Deeper Dive: Our Top Tested Picks
Best Compact Business Desktop
Asus NUC 14 Pro
- Compact yet powerful
- Excellent connectivity
- User-upgradeable
- VESA mount included
- Expensive
- Noticeable fan noise
Alongside our picks for brute-force compact workstations (ranked below), this Asus NUC 14 Pro is a more modest space-saver. While it’s not incredibly cheap (with further pricing permutations explained in the review), you’ll find a lot to like packed into its compact frame. The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H processor in our test unit is a fast chip, especially for a system of this size, making this more legitimately capable of general productivity and business use than most small-form-factor desktops. It’s also VESA-mountable and user upgradable, and it provides excellent connectivity, making for a versatile, quick, and space-saving solution.
Those looking for real computing chops in a tiny chassis should seriously consider this system. Its VESA-mounting compatibility allows you to fit it behind a monitor or beneath a desk. It has many ports, and you can access its internal memory and storage slots without much fuss. If you’re short on space, want to connect multiple displays, and need real processing chops, start your search here.
Desktop Class
Small Form Factor (SFF)
Processor
Intel Core Ultra 7 165H
Processor Speed
1.4 GHz
RAM (as Tested)
16 GB
Boot Drive Type
SSD
Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested)
512 GB
Graphics Card
Intel Arc Graphics
Operating System
Windows 11 Pro
Learn More
Asus NUC 14 Pro Review
Best All-in-One Business Desktop
HP EliteOne 870 G9
- Excellent, near-silent performance
- Sharp webcam
- Classy design
- Wireless charging in base stand
- Loud speakers
- Three-year warranty
You won’t find a huge swath of business-focused AIOs, but HP’s EliteOne 870 G9 is the best in class right now. Its sharp professional design and quiet operation are an ideal fit for an office, while its excellent performance and clear webcam can produce what you need to work effectively. Its speakers are loud, and the base stand features wireless charging, as a bonus. A hearty collection of ports rounds out this well-balanced machine.
AIOs are not always the most cost-effective solution versus more traditional PCs, so from that perspective, you may consider towers and standalone monitors for fleet deployment. You can service the tower separately from the monitor, should one go bad, while everything is tied together here. If this design still makes more sense for your business, though, the included 1080p webcam is a big plus for home or office workers, as is the support for Windows Hello logins.
Desktop Class
All-in-one
Processor
Intel Core i5-13500
Processor Speed
2.5 GHz
RAM (as Tested)
16 GB
Boot Drive Type
SSD
Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested)
512 GB
All-in-One Screen Size
27 inches
All-in-One Screen Native Resolution
2560 by 1440
All-in-One Screen Type
Touch Screen
Graphics Card
Intel UHD Graphics 770
Operating System
Windows 11 Pro
Learn More
HP EliteOne 870 G9 Review
Best Mainstream Business Workstation
HP Z2 Tower G9
- Versatile performance
- Easy to service
- Quiet operation
- ISV certified
- Ample security features
- Doesn’t offer liquid CPU cooling
It’s not difficult to pack a desktop workstation full of expensive parts and ship it at a high price for hardcore users, but providing a fair value to more mainstream (but still demanding) shoppers is a finer balancing act. HP’s Z2 Tower G9 accomplishes that goal better than any rival tower at the moment, starting at a low price but scaling as high as you need. Configuring a powerful loadout that won’t bust your budget is easily achievable, and no matter which parts you pick, you’ll get an easily serviceable PC that runs quietly. Our $2,479 review configuration packed an Intel Core i7-12700K and an Nvidia RTX A4000 GPU for serious professional workloads.
With its wide-ranging scalability, the HP Z2 can be configured for most mainstream workstation users, which is part of its beauty. If you’re buying a fleet of machines for business use it can scale as needed, though we do class the Z2 as more of an entry-level workstation so those seeking top-end power will need to go a tier beyond this system.
