I tried this productivity-focused mini PC and it’s a fantastic desktop replacement — especially if you want to mount it behind your monitor

The MSI Cubi NUC 1M is as quiet as it is sleek with its all-black matte finish and rounded corners. Despite its small size, MSI has packed this mini PC with powerful components, including an Intel Raptor Lake chip and DDR5 RAM, though there are a multitude of different configurations to choose from. You can opt for a fully equipped device with all the bells and whistles or put together your ideal build piece by piece if you go with a barebones configuration, where you’ll need to provide your own memory, storage and operating system.

Whichever route you decide to take, the Cubi NUC 1M is very easy to upgrade. There’s a spare M.2 SSD slot for adding extra storage, and this mini PC can even accommodate a 2.5-inch hard drive or SSD. My favorite thing about the Cubi NUC 1M, though, is that MSI provides everything you need to mount it behind your monitor to free up even more space on your desk. It can even turn on simultaneously when paired with certain MSI monitors, but you also get an external wired power button you can use with any monitor, so you don’t have to reach behind your display to turn it on.

The Cubi NUC 1M is capable of driving up to four displays at the same time, thanks to its dual HDMI and Thunderbolt 4 ports. One of these Thunderbolt 4 ports can provide power to an external display like a portable monitor, while the other can actually be used to power the computer itself. While the Cubi NUC 1M’s 120W power supply is on the smaller side, you don’t have to use it at all if your monitor has a USB-C port with power delivery. All of these features are available on every configuration of this mini PC, but if you opt for a faster processor along with more memory and storage, things can get quite expensive.

My MSI Cubi NUC 1M review will help you decide if this is the best mini PC for your needs and workflow, or if you’d be better off with something less customizable but more affordable.

MSI Cubi NUC 1M: Cheat Sheet

• What is it? An all-black mini PC with plenty of ports that can be easily upgraded.
• Who is it for? Business users or professionals who want a small and quiet mini PC that can handle office and productivity-focused tasks well.
• What does it cost? The MSI Cubi NUC 1M starts as low as $419 if you get the barebone version, but can go all the way up to $1,0299 depending on how you configure it.
• What do we like? The wide selection of front and back ports, that there are multiple configuration options, how it runs almost silent and the extra accessories MSI includes to make it easier to mount this mini PC behind a monitor.
• What don’t we like? That its case has a tendency to collect fingerprints and how the more expensive configurations can cost a hefty sum.

MSI Cubi NUC 1M: Specs

MSI Cubi NUC 1M: The Ups

The MSI Cubi NUC 1M is an impressive little desktop replacement through and through. It’s nearly quiet in operation, has a generous selection of front and rear ports and MSI includes some useful extras for space-conscious users and businesses that want to mount this mini PC behind a display.

Sleek and fully equipped

Just like with the Asus NUC 14 Pro, the Cubi NUC 1M comes with a smaller external power supply, a VESA mounting bracket and some extra cables that can be plugged into its motherboard to extend its capabilities further. There’s a SATA cable if you want to add a 2.5-inch hard drive or SSD inside this mini PC, along with an external power button, but more on that later.

At 5.34 x 5.22 x 1.97 inches, the Cubi NUC 1M takes up very little desk space. While you can easily mount it behind your monitor, you might not want to since it has quite a few handy ports on the front. Besides two USB-A ports rated at 10Gbps, you also get a microSD card reader and a combo headphone/microphone jack for use with wired headsets.

Around back, you get even more ports. These include two additional USB-A ones, two HDMI 2.1 ports, two Thunderbolt 4 ports (one with power delivery support and one with power output support), two 2.5 gigabit Ethernet ports and an AC port for plugging in its external power supply. With dual HDMI and dual Thunderbolt 4 ports, the Cubi NUC 1M can drive up to four of the best monitors simultaneously.

