HP EliteDesk 8 SFF G1i 2025, Core Ultra 7 265, 32GB, 512GB SSD, Jack Black

A 20-core productivity monster in a small package with ports for days. Skip it if you want to play games or do 3D work.

The Core Ultra 7 265 surprised us. 20 cores at 2.4GHz base with boost up to 5.30GHz is genuinely impressive silicon for a box this size. Paired with 32GB of 5600 MT/s DDR5, this thing chews through developer workloads, VMs, and heavy multitasking without breaking a sweat. Port selection is absurd, 99th percentile, with Thunderbolt 4, DisplayPort 2.1, HDMI 2.1, and enough USB ports to run a small office. But the integrated Intel graphics are the weak link. Fine for spreadsheets and code, useless for anything 3D. The 512GB NVMe SSD is also on the small side for a machine this capable.

Against the Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 10 or Dell Aurora, this HP loses badly on graphics, those are gaming rigs with discrete GPUs. But that's not the fight HP is picking. The EliteDesk 8 SFF G1i is closer to a Mac Studio M3 Ultra in spirit, compact, quiet, built for work. The Mac Studio crushes it on GPU performance and storage speed, but costs way more and locks you into macOS. The ASUS ROG GM700 sits somewhere between, more GPU muscle but less business polish. If you need Windows, tons of ports, and a small footprint, the HP holds its own.

Pricing is all over the place. US listings range from USD 1,899 to USD 2,410 across five vendors, and CAD listings span CAD 2,387 to CAD 2,757. That's a USD 511 spread for the exact same machine. Shop around before you buy. At the low end, this is a solid deal for the CPU and port selection you're getting. At the high end, you're paying too much for integrated graphics and a modest SSD.

The HP EliteDesk 8 SFF G1i is a business workhorse that punches way above its size class. The one thing to know: that Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is a 20-core monster that lands in the top 11% of CPUs we've tested, and HP stuffed it into a compact SFF chassis with 32GB of DDR5. This isn't a gaming rig, and it doesn't pretend to be. It's a serious productivity machine for people who need real compute power without a tower the size of a mini fridge.

If you're looking for a gaming PC or anything that needs real GPU power, this isn't it. Go get a Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 10 or Dell Aurora instead. Same goes if you need massive local storage, 512GB won't cut it for video editors or data hoarders.

Buy it if you need a compact Windows workstation for development, office work, or heavy multitasking. The CPU and port selection are outstanding for the size. Just don't expect to game on it, and budget for a bigger SSD down the road. At the right price, this is a no-brainer for business users.