Mini ITX / PC Console Build

chapplejc

chapplejc

chapplejc

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Joined
2 Jan 2019
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45
Hello all - long ago OcUK buyer, somehow only today forum user. The laptop I bought from OcUK remains the best tank I've ever owned so I thought I'd come back for some advice.

Now, I fully expect a whole load of groans of despair about this, but hear me out - my current set up is I have a Mac laptop which I use for internet, music, travelling, work, etc. I also have a NUC for some TV, a few very light PC games and old games, and a PS4 for some more heavy duty games (GTAV, NMS, probs RDR2 shortly and some other sports/racing games).

Atm, it's all a bit unwieldy, and it feels like a bit of a waste of time/space having a PS4 and a NUC when I could combine the two. So what I'm looking for is a console size / form factor gaming build. I'm not looking for anything out of this world (some improvement on a base PS4 would be ideal), but what is important is size. I simply do not have room for a big tower set up and frankly, I don't want one.

I was looking around for off-the-shelf solutions and the MSI Trident looks pretty ideal (as below), but I'm certainly not already sold on that as the solution, although it seems to make sense. I'd like a sleek machine along those lines but if there are other solutions/builds, I'd love to know what my options are. Upgradeability / future proofing as best possible in a small form factor would be immense too.

*** Please read the rules regarding competitor linking ***

As ever, minimum cost for max performance preferred, although I don't mind a bit of leeway to get the right form factor.

Thanks all!
 
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@chapplejc

Rebuilt - lessor CPU but much better GPU and cheaper

My basket at Overclockers UK:
  • 1 x OcUK Gaming Rapier Mini-ITX Gaming PC - AMD Ryzen Quad Core = £1,096.00
    • Case:Raijintek Ophion Evo Mini-ITX Case - Black Window
    • Processor:AMD Ryzen 5 1600 Six Core 3.60GHz Processor (MPK)
    • Memory:Team Group Vulcan T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C16 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey (TLGD416G30
    • Primary Solid State Drive:TeamGroup 480GB L5 Lite SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 3D NAND Solid State Drive
    • Secondary Drive:Seagate BarraCuda 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache HDD - *System Stock*
    • Graphics Card:OcUK GeForce GTX 1070Ti Blower 8192MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (ZT-P10710G-10P)
    • Security Software:Unwanted
    • Operating System:Microsoft Windows 10 Home Advanced - Systems
Total: £1,110.10 (includes shipping: £14.10)​
​

Parts list for OCUK to build for £80-100 between the £1400-1700 systems you've posted above

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,665.43 (includes shipping: £12.60)​
​


That's a rtx 2070 Vs gtx 1070 from the MSI, double the SSD storage as well :)
 
Thanks @orbitalwalsh, much appreciated. I totally forgot you could dig pretty deep into the configurator here. Second config looks pretty juicy :eek:. Albeit a touch beyond what my sanity will allow me to spend. I used to be super up-to-date with specs but I've fallen behind in recent years. Quick bit of reading and it seems I have completely missed AMD coming back. Do the Ryzens hold up to Intel? What sort of longevity do they offer? The processor would presumably be upgradeable down the line, albeit if newer chips fit the mobo.

Also, I hate to harp on about the form factor, but are there any more compact options? 375x174x290mm still seems huge to me, although that's probably partially to do with not having (regularly) used or owned a tower for more than a decade and gaming on a PS4. I'd really like the option to be able to set it up, use it and store it as out the way as possible.

Thanks again for your help - anyone else with suggestions, advice or wisdom, please put me straight :).
 
Evo is 19L so about the size of a shoe box with USB C connection and good cooling .
Ability to use high quality ATX small PSU which are a lot cheaper then SFX and house good sized GPUs .

PS4 is 4.5L of space , Pro is 5.3 L .

You can get 10L cases on here but your choice of GPU is limited a lot !

