A full-size desktop computer will always be much faster for any workload that fully utilizes the CPU.
However, a full-size desktop computer seldom makes sense as a personal computer, i.e. as the computer that interfaces to a human via display, keyboard and graphic pointer.
For most of the activities done directly by a human, i.e. reading & editing documents, browsing Internet, watching movies and so on, a mini-PC is powerful enough. The only exception is playing games designed for big GPUs, but there are many computer users who are not gamers.
In most cases the optimal setup is to use a mini-PC as your personal computer and a full-size desktop as a server on which you can launch any time-consuming tasks, e.g. compilation of big software projects, EDA/CAD simulations, testing suites etc.
The desktop used as server can use Wake-on-LAN to stay powered off when not needed and wake up whenever it must run some task remotely.
However, a full-size desktop computer seldom makes sense as a personal computer, i.e. as the computer that interfaces to a human via display, keyboard and graphic pointer.
For most of the activities done directly by a human, i.e. reading & editing documents, browsing Internet, watching movies and so on, a mini-PC is powerful enough. The only exception is playing games designed for big GPUs, but there are many computer users who are not gamers.
In most cases the optimal setup is to use a mini-PC as your personal computer and a full-size desktop as a server on which you can launch any time-consuming tasks, e.g. compilation of big software projects, EDA/CAD simulations, testing suites etc.
The desktop used as server can use Wake-on-LAN to stay powered off when not needed and wake up whenever it must run some task remotely.