Guys, which Mini PC that you can recommend which can rival Apple Mini M4 in terms of performance? The most important is :
Affordable (range budget 1k-1.5k)

Rival M4 in term of performance and max budget 1.5k? Nothing.

You'll need Snapdragon Elite or at least AMD AI 370 or Intel 288V to come close to M4 performance.

Depending on what programs you need, if it is on PC then AMD AI 370 or Intel 288V would be your best bet.

You cannot compare RM2.5k hardware with RM1.5k. Thats impossible.

Try

Core i3-14100 or i5-14400 - 489/739
Asrock Deskmini B760W (1.92 liter size) - 999
Kingston HyperX Impact 16GB DDR4-3200 SODIMM X2 - 240
Kingston KC3000 1TB - 349 (Viewnet)

RM2077/2327 total (Mostly C-Zone prices)

This post has been edited by TristanX: Feb 23 2025, 11:19 AM

These three SoCs aren't even comparable, the M4 is on an entirely different league when it comes to S/T performance (it's about as fast as a 14900K, at a fraction of that CPU's power) and power efficiency

This post has been edited by chocobo7779: Feb 23 2025, 06:16 PM

Heck if you can deal with the idiosyncrasies of MacOS and the obscene memory/storage pricing of the M4 Mac Mini there's practically nothing you can get in the x86 realm that can compete with it
The Deskmini has substantially worse single threaded performance (which is important for system responsiveness), efficiency and even GPU performance. It's not even comparable to a Mac Mini when it comes to form factor - the mini is an entirely integrated unit with no bulky power adapters, whereas most Windows mini PCs tend to 'cheat' on its compactness by using a large power brick (on the flip side such designs make repairs/replacements much easier)

...and I would wager those Windows machines will cost substantially more than that Mini

This post has been edited by chocobo7779: Feb 23 2025, 07:58 PM

Criminal prices on Mac Mini upgrades. RM900 for additional 256GB (512GB total) storage, another RM800 for additional 8GB RAM (24GB total). If he is into gaming, mac mini will do significantly better. It has to support native macos though. Still got compatibility issues with x86 emulation.

Won't be seeing anything good from Intel until at least 7 months more.

On top of that the drive performance is terrible (QLC NAND? That's somewhat ironic considering the intended customer base)
https://www.reddit.com/r/hardware/comments/...sd_is_not_only/

Might as just buy an external drive for that

Considering how far ahead Apple Silicon is, I think the x86 incumbents have something like 4-5 years worth of technical gap before they can even catchup so a new CPU architecture isn't going to magically close that massive gap
Apple Silicon is just way too good (even Qualcomm with their ex-Apple design team can't even beat them)

This post has been edited by chocobo7779: Feb 23 2025, 07:58 PM

Intel doesn't have good fab to begin with. And Arrow Lake already got screwed when 20A is cancelled. Last minute changes without enough testing when swapping to TSMC is not enough time for a good product.

I'm sure 18A will do a lot better. How far is a good question. Definitely better than any TSMC today.

hence it is worth to invest rm2.5k for mini m4?
minisforum, beelink, gmktec and other brand reliable?
since the price is the main issue thing, i was thinking is it worth it? (reliable and future proof at least 2 years)

What are you going to do with it? Just browsing and watching videos? Gaming?

buy second hand apple mac mini LOL

normal use: browsing and watch video at least with 4k hdr with some excel office work
games sometimes (at least can run emulator and few steam games)
at least can run autocad with naviswork software

This post has been edited by realventis: Feb 23 2025, 09:47 PM

hahaha..

Closest alternative : https://www.hp.com/us-en/workstations/z2-mini-a.html

1.5K USD could get you the SKU with AI Max 380 + 32GB RAM.

wah damm expensive

Do some homework. Will Apple Mac work for you? For Windows, You will have to go with Asrock Deskmeet (8 liters) which is significantly larger so that you can install a graphic card with max 500W power supply requirement. Don't expect it to play games smoothly at 4k as well.

Normal use : any latest i5 equivalent or better CPU with at least 16GB RAM will be enough

Games: better to have dedicated GPU

Naviswork software: This only on Windows right?

Considering your usage, better to get normal desktop if you want to bring your cost to lowest possible with optimum hardware.

High performance chips on Windows just never came cheap. Apple sells baseline mac and ipad cheap to get you hooked but upgrades will cost an arm and leg.

16 GB is good enough for everyday use and light gaming (emulation0?

as mention by TristanX above, you better go with Asrock Deskmeet X600 + RX6600XT GPU.