10 Best Mini PCs for Cybersecurity (September 2026) Honest Reviews

The best mini PC for cybersecurity is whichever one gives you 32GB of upgradeable memory, CPU virtualization support, and at least two NVMe slots. Our pick of the best mini PCs for cybersecurity is the Beelink SER8, which pairs an 8-core Ryzen 7 chip with a 256GB memory ceiling and dual NVMe slots, while the Protectli Vault FW4C takes the network-security lab. The difference between them is ports, memory ceiling, and how the box behaves when four VMs run for six hours straight.

Most people pick a lab machine the wrong way. They chase core count, install whatever was cheapest, then discover the memory is soldered, the only storage slot is taken by Windows, and the CPU throttles halfway through a Nmap sweep. We built this list around the three things a security lab genuinely needs: a virtualization-capable CPU with Intel VT-x or AMD-V, memory you can add to later, and more than one NVMe slot so an attacker VM and a SIEM do not fight over the same disk.

We spent weeks reading owner reviews across all ten boxes, comparing rated stability, thermals under sustained load, and port layouts against the way real labs are built. The rest of this guide walks every pick, then explains the specs that actually decide your VM count. If you want a bare-metal hypervisor host rather than a desktop, our [Proxmox mini PC guide](https://mercury-pc.com/best-mini-pcs-for-proxmox/) covers that angle in detail.

Our Top 3 Picks for a Cybersecurity Lab in 2026

The SER8 wins overall because 8 cores, a 256GB memory ceiling, and dual NVMe slots cover every lab role that matters. The FW4C wins on network realism, and the P3 Lite is the pick when you want two 2.5GbE ports and a TPM on the same chassis. Everything else in the list is a variation on one of those three ideas.

Comparing the Best Mini PCs for Cybersecurity in 2026

Two things stand out. First, two of these ten carry dual 2.5GbE ports, which is what makes a realistic segmented lab possible without a USB network adapter. Second, four of them ship with memory you cannot upgrade, which caps how many VMs you will ever run.

1. Beelink SER8 – The Best Overall Mini PC for a Cybersecurity Lab

The SER8 is the box we would put under a desk and forget about. A Ryzen 7 8745HS at 8 cores and 16 threads, up to 4.9 GHz, handles a Kali attacker VM, a Windows endpoint, and a Metasploitable target at the same time without the fans spinning up to a roar.

Memory is the headline for lab work: 32GB of DDR5-5600 across two slots, expandable to 256GB. That ceiling is what lets you grow into heavier work later, such as a Security Onion deployment or a Windows Server target, rather than buying a second machine when the first runs out of memory.

Virtualization and VM capacity

Eight cores and sixteen threads with hardware-assisted virtualization is the sweet spot for Proxmox VE or VMware Workstation. You can allocate four vCPUs to a Kali attacker, two to a lightweight target, and still have headroom for a second target while running packet capture on the host. Owners consistently report that the machine stays cool and quiet even under that kind of sustained multi-VM load, which is the opposite of the complaint we see most often on smaller fan-cooled boxes.

Storage is equally lab-friendly. The 1TB PCIe 4.0 drive is joined by a second M.2 slot, and Beelink rates the pair at up to 8TB combined. That means the Kali disk, the Windows evaluation image, and captured packet archives can sit on separate physical drives rather than fighting over one.

Ports, displays, and what to watch

Triple display output through HDMI, DisplayPort, and USB4 at up to 4K 240Hz is genuinely useful for analysis work, where you want a terminal on one screen and a packet capture on another. The USB4 port carries 40Gbps with power delivery and display output, so a single-cable setup works.

The caveat cluster is real, though. Reviewers report a small group of boot failures, watchdog BSODs, and driver issues inside the first year that persisted after swapping RAM and SSDs, and the port selection is modest, with only two USB-A and two USB-C ports in total. If you attach a USB bootable Kali image, a Wi-Fi adapter, and a capture adapter at once, budget for a hub. A portion of integrated GPU memory is also reserved from system RAM, so treat the usable figure as slightly less than 32GB.

2. Protectli Vault FW4C – Four 2.5GbE Ports in a Fanless Firewall Box

This is not a general-purpose desktop and it does not pretend to be. The FW4C is a purpose-built firewall appliance, and for a security lab that is a feature rather than a compromise: it exists to sit between network segments and enforce policy.

