For context, Rock Paper Shotgun is a gaming site, which is why the reviewer focuses so heavily on game performance on different mini PCs. Unsurprisingly, the answer to the title isn’t an unequivocal “yes”, but some of the little lunch boxes fare quite well despite their limited specs.
A more accurate title would be “Should gamers bother with mini PCs,” but given their audience that would be superfluous 🙂 I think mini PC gaming will continue to be a niche interest, but there are certainly other and probably better uses for the tiny computers.
To be fair, I bought a really good mini pc for a home server. The problem is, it was marketed as a gaming pc. But with the on chip Intel HD graphics.
I can understand why this would upset people. For my uses though it was perfect. Sits in the TV cabinet, is quiet yet still quite powerful (intel 12900).
Over time, as CPUs get better integrated graphics, it might be worth it. Essentially, if you’re fine with playing last-gen games at ok framerates and you don’t need maxed-out graphics, a mini PC is an option. If you want to play recent AAA blockbusters at 100fps, obviously it’s a big no. But the next generation might get you close to those results on current-gen games.
