Why I Bought a Mini PC Instead of a Laptop: GMKtec M6 Ultra
For the longest time, my desk has been dominated by a giant, heavy desktop tower. But recently, I took a leap of faith. After saving up for three whole months, I finally bought my very first mini PC: the GMKtec (MKKtec) NucBox M6 Ultra.
Let me tell you—looking at this tiny device sitting in the palm of my hand, and then looking over at my massive main PC tower, it is absolutely mind-boggling how far technology has come.
(And just to be 100% clear: this is not sponsored! I bought this completely with my own hard-earned money, though I honestly wish they’d sponsored me!)
Here is my honest journey of unboxing, setting it up, almost breaking it with kitchen utensils, and why I am so glad I bought this instead of a laptop.
What’s Under the Hood? (The Specs)
For something that fits in your hand, this little machine packs a massive punch. I went with the 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD configuration. Here is a quick look at what we are working with:
| Component | Technical Specifications |
|---|---|
| Model | GMKtec NucBox M6 Ultra |
| CPU | AMD Ryzen™ 5 7640HS (6 Cores / 12 Threads, up to 5.0 GHz, Zen 4) |
| GPU | Integrated AMD Radeon™ 760M Graphics (RDNA 3 architecture) |
| RAM | 16GB DDR5 (Dual-channel 2 x 8GB, upgradable up to 64GB/128GB) |
| Storage | 512GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD (Has dual M.2 NVMe slots) |
| Ports | 1 x USB4 (full-function), 3 x USB 3.2, 1 x USB 2.0, 1 x HDMI 2.0, 1 x DisplayPort, 2 x 2.5G LAN ports, 3.5mm Audio |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6E & Bluetooth 5.2 |
| Operating System | Windows 11 Pro |
Why a Mini PC Instead of a Laptop?
Originally, I was looking to buy a laptop. But the specs I wanted were way too expensive. I needed a secondary system to record my tutorials and stream videos so that I can slowly transition away from other projects and focus on content creation.
I needed something:
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Simple but powerful.
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Compact (so it doesn’t clutter my desk).
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Virtually silent (so it doesn't ruin my microphone audio).
This mini PC fits every single requirement. It runs whisper-quiet while encoding gameplay or tutorial footage.
The Setup: Desktop Witchcraft
My cable management is... let’s just say terrible. There are wires everywhere. But once I got the M6 Ultra plugged into the wall, the magic really began.
Because I didn’t want to buy another monitor, I decided to share one of my existing monitors between both PCs. To do this seamlessly, I set up a couple of brilliant software workarounds:
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HDMI Switching via Hotkeys: I installed Dell Display Manager on both systems. I set up a custom hotkey (
Alt + Home). Now, with just a single keypress, my monitor instantly switches HDMI inputs between my main PC and my mini PC. No physical buttons required! -
One Keyboard & Mouse for Both: By using Microsoft's PowerToys (Mouse Without Borders), I share a single keyboard and mouse across both machines over my home network. It’s incredibly seamless.
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Flawless Recording Setup: I hooked up a generic HDMI capture card from my main PC directly into the mini PC. Now, my mini PC handles all of the screen capturing and camera feeds in OBS, leaving my main PC completely free to run heavy tasks or games without lagging.
The SSD Upgrade Adventure
After setting up Windows 11 Pro, I noticed how unbelievably snappy the system felt. The built-in NVMe drive is blindingly fast (pushing read/write speeds over 2500 MB/s, compared to my old main PC’s SATA SSDs which cap out at 500 MB/s!).
Naturally, I wanted to expand the storage. I opened up the mini PC to install a spare M.2 SSD I had lying around.
Unfortunately, my upgrade was cut short. I tried to plug in a spare M.2 SATA SSD, but after booting the PC up and checking Disk Management, it didn't detect it. A quick Google search confirmed my heartbreak: the M6 Ultra only supports dual NVMe PCIe SSDs, not SATA. I had to pack it back up empty-handed, but hey, it was a fun lesson learned!
The Verdict: Was It Worth It?
Absolutely, yes.
Even while running two instances of OBS simultaneously (one for webcam and screen capture, one for backup), the CPU barely breaks a sweat, and the GPU usage sits comfortably around 50-60%.
It is fast, responsive, handles hardware AV1 encoding smoothly, and lets me cleanly capture entire OS installations, BIOS menus, and reboots from my main PC without losing my recording feed. For a content creator, this thing is a absolute game-changer.
Now, I want to hear from you! Do you own a mini PC, or are you thinking about grabbing one? If you have one, which model are you running? Let’s chat in the comments down below!
I’ve also made a video on this topic — you can watch it below.
Check out my other posts, I post useful tutorials and tech tips, maybe you will find something useful 😉.