As we plebeians continue to struggle to afford hardware prices nowadays, one ultra-wealthy enthusiast has redefined lavish luxury by ordering a custom, solid-gold mini PC valued at approximately $1.7 million. Talk about rubbing it in our face.

Basically, the creation replaces a Kubb Fanless mini PC aluminum shell with 24-carat gold, crafted by French manufacturer Bleujour. While the standard Kubb cube weighs roughly 2.1 kilograms (and retails for roughly $1,810), the gold swap drives the weight up to 13 kilograms (roughly 28.6 pounds). 

Ironically, the absurd material choice does offer a thermal advantage over stock hardware. After all, gold has around 30-50% better thermal conductivity over aluminum, which means the solid gold chassis eye candy doubles as an efficient passive heatsink, without the need for fans (especially considering the innards). Anecdotally, copper would have delivered even higher thermal efficiency at a tiny fraction of the cost, but clearly this wasn't the priority of the buyer.

Only the outside is gold. The innards remain relatively pedestrian, both is specs and price - Image: Fanless Tech

Beneath its expensive exterior, the internal hardware is way less lofty. The Kubb Fanless platform can be configured with newer processors such as the Intel Core Ultra 5 225H, Core Ultra X7 358H, or AMD Ryzen AI 5 340. The interior supports up to 128GB of DDR5 RAM and features a primary 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD alongside space for a secondary drive. While these specifications make for a capable workhorse capable of handling daily multitasking, creative workflows, and light computing, the underlying components represent less than one-tenth of one percent of the machine's astronomical final price.

The identity of the client who commissioned this one-off PC remains unknown, but the unit stands as one of the most expensive (and perhaps misplaced) custom desktop computers ever assembled. We can imagine that shipping the machine for routine warranty service or software troubleshooting will likely require an armed escort or two. We can't imagine, however, why someone would choose a lowly mini PC to upgrade with gold. Perhaps everything this mystery person owns is gold and this Kubb is merely a small addition to his or her collection.