Last year, we tested the MSI Pro DP21 12M and came away impressed, so much so that it earned an Editors' Choice award for mini PCs. Now we're looking at the most recent model of this compact desktop PC, the Pro DP21 14M ($1,049.99). Though it looks the same on the outside, inside you get a desktop-class processor that supports Intel's vPro IT management and deployment tech; 16GB of RAM; ample storage options and USB ports; and integrated Ethernet and Wi-Fi 6E networking, all squeezed into a petite VESA-mountable package. The new DP21 is well worth a look, though we feel the even smaller and equally capable Asus NUC 14 Pro is a better choice for most people in the market for a business mini PC.
Design: Rather Big for a Mini PC
The 2024 DP21 sports the same simple design we saw in previous generations, with a chassis that measures 2.2 by 8 by 8.2 inches (HWD). While it's not as compact as a NUC model from mini PC pioneer Intel, the MSI does support the 100mm VESA mounting standard so it can be affixed to the back of a monitor or the underside of a desk. It can also sit on your desk and lie flat or vertically on the included stand.
If you're planning on using this mini PC at home, know that it isn't going to stand out like larger towers, especially those with RGB lighting. It's strictly business. Still, a few plastic ridges give the box some design elements, and a silver MSI logo adorns the bottom right. Ports on the front consist of two 3.5mm audio jacks for a microphone and headphones, three USB Type-A ports (two USB 2.0 and one 3.2 Gen 1), and a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C port. This is an improvement over the all-USB-2.0 front panel of the previous generation.
Around the back are several more ports. Moving from left to right, you've got the jack for the provided 120-watt power brick followed by two video outputs, HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4, allowing a dual-monitor configuration. The 1GbE network port is next. You’ll also find four additional USB ports (three Type-A, one Type-C), with all four supporting USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) speeds. Two audio jacks that mirror the front ones sit on the right, and a COM port sits on top. The last is for connecting legacy peripherals for certain vertical-market uses,
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Accessing the internals is as easy as removing two Philips screws and sliding the top panel toward the back. Once inside, you’ll see most of the motherboard and the M.2 Type-2280 slot for SSDs. Hiding below the 2.5-inch hard drive bay on the right is the Type-2230 M.2 slot that holds the Wi-Fi 6E card, and next to that are the two populated memory slots.
You can upgrade the processor, as the motherboard supports socketed FCLGA1700 "Raptor Lake" CPUs that have a 65W TDP. That's a nice bonus compared with most other mini PCs, which use SoC-type chips that you can’t remove. A simple stock Intel heatsink keeps the processor cool. While it’s whisper-quiet during most tasks, the fan made itself known when we leaned on the CPU during benchmark testing.
For those in IT interested in buying a DP21 14M for the office, know that Intel vPro support and Stable IT Platform Program (SIPP) compatibility mean you can remotely power up and access the PC to diagnose, repair, patch, and update without disrupting someone's work or requiring physical access.
Testing the Pro DP21 14M: Strong Multi-Core Performance
MSI offers different configurations with varying processor options, RAM capacity of up to 64GB, and ample storage drives to chose from. Our model uses an Intel Core i7-14700 CPU (20 total cores, up to 5.4GHz turbo) with Intel UHD Graphics 770, 16GB of DDR5-5600 memory, a 512GB SSD for the boot drive, and a 1TB SATA secondary hard drive.
For our performance tests, we're comparing the machine with the previous MSI DP21 12M; two powerful recent NUC variants, the MSI Cubi 1M and Asus NUC 14 Pro; the ECS Liva Z5 Plus; the Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini; and finally, the Acer Aspire TC 1775-UR11. You can see the specs of all these systems in the chart below...
Productivity and Content Creation Tests
We run the same general productivity benchmarks across both mobile and desktop systems. Our first test is UL's PCMark 10, which simulates a variety of real-world productivity and office workflows to measure overall system performance and also includes a storage subtest for the primary drive.
Three other benchmarks focus on the CPU, using all available cores and threads to rate a PC's suitability for processor-intensive workloads. Maxon's Cinebench R23 uses that company's Cinema 4D engine to render a complex scene, while Geekbench 5.4 Pro from Primate Labs simulates popular apps ranging from PDF rendering and speech recognition to machine learning. We also use the open-source video transcoder HandBrake 1.4 to convert a 12-minute video clip from 4K to 1080p resolution (lower times are better).
Finally, we run PugetBench for Photoshop by workstation maker Puget Systems. It uses Adobe's famous image editor, Creative Cloud version 22, to rate a PC's performance for content creation and multimedia applications. It's an automated extension that executes various general and GPU-accelerated Photoshop tasks, from opening, rotating, resizing, and saving an image to applying masks, gradient fills, and filters.
The MSI mini fared well in our productivity tests. It wasn’t the fastest (that distinction is held by the Asus with its its Core Ultra 165H), but due to its 20-core processor and fast clock speeds, it charged through our testing and did exceptionally well in tests that use many threads, like Cinebench and Geekbench, where it led the pack.
Graphics and Gaming Tests
We test the graphics performance of desktops and laptops with two DirectX 12 gaming simulations from UL's 3DMark: Night Raid (more modest, suitable for laptops with integrated graphics) and Time Spy (more demanding, suitable for gaming rigs with discrete GPUs).
We also run two tests from the cross-platform GPU benchmark GFXBench 5, which stresses low-level routines like texturing and high-level, game-like image rendering. The 1440p Aztec Ruins and 1080p Car Chase tests, rendered offscreen to accommodate different display resolutions, exercise graphics and computer shaders using the OpenGL programming interface and hardware tessellation, respectively. The more frames per second (fps), the better.
Our test unit again performed well but fell short of the more powerful Asus NUC 14. While it isn't suitable for gaming or heavy rendering, at least you can use two monitors natively, which is more typical in a business environment where viewable area is more critical than raw graphics performance.
Verdict: An Acceptable NUC Alternative
The MSI DP21 14M is a well-balanced mini/office PC. For just over $1,000, you get a midrange 14th Gen desktop-class processor with vPro and ample I/O connectivity, including USB Type-C. You even get the option to connect two displays and upgrade the CPU. While it’s not the smallest mini-PC we’ve seen, the DP21 is still VESA-mountable if you need to save space. Performance suits an office machine, especially if your workflows include heavily threaded work where the processor shines.
Still, competition is fierce in the mini PC space. Newly released post-Intel NUC successors like the Asus NUC 14 Pro sport the latest Intel chips and perform equally well, especially when equipped with the Core Ultra CPU variant. (MSI even makes NUC models now.) So, while the DP21 14M is a well-rounded solution, it doesn’t stand out from the crowd.
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About Joe Shields
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