MSI Cubi N Mini PC with Celeron N100, 4GB and 128GB SSD

Many product names called its chip the Celeron N100. Intel dropped the Celeron brand for this generation, and the official name is simply Intel Processor N100, but it is the same four-core, 6W part found in every N100 box.

• Chip: Intel N100, four cores, up to 3.4GHz, 24-EU UHD graphics.
• Cooling: passive, with the case acting as the heatsink.
• Complete version: 4GB of memory and a 128GB SSD.
• S barebone: no memory, no storage, no operating system.

What made it popular was the combination of a big brand, silence and a small footprint for offices and classrooms. Buyers who wanted a fanless N100 without a lesser-known name often landed on it. Business buyers also valued MSI's support network, something smaller brands match unevenly.

MSI has no current US N100 version of either form. Fanless N100s remain plentiful, though, and two of them match the Cubi's two versions closely. A third, with 16GB, fixes the complete model's main weakness.

At 4GB, Windows 11 boots and runs one light task. Open a modern browser with a few tabs and the system starts paging to the SSD, which is where the sluggish feel comes from. The N100 itself has plenty in reserve; the memory does not.

Graphics suffer too, because the integrated GPU borrows its memory from the same 4GB. Two 4K screens on a 4GB N100 leave even less for applications.

Storage runs out in a similar way. Windows, its recovery partition and a year of feature updates take a large share of 128GB, leaving little for files.

• Fine at 4GB: digital signage, a kiosk browser, a thin client for remote desktops, a small Linux service.
• Tight at 4GB: everyday Windows use with a browser, office apps and video calls.
• The fix: a larger SO-DIMM, which a box sold as a barebone must accept, and a bigger M.2 SSD.

That is the main lesson of the Cubi N reviews, and it applies to every 4GB N100 still on sale.

1. Memory: one laptop SO-DIMM of the type the board takes; 16GB is the practical choice.
2. Storage: an M.2 SSD, plus a 2.5-inch drive where the case has a bay.
3. Operating system: a Windows licence, or free Linux.
4. Time: ten minutes with a screwdriver and an hour for the install.

Today the ZOTAC ZBOX CI337 Nano fills the same slot. It is a fanless, name-brand N100 barebone with a VESA mount, and its ports go further than most finished boxes: two HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.4 and DisplayPort over USB-C for three 4K screens.

• Two gigabit Ethernet ports for a router or a split network.
• Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2.
• Four USB 3.2 ports, one of them USB-C.
• An M.2 slot for NVMe or SATA, plus a 2.5-inch bay.

The total cost of a barebone depends on what is already in your drawer. The N100 price bands show where barebones and finished boxes sit. Buying all the parts new usually lands a barebone close to a finished box, so the saving is real only when the parts are spare.

It suits the same jobs the 4GB Cubi did: signage, a kiosk, a thin client, or a small dual-LAN router running OpenWrt. Its memory is soldered, so it will stay at 4GB, which is fine for those roles and limiting for a Windows desk.

For a silent office desk, the Quieter 4C is the better buy than any 4GB box. Its 16GB of LPDDR5 at 4800MHz and 512GB of storage remove the Cubi's two weak points, and its full-function USB-C takes power and drives a third screen.

MeLE builds more fanless N100s than any other maker, from sticks to desk boxes; MeLE's full N100 line sets them side by side.

• Signage, kiosk, thin client: 4GB is enough. The Quieter DL or the MeLE PCG02 stick.
• Office desk, silent room: 16GB. The Quieter 4C.
• Your own parts, your own OS: a barebone. The ZOTAC ZBOX CI337 Nano.
• Factory floor, POS, CNC: COM ports and wide storage. The FANPEEC or another industrial box.

Every one of these runs the same N100 the Cubi did, so performance does not change between them. What changes is how much memory each carries, whether it can grow, and which ports face the desk.

Fanless boxes share one trait worth knowing: the case gets warm. MeLE rates its surfaces at 55–70°C under load, which is normal for passive cooling and safe, but it means leaving space around the box rather than burying it in a drawer. The fanless N100 guide covers heat and throttling in detail.

If silence is less important than it first seemed, a fan-cooled box such as the Beelink Mini S12 Pro offers 16GB and a 500GB SSD for less than the fanless MeLEs, and its fan is quiet at idle.