Desktop Class
Workstation
Processor
Intel Core i7-12700K
Processor Speed
3.6 GHz
RAM (as Tested)
64 GB
Boot Drive Type
SSD
Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested)
1 TB
Graphics Card
Nvidia RTX A4000
Operating System
Windows 11 Pro
Learn More
HP Z2 Tower G9 Review
Best Midrange Business Workstation
Dell Precision 5860 Tower
- Quiet operation under most loads
- Up to 72TB storage (w/ add-in-card)
- Tool-less chassis lays horizontally, too
- ISV-certified
- Tower chassis requires considerable space
- Price scaling gets steeper than midrange competitors
With other workstation picks above and below it in the price and power hierarchy, the Precision 5860 is our favorite midrange option. In the workstation space, that still means a hefty price tag; it starts at $2,049, but our upgraded review configuration came in around $9,100. Yes, that still puts it far below the high-end workstation pick below, but it delivers a load of power: Our unit packs an Intel Xeon w7-2495X processor, 64GB of memory, 2TB of storage, and an Nvidia RTX A6000 GPU. These parts pushed fantastic performance and ran quietly, while the system also has the capacity for up to 72TB of storage, can be accessed without tools, is ISV certified, and can be configured in various ways. This is a flexible, slim, quiet workstation with a potent performance ceiling.
This Xeon machine and its speedy GPU are ready for engineering, 3D modeling, media editing, and similar demanding workloads. Workstation users (or IT managers buying machines for them) generally know whether they’re the intended audience for a system like this, so if the price and power here make your blood run cold, this is likely not the tower for your needs. Given the relatively low starting price, midrange users can likely find a configuration they need, while we can attest to the performance of a higher-end configuration.
Desktop Class
Workstation
Processor
Intel Xeon w7-2495X
Processor Speed
2.5 GHz
RAM (as Tested)
64 GB
Boot Drive Type
SSD
Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested)
1 TB
Secondary Drive Type
SSD
Secondary Drive Capacity (as Tested)
1 TB
Graphics Card
Nvidia RTX A6000
Operating System
Windows 11 Pro
Learn More
Dell Precision 5860 Tower Review
Best High-End Business Workstation
Falcon Northwest Talon (2024, Threadripper Pro)
- Blazing performance
- Highly customizable
- Top-notch quality
- Relatively quiet operation
- Three-year warranty
- Price scales quickly with upgrades
Business shoppers may want to go with the usual names in this space—major manufacturers like Dell, HP, or Lenovo—but hear us out: Falcon Northwest has made blazing-fast PCs for years, and the AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro-based Talon leads the pack. Against expectations for a boutique vendor, it also beats comparable towers on price, costing significantly less than its nearest competitor while leading in performance and matching on features. Our review configuration’s 64-core processor, 256GB of memory, and Nvidia RTX 6000 Ada GPU topped the charts in our benchmark testing, sometimes even by a significant margin. The build is also beautiful and well put together, it runs quietly, and it comes with a three-year warranty.
You can’t beat the Talon for speed in crunching through big data sets, 3D rendering jobs, 4K video editing, or any similarly demanding task in as little time as possible. It’s shocking then that this is an even more affordable alternative than big-brand options. It’s hardly cheap, but this category is inherently expensive, and scaling to this tier is even pricier with competitors. The average business user doesn’t need nearly this much power—if you’re shopping for workstations in this tier, you know who you are—but the most demanding data and content creation workloads will gladly utilize all of the cores and RAM on offer here.
Desktop Class
Workstation
Processor
AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7895WX
Processor Speed
2.5 GHz
RAM (as Tested)
256 GB
Boot Drive Type
SSD
Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested)
4 TB
Secondary Drive Type
SSD
Secondary Drive Capacity (as Tested)
3.84 TB
Graphics Card
Nvidia RTX 6000 Ada Generation
Operating System
Windows 11 Pro
Learn More
Falcon Northwest Talon (2024, Threadripper Pro) Review
Best Compact Business Workstation
HP Z2 Mini G9
- Compact VESA-compatible design
- Impressive performance
- Easily serviceable, even the graphics card
- Ample connectivity
- Modular I/O ports
- Can get louder than expected
- External power brick
A miniature version of its mainstream counterpart, the HP Z2 Mini G9 packs a lot of luster into a fraction of the size. Naturally some raw performance is lost in translation, but our review model’s Intel Core i9-12900K CPU and Nvidia RTX A2000 GPU still delivered plenty of power. The Z2 Mini G9 isn’t cheap, but it’s not out of line with many other professional workstations, and easily serviceable despite its size. A smart compact design, loads of connectivity, and serious muscle easily make it our top pick in this class.
If you want to save space but still need ample power for specialized professional applications, look no further. You’ll find traditional systems dubbed minitowers, but they can’t come close to the compactness of this workstation. Expandability is predictably limited, but if you have any reason to want a tiny workstation, this is the one to beat.
