[section_title title=Introduction]

Introduction

Manufacturer: MSI

Model: Cubi

Price: £189 for i3 version but varies between £99 & £249 on other models (At the time of review)

Welcome to a very special review, today we’re going to be taking a look at the MSI Cubi, where small meets stupidly insane power. But not the electricity type of power, the raw processing power type. Crammed into possibly one of the smallest cases I’ve seen in a while. With a very simple mission; the MSI Cubi has been designed to offer a variety of value and performance for everyday users and also power users.

There are several models, all with different processors – ranging from the Pentium to the i5 (although no information was available on the i5 model) but we can assume a few things. The Pentium and Celeron models ship with 128GB of mSATA SSD plus 2gb of ram, whereas the i3 model ships with 4gb of ram and 128gb mSATA SSD. So we are assuming the i5 model will use 4gb of ram.

Taking a glance at the specifications on the next page really gives you a feel for what the Cubi is all about, but to summarize: The Cubi boasts a plethora of connectivity (4 * USB3.0, HDMI, MINI-DP, RJ45, Mic/Headphone, Bluetooth, Wireless etc) in such a small package! Not to mention the out of the box VESA support and a Kensington lock meaning deployment of the Cubi is easy and secure. We can see the Broadwell-U processors that are decimating the competition in terms of sheer processing capability at a low footprint? Already the Cubi is shaping up to be an amazing product!

The expansion base also get’s a big mention, the Cubi can actually install an additional 2.5″ drive, but if you plan on running on the SSD alone just simply remove the bracket and you’re good to go.

On the back of the device we can see all the main connectivity options, essentially the power and outputs for display. It’s worth noting you get a Mini DP port which allows you to output up to 4k, and you can run multiple monitors at the same time!

One thing I did find strange about the Cubi was the headphone / microphone jack. You can’t use both at the same time! Just one, but you can just use a USB headset if you want.

Generally what you get out of the box with the Cubi is amazing, head on over to the next page to find out the finer details about the Cubi.