Msi cubi review - Hardware 2024

With the highly fashionable energy saving, reduced space, maximum versatility and good performance for an Htpc or reduced system, we once encountered real difficulties when choosing an equipment according to these needs. But, it seems that Msi thanks to the new Mini-PCs: MSI CUBI, has corrected this by finishing off all the birds with one stone.

Is it really possible? Yes, in this review we are going to know all the news and qualities of this mini-pc, the MSI Cubi 007Xeu.

We thank MSI Spain for trusting the product for its analysis:

Technical characteristics

Msi Cubi 007Xeu Unboxing and exterior

Within the family of Mini-PCs: MSI Cubi, we find many variants. All 3 have the same design available in two colors - black and white - but the differences in the interior are enormous, in this case we have one of the intermediate models. All of them are based on the Intel SoC Broadwell Cpus, starting from Pentiums Dual Core (as is our case) to the highest-end i3 and i5 respectively. This is only a clarification, to know to which line the 007 Xeu belongs.

As soon as we have the equipment, the first thing we will observe is the "ridiculous" size it has, and the accessories it brings. The first are the manuals, Vesa support to have behind the monitor or screen and a second “base” that we will explain later.

The Msi Cubi 007Xeu consists of a SoC (Sytem On a Chip) from Intel, the 3850U model, an ultra-low-power model, consisting of two cores (that is, Dual Core) at a speed of 1.9Ghz (without turbo or extra threads like i3 or i7), supported by 3Mb of Cache and a TDP of 15w. It is manufactured at 14Nm and belongs to the Broadwell family.

It is approximately 20% faster than its siblings of the last generation but launching the new process making it even more efficient and small, therefore it is ideal for these purposes.

The MSI Cubi as an integrated equipment that is, consists of integrated Intel HD Graphics from the same Broadwell family, consisting of 12 execution units, at a base speed of 100Mhz and with a Dynamic Turbo of up to 800Mhz that will be used as needed. More than enough for desktop and multimedia purposes but it will be very short when playing.

This SoC is equipped with 2Gb of DDR3L ram at 1600Mhz as standard, and can expand up to 16Gb since only one of the two ports it has has been occupied. It is a fairly balanced pack for the Cpu, which is also supported by a 128Gb mSATA SSD hard drive signed by Trascend and an Intel Wifi module compatible with high-speed AC, N, G and B networks. The other way to connect It will be via RJ45 with up to 1Gb of transfer. The MSI Cubi is the perfect barebone for your living room or office!

The possibility of adding a disk of size 2.5 ″ allows us to expand the capacity or to have both hard disks at the same time, hence it comes with a second “base”, thus providing space and support for it. It also has a metal base to hang behind a monitor and the equipment is completely hidden from view. Another point in favor for the MSI Cubi.

As connectivity, its HDMI port and its mini Display Port will make all formats compatible and even the possibility of putting two screens simultaneously. 4 Usb 3.0 ports and a front audio jack, will make up our expansion possibilities.

MSI Cubi inside

The first thing that we have to take into account and be aware of is its sticker that "Warranty void if removed", that is to say that once we open it, we will be totally exempt from warranty, which on the one hand we understand that handling is a matter and the expansion facilities, another, therefore a little quarrel the concept that they offer you and what happens if you do it. On the other hand, being fully functional teams, we do not have a strict need to manipulate or expand it. Msi is not responsible, remember that.

One of our favorite parts is showing the inside of things, how they work and what the heck, we love technology! We only need a Phillips screwdriver to get inside, without special keys or outstanding skills. The first thing we find is what would be the back of the "board", revealing the RAM memory module (blue) and the 128Gb ssd. Once dismantled-cautiously and first of all the ssd and the Wi-Fi module we will see the team's chassis, the outer part being plastic and metal inside, having the wifi antenna welded to the team making all of it antenna.

As we mentioned before, it has two ports to have more Ram memory, the mSATA port, and an adapter cable for the second optional 2.5 ″ hard drive -included-. The design of the MSI Cubi is more than sober, and with quality components, do not be fooled by its humble size.

We are looking at what is the main part of the team, its Intel SoC. It has a heatsink with a copper "Heatpipe" to the other end, which surrounds it up to your block of aluminum fins, where the hot air expelled by the active fan that has very low noise, being totally inaudible when it is we have in operation. An element more than necessary for such a compact equipment where putting a passive heatsink is not a suitable option.

The hot air outlet is the one we observe, where we can also see the power outlet, the HDMI port, and others. The compact unit has all the elements well distributed, leaving memory, hard disk and expandable elements on one side, and the entire system on the other. The decision to do so was very successful, distributing the heat and not concentrating it in the same point or making access to the removable components difficult.