Desktop Class
Workstation
Processor
Intel Core i9-12900K
Processor Speed
3.2 GHz
RAM (as Tested)
64 GB
Boot Drive Type
SSD
Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested)
1 TB
Graphics Card
Nvidia RTX A2000
Operating System
Windows 11 Pro
Learn More
HP Z2 Mini G9 Review
Best Mac Desktop for Business
Apple Mac mini (2024, M4 Pro)
- Excellent high-end performance for work and play in a small chassis
- More memory in base model for the same low price
- New space-saving design
- Storage capacity in base model is still scanty
- Fans can be noisy under load
- Internal memory and storage are not upgradable post-purchase
The base-model Mac mini is a top value for business productivity if you work in a macOS-friendly environment, but a ticked-up M4 Pro model is a top alternative if you need blistering power from a small Mac. Despite the classic, compact design, Apple’s latest processor generation delivers scorching desktop performance, plenty of ports, and support for advanced monitors. It’s a mega deal and a powerful Mac experience.
Mac shoppers seeking more power can copy our amped-up review configuration for a wonderfully effective package. Not all users will need as much power as our model offers. Still, even a lesser configuration can deliver quick performance in a petite package for home-office productivity and creative apps in any kind of office.
Desktop Class
Small Form Factor (SFF)
Processor
Apple M4 Pro (14-core)
RAM (as Tested)
48 GB
Boot Drive Type
SSD
Boot Drive Capacity (as Tested)
1 TB
Graphics Card
Apple M4 Pro (20-core)
Operating System
Apple macOS Sequoia
Learn More
Apple Mac mini (2024, M4 Pro) Review
Buying Guide: The Best Desktop Computers for Business in 2024
Assessing CPUs: Intel Core, Xeon, or AMD Ryzen?
Multicore processors, particularly in the Intel Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7 lines, are the norm in business PCs. A Celeron or Pentium CPU is a sign of an older, low-end model; we’d look to the higher-spec Core chips instead of these. You also see Intel’s new AI-ready Core Ultra line of desktop chips as Arrow Lake trickles in inside some tower PCs.
Consider buying a more powerful processor if you’re concerned about keeping your system for a lengthy useful life. Faster CPUs are a must for today’s fast-moving, multitasking PC users. Core i7, Core i9, or Intel’s workstation-oriented Xeon CPUs are prime options for users like graphic artists, hard-core number crunchers, and other gearheads who stress over the speed of their PCs.
Much less common among business machines, but also viable options, are desktops based on AMD’s Ryzen, Ryzen Pro, and Threadripper CPUs. Threadripper Pro chips are used in some of our top workstation picks. (See our guide to today’s desktop processors.)
(Credit: Michael Justin Allen Sexton)
As for memory, insist on at least 8GB of RAM. In general, the more memory you can get, the better, especially for people who work in graphic design and web development. They will need no less than 16GB, which is really today’s mainstream-use sweet spot. More memory lets you do two things: open up more programs and windows at a time, and perform multimedia processes (like editing photos) faster. Anything less than 8GB is suitable only for an occasional-use desktop that won’t be tasked with running more than one program at a time. Don’t settle for less.
Storage: Solid-State Drive Over Hard Drives
You’ll always see exceptions, but business PCs often require less storage than consumer PCs, since you’re less likely to use them to sync your iPhone or to house your personal video and photo collections. Unless you’re a professional content creator, many of the day-to-day files you or your users access will tend to be housed on common servers, and business folks may well spend much of their time in cloud services for key operations.
Even so, since storage is so inexpensive these days, you might be tempted to think that a hard drive with around 500GB of space strikes a decent balance between economy and space. (Unlike in consumer PCs, hard drives as boot drives are still an option in a few business desktop configurations.) Frankly, 128GB of available storage could be enough for just about all the PowerPoint, Word, and Excel documents you use daily, especially if your office uses a network to house (and thus back up) files. And that leads us to why you should opt for a solid-state boot drive instead, in almost all cases.
(Credit: Charles Jefferies)
Solid-state drives (SSDs) deliver less capacity per dollar compared with traditional hard drives. But an SSD-only system will boot and launch programs much quicker than a hard drive, almost as quickly as your phone does. A 256GB SSD should be sufficient for office workers’ needs today and in the near future, even if it costs a little more than a machine with a traditional hard drive.
Larger SSDs, 512GB or 1TB in capacity, are speedy options for power users, but these upgrades will boost your per-unit purchase price. That said, a small-capacity SSD is far preferable to a large, slower hard drive whose capacity your office users will never fill.
