MSI Cubi NUC 1MG-011US Black 2025

The MSI Cubi NUC is a tiny desktop with best-in-class port selection, including Thunderbolt 4 and dual 2.5G Ethernet. It's great for office work and digital signage, but the 8GB RAM and weak integrated graphics hold it back. Prices range from USD 579 to USD 729, so shop around. Buy it for the form factor and connectivity, not for raw performance.

The Core 3 100U is a 6-core, 8-thread chip with a 1.2GHz base clock and a 4.7GHz turbo. In our database, the CPU lands in the 31st percentile, which is mediocre for desktops overall but about what you'd expect from a low-power chip in a mini PC. For everyday tasks like web browsing, Office apps, and video conferencing, it's fine. You won't feel lag switching between Chrome tabs or running a Zoom call. But push it with heavy multitasking, large Excel files, or photo editing, and you'll notice the ceiling pretty quickly.

The integrated Intel Graphics are the weak spot. Gaming performance scores a 10.5 out of 100, which is one of the worst we've seen. This is not a machine for anything beyond Solitaire or maybe some very light 2D indie games. The 8GB of DDR5 RAM is also a concern. It ranks in the 17th percentile, which is disappointing for a 2024 machine at this price. Windows 11 alone will happily eat 4-5GB, leaving you with very little headroom. The 500GB NVMe SSD is solid but ranks in the 38th percentile, so it's about average. Boot times and app launches will feel snappy, but you'll want to keep an eye on storage if you're hoarding files.

The Apple Mac mini M4 Pro is the elephant in the room. It costs more, but the M4 Pro chip absolutely demolishes the Core 3 100U in both CPU and GPU performance. If you're doing any creative work or want a machine that'll stay fast for years, the Mac mini is the better buy. The trade-off is price and the Apple ecosystem. The Cubi NUC is cheaper and runs Windows, which matters if you need specific business software.

The Lenovo Legion 90YA003GUS and iBUYPOWER Slate SWI7N56T01 are gaming desktops. They're bigger, louder, and way more powerful. If you want to play games or do 3D work, those are the obvious choices. The HP OmniDesk M03-0064 and Dell Tower Plus EBT2250 are more traditional office desktops. They offer better CPU performance for the money, but they're towers. You lose the tiny footprint and the wall-mount flexibility. So the Cubi NUC's real competition is other mini PCs, and in that niche, its port selection is a genuine differentiator.

Pricing is all over the place. In the US, we're seeing listings from USD 579 to USD 729 across five vendors. That's a USD 150 spread for the exact same box, which is wild. Newegg has the best deal at the low end, so if you're buying in the US, start there and don't pay more than USD 600. In Canada, the spread is even worse: CAD 1,215 to CAD 1,908 across two listings. That's a CAD 693 difference. Again, shop around before you click buy.

At USD 579, this is a reasonable deal for a compact office PC with this much connectivity. At USD 729, it's overpriced. You're paying a premium for the small form factor and the port selection, not for raw performance. If you need more CPU power or RAM, you can find traditional desktops with better specs for the same money. But if desk space is your top priority, the Cubi NUC earns its keep.

The MSI Cubi NUC 1MG-011US is a tiny desktop that's trying to be the Swiss Army knife of office PCs. It's got a 6-core Intel Core 3 100U, 8GB of DDR5, a 500GB NVMe SSD, and a port selection that would embarrass some full-size towers. The pitch is simple: take up almost no space, drive up to four displays, and handle the daily grind of spreadsheets, browsers, and video calls without breaking a sweat. And for the most part, it delivers on that promise.

Who's this for? People who want a clean desk and don't need a discrete GPU. Think office workers, receptionists, digital signage installers, or anyone running a home office where space is at a premium. The 1.9-inch chassis can hide behind a monitor or mount to a wall, which is genuinely useful if you're tired of a tower hogging your legroom. But the Core 3 100U is not a powerhouse. It's a 15W-class chip designed for efficiency, not rendering 4K video or running local AI models.

What makes this interesting is the connectivity. Dual 2.5G Ethernet, Thunderbolt 4, Wi-Fi 6E, and six USB-A ports. That's a lot of I/O for a box this small. The port selection ranks in the 93rd percentile in our database, which is basically best-in-class for mini PCs. If you need to plug in a label printer, a barcode scanner, two monitors, and a NAS, this thing has you covered without a dongle in sight.

If you're a gamer, skip this. The integrated graphics are a dead end, and you'll be frustrated within minutes of launching anything more demanding than Minesweeper. Look at the Lenovo Legion 90YA003GUS or iBUYPOWER Slate SWI7N56T01 instead. They're bigger and pricier, but they have actual GPUs.

Also skip it if you do any kind of creative work like video editing, 3D modeling, or heavy photo editing. The CPU and RAM just aren't up to it. The Apple Mac mini M4 Pro is the obvious alternative if you're in that camp and can stomach the price. And if you don't care about the small form factor at all, a traditional tower like the HP OmniDesk or Dell Tower Plus will give you better performance per dollar.

For a basic office or home office setup where space is tight, the Cubi NUC is a solid pick. The port selection is genuinely impressive, and the ability to drive four displays from a box the size of a sandwich is no small feat. If you're running a reception desk, a point-of-sale system, or a digital signage setup, this thing is close to ideal. Just make sure you get it at the low end of the price range.

But if you need to do anything more demanding, look elsewhere. The 8GB of RAM is a real bottleneck, and the integrated graphics rule out gaming and most creative work. For the same money, you can get a traditional desktop with a faster CPU and more RAM, or you can spend a bit more and get a Mac mini that'll run circles around this thing. The Cubi NUC is a niche product, and it's very good at its niche. Just don't expect it to be something it's not.