The software, video playback and more…

As such, it does not have an operating system being necessary via USB or an external CD / DVD to load it. The equipment is fully compatible with Linux but we have opted for a Windows 10 32-Bit-given that it has 2Gb of Ram and is more recommended as well-installed via USB, with the installation and subsequent steps, as if it were a normal PC. That in the end it is, right ?.

We leave you a screenshot, first of all, of the CPUz to know the processor of the team. With a 15w TDP, dual cores, the full 3Mb of Cache and its 64bit architecture.

Having an ssd made the tasks really easy, fast and with no noise. The external software that we have used and that we will discuss are: A SSD Benchmark, 3DMark Firestrike, Mpc-Hc, Aurora Media Player and Libre Office for our daily tasks.

The first thing we wanted to test is the performance of the operating system and its hard drive, testing it with the benchmark "A SSD Benchmark".

We have been very surprised by its operation being almost identical to that of a normal or high-end desktop, having very similar read and write values, and that compared to our HTPC and a Crucial 128Gb hard drive mounted on an AMD Sempron3850, this one remained system slightly above. Another of the great beneficiaries of the ssd was the Libre Office -alternative office to that of Microsoft- being the loading of documents, texts, excels and other necessities as fast as if it were our usual system, it still does not seem to be a Dual Core.

To test the graphics section, we compared with the 3DMark Firestrike 3 integrated graphics, the one of the Msi that we are analyzing, a Sempron 3850 that has 128Shaders and an HD 4600 from Intel, belonging to a 4670K.

As expected, the performance of the 4670K graphics overcame the other two options, but with the surprise that it has been slightly higher than the 3850, so in terms of graphics, it should be on par with the Athlon 5150. Where If we can make use of it in games, it is in browser games or the like, where the presence of a graphics card becomes almost unnecessary.

And we come to what is perhaps the most important section of its mission, as multimedia equipment. For this we have used two types of software an external Blu Ray.

The first test, using the Mpc-Hc player has been from a movie in Mkv format and weighing 24Gb - therefore it has a high Bitrate - and at 1080P resolution, where we observe that the processor has been almost free of charge, leaving it in the background, where the integrated graphics is responsible for most of the content decoding.

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After having tried a number of movies at 720P and 1080P (Avi, Mp4, Mkvs, 10bit…), various videos, YouTube at identical resolutions etc… this mini pc is totally suitable for this purpose. Regarding 4K, we have tried certain videos on YouTube and Mkv and it is still not able to do it fluently.

The second test, with an external Blu Ray player via USB, and using the Aurora Media Player software, the result has been similar, having a more intensive use of the entire system - sometimes even reaching 99% -, especially the processor, but for this reason there have been no slowdowns or flickering, achieving the same fluidity as if it were an Mkv. In this case, District 9 has been in charge of doing the test.

Comparing the image quality with the other two teams, it has been impossible to get a true assessment, the 3 being too similar to opt for one or the other, in the two tests carried out and with the same fluidity.

Before going to the conclusions, let's talk about consumption and noise, another of the determining parts when choosing a mini-pc. As we know this team has a TDP of 15W and that has basically been its maximum. The consumption in idle, has not exceeded 8W with 6W being the most viewed figure, simply browsing, checking the mail, or working with the Office, has left that magnificent figure.

In terms of maximum consumption, it was using Blu Ray playback, reaching 13 ~ 14W maximum, which, accustomed to the figures of our teams, impress how low they are. The sound of the team despite having a fan like those of a laptop, has not been noticeable, neither at short nor medium distance, so it will not hinder or disturb when we see our favorite movie.

Final words and conclusion

Well, at this point, we have a versatile equipment, of very small size, possibility of expansion in all its parts -except for the processor where we will have the need to start from something superior as a base- with very low consumption and noise.

It is perhaps here where we will place the most emphasis, since the Msi Cubi is one of the smallest equipment on the market being of PC architecture and not Android, which we can find, being compatible with all the programs and software that we use on a regular basis. For those who do not want to install a Windows system, they will find full Linux compatibility attractive, also having a perfect multimedia center, since it is compatible -as in Windows- with all available video formats.

Another highlight is its Wifi AC and Lan of up to 1Gb, thus having the best and greatest internet connectivity, making it clear that streaming or video can enjoy better latency and speed.

If this model falls short in terms of initial performance, we are talking about it, Msi has a very complete catalog of this format, having below a team of more humble features up to a high-performance Core i5U like those found in the most modern Ultrabooks.

The only strange thing we find is the "yes and no" possibility of expanding. We can do it? Yes. We must? I particularly think that this unit is to leave it as it is, and choose to use an external hard drive at least as long as its warranty lasts since we will lose it if we open it, which is perhaps the negative point. They give you the option and specify it but with that responsibility, where this would have been remedied with an easily accessible and more specific cover.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ Minimum consumption and noise	- Extend warranty period
+ Perfect as HTPC	- Poor 4K performance on YouTube
+ Size and features
+ Expandable
+ Maximum connectivity