(Credit: Molly Flores)
Optical disc drives are less critical for consumer PCs these days, but a DVD burner still may be a useful addition to a small-business PC. You may need it to burn copies of projects for your clients, or to read the occasional recordable CD or DVD sent by a supplier or customer, or that contains important records or files from years back.
If you need to read disc-based archives, look for a model with this upgrade option. (Most PCs don’t come with these drives anymore.) It will probably be a checkbox item, not a standard-issue component.
Business Desktop Graphics: The Basics Usually Suffice
Most business PCs come with an integrated graphics processor (IGP)—that is, they rely on the video capabilities built into the central processor. Most of the time, integrated graphics will suffice, since you won’t be playing games on your work desktop. You can spot an IGP solution in an Intel-based system by the names HD or UHD Graphics, Iris Plus Graphics, or Iris Xe Graphics.
Most workers who require a PC with a discrete or dedicated graphics processor or card need it for specialized tasks, such as GPU acceleration in a content creation app or 3D graphics visualization for architectural drawings, or for displaying to more than two or three monitors. In the business category, you’ll mostly see these in our more powerful workstation picks, usually in the form of Nvidia’s professional GPUs. Ultra-small or ultra-slim desktop PCs will likely have only integrated graphics and no expansion card slots. These systems are best suited to general productivity tasks (i.e., most business work).
Check out our guide to the best graphics cards for much more on assessing discrete graphics.
Business Desktop Expansion: Slots and Bays
Most mini-towers and some small-form-factor (SFF) budget desktops will have a measure of expansion. You’ll find space for at least one extra internal hard or solid-state drive, a PCI Express (PCIe) x16 graphics card slot, a selection of PCIe x1 expansion slots, perhaps a legacy PCI slot or two, and maybe space for a second optical drive or other “big bay” device (seldom needed nowadays). You may also find extra DIMM slots, which will let you upgrade your memory later.
Nowadays, most desktop PCs have motherboard slots for M.2 drives, small stick-of-gum SSDs (or sometimes Wi-Fi cards) that let you mount a drive straight onto the board. (See our guide to the best M.2 SSDs.) Usually, the boot drive occupies the M. 2 slot in a prebuilt business PC, but some systems may have an extra slot.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
Eventual upgrades in a business PC are likely to be modest, however, by tendency and necessity. Why the latter? The 125-to-350-watt power supplies typical in these PCs won’t be able to power more than a low-end graphics card. Memory or storage upgrades will have only a trivial effect on power consumption, so this is not a concern if you’re adding those kinds of hardware.
All-in-One Business Desktops: Space Savers
Do your users not need multiple hard drives or dedicated graphics cards? Consider deploying all-in-ones instead of traditional tower PCs. All-in-one desktops have the benefit of a built-in screen without the theft and travel breakage risks that business laptops face every day. While many come with high-performance processors (such as Intel’s Core i5 or Core i7) for demanding users, you’ll find models available with energy-saving processors for everyone else. Some all-in-ones use Intel’s power-thrifty mobile processors (with U or G suffixes) built for laptop PCs. These too will soon be replaced by Intel Core Ultra chips.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
If you choose an all-in-one PC with DisplayPort or HDMI inputs, the screen will still be usable even after the internal CPU and storage become obsolete. Touch screens are useful for certain applications (kiosks, point of sale, and information retrieval come to mind), and the all-in-one form factor lends itself to touch-screen computing. Touch is not yet as essential (nor remotely as common) on desktop PCs as it is on tablets and laptops, but if you’re launching touch-optimized apps on Windows, you’ll probably want to go with an all-in-one desktop PC that offers touch support.
Mini PCs and Sticks: Bringing It Super Small
Most mini PCs run on the same basic components as laptops: low-power processors, non-upgradable integrated graphics, 4GB or 8GB of RAM, smaller hard drives or flash storage, no optical drives, and Windows or Linux—assuming they have an operating system at all.
(Credit: Molly Flores)
They’re built to surf the web, run productivity apps, and perform other light computing duties. Unlike larger systems, mini PCs have almost no capacity for internal expansion. This means they’re best suited for applications where they can sit unattended in a locked cabinet or behind a screen, serving as point-of-sale terminals in a retail environment, for digital signage, or in kiosk use.
We wouldn’t recommend running a business on a mini PC unless you just need an email terminal and plan to buy a whole new system in a year or two. The extra speed and upgradability of a larger desktop PC will pay off if you ever have to recalculate a spreadsheet in the 10 minutes before the client arrives or quickly retouch a photo or document layout.
