GMKtec NucBox G3 Plus Review:
Best Budget Mini PC for $229?

Full Specifications

The NucBox G3 Plus uses Intel’s N150 — the latest-gen Twin Lake budget chip. Paired with 16GB DDR4, a 512GB PCIe 3.0 NVMe, and a 2.5GbE Intel NIC, it’s a genuinely complete package for under $230.

Design & Build Quality

The G3 Plus is palm-sized at 100 × 100 × 40 mm and weighs only 262g. The plastic chassis doesn’t feel premium, but it’s solid for the price. The tool-free top lid is a genuine highlight — RAM and storage are user-accessible in under a minute.

At 262 grams, the NucBox G3 Plus is one of the lightest mini PCs available — light enough to mount behind a monitor with the included VESA bracket and forget it’s there entirely. The chassis is plastic rather than aluminum, which is a real-world tradeoff at this price point: it feels less premium than a Beelink metal-body unit but is still solid in day-to-day handling.

The standout design feature is tool-free access. The top lid snaps off by hand with no screwdrivers required, exposing the SO-DIMM RAM slot and both M.2 storage bays immediately. This makes upgrading straightforward — swap the RAM to 32GB or add a second M.2 SATA drive without any special tools. This level of accessibility is genuinely unusual at this price.

Port placement is practical: two HDMI and the 2.5GbE LAN on the rear, four USB 3.2 ports split between front and rear, and a 3.5mm audio jack. The absence of a USB-C port is noticeable in 2026 — it limits display flexibility and means no USB4 for fast external storage. For the G3 Plus’s target use cases (budget office PC, light server), this is acceptable, but worth noting.

Performance — What the Intel N150 Can Do

The N150 is a 6-10% improvement over the N100. In practice, it handles web browsing, Office, 4K video playback, and light server workloads smoothly. It is not a performance chip — don’t expect gaming, video editing, or heavy multi-core workloads.

The Intel N150 (Twin Lake) is designed for efficiency, not raw performance. Its 4-core design at 3.6 GHz handles most everyday tasks without hesitation: web browsing with 15–20 tabs, Office applications, 4K video playback via hardware decode, and simultaneous light background tasks. The chip operates at 6W TDP under normal use, which explains the ~10W idle system power draw — exceptional for a 24/7 device.

Community benchmarks (Geekbench 5 multi-core: ~1,100; Cinebench R23 multi: ~2,000) place the N150 firmly in the budget tier. It outperforms older N100, N95, and Celeron chips. It is not competitive with Ryzen AI 9 or Core Ultra processors on compute-heavy workloads. For the G3 Plus’s intended use cases, this is exactly appropriate.

One real-world standout: the N150’s Intel Quick Sync hardware video encoder/decoder enables Plex to hardware-transcode 1080p streams without significant CPU load. In testing by multiple homelab reviewers, the G3 Plus handled 3–4 simultaneous 1080p Plex streams without issue. For 4K HDR tone mapping, it’s less capable — the Intel UHD 24EU handles 4K decode but tone mapping performance is limited compared to AMD VCN in Ryzen-based machines.

Home Server Use: Proxmox, Docker, TrueNAS, Plex

This is where the G3 Plus genuinely earns its reputation. The Intel i226-V NIC is fully compatible with Proxmox and VMware ESXi. At ~10W idle and ~21W under full Proxmox load, it’s one of the most efficient home server platforms available at any price.

Proxmox VE

Proxmox installs and runs correctly on the G3 Plus. The Intel i226-V 2.5GbE NIC is recognized natively — a critical point for homelab users, as many budget NICs require workarounds. Under full load in Proxmox with 2–3 LXC containers running simultaneously, measured power draw is approximately 21W (confirmed by Virtualization Howto testing). With 16GB RAM and 4 cores, the G3 Plus comfortably hosts lightweight containers like Pi-hole, Home Assistant, Nginx Proxy Manager, and a small file server without contention. For heavier VM workloads with 3+ VMs needing dedicated resources, it will hit its limits — at that point, the BOSGAME M4 or Peladn HO5 is the right upgrade.

TrueNAS SCALE

TrueNAS SCALE installs and runs on the G3 Plus. The main limitation: no internal SATA ports mean storage is limited to the two M.2 slots or external USB drives. For an all-NVMe NAS under 8TB this is entirely workable. For multi-drive HDD arrays, a purpose-built NAS device or the Beelink ME Pro is a better fit. Use TrueNAS SCALE (Linux-based) — TrueNAS CORE is obsolete in 2026.

Docker (Pi-hole, Home Assistant, Nextcloud, Jellyfin)

Docker running on Ubuntu Server or Debian is where the G3 Plus is most compelling as a starter homelab. Pi-hole, Home Assistant, Nginx Proxy Manager, Jellyfin, and Nextcloud all run well simultaneously. The 16GB RAM provides comfortable headroom for 6–10 containers. For a first home server running a curated Docker stack, this machine is essentially perfectly matched to the workload.

Who Should Buy the GMKtec NucBox G3 Plus?

GMKtec G3 Plus vs Beelink EQ14 vs GMKtec G3S

Three budget N-series mini PCs that compete directly at the $150–$230 price range.

The verdict on the comparison: for dual LAN and routing use cases, the Beelink EQ14 2.5G version is the better pick. For everything else at this price, the G3 Plus and EQ14 are essentially equivalent in daily use — both run N150 at similar power draw. The G3 Plus’s second SATA M.2 slot is a genuine advantage for users who want to add cheap 2TB SATA storage alongside their OS drive. The Beelink EQ14’s 3-year warranty and metal chassis appeal to users who want a more robust long-term investment.

Pros & Cons

Final Verdict

The GMKtec NucBox G3 Plus is straightforward to evaluate: it does exactly what it promises, at a price that’s hard to beat. For home server use, budget office needs, retro gaming, and low-power 24/7 always-on services, it’s one of the best options available under $230. The Intel i226-V NIC compatibility with Proxmox and ESXi makes it genuinely useful for homelab beginners — not just a “cheap box that kind of works” but a platform with real community support and proven reliability.

Its limitations are equally clear. No dual LAN rules it out as a pfSense/OPNsense router. No USB4 limits external storage bandwidth. The 1-year warranty and plastic build are real tradeoffs versus Beelink alternatives. If any of those limitations are dealbreakers for your use case, the Beelink EQ14 2.5G is the natural alternative at essentially the same price.

For everyone else — first home server, budget office PC, learning Proxmox, running Pi-hole and Home Assistant, or just needing a capable small PC that barely uses any electricity — the G3 Plus is an easy recommendation.

Frequently Asked Questions