Best mini PC for Proxmox
A cores-and-RAM game. Ranked by PassMark, with the NIC gotcha flagged.
A Proxmox node lives or dies on threads and RAM ceiling - more of both means more VMs and containers before it strains. PassMark is the honest single number for the compute side; the RAM maximum decides how many workloads you can actually stack.
The ranking is by raw CPU, but read the gotchas: the Intel i226-V NIC link-drop bug bites a lot of these boxes under Proxmox, and idle power adds up on a node that never sleeps.
What to look for
- Threads and RAM
- The two ceilings that matter. A 12-thread box maxing 96GB outlasts a 4-thread N100 capped at 32GB as your stack grows.
- Dual NIC
- A second port lets you split management, Ceph or a dedicated VM network - worth having on any real node.
- The i226-V bug
- Intel's 2.5GbE i226-V drops link on some boards under load; a driver/firmware workaround exists but check before you buy.
- Idle power
- A node runs 24/7. A 10W difference is real money over its life - see the power calculator.
The picks right now
| # | Pick | Fit | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Beelink GTR9
Top pick 16 threads, up to 128GB RAM - AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395.
|
54,968 PassMark |
~$1,985 Check price on Amazon |
| 2 |
Minisforum MS-A2
16 threads, up to 96GB RAM - AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX.
|
54,042 PassMark |
~$639 Check price on Amazon |
| 3 |
GMKtec EVO-X1
12 threads, up to 64GB RAM - AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370.
|
34,991 PassMark |
€1,200 Buy on Amazon |
Ranked from curated specs, same logic as the interactive recommender and the calculator. Approximate - verify against your exact setup. Prices move; check the retailer.