MSI Cubi NUC Cubi13MQG203B

A barebone mini PC with a monster RAM appetite and killer networking, but you'll need to finish building it yourself. It's a home lab hero and a gaming zero.

The 13th Gen Core i5-1345U is a solid workhorse for office tasks and multitasking, but it's not going to set any speed records. In our database, the CPU lands in the middle of the pack, which is fine for a machine built for spreadsheets and server duties. The real surprise is the RAM capacity. With support for up to 64GB of DDR5, this thing sits in the 96th percentile for memory, making it a tiny monster for running virtual machines or memory-hungry development environments. The integrated Iris Xe graphics are, predictably, the bottleneck. They're fine for driving a couple of 4K displays, but the gaming score is a brutal 13 out of 100, so don't even think about it.

The obvious competitor is the Apple Mac mini M4 Pro, which will run circles around this MSI in raw performance and efficiency, but locks you into macOS and a non-upgradeable design. If you need Windows and tons of RAM, this Cubi is a more flexible choice. On the other end, something like the HP OmniDesk is a more traditional, fully-built desktop that's less of a headache for a standard office. The MSI's real superpower is as a headless home server or virtualization box, where its networking and memory capacity outshine almost anything else this small.

Pricing on this thing is all over the map, with a wild spread from $520 to nearly $20,000 across vendors. The low end is a fair deal for the barebone kit if you have spare parts. The high end is a typo or a scam, ignore it. Factor in the cost of a fast NVMe drive and a Windows license, and you're looking at a real-world price that competes with pre-built mini PCs from Minisforum or Beelink that already come with RAM and storage. It's worth it only if you absolutely need that 64GB RAM ceiling and dual 2.5G LAN in a tiny box.

The MSI Cubi NUC 13MQG is a barebone kit that makes a lot of sense for a very specific person: the IT manager or power user who already has a stack of RAM and an SSD sitting on their desk. Out of the box, it's not a computer, it's a project. You'll need to bring your own storage, operating system, and a screwdriver. But if you do, you get a shockingly expandable little box with dual 2.5G Ethernet and Thunderbolt 4 that can swallow up to 64GB of DDR5. Just don't expect to play anything more demanding than Solitaire on it.

If you're looking for a simple, all-in-one desktop that's ready to go out of the box, this isn't it. Go get a Mac mini or a pre-built HP instead. This MSI is for people who enjoy speccing out their own RAM and storage and don't mind getting their hands dirty with a screwdriver.

Buy this if you know exactly what a barebone is and you're already smiling at the thought of 64GB of RAM in a box the size of a sandwich. It's a niche champion for home labs, digital signage, or a compact office workstation with a million browser tabs. For everyone else who just wants a computer that turns on and works, look at a pre-built mini PC. This is a tinkerer's delight, not a consumer product.