I thought I would throw in my two cents on the mini-pc because I saw another, older thread discussing the merits of them, but I didn't want to open that thread again. I use a lot of Intel NUCs at work and they perform remarkably well. I'm mostly running the Intel NUC7i7BNB with a 240gb SSD, 16gb RAM, and running Windows 10 Pro.
The older NUC6i7KYK (similar specs) can play older games very well (was able to use one for testing). Sims 3 plays at full settings. Skyrim loads nicely, with just a few reduced settings. Fallout4 plays at 720p/reduced settings. Minecraft can play at max render distance with minimal skipping, so I usually play it lower for that reason and because the fan ramps up all the way. I occasionally will turn it all the way up to see long distances. I've played BeamNG Drive a few times, and it complains about the graphics card each time I open it. Since the game is so physics intensive, it has some difficultly playing. I can still play at 1080p, but have to turn most of the effects way down. I've also tested VMix with it, and it seemed fine with a few inputs.
I have a cctv server (Milestone XProtect) at work and I can load 100 cameras on a 4k display and the computer will run it for about a week before it crashes. I'm not sure if that is a software or hardware issue. There is a limitation to 3 monitors, though. But since 4k TV's are so cheap now, I tend to push those instead of multiple monitors. I have two systems (NUC7i7) that have 2 4k displays each, running process control software (Wonderware HMI) and Milestone.
The thing I really enjoy about the mini PCs is how easy they are to move and how little space they take up. I have mine mounted to the underside of my desk. And if there's an issue with a computer, and I want to take it back to my office, I can just pick it up and put it in my pocket (almost).
I think they're ready for prime time now. I remember a few years ago, when Intel decided to stop making desktop boards and switched to only making the NUC. I thought it was an absolutely stupid move on their part and thought they would suffer because of it. Now, several years later, I'm using them almost exclusively for mission critical desktops. I just hope they will make a NUC that can be PoE powered in the future. That would be really cool.
