• expired

MSI Cubi 5 10M Intel Core i5-10210U Barebone Mini-PC $349 Delivered (Bonus $50 Prepaid e-Gift Card via Redemption) @ Centre Com

240

$345 + Delivery at Scorptec
$345 + Delivery at PC Case Gear

Redeem $50 prepaid e-gift card via msi website by registering the product.

Specifications

The MSI Cubi 5 10M 10th Gen Core i5 Barebone Black is an ultra compact yet powerful mini-desktop barebone, simply add your desired operating system, memory and storage to complete your system. It features an
Intel Core i5-10210U processor,
Intel UHD graphics,
2 x DDR4 slots,
1 x M.2 SSD, and 1 x 2.5" SSD/HDD,
3 x USB 3.2 Gen 1,
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 (Type-C),
2 x USB 2.0,
1 x HDMI 1.4,
1 x DisplayPort 1.2,
1 x RJ-45 Ethernet port,
1 x microphone in,
1 x headphone out,
Realtek RTL8111H,
Wi-Fi 6 AX201, and Bluetooth 5.0.

Related Stores

Centre Com
Centre Com

closed Comments

  • Cashback details?

  • Will the Realtek NIC work with ESXi 7? Otherwise seems like a pretty reasonable deal

    • Most likely mistake on listing, should be Intel NIC.
      See discussion below.

  • Extra $150 for 16G RAM and 500GB M.2 and for about $500 it would be a handy little pc for basic stuff.

  • +2

    Even though a Gen 10 i5, it is a lower end i5 then the NUC 8I5BEH uses.

    Still a cracking price!

    https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i5-8259U-vs…

    • Although I agree, ignore userbenchmark for any comparisons. They are extremely unreliable and favour certain brands leading to bans on most PC subreddits

    • In that case what does the Cubi have going for it? Does this have a Thunderbolt 3 port like the NUC8I5BEH?

      • No.

      • +2

        A few minor, subtle things:

        • Lower power requirement. While the 8th gen i5 NUC does deliver more CPU processing power, it is done through consuming more power.
        • More USB ports (though inferior ports, USB 3.1 gen 1 + USB 2 combos).
        • Wifi 6 (though not 6E) support vs Wifi 5 with broader spectrum.
        • It has a displayport, rather than TB3/USB-C/alt-mode (not that Intel GPU supports adaptive sync).

        The bits which I am not sure… does it support 4K/60Hz… the GPU is actually weaker in terms of gaming, but has Intel finally addressed the issue on HDMI side or only the DisplayPort is capable of 4K/60Hz? It says HDMI 1.4 so that's not a good sign.

        No TB3 port.

        • The Intel version also had a card reader built in.

        • Nothing has Wifi 6E in Aus

          • @Rajserp: I bought the Intel WiFi 6E card (though I have yet to put it in my motherboard) from an overseas seller. Around $30… but that's the advantage of a desktop machine, you can upgrade. The bigger problem is whether there is any Wifi 6E router worth buying.

            Anyway, the reason I mentioned that is more about whether that is enough difference there. Without going into all the details, the WiFi 6 chipset in this one isn't that much better compared to the one in the Intel NUC.

            • @netsurfer: Apologies, I meant to say 6E exists but isn't licenced for use yet here. So its probably very unlikely an accesspoint sold locally would have 6E capabilities.

              • @Rajserp: AX210 is out, WiFi 6E routers are coming.

                Anyway, I don't think even WiFi 6 is a factor (too many issues and most of the features are hyped up), with 6E, at least you get 1 more band (which could be used for backplane for a mesh based setup). 6E routers won't be cheap, but at least you get 1 more band.

                Given that it doesn't quite make sense to go WiFi 6, then AX201 really isn't a factor.

    • +5

      The 8th gen nuc also has a better onboard gpu too. Ther Iris plus is a better bet for things like hardware accelation used with Plex for instance.

  • Can you pair a remote control to these things and put android for TV on them and use them just like a vodafone TV (but faster)?

    • +2

      I know the Intel NUCs support remotes, personally I wouldn't bother with it and get an Nvidia Shield instead.

      • yeah that sounds optimal. Thanks.

      • Nvidia shield also support HDMI CEC so you can control it using TV remote, no need separate remote control.

    • +1

      No IR on this

    • +2

      No infrared so you need to get a infrared USB dongle. The HDMI 1.4 also doesn't feel very comforting.

  • +3

    Looking at past Cubis from 2015-2018, seems they don't get supported anywhere near as long as Intel NUCs. Driver pages abandoned same year the product's released and BIOS updates ceasing after a year or two, while Intel's NUCs from 2015 were still getting updates through last year.

