MSI PRO DP21 11MA mini-PC Review

How Much Does it Cost?

I do think MSI need to reign in their resellers of this one, as the stock is all over the place and dozens of different configurations, and it’s not easy to tell them all apart. It starts as a barebones system, which comes with the PSU, case, motherboard and you just add CPU, storage and RAM. That’s priced at about £250 but there are models available up to £700-ish for the flagship i7 models. The model I reviewed should be around £500, but again, the RAM and storage configuration, or if it has WiFi or not can push that up or down to suit your needs and budget. You can explore the various configuration and prices on Amazon UK here.

Overview

There’s no shortage of PCs in the world, but when it comes to more compact solutions, your choices are a little more limited and more complicated. For starters, a lot of tiny form factory PCs tend to be closed systems or at least very limited in terms of upgrade options. Because MSI sells this system in such a wide variety of models, you should be able to find something that best suits your needs. Furthermore, there are even some barebones editions out there, so you can add your own hardware and really make it your own.

Design

What really sells me on this system is the size. The Ryzen model I tested last month was great, and the performance was fairly similar, but this one is about half the thickness. Sure, they’re both small, but if you’re really limited on space, the Intel edition tested today is the real winner. The metal exterior case design and that stylish front panel look great. You could have it on your desk, behind your monitor, on that neat little vertical stand, or tucked under your TV, and it is unlikely to look out of place.

It’s also surprisingly quiet. While working or watching a movie, the fan was barely a whisper. Plus that single fan is the only moving part in the system, so if that’s going slow, there’s nothing else to make a noise. The little fan does have to work hard sometimes though, such as when rendering a video, or when I was kicking its ass with benchmarking. However, it wasn’t particularly loud or even an unpleasant sound from the fan; just the air moving rather than the fan/motor whirring noises.

Performance

For a system with no graphics card, it’s actually pretty decent. The i5 isn’t lacking in performance when it came to Photoshop and general editing tasks. But then again, it is a 6-core 12-thread CPU, so that’s hardly surprising. The iGPU was pretty potent too, easily keeping up with the latest Ryzen G-series processors and giving you enough for some light gaming, while also providing some benefit to general desktop rendering and performance. Being able to use 4K displays on such a small system is certainly welcome. Plus, while working, browsing or doing anything really, it never once felt like it was bottlenecking or holding me up. I think a lot of the performance boost comes from the super-quid M.2 SSD, meaning loading times were always snappy.

Should I Buy One?

Which model is right for you? It’s hard to say. However, the one I tested with the i5 and a single SSD is basically the mid-range model. While the i7 does appeal, I can’t imagine it really gets to stretch its legs with the smaller profile coolers these systems use. Ultra-compact and stylish, fairly priced given the hardware options, and best of all, you can upgrade it too, making it a lot more future proof and user repairable. Highly recommended!