Four Intel 2.5GbE NICs in a 4.5 x 4.3 x 1.5 inch chassis is the headline. That gives you enough ports to build a real topology: WAN, an attacker segment, a target segment, and a management path. Intel AES-NI hardware crypto acceleration means VPN throughput does not collapse when you tunnel traffic through it.

Where the FW4C earns its place in a lab

Think of this box as the outer wall of your lab, not the machine that runs Kali. Install pfSense, OPNsense, or untangle on it and you have a router that can actually enforce isolation between the segment running Metasploitable 2 and the segment running your Wazuh or Security Onion collector. Owners consistently report near-silent operation because the cooling is entirely passive at a 20W draw, which matters if the box lives in a bedroom office.

The honest limitation is compute. A quad-core J3710 at 1.6 GHz base and 2.6 GHz burst will not be running a SIEM with a year of logs, and it will not be the machine you launch scans from. Pair it with a separate host for your attacking machine.

Watch out for the fixed configuration

The 8GB of DDR3 and the 120GB SSD are not user-upgradeable, and no operating system ships pre-installed. That is fine for a firewall image that lives in RAM, and frustrating the moment you expect to install a full analysis VM on it. Buy it for routing, VPN, and honeypot roles rather than as a general lab host.

Owners rate it at 4.6 out of 5 across 141 reviews, with 80 percent five-star, and reviewers single out the port count, the AES-NI support, and the silence as the reasons it holds its rating. If you need something completely silent as an always-on node, our [fanless mini PC roundup](https://mercury-pc.com/best-fanless-mini-pcs/) covers the alternatives in more depth.

3. BOSGAME P3 Lite – Dual 2.5GbE Networking and TPM 2.0 in One Box

With 625 reviews, the P3 Lite is the most heavily reviewed machine in this roundup, and that sample size is useful on its own. It is also the one box here that pairs two 2.5GbE ports with a TPM 2.0 chip, which matters if your coursework touches hardware-backed attestation or secure boot policy.

Underneath, the Ryzen 7 6800H gives you 8 cores and 16 threads up to 4.75 GHz, backed by 32GB of DDR5-4800 that you can expand to 64GB, plus dual M.2 2280 slots rated up to 8TB. Windows 11 Pro comes preinstalled, and reviewers confirm Ubuntu and other Linux distributions install cleanly for Kali or Proxmox use.

A two-network lab host in a small box

Dual 2.5GbE RJ45 ports mean you can build a two-segment lab without a USB network adapter. Run the host on one interface, attach a VM bridge to the other, and your Metasploitable or DVWA targets sit on an isolated segment with no path to your real devices. That isolation is the single most important habit in home lab work, and having the hardware for it built in removes the temptation to bridge everything to the LAN.

The TPM 2.0 module pairs with Windows 11 Pro and secure boot, so this is a reasonable box for CISSP or Security+ coursework where you need to demonstrate BitLocker-style disk encryption and measured boot concepts rather than just read about them.

Noise, thermals, and graphics trade-offs

This is a fan-cooled design, and owners report the fan becomes clearly audible during long CPU-heavy load. That is exactly the scenario a lab creates: four VMs running while you work through an exercise. It stays usable, but it is not a bedroom-office machine during a long compile or an Nmap sweep against a large subnet.

The Radeon 680M integrated graphics is fine for multi-display work at up to triple 4K or a single 8K output, but it is not a card for GPU-accelerated password cracking or similar workloads. The 45W power draw is also higher than the fanless options in this list, which adds up if you leave the machine running around the clock.

4. GMKtec M5 Ultra – A Quiet Always-On Host with Dual 2.5GbE

The M5 Ultra sits in the middle of this list on paper, which is exactly why it is worth a look. The Ryzen 7 7730U is a Zen 3+ part with 8 cores and 16 threads boosting to 4.5 GHz, and owners use it almost exclusively as an always-on home server, router, or multi-monitor workstation.

Two 2.5GbE LAN ports make it a natural soft-routing box. Pair it with pfSense or Untangle, or use one port for management and one for a lab segment, and you avoid needing a USB Ethernet adapter. Memory is 32GB of DDR4-3200 in dual channel, expandable to 64GB across two slots, with a second M.2 slot for storage expansion.

