MSI DP21 2025, Core i7-13700, 16GB, 1TB SSD, Black

Great CPU, disappointing everything else. This is a business box for people who never leave Excel, and that's about it.

The CPU is the star here, landing in the 75th percentile for mini PCs. That i7-13700 with 24 threads will make short work of multitasking, and the 1TB NVMe SSD keeps boot times snappy. But the integrated graphics sit at a mediocre 37th percentile, and the 16GB of DDR4 RAM is actually below average at the 32nd percentile. For a machine marketed as 'uncompromised performance,' that's a pretty big compromise. Don't expect to do any light gaming or video editing without wanting to throw this thing out a window.

Stacked against something like the Apple Mac Studio M3 Ultra, the DP21 looks like a toy, but that's an unfair fight at a completely different price point. A more realistic comparison is the Dell Desktop ECT1250 or other business-focused mini PCs. The MSI wins on raw CPU threads, but loses on RAM speed and graphics. The Lenovo Legion and HP OMEN are gaming machines with dedicated GPUs, so they're in a different league entirely. If you're cross-shopping those, you're looking at the wrong product.

At $789 USD, this is a tough sell. You're paying a premium for the i7-13700, but the rest of the package feels like an afterthought. If all you need is a compact office PC for email, web browsing, and light productivity, there are cheaper options that'll do the job just as well. If you need any graphical horsepower, you'll need to spend more anyway. This sits in an awkward middle ground where it's too expensive for basic tasks and too weak for demanding ones.

The MSI PRO DP21 is a classic case of a business PC with a serious identity crisis. You get a genuinely strong 16-core i7-13700 processor crammed into a tiny 3.27kg box, which sounds great until you realize it's paired with integrated Intel UHD Graphics and 16GB of DDR4. This thing will chew through spreadsheets and browser tabs all day, but ask it to do anything graphically demanding and it'll wave a white flag. It's a productivity workhorse for office drones, not a jack-of-all-trades.

If you're looking for a home theater PC, a light gaming rig, or anything that involves video editing or 3D work, this isn't it. Go get a mini PC with a dedicated GPU or a Ryzen APU instead. The integrated graphics here will leave you frustrated and reaching for a refund.

The MSI PRO DP21 is a one-trick pony, and that trick is CPU-bound office work. If you're running spreadsheets, databases, or a dozen browser tabs, the i7-13700 will keep up without breaking a sweat. But the weak integrated graphics, below-average RAM, and mediocre reliability score make this a hard pass for anyone who wants a versatile machine. Buy it for a receptionist desk or a data entry station, not for your home office.