The dual 2.5 GbE ports let you connect this mini PC to your router with one, and you can hook up a NAS (network attached storage) device to the other to back up your files quickly. However, the Cubi NUC 1M also comes equipped with Wi-Fi 6E, which means you can take advantage of the faster 6GHz band on one of the best Wi-Fi 6E routers. I wish this mini PC offered Wi-Fi 7 support, but the upcoming Cubi NUC 2M likely will.

Though the Cubi NUC 1M isn’t overly flashy like the Acemagic F2A and some other mini PCs I’ve reviewed in the past, its all-black design makes it look sleek on your desk but not out of place in an office environment.

Fast but silent

MSI certainly gives you a lot of choices when it comes to how you want to configure the Cubi NUC 1M. For starters, you can pick between three different Intel Raptor Lake mobile processors in the form of a Core 3 100U, Core 5 120U and a Core 7 150U. You can also outfit the Cubi NUC 1M with 8GB of DDR5 RAM all the way up to 64GB.

While this mini PC isn’t designed with gaming in mind, it can play some older and less demanding titles fairly well. For instance, at our testing lab, we were able to play Civilization VII at 27 fps on medium settings at 1080p even though it came out earlier this year. Still, it’s more aimed at business and professional users and in the three weeks I spent using it as my daily driver, it handled my workload. This consists of a dizzying amount of Chrome tabs open along with some light photo editing in GIMP.

What surprised me the most about the Cubi NUC 1M is just how quiet it was during use. Sure, I heard its internal fan spin up from time to time during heavier workloads, but it wasn’t distracting at all. Instead, it sounded like a nice quiet hum from a device on the other side of my office, not one on my desk.

When I tested it with my sound level meter, it stayed at around 30db for the most part and went as high as just under 45db when its fan did kick in. In testing, it was slightly quieter than the Asus NUC 14 Pro at 50db and significantly less noisy than the Acemagic F2A, which got as loud as 55db. At the same time, the Cubi NUC 1M’s case remained cool to the touch even after having it powered on all day and using it extensively.

Pressed for power

If you decide to pair the Cubi NUC 1M with one of the company’s business monitors with MSI Power Link support, you can connect the two using the HDMI port near this mini PC’s AC power input port. That way, when you turn on your monitor, your computer will automatically power on with it.

This is very useful for those who decide to mount this mini PC on the back of their monitor to free up even more desk space. However, MSI gives you another option to easily power on the Cubi NUC 1M when it’s mounted to a monitor without Power Link support.

In the box, you get an external wired power button that can help you achieve the same thing. While I initially thought you had to open the Cubi NUC 1M’s case and plug this two-pin connector in the old-fashioned way, like when building a PC from scratch, getting it set up is actually a lot easier.

On the right side of the case, there’s a rubber cover you can remove to access an external power switch slot where you can plug in this external power button without having to remove the four screws on its underside to access its motherboard. This plug-and-play solution is a nice touch, and I’m glad that you aren’t required to buy a compatible MSI monitor to more easily reach the device’s power button when it's mounted on the back of a monitor.

Speaking of power, you aren’t limited to using the 120W external power supply either. If you have a monitor that has USB-C with power delivery or even a GAN charger with enough wattage, you can use either to power the MSI Cubi NUC 1M, granted you have to use the Thunderbolt 4 port on the back right side of the computer to do so. I tried this out with the LG DualUp monitor on the other side of my office, and it worked like a charm. Mini PCs that you can power over their USB-C or Thunderbolt ports are few and far between, and up until now, the only one I’ve reviewed with this feature is the Khadas Mind.

MSI Cubi NUC 1M: The downs

The MSI Cubi NUC 1M ticks all the right boxes when it comes to a mini PC aimed at productivity that can serve as a desktop replacement. However, I did run into one slight issue during testing (that I ended up finding a solution for), and compared to other mini PCs from less-established brands, you are paying a premium for higher-end configurations.

