HP ProDesk 600 G5 2018, Core i5-9500T, 8GB, 512GB SSD, Black

The HP ProDesk 600 G5 is a compact refurbished mini PC that handles everyday office work fine but struggles with anything demanding. The i5-9500T and 8GB of RAM are aging, and gaming performance is nearly nonexistent. At USD 240 it's a decent budget pick, but at USD 530 it's a bad deal.

The Core i5-9500T is a low-power chip, and that shows in our benchmarks. It lands in the 14th percentile for CPU performance among products in our database, which means most modern desktops and even many mini PCs will outrun it. For basic productivity it's fine. You'll open apps, browse with a dozen tabs, and stream video without much drama. But throw a big Excel model or a 4K video edit at it and you'll feel the age.

The integrated Intel UHD Graphics 630 sits at the 38th percentile for GPU performance. That's not a gaming GPU by any stretch. You can play older titles or 2D indie games at low settings, but anything modern will struggle. The 8GB of RAM is the real bottleneck here. It ranks in the 9th percentile, which is near the bottom of what we track. Windows 11 Pro alone will eat a chunk of that, leaving little headroom for multitasking. The 512GB SSD is solid and helps boot times feel snappy, but it's in the 31st percentile for storage, so you're getting a basic SATA or entry-level NVMe drive, not a speed demon.

Against the Dell OptiPlex 7070 SFF, the ProDesk 600 G5 holds its own in build quality but loses on expandability. The OptiPlex SFF has more room for RAM and storage upgrades, and Dell's refurbished units tend to have better quality control. The Lenovo ThinkCentre M70q Gen 5 is a newer machine with a more modern CPU and better integrated graphics, though it typically costs more. If you want something with actual gaming potential in a small package, the Minisforum DeskMini UM880 Plus blows the ProDesk out of the water with a much stronger processor and far better graphics, but you'll pay for it. The ASUS NUC 14 Pro is another step up in price and performance, aimed at users who need a reliable, modern mini PC with Thunderbolt support. The Apple iMac REF-MRQY2LL/A is a completely different animal, an all-in-one with a gorgeous display and Apple silicon, but it costs significantly more and locks you into macOS.

Value is tricky here because the price spread is huge. We found six US listings ranging from USD 240 to USD 530. At the low end, this is a reasonable deal for a compact office PC. At the high end, you're paying way too much for 2019-era hardware. The best deal in our database is the USD 240 listing, which gets you the i5-9500T, 8GB RAM, and 512GB SSD. Once you cross USD 400, you should look at newer options like the Lenovo ThinkCentre M70q Gen 5 or even a budget ASUS NUC, both of which offer better performance per dollar. The CAD 520 listing in Canada is also on the pricey side for what you get.

The HP ProDesk 600 G5 is a refurbished mini PC aimed at offices, front desks, and anyone who wants a small Windows 11 machine without spending much. It runs a 9th Gen Intel Core i5-9500T, a 6-core chip with a 2.2GHz base clock and up to 3.7GHz turbo, paired with 8GB of DDR4 RAM and a 512GB SSD. Prices in our database range from USD 240 to USD 530 depending on the listing, which is a pretty wide spread for what is essentially the same core machine with different storage and RAM configs.

People searching for a cheap refurbished desktop for everyday computing will find this one checks a lot of boxes on paper. It's compact, it has Windows 11 Pro, and it sips power thanks to the T-series processor. But the specs are aging, and the customer rating of 3.8 out of 5 from 15 reviews tells you this isn't a slam dunk for everyone.

Is the HP ProDesk 600 G5 good for office work? For spreadsheets, email, video calls, and light multitasking, yes. Is it good for gaming or heavy creative work? Not even close. We'll get into why below.

Skip the HP ProDesk 600 G5 if you plan to game, edit video, run virtual machines, or do any kind of 3D work. The integrated graphics and 8GB of RAM will frustrate you quickly. Also skip it if you need reliable wireless connectivity out of the box, since the Wi-Fi dongle situation is a known pain point. If you want a small PC with real performance, look at the Minisforum DeskMini UM880 Plus or the ASUS NUC 14 Pro instead. And if you're buying in Canada at CAD 520, you're better off putting that money toward a newer machine.

Should you buy the HP ProDesk 600 G5? If you need a cheap, small Windows PC for basic office tasks and you can snag one near the USD 240 mark, it's a reasonable buy. The compact size is genuinely useful, and Windows 11 Pro is a nice bonus for business users. But the 8GB RAM ceiling and aging CPU mean this machine will feel slow sooner rather than later.

If you can stretch your budget to USD 400 or more, skip this and look at a newer mini PC. The performance gap is significant, and you'll get better longevity. For anyone hoping to game, edit video, or run demanding software, this is not the machine for you. It's a basic workhorse, nothing more.