The best-value thin clients with a PCIe slot in 2026
I was picking hardware for an OPNsense router and needed a real PCIe slot, which most cheap low-power boxes don’t have. A slot lets you add a network card with SFP+ or more ports, and swap it later for something else (like a GPU).
The thin clients I wrote about last time don’t have one. The Wyse 5070 and OptiPlex 3000 both have an M.2 A/E key slot, good for a 2.5GbE adapter or a Coral TPU but not an SFP+ or a quad-port NIC.
A few corporate thin clients do have a full-size slot:
| Model | CPU | PCIe slot | Used price |
|---|---|---|---|
| HP t730 | AMD RX-427BB (4C) | half-height x16 mechanical, x8 electrical | ~$100-120 |
| HP t740 | AMD Ryzen V1756B (4C/8T) | half-height x16 mechanical, x8 electrical, Gen3 | ~$150-170 |
| Dell Wyse 5070 Extended | Celeron J4105 / Pentium J5005 | half-height slot in the thicker “Extended” chassis | ~$90-130 |
The HP t730 and t740 are the well-known ones, both popular pfSense/OPNsense boxes with a half-height x16-mechanical, x8-electrical slot. The Wyse 5070 comes in two sizes. The slim one has only the M.2 slot. The thicker Extended chassis adds a half-height PCIe slot.
The slot is half-height, so you’ll want a low-profile card, and its power is limited (roughly 35W on the t740), enough for a NIC but only a low-power GPU.
The other route is a Topton or CWWK mini PC, which usually skips the slot and solders on the NICs instead, often four 2.5GbE ports or a couple of SFP+ cages. Handy if those ports are what you need, but you’re stuck with them, with no way to swap in a specific card.