Dual-display hiccups

During my time testing out the Cubi NUC 1M, I used it at my main desk setup where I have an ultrawide monitor up top with a smaller portable monitor underneath it. I typically connect the larger monitor via HDMI and use a USB-C cable for the portable monitor. I’ve reviewed quite a few mini PCs at this exact same desk setup, including the Kamrui E3B and the AtomMan G7 Ti.

After getting the Cubi NUC 1M all plugged in at the side of my desk, I noticed that every time I shut the computer down and turned it back on, I would get video out on my ultrawide monitor but not on the portable monitor underneath it. I experienced something similar with the Asus NUC 14 Pro, which also has Thunderbolt 4 instead of USB 4 ports, so I thought the issue had something to do with the connector type.

I got used to this minor annoyance and figured unplugging and then plugging back in the USB-C cable for my portable monitor was just something I’d have to live with. However, after I tested powering the Cubi NUC 1M via a USB-C cable at my other desk, I realized I had been using the wrong Thunderbolt 4 port with my portable monitor.

Remember how one Thunderbolt 4 can deliver power to a connected device and the other can be used to power this mini PC? Well, I had my portable monitor plugged into the one that delivers power to the Cubi NUC 1M. Once I switched Thunderbolt 4 ports, both my main monitor and my portable monitor turned on at startup without any issues whatsoever.

I know this is a very subjective problem I dealt with, but as using an ultrawide monitor with a portable monitor has become more popular in recent years, I figured I’d explain the problem I ran into during testing to help you avoid it if you do decide to pick up a Cubi NUC 1M yourself.

Paying a business premium

While you can get a barebones version of the Cubi NUC 1M with an Intel Core Ultra 3 processor for just $419, there are plenty of fully equipped mini PCs you can get for this same price. Once you add a Windows license, memory and storage, the cost of this mini PC jumps up significantly, though it is basically in line with how the Asus NUC 14 Pro is priced. There’s a reason behind the higher prices of both of these mini PCs, though, and it really makes sense when you take into consideration that they’re both aimed at business users.

Many of the Cubi NUC 1M configurations you find at online retailers include either a 1-year or a 3-year warranty. If something goes wrong, you can reach out to MSI and they can help you troubleshoot an issue or replace any faulty parts, or maybe even your whole mini PC if something is really off. With other companies in the mini PC business, you don’t even get a warranty with your purchase, and getting in touch with technical support is much more difficult.

The Cubi NUC 1M’s higher price could be seen as a con for some or as a pro for others. It just really depends on the level of after-sales service you need or are expecting when you buy a new computer. For more tech-savvy users, you might rather have a cheaper initial price, while those who aren’t as experienced with mini PCs (or computers in general) won’t mind paying extra to know they can easily reach out to customer support or get a faulty device replaced. Which camp you fall into is something you’ll need to decide for yourself.

MSI Cubi NUC 1M: Verdict

The MSI Cubi NUC 1M is an excellent mini PC that can easily serve as a more modern (and more powerful) replacement for an aging desktop. It comes equipped with loads of useful ports and despite its smaller size, this mini PC is very quiet and cool while in use.

I really like how MSI throws in some useful accessories to make mounting the Cubi NUC 1M behind your monitor easier, too. Other mini PC makers will often include a VESA mounting plate, but MSI is the first company I’ve seen that gives its users a more convenient way to power on this computer when it is tucked away behind a monitor. It’s also nice that you aren’t limited to using one of the company’s monitors with Power Link support either, thanks to the included external power button.

The MSI Cubi NUC 1M may be more expensive than some of the other mini PCs I’ve tested. However, the useful add-ons like the microSD card reader up front, the fact that it can drive four external displays and how you can power the device using one of its Thunderbolt 4 ports help justify its higher cost. As does MSI’s after-service and longer 3-year warranty. If you’re looking for a small but fast mini PC for getting work done, this Cubi NUC 1M should definitely be on your short list.