MSI PRO DP21 Black 2024

The i7-14700 in this 2.16-inch tall box lands in the 82nd percentile for desktop CPUs, making it a productivity beast in a tiny package. But the integrated UHD 770 graphics sit at the 35th percentile, so gaming is a 13.3/100 non-starter. At $1360-$1399, it's a fair deal for a space-constrained office machine, not a value play.

The i7-14700 is the star here. With 20 cores and 28 threads boosting to 5.4GHz, this chip is a productivity monster. In our database, it lands in the 82nd percentile for desktop CPUs, which puts it ahead of most machines people actually buy. For spreadsheet crunching, multitasking across dozens of browser tabs, or running VMs, you'll feel the headroom. The 32GB of DDR5-5600 is also well above average at the 83rd percentile, so memory pressure won't be an issue for years. The 1TB Gen4 NVMe SSD sits at the 74th percentile, which is solid but not spectacular. Load times will feel snappy, but it's not the fastest drive on the block.

The weak link is graphics. The Intel UHD 770 is integrated, and it shows. At the 35th percentile for GPUs, this is a display adapter, not a gaming or rendering solution. You can drive multiple monitors fine, and 4K video playback is no problem, but anything involving 3D work or modern games is off the table. The gaming score of 13.3 out of 100 says it all. This is a work machine, full stop.

Against the HP OMEN GT22-3080 and Lenovo Legion Tower 5a Gen 10, the DP21 gets absolutely destroyed in graphics performance. Those machines have dedicated GPUs that make the UHD 770 look like a calculator. But the DP21's CPU is competitive with both, and it's a fraction of the size. The Apple Mac Studio M4 Max is in a different league for creative work and efficiency, but it costs significantly more and locks you into macOS. The Dell Tower ECT1250 and CLX SET TGMSETRTU5204BM are more traditional desktops that offer better upgrade paths and likely better reliability scores, but they're also much larger. The DP21's pitch is simple: maximum CPU performance in minimum physical space, and it delivers on that.

Pricing across vendors lands between $1360 and $1399, which is reasonable for a 20-core i7 with 32GB of DDR5 and a 1TB Gen4 SSD. You're paying a premium for the small form factor and the included Windows 11 Pro license, which is fair. But the value proposition gets murky when you consider that the same money can buy a mid-tower with a dedicated GPU. If you don't need the tiny footprint, you can get more raw performance per dollar elsewhere. If you do need the size, this is a fair deal, not a steal.

The MSI PRO DP21 is a tiny 2.16-inch tall box packing a 20-core i7-14700, 32GB of DDR5, and a 1TB Gen4 SSD. That CPU lands in the 82nd percentile for desktops, which is genuinely impressive for something that weighs 3.35 pounds and comes with a keyboard and mouse. For office work, business apps, and even light development, this thing punches way above its size class. But the integrated Intel UHD 770 graphics sit at the 35th percentile, so don't expect anything beyond basic display output and maybe some very light photo editing.

We're looking at a machine built for desks where space is tight and productivity matters. The 120W power supply tells you everything about the design philosophy here: efficiency over raw power. The i7-14700 is a 65W-class chip in a chassis that sips power, which means quiet operation and low heat. That's the trade-off MSI made, and for the right buyer, it's a smart one.

Anyone who needs real graphics performance should look elsewhere. The gaming score of 13.3 out of 100 and the 35th percentile GPU ranking mean this machine is useless for gaming, 3D rendering, video editing with GPU acceleration, or any CUDA-based workloads. The 120W power supply and tiny chassis also mean zero upgrade path for graphics. If you're a developer working with machine learning or game development, the lack of a dedicated GPU is a dealbreaker. And the reliability data at the 37th percentile is worth considering if you're buying for a business where downtime is expensive.

The MSI PRO DP21 is a niche machine that nails its niche. If you need a compact, quiet, power-efficient desktop for office work, business applications, or development, the i7-14700 and 32GB of DDR5 give you performance that's genuinely impressive for the size. The integrated graphics are the obvious compromise, and the reliability data at the 37th percentile gives us some pause. But for the right buyer, this is a well-executed little workhorse. Just don't expect to play anything more demanding than Solitaire.