I Built a Tiny Gaming PC for About the Price of a Console

At just 15cm tall and 8cm wide, this small gaming PC build might not have the might of an RTX-powered machine, but it's damn capable for its size and price.

[2pacalypsenow]

ok..

[wolf581]

Yeah OK.... Nice sarcasm there... The OK means
360$ for a tiny gaming pc.... Which still cant outrun...no.. No.. Cant even imagine to run games like gow, lou2, uncharted 4,horizon zero dawn like the Base ps4 model at... 290$ even after all these years... Thats why we say gaming Consoles and no gaming pc. And what gaming pc...they lost all the AAA exclusives with the Best graphics engines from the Master Race era.... Half life, doom, far cry, crysis, quake, unreal tournament... So OK

[2pacalypsenow]

Ok....

[iammason]

I don't see Half Life Alyx coming to PS4 🧐
Enjoy paying to play online 😊

[Hungryalpaca]

It can’t run games that aren’t released on it? Yet games that are run better?

Ok....

[Silly gameAr]

How did a guy saying ok, make so many people so mad, that they felt like they had to defend the PC's honor from those pesky console peasants? lmao.

[Babadook7]

Ps4 has far better bang for the buck. Better graphics AND cheaper. I don’t see who this unit is for.

[nismo370]

Console peasant 🤣

[CaptainHenry916]

OK

[isarai]

Congratulations?...

[RazzerRedux]

"I Built a Tiny PC"

Fixed. That is NOT a gaming PC. It is just a tiny PC. This isn't even gaming related at all.

[SegaGamer]

There is no such thing as a gaming pc.

[RazzerRedux]

Yes there is. It is the difference between a PC that can play some games and a PC that was built specially for playing games.

edit: Christopher explains better below.

[Christopher]

I get where you are coming from, but 100% disagree. You would specifically buy memory, CPU, MB, and GPU based on its ability to support and run game engines and technologies that you wouldn't for other uses of the PC. "Build a PC for gaming" is the same as "build a gaming PC". By your logic, people "build a car for racing" and not "build a race car".

[XBManiac]

Ok... but admit it, there are "No gaming PCs".

[Hungryalpaca]

So there’s no such thing as a race car? What about a dump truck? No? Just car and truck? Not built to do anything specific?

[Jon_Targaryen]

My I5 4690K, 16GB of DDR3 2600 RAM and 1080Ti isnt a gaming PC.. you're right, its for Google chrome.

[kryteris]

you dishonor pc master race.

[GOULDYBOBS]

@sir Bruce ok my desktop workstation shits all over your games consoles at playing games

[Christopher]

$250 Xbox One X (common price for the console) performs way better than that.

[CuVe]

X one x is more like $450 but yes it is way faster. This is not a gaming pc.

[Christopher]

Xbox One X has gone on sale regularly since January 2019 for $250. It's what I paid for mine.

[Nitrox]

@Christopher

I call bullsh*** unless you’re talking about something other than USD for the currency.

I think your mistaking the one S. Or... you got one hell of a deal, in which case congrats.

This is not a common sale price for the X

[BillyG0AT]

The One X was on sale at £250 a few weeks back in the UK

[Christopher]

I am using the '$', what currency do you think I'm talking about?

And the One S is normally below $250 for a while now, so why would it be a 'deal' to get it for that price?

And I got the same deal everyone else did on the Google Store (which comes up every two or so months there) as well as what people got for half of December last year. The console, like the One S, has reached its "lowest point" that it seems MIcrosoft wants to get to for sale prices. One S is $199, one X is $250.

[Vits]

If we are being generous that can be called a entry level gaming PC. However is a build more oriented for a HTPC to be honest. It would work eSports games. But for anything more graphically intensive it wouldn't be a very good experience unless you are looking for 720p/30fps on low.

At this point I think you are better off getting either the PS4 or XOne basic models. They will cost you less and will play games better. Or for more or less the same value you can get a Xbox One X that will blow this small PC out of the water.

[CrimsonWing69]

Hang on, I think I have a cookie for you!

[ziratul]

Windows 10 key $5 ... buying VLK keys on ebay is piracy and illegal

[King_Noctis]

At around $300, this seem like a really good PC for mid to lower tier gaming.

By the way, based on the comments, why does it seem like the usual suspects have so many problems with this article?

[RazzerRedux]

"At around $300, this seem like a really good PC for mid to lower tier gaming."

It is a good PC for achieving a small form factor, but it isn't a gaming PC and cannot have the option to become a gaming PC as there is no way to add a GPU.

"By the way, based on the comments, why does it seem like the usual suspects have so many problems with this article?"

lol....right. So everyone would jump on board if I wrote an article about how Ouya is a "really good" console? Just stop.

[CBaoth]

You know Noctis has to make at least 1 pro Ninty, 1 white knight Xbox, and 1 anti-PS fan comment a day right? Don't worry - he's just doing his dailies!

