When you can find a desktop PC that will save you the extra hundreds of dollars you’d spend on a Mac Mini while reclaiming huge amounts of precious desktop real estate, it’s pretty solid advice to at least give it a serious look. And when you take a long look at the Intel-powered GMKtec Nucbox G3S Mini PC that’s on sale at Amazon right now for $190, it’s a pretty solid bet you’ll be clicking that “Buy Now” button.
There’s way more PC power and expansion options packed into the extremely compact chassis of the Nucbox G3S than any sub-$200 computer should have. Start with the Intel N95 quad-core processor that can hit a crisp 3.4GHz on the speedometer in Turbo mode, proceed to the option of connecting two 4K displays, and then check out the vast number of ports that create a tailor-made hub for all of your PC needs. Amazon’s 24% off deal that brings this already modestly priced $250 mini PC down to a spectacular $190 should be the clincher.
Tiny Package, All Muscle
The subpar toy-like mini PCs of the past are a very distant memory, and you’ll get a true appreciation for how far they’ve come when you fire up the Nucbox G3S. You’ll notice the outstanding speed with which it boots up, and then notice how quiet it is despite having an exceptionally fast and effective cooling fan that keeps everything inside that tiny chassis in optimal working condition. The Intel 12th-Gen Alder Lake N95 processor that drives the performance is up to 36% faster than the N100 and N5095 chips that are commonly found inside budget PCs.
Backed with 16GB of DDR4 RAM and a 512GB M.2 SSD for built-in storage, that processor will let you open all the tabs you want, crunch all the spreadsheets you need to, and keep one or two 4K monitors moving along to create an exceptional productivity hub. It’s already preloaded with Windows 11 Pro, so you’ll hit the ground running almost as soon as you get it unboxed. With the included VESA mount, you can hide the Nucbox G3S behind one of those monitors, or mount it to a wall and fully free up the desk area formerly occupied by a standard-sized desktop or laptop.
Connection Central
The I/O options presented by the Nucbox G3S vastly overdeliver on what you would expect from a mini PC. The dual HDMI 2.0 output ports are what give you the two-monitor setup option, and then there are three USB 3.2 ports and an RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet port if you want to really cook with gas online. The Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 connections aren’t shabby for a sub-$200 PC, either.
We wouldn’t put the Nucbox G3S in a footrace with the Mac Mini, but we would put it in our budget before sinking the extra few hundred bucks into the Mac. And the potential of ditching a tower and replacing it with a mini PC that can probably outperform it is so worth the $190 that this Amazon sale is delivering the GMKtec Nucbox G3S mini PC for.
