Transcription
What if I told you you can build this tiny gaming PC for only $900? Even with today's current RAM crisis, there is a way to do it. You'll be able to build a PC this small and still be able to fit a fulllength GPU. It'll be compact enough to fit on any desk setup. A PC so small you can even fit it into a backpack for portability. And it won't be compromised on performance, meaning low noise, temperatures, and high FPS. If that sounds good, then this PC build could be for you.
I will include links to everything in the video description below. Just a heads up though, prices in the links may change as prices for M.2 drives have slowly been going up and rumors of GPU prices going up are soon to follow. So, be sure to check my links for the latest prices.
The build cost actually starts with what RAM we decide to use. As you know, RAM prices are at an all-time high. But the RAM everyone should be getting if the purpose of the PC is mainly for gaming, then it would be 16 GB of RAM. That's right, you heard me. 16 GB of RAM. And to keep cost down, it'll be DDR4 RAM, too. You're probably thinking, "What the heck? That crap is ancient." And yes, DDR5 does perform better. But when it comes to gaming, the performance differences are only between 3 to 15% better than DDR4, depending on the games you play. But for the current prices on DDR5 versus the performance difference to DDR4, it's absolutely not worth it. So DDR4 for the comeback and for the win.
I'll show you how well this PC performs whilst gaming in 1080p, 1440p, and even 4K. And you might be pleasantly surprised with its performance given its size. So we'll start with a choice of PC case. The one I've selected is the one in the middle. Personally, I prefer the super tiny case to the right due to its size and the fact that you can build a decent gaming PC in it. If you haven't seen my many builds using this case, go check them out. The only problem with this case, it's limited to only one size GPU, which is usually a single fan GPU or the lowprofile GPU with triple mini fans. Secondly, you are limited with the power supply, too. The PC case to the left is great for an ITX PC build, but it's just too big compared to the other two, which leaves us with a tiny case in the middle. A case that can fit a full-size GPU and a SFX power supply, meaning we are able to choose from a range of GPUs and PSUs to meet our performance needs and budget. The build quality is solid, and there is a bit of weight to this case considering how small it is. Along with the case, you do have an option to swap one of the side panels with a transparent acrylic side panel. so you can see all your PC components, but that would leave the inside vulnerable to dust, so it would require cleaning once in a while. Luckily, the main side panels do have dust filters, so you can easily stick with them. In terms of accessories, it comes with all the necessary screws, a handle, and a belt strap for some reason. Oh, and by the way, this is also the first time I've had my hands on one of these little electric PC screwdrivers. They're super useful if you just need to quickly screw things in or take screws out. And the sound is so satisfying, too. Inside you have room to fit a full-size GPU up to a length of 300 mm. And on the other side, you can fit a CPU with a max height of 69 mm. This case doesn't have room to fit any case fans, which is a bummer. But not to worry, I will share a undervolt setting that will keep temps down and a CPU and GPU fans at a low noise level.
I'm using a AM4 motherboard. I've used this board in many of my videos and it still holds up well even to this day. It features PCI 4.0 0 for the GPU and M.2 drives and DDR4 slots for our precious memory. CPU wise, I'm using the Ryzen 5 5600. You can pick these up for around $120 on eBay or you can get the 5600X for around $137. To keep the CPU cooler, I'm using a 53 mm high CPU cooler by ID Cooling. You can go up to 69 millimeters if you'd like, but this CPU cooler is sufficient enough. It's also compact enough to not hang over the RAM slot. And it looks like it just about cleared these heat sinks on the motherboard, too. For storage, I'm using a 1 TB M.2 drive by Crucial. I would recommend 2 TB depending on how many games you want to store, but I'm using 1 TB to keep the cost down. Just bear in mind this motherboard only has one M.2 slot, so it's best to decide now how much M.2 storage you might need. Either that or just add a 2.5 SSD drive. There is definitely room to stick one in this case somewhere. For memory, I'm using two sticks of 8 GB RAM by Corsair. You would be surprised that you don't actually need that much RAM for gaming as long as you keep things running in the background to a minimum. Running apps like Discord and a couple of web pages would be fine whilst gaming, but multiple apps and windows open whilst gaming would require more RAM like 32 GB. But 16 GB for the purpose of just gaming in this build is enough.
It's good to have most of the components preassembled on a motherboard before inserting them into the case as you would be working with limited space. It's best to connect the front panel IO cables as it will be slightly harder to do so when the PSU is in. I did leave out the cable for the USBC port as this motherboard didn't have the correct header for it, but you can certainly buy an adapter if you want to use it. I'm using a 600 W SFX power supply I bought on eBay for $100, which is actually a really good deal for this, but you can certainly get a SFX power supply a lot cheaper either secondhand on eBay or new on Amazon. and you can go as low as 450 watts. I recommend connecting the power cables before installing a PSU as it'll be tight to do so when the power supply is installed.
For the latest budget GPU, I would recommend either going for the RTX 560 8 GB or the RX960 XT6 GB. A lot of people complain about the 5060 having only 8 GB of VRAM that it's not enough to run games in high detail and resolutions. And yes, that is true, but not for all games. It does depend on what games you play as some games rely heavily on VRAM. And in a lot of situations, you can turn down the details to lower the VRAMm usage. And most of the times, the games still look great even on low settings. But there are games out there that don't require much VRAM at all. So in that case, the 5060 with 8 GB of VRAM would be great for a build like this, as you would be saving around $140 or more. I will be using a 9060 XT with 16 GB of VRAM, mainly to show you how some games use a lot of VRAM and where other games don't. The card I'm using is one by Gigabyte, and it fits nicely in this case, even with a bit of length and depth to spare.
I did do a tiny undervolt on both the CPU and GPU. The CPU voltage set to 1VT with a clock speed of 4,000 MHz and a GPU voltage offset is -6 m volts with a power limit of - 10%. Here's the performance difference between stock and undervolt settings. There is a minimal decrease in GPU power consumption of around -15 W with temps down by -1° C along with a tiny FPS hit. So, you could pretty much just keep the GPU at stock settings at this point unless you really need lower power consumption. Whereas the CPU temps have improved by -6° and it looks like there isn't much difference in terms of temps when you use either the acrylic side panel or mesh side panel.
Playing games like Battlefield 6 shows how much VRAM this game really needs. At 1080p low settings, VRAM usage is under 8 GB, but once you up the settings towards its max detail, the game uses more than 8 GB of VRAM, and the game uses even more VRAM once you go beyond 1440p. So, the 9060 XT 16 GB would be more suitable for this game. VRAM aside, you can still play this game with 16 GB of memory with decent FPS at low settings, and the game still looks good. Then you have games like Arc Raiders, which significantly requires less VRAM. At 1080p and 1440p, it uses around 4 GB of VRAM, and it runs smoothly at 1440p with plenty FPS. Even if you max the settings out at 4K with frame gen on, it only uses around 6 GB of VRAM. So, that shows you how you can save around $140 for this build. If you go for a GPU like the 5060 with 8 GB of VRAM, it just depends on the games you play, the resolution, and the amount of detail you set the game to. A tiny gaming PC like this with 16 GB of memory, and a GPU with 8 GB of VRAM is perfectly capable.
Links to all the parts are in the video description below. And make sure you snap up these parts before prices start to go a bit nuts. And thanks for watching.