[King_Noctis]

“ You know Noctis has to make at least 1 pro Ninty, 1 white knight Xbox, and 1 anti-PS fan comment a day right? Don't worry - he's just doing his dailies“

But this is a PC article. So what do Sony, Nintendo, or Xbox have anything to do with my comment? And Anti-sony fan? Have you seen some of their comments on this articles or any other articles that aren’t related to Sony?

[King_Noctis]

“It is a good PC for achieving a small form factor, but it isn't a gaming PC and cannot have the option to become a gaming PC as there is no way to add a GPU.”

It is not a gaming PC. But it can play mid to lower tier games as I had said, and at that price, it is indeed really good. Obviously gaming PC costs more than that, and we all know that.

“ lol....right. So everyone would jump on board if I wrote an article about how Ouya is a "really good" console? Just stop”

“ isarai19h ago
Congratulations?...”

“ 2pacalypsenow20h ago
ok..”

“ sampsonon1h ago
that's cute”

“ Cris7tiano1m ago(Edited 1m ago)
uhm, congrats?”

Are you telling me these usual people have no agenda whatsoever on articles like this?

[RazzerRedux]

"It is not a gaming PC."

We agree on that. I wouldn't call it "really good" at anything except being a base PC with a small form factor, but for low level, 720p gaming....yeah, it is what it is. I would probably agree that it is "good" if had the ability to be upgraded with a beefier GPU, but it just doesn't. As it is, it has an extremely short lifespan in gaming unless you just want to play the same older games over and over. To me, that's not "really good" at all.

"Are you telling me these usual people have no agenda whatsoever on articles like this?"

Yeah they do. They are mocking this so-called "gaming PC" that the author "built" (most of it was pre-built) and wants to brag about for some reason.

So what other agenda is there that has gotten you all twitchy, eh?

"If they can come up with a better build than the author had at the same price point, then I’d love to see that (and would agree with their mocking). Until then, I don’t think they have any rights to mock the author for this article and their experiment with building a cheap-ish PC that can run some modern games."

Ok....but that is not an "agenda". You just think we are wrong for mocking this build. That is fine, but next time just say that and cut out the "agenda" bullshit. And as someone else pointed out, the price point is crap as they are buying shady Windows keys on ebay. This isn't even accurate. Add another $99 to the price.

[King_Noctis]

“ Yeah they do. They are mocking this so-called "gaming PC" that the author "built" (most of it was pre-built) and wants to brag about for some reason.“

If they can come up with a better build than the author had at the same price point, then I’d love to see that (and would agree with their mocking). Until then, I don’t think they have any rights (nor reason for that matter) to mock the author for this article and their experiment with building a cheap-ish PC that can even run some modern games at an acceptable framerate.

[sprinterboy]

Does the person who wrote the article think they've walked on water or something or solved nxt level rocket propulsion?

[bluefox755]

No pics that contrast the size to a real life object. The only reason I clicked the link. I kinda wanna build a tiny emulation box.

[Lon3wolf]

Or you could use the dimensions mentioned and measure gauge it?

[Giblet_Head]

Why purposely limit your build to the budget of a console? May as well buy a car with no wheels.

[sampsonon]

that's cute.

[BradsGamingPlace]

This is such a weak article. No pictures of the actual build/building proces, No performance metrics, and barely a discussion on the difference between this desktop and a console device.

[Lon3wolf]

Not sure that it was fully built as that case (in the UK that I can see) only comes as part of a bare bones kit with the APU installed.

[Picture_Dancer]

Where is keyboard and mouse? When you buy a console you get s controller.
Where is Blu-ray drive? Both PS4 and xbox have optical drive
Where is hdmi cable and headset?

[XxINFERNUSxX]

Poop

[ocelot07]

If you want a gaming PC that can outperform a base PS4 or Xbox One. Then buying a second hand Dell optiplex system with a 4th gen i5 and throw in a 5500 xt inside it or a second hand gtx 1060.

Or if you want all modern tech. Something like this: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com... better than PS4 and PS4 Pro and Xbox One and Xbox One X at 1080p for £402. Plus it's all upgradable so if you want to buy in a better CPU inside and a better GPU or add more RAM you can to compete with a XB SX or a PS5.

[leoms]

@iammason
I don't see Half Life Alyx coming to PS4 🧐'' Isn't that a VR game? ''Enjoy paying to play online 😊'' but then people like you beg for PS exclusives to be on pc lmao

[Acecalibur]

I've been thinking of doing the same, but just for high end emulators.

[DivoJones]

A good graphics card costs about as much as a console. A great graphics cards costs as much or more than both high-end consoles.

[godmachine]

Ya I got the Ps pro or 200$$ last year.(craigslist angry girlfriend) and an xbone x for 205 thanks to kohls weird black Friday deals,so 400$ and some change, and both destroy my alienware alpha r2 (unless I spring for the external gpu dock and a gpu go put in the dock

[Miacosa]

This seems like a cool little project but the grey market $5 Windows 10 key seems sketchy.