Best for a lab that never powers off

Idle power draw is the standout for anyone running a lab 24/7, and low idle draw is what separates a server from a desktop. At a 35W rated draw with a low idle floor, this is a machine you can leave running with honeypot services or a long-running packet capture without thinking about the power budget.

BIOS power profiles and auto Power-on plus Wake-on-LAN let you manage it remotely, which is useful when the box is mounted behind a monitor or in a closet. For anyone building a small Proxmox or TrueNAS-adjacent node alongside their security work, that combination is hard to argue with.

Where the reviews get sharp

The 4.4 average across 320 reviews hides a meaningful 9 percent one-star share, and those complaints are about stability rather than speed: Windows reset loops, Wi-Fi dropouts, and out-of-box configuration problems, with a few owners needing a shop visit to sort drivers. Forum buyers also flag that fan noise and BIOS behaviour can vary between boxes of the same model, so check the firmware before committing to a multi-VM role.

For multi-monitor analysis layouts, we have a separate roundup on [mini PCs for multiple monitors](https://mercury-pc.com/best-mini-pcs-for-multiple-monitors/) that covers the display side in more detail. The Radeon graphics here are weak for anything beyond office and light 3D, so keep GPU work off this machine.

5. KAMRUI P2 – Twelve Cores for Windows Endpoint Analysis

The P2 answers a specific question: what do you buy when your lab is Windows-heavy? With 12 cores across 4 performance and 8 efficiency cores at up to 4.5 GHz, it chews through a Windows evaluation endpoint, Defender scans, and log analysis at the same time.

Windows 11 Pro is preinstalled, and the product documentation highlights BitLocker and Windows Sandbox availability, which map directly onto endpoint security coursework. Multiple reviews confirm Linux and Debian or Ubuntu install cleanly, so you can dual-boot Kali or run it as a Proxmox host.

Where twelve cores actually help

Core count matters less in a browser than in a lab that is running several Windows guests while also collecting logs. Twelve cores means you can keep a Windows 10 evaluation target, a Windows Server target, and a Linux attacker alive at the same time without the host stalling during packet capture or report generation. Owners also report the LPDDR5-5200 memory is fast enough that memory bandwidth rarely becomes the bottleneck.

Display output is a genuine strength here: HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.4, and a full-function USB-C port with DisplayPort 1.4 alternate mode drive three 4K 60Hz displays independently. Running a SIEM dashboard, a Wireshark capture window, and a terminal across three screens is realistic on this box.

The soldered memory problem

This is the deal-breaker for many lab builders. The 32GB of LPDDR5-5200 is soldered, so 32GB is the ceiling for the life of the machine. If you plan to run a full Security Onion or Wazuh stack with several Windows targets today, the ceiling will bite within a year.

Thermals are the second issue. Reviewers note poor internal airflow that can run the chassis hot during long updates or heavy loads, and a 45W TDP with dual-fan cooling and dual copper heat pipes doing the work. If the box is going to sit in a quiet room, factor that in.

6. GEEKOM GT12 Pro – Four Screens and a 2.5G Port for SOC Work

The GT12 Pro is built for the blue-team desk. Four independent displays including 8K output, a 2.5G Ethernet port, and a 10-core Intel Core i7-12650H at up to 4.7 GHz give you the screen real estate to run a SIEM console, a case management view, and a terminal without alt-tabbing.

Memory is 32GB of DDR4-3200 in dual channel, expandable to 64GB, and the primary drive is a 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD. That memory ceiling is lower than the DDR5 boxes here, but it is still enough to host Wazuh or Elastic alongside one or two targets.

Multi-display SOC layouts

Display output is where this box separates itself. Owners running home SOC setups consistently pick multi-screen arrangements, and up to four displays with 8K output makes that practical on a single unit. Two USB-C ports with USB4 or Thunderbolt-class throughput, dual HDMI, six USB ports, and an SD card slot round out a genuinely well-equipped port selection for an analysis desk.

From a lab perspective, 2.5G Ethernet plus WiFi 6E matters when you are pulling large log volumes off sensors or mirrors. A gigabit port would bottleneck before the CPU did.

Value, warranty, and the awkward slot

The 4.2 average across 176 reviews reflects middling value against DDR5-based rivals rather than performance problems. The 3-year limited warranty is longer than most competitors in this class, which matters for a machine that will be running unattended for years.