(Credit: Joe Osborne)
The most portable type of computer that still technically counts as a desktop is the “stick PC.” It’s exactly what it sounds like a computer in a tiny, skinny form factor that’s easy to carry with you anywhere. These work by taking advantage of the HDMI input ports that are built into almost every modern monitor and TV set by turning that screen into your display. Just plug the stick PC into one of those ports, connect the power cable, add a keyboard and mouse, and you’re raring to go.
You’ll be extremely limited in terms of output ports (the stick only has so much space, after all), and you won’t get a lot of storage (usually only about 32GB to 64GB). But if you’re a frequent business traveler, especially one who makes a lot of presentations, a stick PC can be a handy supplement to your laptop. Or you can use it around the office to power a common-area big-screen display, such as in the break room or reception area, with content you simply can’t serve from a smart TV. (See a guide to all of our favorite mini PCs.)
Which IT-Friendly Features to Look For?
The more corporate-oriented a PC is, the more likely it will have security features (like Kensington or Noble lock cable security ports, TPM, and vPro), easy-to-access, IT-friendly components, and remote desktop management tools. However, you’ll need these features only if you’re a rapidly growing business or already have more than a dozen employees.
(Credit: Joe Shields)
Once a business expands beyond half a dozen workers with PCs, it will likely need a dedicated IT staffer or subcontractor and PCs with corporate IT manageability features to make deployment and troubleshooting easier. If you run a startup or small partnership with just a few staff members, then buying a budget business PC is fine—just be prepared to face longer waits on tech-support phone lines when things go wrong. With a small-business desktop, you usually have access to dedicated sales and technical support personnel who can help you tailor your purchase and support to your business needs.
Pre-Installed Software: Beware the Bloatware
Often one of the reasons a PC is inexpensive is that, as with broadcast TV and “free” cell phones, some other entity is subsidizing the price. Bloatware consists of all those trial software applications that are designed to tempt you into buying programs that didn’t come with your PC. (It’s worth noting that Macs don’t have this issue.) It can be hard to remove bloatware completely from your system, and leaving it in place can even compromise performance. Although many desktops come with some bloatware, manufacturers tend to put more of it into lower-end consumer models.
Fortunately, PCs targeted specifically at businesses usually have minimal bloatware. On Windows desktops, a trial version of Microsoft 365 or Office is almost always included, but in a small-business context that can be a good thing. You can upgrade to a fully functional version with all the suite apps, including Outlook, Excel, and PowerPoint, simply by clicking a link and entering your credit card number.
You usually get an antivirus suite, as well, but be wary of trial packages that stop updating after 30 to 90 days. You don’t want to get a virus on the PC you depend on to make a living. Again, this is one case where you might consider upgrading to the full version of the software over the Internet (assuming your company doesn’t have an antimalware strategy, of course).
Assessing Warranties and Future-Proofing
Most experts recommend avoiding extended warranties for consumer electronics, but for a business PC, an extended warranty can mean the difference between getting your work done or being forced to close the shop early. Most business PCs come with a one-, three-, or five-year warranty. Usually, this means that you tell the PC manufacturer what’s wrong, and they’ll either ship you a replacement part or send over a repair tech on time (say, within 24 to 36 hours during the work week).
(Credit: Charles Jefferies)
If you need a faster response, you can buy warranties from some manufacturers for eight- or two-hour response or even on-site on-call help depending on your needs. Other options include “keep-your-drive” plans so your data never leaves your premises, accidental damage protection, data recovery, and even end-of-life data destruction services. These all come at an added cost, but like any insurance, whether such options are worth it depends on what you need to protect.
These days, it may be tempting to grab the cheapest system you can find and call it your business PC but don’t do it. Keep in mind that what you buy must last at least as long as it takes for you to amortize the capital investment (usually three to five years, but the exact length depends on your company’s accounting practices). Paying a little extra for more power or capabilities now will save you headaches down the road. The added value of a longer warranty, specialized tech support, and/or the elimination of bloatware are among the extra benefits you may get.
Ready to Buy the Right Desktop for Your Business?
We refresh this list often to include the newest systems, but because we review a large number of desktops every year, not every top-rated product makes the cut. Our top picks of the moment are presented here. If your employees need portability, also check out our top picks for business laptops.
Do you need to add peripherals to your workspace? We’ve also rounded up the best business monitors we’ve tested, along with our favorite keyboards and printers.
