MSI Cubi NUC TWG and TWG S: Twin Lake Mini PCs from ~6W
MSI's Cubi NUC TWG and fanless TWG S are compact Intel Twin Lake mini PCs drawing as little as 6W, with dual Ethernet, dual HDMI 2.1, and triple display.
Two Flavors of the Same Tiny Box
MSI has detailed the Cubi NUC TWG and the Cubi NUC TWG S, a pair of compact mini PCs that share a chassis but differ in cooling. The standard TWG is active-cooled, while the TWG S is fanless for silent operation. Both measure a tidy 135.6 x 112.6 x 40.1mm, which is genuinely small for a full Intel desktop.
That fan-versus-fanless split is the key decision point here, and I appreciate that MSI is letting buyers pick their tradeoff up front rather than locking everyone into one thermal design.
Twin Lake Inside, ~6W at the Wall
Under the hood, the Cubi NUC TWG runs Intel's N150 or N250 "Twin Lake" processors. These are efficiency-focused chips, and it shows: MSI says the units can draw as little as ~6W. For an always-on box, that's the spec that makes my benchmark-loving heart happy, because it directly translates to a tiny electricity bill for a 24/7 mini PC.
Low power plus a small footprint is exactly the combination self-hosters look for.
Ports and Expansion
MSI didn't skimp on I/O for the size. Confirmed connectivity includes:
- Triple display support
- Dual Ethernet: one 2.5GbE plus one GbE port
- Dual HDMI 2.1 outputs
- USB-C and multiple USB-A ports
- VESA mounting for tucking the unit behind a monitor
For upgrades, there's a single DDR5 SODIMM slot and an M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 storage slot. That dual-Ethernet setup in particular makes the Cubi NUC TWG interesting for light router, firewall, or home-lab networking duty, not just desktop work.
Pricing and Who It's For
Pricing starts around $249 barebones and roughly $449 fully configured, with the units initially listed on MSI's UK site. As always, I'll treat those as the confirmed starting figures rather than final regional retail.
In analysis terms, this is a strong fit for home-lab tinkerers, self-hosting enthusiasts, and anyone wanting a quiet desktop, especially the fanless TWG S for silent setups. With Twin Lake efficiency, dual Ethernet, and triple-display output in a sub-150mm box, the Cubi NUC family covers a lot of compact-computing use cases at once.
Sources: Liliputing — "MSI Cubi NUC TWG is an Intel Twin Lake mini PC with active and passive cooling options" — June 16, 2026.