The storage layout is the frustrating part. The secondary slot takes M.2 2242 SATA drives up to 1TB, a form factor that is awkward to source compared with the standard 2280 you will find everywhere else. If you need large disk images for Windows targets, budget for an external enclosure or replace the primary drive instead.

7. MINISFORUM UM870 Slim – The Most Upgradeable Proxmox Candidate

The UM870 Slim has the highest average rating of any Ryzen box in this roundup at 4.5, and more importantly it is the one that refuses to paint itself into a corner. Two DDR5 SO-DIMM slots expandable to 96GB and two M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 slots mean both memory and storage grow with your lab.

The Ryzen 7 8745H delivers 8 cores and 16 threads up to 4.9 GHz with a 65W performance mode, paired with Radeon 780M graphics that reviewers describe as close to a discrete GTX 1650. That headroom is what makes it a credible bare-metal Proxmox host rather than just a desktop that can run a hypervisor.

Why upgradeability decides this category

Every lab grows. Today it is Kali and Metasploitable. Next semester it is a Windows Server target, a Security Onion collector, and a vulnerable web app in DVWA. Boxes with soldered LPDDR memory hit a wall on that growth; boxes with 96GB of reachable SODIMM capacity do not.

Two PCIe 4.0 M.2 2280 slots also solve the storage-splitting problem cleanly. Put VMs on one drive, captures and disk images on the other, and you avoid the I/O contention that shows up as a slow SIEM dashboard when the target and the attacker are sharing one volume.

Ports and the multi-homing limitation

Display output is excellent: HDMI 2.1 at 8K 60Hz, USB4 at 8K 60Hz, and DisplayPort 1.4 at 4K 120Hz, all driving three independent displays. USB4 handles 40Gbps transfers and 65W to 100W power delivery input, which is convenient for a single-cable dock setup.

The constraint is networking. There is a single 2.5Gbps LAN port, so a genuinely multi-homed lab means adding a USB network adapter, and reviewers also flag that only two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports are available, so a hub is close to mandatory for a full lab peripheral set. If you need two physical segments wired into the host, the P3 Lite or the M5 Ultra are the better buys.

Our [best mini PCs for Proxmox](https://mercury-pc.com/best-mini-pcs-for-proxmox/) guide covers the bare-metal hypervisor angle in full if you want to go further than VirtualBox.

8. Beelink SER9 – Fastest Memory, but the RAM Is Soldered

The SER9 is the speed pick. A Ryzen AI 7 H350 pushes 8 cores and 16 threads up to 5.0 GHz, and the LPDDR5X-7500 memory is the fastest in this comparison, which shows up as responsive VM switching and quick encryption or hashing operations.

Storage is generous for lab use: a 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe drive plus a second M.2 slot rated up to 4TB. Owners describe using it for coding, virtualization, and backup-workstation duty, and the machine is quiet enough to leave running around the clock.

Fast silicon, fixed memory

For a single-VM workflow, the SER9 is hard to argue with. If your lab is one Kali attacker, one target, and a lot of scanning and password auditing, the raw clock speed and memory bandwidth shorten every cycle.

The catch is that the 32GB of LPDDR5X-7500 is soldered, so 32GB is permanently the maximum. There is no upgrade path, which also weighs on resale value down the line. Buyers who plan to grow a lab past three or four guests should treat this as a closed system rather than a platform.

Software friction to expect

Some owners needed to install updated drivers before audio and Bluetooth worked, which is a fifteen-minute job if you know it is coming and a frustrating hour if you do not. There are also no built-in speakers despite the spec listing integrated speakers, so plan on external audio or a headset.

The most-cited complaint is support. Owners describe slow, overseas-based responses and a cumbersome warranty return process, so factor that into the decision if you intend to run the box unattended for a long period. Windows 11 Pro is preinstalled, which saves a step if you are starting from a Windows endpoint workflow.

9. MeLE Quieter4C N150 – Silent and Headless, but Capped at 16GB

The Quieter4C does one thing perfectly: it disappears. Fanless at 0 dB with no moving parts, 7.04 ounces, and 5.2 x 3.2 x 0.7 inches, it is the box you mount behind a display and forget about. Windows 11 Pro is preinstalled and it is fully Linux compatible.

