HP 400 G9, Core i7-12700T, 16GB, 1TB SSD

The HP Pro Mini 400 G9 packs a 12-core i7-12700T and 1TB NVMe SSD into a 3-pound box that runs whisper-quiet. It's great for office work and triple-monitor setups, but the 16GB RAM and 6th percentile port selection hold it back. At $899, you're paying for the size, not the specs.

The i7-12700T is the star here. Twelve cores at up to 4.7GHz means this little box chews through browser tabs, spreadsheets, and video calls without breaking a sweat. In our database, the CPU sits at the 48th percentile, which is about average for desktops overall, but for a mini PC that fits behind a monitor, that's genuinely impressive. The 16GB of DDR4 RAM is a bit of a letdown though, landing in the 33rd percentile. It'll handle 50 tabs and a Zoom call fine, but heavy multitaskers might feel the ceiling sooner than they'd like. The Intel UHD 770 integrated graphics are fine for productivity and 4K video output, but don't expect to game on this thing. The gaming score of 11.8 out of 100 tells you everything you need to know there.

Stacked against the Apple Mac mini M4 Pro, the HP gets absolutely smoked on CPU and GPU performance, though the Mac mini costs more and locks you into macOS. The Lenovo Legion 90YA003GUS and ASUS ROG GM700TZ-BS978 are gaming machines with dedicated GPUs that make the HP's 11.8 gaming score look embarrassing, but they're also towers that take up real desk space. The Dell Tower Plus EBT2250 offers similar business-focused specs in a larger chassis, likely with better port selection. The HP's real competition is the Mac mini for compact productivity, and the Mac mini wins on raw power while the HP wins on Windows compatibility and included peripherals.

At $899 USD, the HP Pro Mini 400 G9 is a tough sell on pure specs alone. You're paying a premium for the form factor, and that's the trade-off. The 1TB SSD and 12-core CPU are nice, but the 16GB of RAM and weak port selection make this feel more like a $650 machine in a $900 body. If you need the tiny footprint and quiet operation, the price makes sense. If you don't, you can get a lot more performance from a traditional tower at this price point.

The HP Pro Mini 400 G9 is a compact desktop that tries to pack workstation muscle into a 6.97-inch box, and for the most part, it pulls it off. The i7-12700T is a 12-core chip that sits right around the middle of our database for CPU performance, which sounds unremarkable until you remember this thing weighs just over 3 pounds. The 1TB NVMe SSD lands in the 73rd percentile for storage, so boot times and app launches feel snappy, not like you're waiting on a spinning disk from 2015.

Skip this if you need any kind of GPU muscle. The gaming score of 11.8 out of 100 is one of the worst we've seen, and the Intel UHD 770 integrated graphics will choke on video editing, 3D modeling, or anything beyond basic photo work. Also skip it if you rely on lots of peripherals, the port selection ranks in the 6th percentile, which means you'll be living that dongle life. And if you're on a budget, the $899 price tag is hard to justify when a mid-tower at the same price gets you double the RAM and a dedicated GPU.

The HP Pro Mini 400 G9 is a niche product that nails its niche. If you need a quiet, tiny Windows 11 Pro machine for office work, trading setups with three monitors, or a clean desk aesthetic, this thing delivers. The 12-core i7 and 1TB NVMe SSD make daily tasks feel responsive, and the triple 4K display support is genuinely useful. But the 16GB of RAM, weak port selection, and $899 price tag mean you're paying a form-factor tax. For most people, a mid-tower with better specs at the same price is the smarter buy.