Conclusion

If you are looking for a powerful small desktop system, which can be easily used during various events and LAN parties, the MSI Nightblade MI is definitely a very good choice. Despite the ITX form factor of the system, MSI managed to squeeze some powerful components inside. In our tests, the small MSI Nightblade MI proved to be fast and efficient. We tested the computer under various circumstances and scenarios and compared them to the results gathered with the old Nightblade, which was based on a faster CPU and GPU. The 3D results, where the graphics card is most important, as well as in 2D environments, where the CPU acts as the bottleneck, and storage influenced tests, show that MSI Nightblade MI PC system is a solid product. Naturally, there is a huge difference of scores in some benchmarks, since our comparison system uses an Intel Core-i5K CPU and a GTX 960, compared to an i7-4670K and a GTX 960.

The temperatures measured in games and benchmarks are inferior compared to a normal case, however, they still remain at decent levels. The heatsink with radial fan placed on the CPU is able to provide adequate cooling to the i5-4460S under any circumstance. Apart from that the system is subjectively silent.

Storage wise, the MSI Nightblade MI, or at least the version that we received, offers a 128GB Transcend SSD and a Western Digital 1TB 3.5" HDD. If the space is not enough, you can install an additional HDD inside the HDD case placed in the front of the case. The performance of the SATA SSD is on the level we expected and therefore good.

Now, we come to the price: The MSI Nighblade MI is available at AK Informatica for €999 (without SSD). We have tried to configure a PC system using the same components combined with MSI Nightblade MI case at Geizhals.eu and the price difference between the two configurations is very little, and in our opinion, it's easily justified.

Recommendation

The MSI Nightblade MI is an excellent compact gaming PC with a design you have to like. If this is the case, then we can highly recommend this little gaming machine and it's definitely worth the 999 Euro AK Informatica is asking for.
The MSI Nightblade MI receives very good 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Page 1 - Introduction	Page 10 - WinRAR
Page 2 - Preview	Page 11 - Frybench
Page 3 - Specifications	Page 12 - Games
Page 4 - 3DMark	Page 13 - SSD
Page 5 - UCBench	Page 14 - Power Consumption
Page 6 - XTU	Page 15 - Temperatures / Noise Levels
Page 7 - Cinebench	Page 16 - Conclusion
Page 8 - HWBot Prime
Page 9 - Blackhole