HP ProDesk 600 G2-SFF 2016, Core i5-6500, 16GB, 240GB SSD, Black/Silver

The HP ProDesk 600 G2-SFF is a $173 refurbished office PC that handles basic business tasks fine but falls flat everywhere else. The 16GB RAM and SSD are the highlights, while the integrated graphics and aging CPU drag the overall score down to 34.9. Worth it only if your needs are strictly email, documents, and web browsing.

The i5-6500 is a 4-core chip from Intel's Skylake era. It's fine for Office apps, Chrome with a reasonable number of tabs, and light multitasking. The 16GB of RAM is actually the saving grace here, it's more than enough for Windows 10 Pro and keeps things from choking when you've got a dozen tabs and a video call going. The 240GB SSD boots fast and loads apps quickly, but it fills up fast if you store much locally. The integrated HD Graphics 530 is the weak link. It lands in the 21st percentile for GPU performance, which means even light photo editing feels sluggish and any 3D work is a non-starter.

Stacked against the Lenovo ThinkCentre M710Q and Dell Optiplex 3060, this HP is in the same ballpark for office duty. The ThinkCentre and Optiplex are similarly aged business refurbs with comparable CPUs, though both tend to offer better port selection and sometimes smaller footprints. The Minisforum DeskMini UM880 Plus is a completely different animal, it's a modern mini PC with far better CPU and GPU performance, but it costs significantly more. The MSI Cubi NUC and Getorli GT106 also outclass this HP on performance, but again, you're paying for it. If your budget is under $200 and you just need a basic Windows box, the ProDesk holds its own. If you can stretch to $300-400, the newer mini PCs are a much better long-term buy.

At $173 USD refurbished, this is a cheap way to get a functional office PC. You're not paying for performance you won't use if your workload is email, documents, and web apps. But the value proposition falls apart if you need to upgrade anything. The 240GB SSD is small, the CPU can't be swapped for anything meaningfully better on this socket, and the integrated graphics are a dead end. For a basic front desk or back office machine, it's fine. For anything else, you're better off saving a bit more.

The HP ProDesk 600 G2-SFF is a refurbished office workhorse from around 2016. It's got an Intel Core i5-6500, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, and a 240GB SSD running Windows 10 Pro. No screen, no dedicated GPU, just a compact little tower meant to sit under a desk and handle spreadsheets, email, and web browsing.

Our database puts the total score at 34.9 out of 100. That sounds rough, but context matters. For basic business tasks it hits 43.3, which is more respectable. Gaming? 6.5. This thing is not touching anything beyond Solitaire without crying.

Skip this if you need to do any photo or video editing, run virtual machines, or play games. The integrated graphics and aging CPU will frustrate you daily. Also skip it if you need lots of local storage, 240GB disappears fast. And if you want a machine that'll still feel decent in three years, look at newer mini PCs instead.

This is a machine for someone who needs a cheap, reliable Windows 10 Pro desktop for basic office work and nothing else. It'll handle email, spreadsheets, web browsing, and video calls without much drama thanks to the 16GB of RAM and SSD. Buy it if you're outfitting a small office on a tight budget or need a simple machine for a reception desk or point-of-sale terminal. Don't buy it expecting to upgrade your way into a capable machine later.