Silverstone Raven itx is 14L

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,243.58 (includes shipping: £11.70)​
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Kolink Satellite is 13L

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,147.58 (includes shipping: £11.70)
​

vega would allow yourself to grab a nice 1440p freesync screen that would go handy with PS4/Xbox or next gen consoles
 
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Thanks @orbitalwalsh, sorry for late reply. I've been chatting spec with OcUK and I'm going to go with the Dan Cases A4. I know it sounds like I'm splitting hairs over what is about 5cm/6cm width, but I want something as small as possible.

I'm pairing a Ryzen 5 2600X with a GTX 1060, 16GB 3000MHZ RAM and a Samsung Polaris 500GB M.2 as my primary drive. I should really have said from the outset I'm only shooting for 1080p. How does that sound for spec?
 
chapplejc said:
Thanks @orbitalwalsh, sorry for late reply. I've been chatting spec with OcUK and I'm going to go with the Dan Cases A4. I know it sounds like I'm splitting hairs over what is about 5cm/6cm width, but I want something as small as possible.

I'm pairing a Ryzen 5 2600X with a GTX 1060, 16GB 3000MHZ RAM and a Samsung Polaris 500GB M.2 as my primary drive. I should really have said from the outset I'm only shooting for 1080p. How does that sound for spec?
Click to expand...

depends on your budget , also your monitor/screen ?

would push RX 570/580 which are on cracking deals and match or slightly under gtx 1060 but can be paired with cheaper freesync monitors. seens xbox now uses freesync. in theory its just a firmware update for Sony and most likely next gens will have freesync as well .

1080p is a great resolution, esports play at it but with 144hz + monitors, just depends what speed you want ! not to mention RTX 2060 comes out tomorrow :)

also the dan case is quite expensive for what it is , sene the kolink rocket carbon copy ?
 
Top end budget is £1300. Re the case, again, it’s just size / preference. I want and need a small build.

My build currently comes in at around £1250 so if I was to scale the process back to a Ryzen 5 2600, I’d probably still have £100 leeway to go a bit more powerful on the GPU.

But as I said previously, I’m only aiming for 1080p and I’ll be using a TV so I felt like the GTX 1060 was ample in the first instance.

Perhaps in 18 months to two years, I’ll look at my options to switch to a monitor instead and upgrade the GPU once some of the new cards and tech come down in price.

On that basis, it seems logical to go for the Ryzen 5 2600X for a touch more future proofing, as if my reading and research around the Ryzen range is correct, the Ryzen 5 shouldn’t bottleneck any low to mid-range cards in the next few years.

Also, the RTX 2060 isn’t much of an upgrade on the GTX 1060, if I recall correctly, besides adding ray tracing, etc, which I probably won’t be able to utilise particularly effectively, if at all.

In short, a Ryzen 5 2600X / GTX 1060 build would appear to be the best option for me right now, with scope to improve the GPU and monitor further down the line.

Only question is whether the RX 570/580 is a better buy at this time, general benchmarking and percormance at 1080p seems pretty equal, albeit with fluctuations between the two title by title.

I’ve read AMD is a little ahead on DX12 performance, is that still the case? Or had Nvidia caught up?
 
would still push the RTX 2070 for £1250 or vega 64 for £1150

@chapplejc

then rtx 2060 is a HUGE boost over the GTX 1060! there was always a massive performance gap between gtx 1060 and 1070 , not so much between then 1070 and 1080 so was a surprise for nvidia to do the GTX 1070Ti. Really needed to be a GTX 1060Ti at the time but non came due to lack of competition and landing max profits .

the RTX is about gtx 1070ti level in performance along with Tensor cores which will help massively in the future, RT cores not so much

will do a build when RTX 2060 lands and see how prices fair

gigabyte so a Mini 2060... means you can slap it in this bad boy!

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/lazer3d-lz7-mini-itx-case-configurator-online-only-ca-02v-lz.html

https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/lazer3d-lz7-quiet-gaming-cube-pc-case.596/page-81

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...ddr6-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-1ap-gi.html

ah wait prices are up...


My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,142.58 (includes shipping: £11.70)


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