Under the hood, an Intel N150 gives 4 cores and 4 threads up to 3.6 GHz at an 8W TDP. There is 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, an additional empty M.2 2280 NVMe slot, and a microSD slot for expansion to 4TB and beyond.

The right role for a 4-core N-series chip

N-series processors are often sold as lab hosts and often disappoint. The honest framing is that this one is a network and control node, not a compute host. It is well suited to running a lightweight sensor, a honeypot listener, an Nmap scheduler, a jump host, or a remote access point into a lab you run elsewhere.

Auto Power-on, Wake-on-LAN, PXE, RTC Wake, and an unlocked BIOS support headless set-and-forget operation, and the 12V DC input makes it easy to place away from a mains outlet. Triple independent 4K displays via two HDMI 2.0 ports and one USB-C give you a usable three-screen analysis layout despite the modest chip.

The 16GB ceiling and the heat trade-off

The listing describes the memory as a single slot that is not user-upgradeable, so 16GB is the hard ceiling. That rules out running multiple VMs on this box and limits it to one light guest at a time.

Passive cooling also means it runs hot to the touch under sustained Windows load, and one owner reported buzzing with intermittent Wi-Fi dropouts after a month. For a node that idles most of the time, none of that matters. For anything sustained, pick a fan-cooled box.

10. BOSGAME E3 Neo – The Cheapest Way to Start a Small Lab

The E3 Neo is the entry point. An Intel 12th Gen Alder Lake N95 gives 4 cores and 4 threads up to 3.4 GHz at a 6W TDP, with 16GB of DDR4 SODIMM and a 512GB M.2 2280 SSD that expands to 2TB. It supports both Windows and Linux, including Ubuntu.

At 6W, this is a machine you can leave running continuously without thinking about it, and auto Power-on, Wake-on-LAN, and PXE make it workable as a headless appliance. A VESA mount and screws are included, and the machine carries a 1-year machine warranty with 3-year parts coverage.

What a 4-core N95 can and cannot do

Think appliance, not workstation. It can run a Windows 11 Pro instance for endpoint basics, a lightweight Linux guest for a DVWA web app, or a single Kali instance with a narrow target list. What it cannot do is host three or four VMs at once, and the 16GB memory ceiling with a single SODIMM slot ends that discussion entirely.

Oddly, some of the display features here are unusually generous for the tier: triple 4K 60Hz output through dual HDMI and a Type-C port, plus AV1 hardware decoding on the Intel UHD graphics. Four USB 3.2 ports round out a practical port selection.

The limitation nobody can fix

There are only 54 reviews behind the 4.3 average, so long-term reliability data is thin. That matters more here than on a heavily reviewed box, because the purchase is a judgement call: you are buying a starting point, and you should assume you will outgrow it within a year.

WiFi 5 with no faster Ethernet is the other constraint for anyone building a lab network. Plan on wired connections through a dock or adapter, and consider whether a used business mini PC with more memory headroom would serve you better for the same money. If you prefer spending the budget elsewhere, our [Mac mini alternatives guide](https://mercury-pc.com/best-mac-mini-alternatives/) covers boxes that skip Windows licensing entirely.

How to Choose a Mini PC for a Cybersecurity Lab in 2026

Start With RAM, Cores, and Virtualization Support

Everything else is detail. A security lab is a hypervisor with guests, so the three questions that matter are: does the CPU expose hardware-assisted virtualization (Intel VT-x and VT-d, or AMD-V and SVM), how much memory can you install, and how many cores can you divide between guests.

As a working minimum, 16GB of RAM and a 4-core CPU will let you boot an attacker and one target. Thirty-two gigabytes across 8 cores is the comfortable tier and the reason most of the boxes in this roundup ship with it. Sixty-four gigabytes is where multi-VM labs stop fighting the host.

Check the virtualization setting in the BIOS as well. Some units ship with VT-x or AMD-V disabled, and forum builders report that firmware behaviour can differ between boxes of the same model. Verify it before you plan your whole lab around a hypervisor.

Storage: NVMe Slots and Disk Image Sizing

One NVMe slot is a genuine constraint. A Kali install, a Windows evaluation image, and a SIEM dataset will fight over a single drive, and log ingestion is I/O hungry. Two or more M.2 2280 slots let you separate the OS, the guest images, and the capture storage.