  • +2

    Gift card Promotion Period: Jan. 15th – Mar. 15th OR WHILE STOCKS LAST
    Gift card Redemption Period: Jan. 15th – Mar. 29th

    Anyone know if Centre Com is selling the the MSI Cubi 5 with the newer wifi 6 card (Intel Wireless AX201) or the older version with wifi 5 (Intel Wireless AC 9462)?

    Intel NUC 8I5BEH i5-8259U vs MSI Cubi 5 i5-10210U

    • CPU: Intel Core i5 8259U vs i5*10210U (8th gen vs 10th)
    • iGPU: Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655 vs Intel UHD Graphics 620
    • TDP: 28 Watt vs 15 (power usage)
      NUC's CPU & iGPU performs better but Cubi is more power efficient
    • Max RAM: 32 vs 64
    • Wifi: Intel Wireless AC 9560 vs Intel Wireless AC 9462 or Intel Wireless AX201
      Cubi has wifi 6 (AX201) if you can get the new version
    • Different IO's
    • Cubi has more USB ports
    • HDMI 2.0, DP, USB-C vs HDMI 1.4, DP
      Connect upto 3 displays on NUC
    • Thunderbolt 3 & microSDXC card slot on NUC
    • External power switch (optional) on Cubi
    • Shared mic & headphone jack vs separate mic & headphone jack
    • Unit cost?

    Any other differences I missed?

    • +1

      The intel nuc also supports max ram of 64gb(unofficially but lots of people seem to have got it working with 64gb). NUC also has IR receiver, important to me because I intend to use a remote with it as my htpc

    • +1

      If the specs quoted by OP is correct, it looks like MSI changed the WiFi to a newer one, but changed the LAN to Realtek (for newer batch).
      Or, there is a lottery on both WLAN and LAN.

      • Looks like OP copied specs listed on PCCG which is where it mentions the Realtek NIC while other stores don't.

        Listings from other stores are a mess, some riddled with other incorrect info. I think PCCG have made a mistake.

        PCCG description lists:
        1 x RJ-45 Ethernet port then later mentions Realtek RTL8111H.
        (doesn't make sense to list separatly)
        If you look at the i3 version only 1 x RJ-45 Ethernet port is listed.

        Youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rU5QJzYYqM
        MSI reps say in video @39:38 current version (January 2020 at the time) wifi 5 but newer version will be wifi 6.
        @19:04 They talk about the connectivity on the rear and mentions Intel Gbit LAN @ 19:54

        Old version: Intel Wireless AC 9462 and Intel WGI219V
        New version: Intel Wireless AX201 and Intel WGI219V
        (unless there are other versions?)

        Checking the AU MSI site it lists the 10M-035BA5 with:
        https://au.msi.com/Desktop/Cubi-5-10M/Specification

        • Intel I219-V
        • Intel Wireless AX201(Wifi 6)
    • +1

      NUC has all USB 3 ports (3 of them and one is for charging as well) - 4 in total including TB3/USBC, Cubi has 2 USB 2 ports - 5 in total including USB C.

      Having USB 2.0 in 2021….no value at all except maybe for a kbd/mouse or camera.

      • I ordered the NUC and I’ll also order an internal cable to make use of the two additional usb2 headers inside the NUC to convert into a USB port. Will be plugging in a receiver for htpc keyboard/trackpad into that USB port. I like that it’s hidden inside nuc case, no need for it to be exposed at all

        • Wow did not know there were two internals. Cable looks like??? Wonder if the aluminium case will hamper the signal?

          • @boxall: Think a cable like this will work, https://www.mwave.com.au/product/nuc-internal-usb-20-typea-f…

            I think the front panel should be ok, there's an IR receiver on that side as well so I assume the front panel is plasticky/see through so the receiver signals should be fine through there. Otherwise there's a version of that cable that ends in a panel mount USB port, so can mod the case to expose the port.

  • +1

    Good deal, I just bought the NUC 8I5BEH from the shopping express deal. The thing that got me over the line with the Intel version is the support for modifcation. I ordered a passive cooling case for it for silent operation. The only thing I don't like about the Intel version though is the 2.5 inch drive option is very messy and ugly. I own a gigabyte Brix also and their way of handling this is much cleaner.

    • Which passive cooling case did you get?

  • Noob question… what type of RAM should I be looking for?

    • It supports dual slots, 2666MHz DDR4 SODIMM, up to max total of 64GB.

  • is it similar to the Gigabyte Brix from this past deal?
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/592458

    • Both i5 models are i5 10th Gen Processor i5-10210U.

Login or Join to leave a comment