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Advice on compact gaming pc needed

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andreadandrea

I've been seeing that there are on the market some compact gaming pc, with form factors similar to console ones, by the such of Alienware or Asus or.

Any thoughts/experience with them?

I'm thinking of a gaming pc for the living room, which of course eliminates the chance of a classic desktop and even a laptop. The compact ones seem to have many advantages I'm looking for: compact, transportable, ready out of the box, decently powered.

On the other hand, I also know that you can assemble a compact rig yourself, but I'm not experienced in it and short of spare time to investigate, buy and assemble parts. My parameters to keep in mind would be: compactness, decent muscle (not necessary to be extreme), not power hungry device. Budget: around 600€

Can anybody give me any advice?

9 years ago*

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6 Comments
SanderHyrax

Link to a guide
Basically I built something very similar.
Pictures (doesn't have a gpu though (only integrated), meant for office work etc)

The problems with this build (and small builds):

  • it's going to be noisy (there are a bit larger cases from fractal design and cooler master that are more silent, but if you want this small it's going to be noisy - you can replace the cpu cooler for a silent one, but the gpu will be noisy especially if there are no case fans (such is the case here))
  • may have temperature problems.
  • The larger counterpart is going to be cheaper at same performance

I would recommend building it yourself:

  • It's easier to upgrade at a later point
  • it's going to be cheaper than pre built stuff (at same performance)

But it is totally doable - you have to choose the case first, that will ultimately determine what you can add and what you have to keep in mind

9 years ago
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andreadandrea

thanks for the link and the ideas. appreciated the noisy bit. that makes me think that a commercial product could be better, since the heat flow could be better studied and fan noise reduced. i'm somehow expectant of the new steamboxes.

9 years ago
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SanderHyrax

Well if you choose the CPU cooler and see the GPU reviews (they usual cover noise) you could end up with a pretty quiet build (when not gaming). Intensive gaming is going to be noisy anyway (I have a Fractal Design R4 case with 2x R9 270x, really silent except when high load for long periods, then I have to switch the case fans on higher speed).

I would recommend reading about steam machines (there is no guarantee that they will be quiet)

9 years ago
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docRAM

Check this subreddit

9 years ago
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andreadandrea

looks like a generic build a pc thread. thanks anyway:)

9 years ago
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HexMoon

Check this article, it might give you an idea.

9 years ago
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Closed 2 years ago by andreadandrea.