I started getting mini PCs when raspberry pi prices were peaking. My favorite mini PC I have was a bit expensive at around $200 CAD at the time. Its an hp elitedesk 705 g4 with a Ryzen 5 pro 2400g. Runs just about any server I need and does great for audio recording in Windows.
I also snagged a lenovo mini thinkcentre for about $100 CAD. It’s a bit older with a 4th gen i5 ( I think) and 8gb of ddr3. It sits in the data closet for contract work that I do and has all my work stuff, office 365, Visio, affinity designer, cloud connections.
I use a remote connection with my main PC ( running pop!_os Linux) to connect to either of the two instead of buying extra monitors or any peripherals. At the very least, It’s been a fun experiment.