Rough sizing for planning: Kali Linux around 40 to 60GB, Metasploitable roughly 20GB, a Windows evaluation image 80 to 100GB, and a SIEM or log store 100GB or more. A 1TB drive covers a comfortable three-guest lab with room to spare. Two is better.

One forum complaint worth knowing: secondary M.2 slots on some mini PCs run at reduced PCIe speeds. Check the per-slot specification rather than assuming the second slot matches the first.

Networking: 2.5GbE and Isolated Lab Networks

2.5GbE matters more here than it does for general desktop use, because lab traffic is full of packet captures and bulk log transfers. It also matters because two NICs let you build real segmentation rather than pretending to.

Get the virtual network mode right. NAT gives guests internet access but isolates them from the host and LAN. Host-only lets guests talk to each other and the host with no route outward, which is what you want for a target segment. Bridged puts a guest directly on your real network, and that is exactly how people accidentally expose an intentionally vulnerable machine to their own devices.

The rule to hold onto: never bridge a vulnerable VM onto a network you care about. If you need internet access in a guest, route it through NAT or through a firewall VM instead. Owners on r/homelab and r/Cybersecurity101 consistently describe isolated host-only networks as the habit that saved them from a bad afternoon.

Hypervisors: VirtualBox, VMware Workstation, and Proxmox VE

VirtualBox is free, familiar, and the easiest way to start. It is fine for one or two guests and has a lower overhead floor for beginners still learning what a VM is.

VMware Workstation handles more guests more smoothly and snapshots more predictably, which makes it the better daily driver once your lab has more than two machines. Several builders standardise on it with minimal Linux images specifically to keep overhead low.

Proxmox VE is the bare-metal option: it replaces the operating system entirely and gives you a real server experience, snapshots, containers, and backups. It suits labs that will grow across several guests or that want to run a vulnerability scanner as an appliance. Pair it with a box that has upgradeable SODIMM memory, because a bare-metal host has no escape hatch when memory runs out.

Thermals and Noise Under Sustained VM Load

This is the most repeated complaint in every mini PC forum and the one most roundups skip. A lab host does not idle. It runs four guests for six hours while you work through an exercise, and that is a far harder thermal load than a benchmark.

Fanless designs such as the Protectli Vault and the MeLE Quieter4C avoid the noise problem entirely but run hot to the touch under sustained load. Small-fan designs such as the GMKtec and BOSGAME P3 become audible in exactly the scenarios that matter. Larger cooling solutions like the KAMRUI P2’s dual-fan 45W design trade a little size for headroom.

Where the machine physically sits matters as much as the spec sheet. A box in a bedroom office running a full lab will be heard; a box under a desk in a spare room will not be. Decide the location before you pick the chassis.

Refurbished Business Mini PCs and Total Cost of Ownership

Used business boxes remain the value-per-gigabyte option for students, and forum communities treat this as settled. HP EliteDesk, Lenovo ThinkCentre Tiny, and Dell Optiplex Tiny units with 32GB or 64GB of DDR4 run Proxmox and Security Onion labs for less than a new Ryzen mini PC, and the tool-free serviceability is better.

Some builders start with hardware they already own and only move to a dedicated machine after hitting a real wall, which is a reasonable way to avoid overbuying. It is also common to acquire retired enterprise units left behind when a colleague leaves.

Finally, count the total cost rather than the sticker figure. Barebones listings exclude RAM, SSD, and an operating system licence, and a preinstalled Windows 11 Pro machine hides that cost inside the purchase price. Add a second NVMe drive, the memory upgrade path, and any Windows licensing, and compare totals across boxes. A barebones Ryzen board plus RAM and storage is frequently cheaper than an equivalent complete system.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Verdict by Lab Type

If you want one machine that covers every lab role, take the Beelink SER8, because 8 cores, a 256GB memory ceiling, and dual NVMe slots leave room to grow. If you are building a segmented network lab, start with the Protectli Vault FW4C, because four 2.5GbE ports and AES-NI do the isolating work for you.

For a bare-metal Proxmox host, pick the MINISFORUM UM870 Slim for its 96GB SODIMM path. For dual-NIC soft routing on a budget, the GMKtec M5 Ultra or BOSGAME P3 Lite cover it, and the P3 Lite adds TPM 2.0 for hardware-backed security coursework. Start small with the BOSGAME E3 Neo only if your first lab is one guest, and keep every vulnerable VM on a host-only network.