So here goes round two of my search for, not the ultimate, but a sufficient Mini PC. For me, "sufficient" doesn't really require a lot but my first shot at an ideal sized Mini PC, the GEEKOM A8 AI Mini PC, failed miserably at around the same price as the Intel NUC 12 Enthusiast Mini PC that I just ordered at $999.00--a little under half the price of the tower PC I built five years ago.
I have always built my own computers since the very first PC that I ever bought was a flop. Typically, I do a new build every 4-5 years so I'm due. My typical build always has dual, dedicated graphics cards to host a five-monitor configuration. I've worked this way for over 20 years and I'm too old to change now. Over the past 5 years I've gotten used to six, but five displays is the minimum, which really narrowed down my Mini PC options.
Why a Mini PC you ask? I have all of this desk space, with plenty of under-the-counter space, what is the big deal (or "small" deal, shall I say)?
When you think of the power that you walk around with in your pocket every day with today's phones, in my brain I'm thinking that we're really lagging behind with the size of our desktop workstations. They're huge if you want the power, yet there is so much free space inside them, it only makes sense to downsize and maintain the same amount of power. Look at laptops for that matter. All of that power in a laptop (not as much, but still), workstations need to tame it down.
Yes, I could build another tower PC with today's specs and get a better value out of it by far, but I'm tired of living in the past. I don't want to see my PC. I want to see my workspace, my displays, my input devices, and that's it!
Requirements
My requirements are simple. Under the mindset that office work will fall under pretty much any modern PC of any size these days--nothing entirely tasking.
1. Call of Duty Modern Warfare at 1440p at medium to high settings at 50-60fps
2. Five 1440p displays
3. 5.1 surround sound audio
I told you they were simple!
Strike One
With the GEEKOM A8 AI Mini PC, I could tell pretty quickly as I was setting it up that it wasn't going to work out between us. I couldn't get the 5th monitor to display anything, and further research told me that I was lucky to get four working.
Before setting up the displays I installed Windows and downloaded COD just to see how gameplay was. To my surprise, it really wasn't that bad--with one display hooked up. Adding three more displays, not to mention a fourth, just took down the system while not even in gameplay. We're talking not being able to sufficiently drag the mouse across screens without delay.
I couldn't imagine even attempting to go any further, unplugged all of the additional displays, restored Windows to factory default, packed it up, and sent it back to Amazon. It was really a shame because the size of that thing was smaller than modern Apple TVs, which was my definitive vision of the future and I'll always be hoping for that day.
Perhaps within the next five years when a new build comes up on deck? I won't hold my breath.
Stepping Back Up to the Plate
I'm borderline in regard to the size of the next purchase. It's about the size of a modem and pretty much looks like one as well.
It's not as small as to my liking, but it does support five displays, which few in my extensive searches do, between its onboard and dedicated GPUs (graphics processors). While they say that the device will support five monitors, in the back of my mind I'm concerned after my first experience, that it will handle them all adequately during daily operations but taking their word for it, it will be assumed that this will not be an issue.
I would also prefer something sleeker, like the GEEKOM A8.
But the fact of the matter is that I'm not going to see it. I'm not ever going to have to look at it. Why? Because it comes with a VESA mount that will mount on the back of one of my displays--more than likely on the 4th one to the right since that is where the main power strip resides underneath my desk and all of the power & cabling already directs there.
Complete with a S/PDIF digital audio TOSLINK out that can hook into my surround sound system, that checks off the audio box, so I guess the last box to check is... can it play a 6-year-old game?
Update 04/26/2025
It appears that the LED design on the back of these can be customized so I'll logically brand it as "Cheydes of Black". Not that I'll see it or anything, but I'm OCD like that.
(Or just go with the site's branding since it looks a lot cleaner.)
Update 04/28/2025
It's A Home Run!!
Looks like a home run for my needs. Plays Call of Duty Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2 easily, five monitors installed & happy. The S/PDIF audio required a mini Toslink to S/PDIF cable, but no big deal.
It didn't actually come with a VESA mount but I'm sure I can find something compatible on Amazon. Either that or I might just set it on top of my surround sound sub-woofer which isn't going anywhere soon. Either way it'll pretty much be out of sight.
A fresh install of Windows 10 was a pain in the ass since no network drivers are native during the Windows 10 install so I had to install as a local Windows account, download the network drivers, then add a user using Microsoft 365's Entra account (I'm a domain-connected Microsoft 365 subscriber), then disable the original local account.
All in all, all said & done, it feels like home, with a lot of floor space for the pups now that the huge tower's lying in wait for me to decide what to do with it.
Is it a massive powerhouse PC? No. Do I need one? No. The CPU is a modest 2.30 GHz.
99.9% of my time on a PC is in a browser. I literally work off my laptop with nothing but a browser. Teams, Outlook--everything is in a tab. I do that just to conserve battery life. My approach to software now, is less is more. With that in mind, my requirements are low, but I do think this PC is quite capable as a casual gaming PC and one of the few that can support my multi-monitor needs.
It'll do me for another five years when I can downsize to something the size of a GEEKOM A8 with five displays... right? RIGHT???
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About the Author
Currently a Lakewood Ranch, Florida resident, Philip has authored various interactive blog websites since the early 2000’s. Most content will be based primarily on matters of opinion as usual.