lot of I/O for a box this small. HP also includes a wired keyboard and mouse, which is a nice touch for business buyers who just want to unbox and go. Windows 11 Pro is standard, so it slots right into a corporate environment with vPro management features.

If you're a gamer, a video editor, a 3D artist, or anyone who needs real GPU performance, skip this. The integrated graphics and 90W power supply mean there's no meaningful upgrade path to a dedicated GPU, and the gaming score of 13.8 in our database is one of the lowest we've seen. You'd be much better served by a tower with a discrete graphics card, like the Lenovo Legion Tower 5a Gen 10 or the ASUS ROG GM700.

Also skip this if you need lots of internal storage or plan to run heavy local AI workloads. The 512GB SSD is fine for office use but fills up fast with large media files, and while the Core Ultra has neural processing hardware, it's not a substitute for a proper GPU in demanding AI tasks. If you're doing serious machine learning or rendering, look at a workstation-class machine or the Apple Mac Studio M4 Max.

For office workers, IT departments, and anyone who wants a clean desk with a capable Windows machine, the EliteDesk 8 G1i is a strong pick. The compact score of 79.3 in our database reflects how well it nails the mini PC brief. It's fast enough for everyday productivity, has modern connectivity, and the vPro support makes it easy to manage at scale. The included keyboard and mouse are a small but real convenience.

For anyone who needs graphics performance, this is the wrong machine. The gaming score of 13.8 tells you everything you need to know. If you're a creative professional, a gamer, or someone who does 3D work, you should be looking at a tower with a dedicated GPU or a Mac Studio. The EliteDesk is a specialist in being small and efficient, and it's very good at that. Just don't ask it to be something it's not.