GMKtec NucBox 2

What owners say

The NucBox 2 was reviewed widely in 2021, but the English-language reviews tested an early unit with the Core i5-8259U; this reads only the Japanese and German reviews of the i5-8279U version we list. It is quiet in office work and fairly loud in benchmarks and games. The fan sits underneath, so it breathes slightly better standing up, and the processor peaked at 74 to 77 °C in a ten-minute stress run. The rear panel gets hot enough to warm the metal plugs of attached cables. It draws about 6 W at idle and about 61 W in 3DMark. The front USB-C port carries data only, with no video and no power. There is only one M.2 slot, so a second drive goes in the 2.5-inch bay under the lid, and the Wi-Fi antennas are soldered to stickers on the case, which makes lifting the board out awkward. The microSD reader is slow, about 31 MB/s. The glossy plastic top picks up scratches and fingerprints, and the chassis feels a little less rigid than MINISFORUM's, for a much lower price. Light esports titles run — VALORANT above 60 FPS at Full HD — but heavier games do not.

For whom

An inexpensive everyday or office PC that can also run light games, with room for a 2.5-inch drive.

Not for

Anyone who needs video or charging over USB-C, or modern games.

Our own summary of 5 published sources, reviewed Sep 23, 2026. We have not tested this Mini PC ourselves; the sources are listed under About this data.