Getting The Most For Your ~$200
The Raspberry Pi 5 is an impressive beast compared to it’s predecessors, and can make a half decent solution for a low powered desktop PC. The price is also bigger than other Raspberry Pi devices, so that by the time you’ve added an M.2 adapter, case and other accoutrements you will spend around $200. Amazon sells a variety of low cost mini PCs for about that same price, which made Ars Technica curious to see if they were a better investment for a tiny desktop replacement. They ordered a Bosgame B100 for $170and a GMKtec NucBox G2 for $180.
The two devices both use the Intel Processor N100, with four E-cores, the difference is the Bosgame uses DDR4 while the GMKtex uses DDR5. The two mini PCs ship with Windows 11, sometimes Pro and sometimes not, which is a great deal even if all you want is another Windows license. That didn’t stop Ars from testing out Linux however, with mixed results. Take a look at how they configured the mini PCs to get the most out of them, and how their performance and quirks compare to a Pi 5.
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