[Shikoku]

Yeah that's nice but you still get better performance from a console at that price point

[WheatBread]

That's an htpc, not a gaming pc. This is a good budget gaming pc https://pcpartpicker.com/li...

[Kumakai]

its not really the same thing. Consoles often customize the cpu/gpu/soc for maximum efficiency and performance. They can do this b/c the console is a closed system that really only has 1 or 2 main functions: run games and run media. The configuration will never change in its lifetime so they can squeeze out power down to the metal. that means more performance in console hardware when using the exact same chip and price point. Thats also why DX11 didn't really affect xbox performance. It was already achieving those efficiencies. A PC you build is non-customized, off the shelf components that have to maintain maximum compatibility with a variety of other components and configurations - you lose efficiencies here to maintain compatibility. You can make up for it with better, faster hardware, but now youre getting into more money. That brings me to my next point:

Consoles can sell hardware at a cheaper price b/c of supply chain deals from component manufacturers that are set up long before the console is even built. RAM is cheaper if you're buying millions of dollars of it at a time, vs the marked up retail price this guy here paid. The console gets your more for your money. Again the advantage of a PC is just always upgrading to better hardware but thats also why a superior gaming pc costs way more than a good console. Its also probably important to factor in that console hardware usually loses money the first couple years of production. This is ok b/c they make up the difference in software and services. PCs don't have this additional discount mechanism.

long story short: its useless to compare the performance of a gaming pc built at the same price point of a console.

[Da12RespectA]

What cost the most when building a gaming pc? I'm not familiar with PC gaming.

[silvacrest]

the Graphics card would cost the most usually, although it depends on if your going low/mid/high end gaming PC

[SierraGuy]

CPUs can be expensive.

[Da12RespectA]

Thanks. At what price range?

[silvacrest]

The price range really depends on a few things, your location as in what parts are available in your country, do you wanna buy new or used, low/mid or high end, I recommend looking at some builds on pcpartpicker, have a price range in mind so you can see how far your budget can go.

Honestly, the money your willing to spend will determine exactly what you get.

[silvacrest]

I will always appreciate a self build PC, but to call this a gaming pc with it only having a APU......I personally would have gone with a slightly bigger case and a low profile graphics card

[Jon_Targaryen]

Wow, this hasnt never been done before....

[Guyfamily999]

I don't think this can be really classified as a "gaming" PC... the GPU is significantly less powerful than a base Xbox One. A used RX 570 (about 80 bucks) would get it in the area of a PS4 Pro at least.

[Tito08]

Ok, and?

[Sophisticated_Chap]

This PC won't play most new games beyond medium settings at best. I'm all for PC gaming, but lets be real. If you're starting from scratch, and you want a PC that will be capable of 1440p or 4k, you're spending around $2000.00. Lets stop with the nonsense already.

[frostypants]

So none of the advantages of a console or a good PC. Cool?

[PCpower]

That's a pleb machine, not a gaming one. For anyone that wants to build their first PC, that is a real gaming machine for newbs to PC gaming, then this is the build I recommend for good price/per ratio for 1080P:

Ryzen 3600 non X $180
MSI B450 Pro-VDH MAX motherboard $80
16 GB FlareX F4-320014D-16GFX Ram $120
Samsung 500GB 970 EVO Nvme M2 SSD $88
CORSAIR CX-M Series CX650M 650W 80 PLUS $80
AMD RX570 video card $120
Cooler Master MasterBox MB600L ATX Mid-Tower computer case $50
Microsoft Windows 10 Home - Full Retail Version (USB Flash Drive) $140
MX518 gaming mouse $55

Total = $913

You will have to get some of the parts from Newegg and some of them from Amazon. I did not include a monitor because all modern TV's have HDMI ports and I use a TV as my monitor and it works well. I did not pick a keyboard because any generic crap $5 to $20 keyboard that's USB will work. FInally, I picked the RX570 video card because although it is a bit dated, it still plays all games well at 1080P from my experience as that is what I use. I have not found one game I could not play. Do not fall for the crap where people tell you that you need some uber $300 to $1000, newest released video cards to play games. That's hogwash. Finally, I did not pick a DVD or Blu-ray drive because that's a dead technology on PC now. If you really want one then I would buy a USB powered external one.

Although, it's a bit pricey starting out, the only things that will need upgrading in about 3.5 years will be the video card. Everything else will last a while for performance. Don't believe all that crap where people tell you you need to upgrade other components every 1 to 2 years. You don't. The power supply and computer case and SSD are all staying the same for pretty much to the time you get tired of your PC and want a total new build. The AMD 3600 CPU will last 6-8 years as it's mostly the video card that determines your gaming performance, and games on PC use 4 cores mostly and this is a 6 core CPU with 12 threads. If you want 8 cores, then the 3700X is good option, but will raise the price a bit more.

[FyBy]

Holy crap! Thats really low end pc. No chance.