In a world of huge PC cases (always ready to accumulate dust!) they are making their way Ever smaller PCsable to fit on your work or study desk as if they were small TV boxes.These devices are certainly not ideal for playing games, but they can perform all other household tasks very well: surfing the Internet, using Office and other office programs, managing social networks, making video calls and occasionally enjoying a good movie in streaming or saved in internal memory.
In this guide we will show you which ones components choose to obtain a compact Mini PC respectable, saving on the final expense and creating a high quality computer that takes up very little space on any desk.
READ ALSO: How to assemble your PC, assemble the pieces and build a computer from scratch
1) Hardware components for a Mini PC
In order to create a mini PC we will have to make sure we have the following components:
- CPU: possibly already integrated into the motherboard complete with passive heatsink.
- Motherboard: with integrated CPU and all the ports necessary to connect peripherals.
- RAM: at least 8 GB to be able to do everything without fearing that the memory isn’t enough.
- HDD: we will choose it from 1 TB so that we can save all the files without problems.
- Wi-Fi: using this small adapter we will be able to connect this mini PC via Wi-Fi to the home network.
- Mouse and keyboard: it is not possible to use a PC without these fundamental components! Better to choose wired models, wireless models are beautiful but sensitive to interference and battery life.
- Webcam: with this we will be able to make all video calls in high definition on all compatible applications (primarily WhatsApp).
- Monitor: let’s choose one of the right size to be able to enjoy films and streaming content at maximum quality.
These are the important components that should not be overlooked. We have omitted the software part (we will have to install Windows and all the programs) and also the accessories necessary for assembly (most of the time two-three screwdrivers with various types of tips and diameters are enough).
2) Buying guide
In this part of the guide we will show you which components to buy on offer on the Internetso as to save a little on the final expense.
1) Case and power supply: as a compact case we can choose the Cooler Master MasterBox NR200Ppractically the best in the category thanks to its compact shapes, compatibility with mini-ITX motherboardsto the integrated power supply SFX Gold 80-PLUS 850W (totally modular), al Liquid cooling included and to the adapter for any compact video card.
2) Motherboard: for the case seen above we chose to match the motherboard withASUS ROG STRIX B650E-I GAMING WIFI, designed for AMD processors; this card integrates the AMD B650 chipset, has the AM5 socket, supports DDR5 RAM and the PCIe 5.0 slot, has integrated WiFi 6E (802.11ax), provides an Intel 2.5Gb Ethernet network card, has an HDMI output, 1 USB-C port with video output support, features 7 USB ports on the back, supports up to 3 front USB ports, supports ROG SupremeFX 7.1 system, features two high-speed M.2 slots, 2 SATA 6GB/s system ports Aura Sync RGB.
3) Processor (APU): the best processor that we can combine with this configuration is theAMD Ryzen 5 7600, designed to work with AM5 socket and equipped with 6 physical cores, 12 logical cores and frequency boost up to 5.1 GHz; it it also integrates the AMD Radeon video processorexcellent for immediately obtaining excellent support for monitors and providing 3D hardware acceleration for apps, browsers and operating system.
4) RAM: we can choose the RAM memory CORSAIR VENGEANCE DDR5equipped with two DDR5 modules of 8 GB each (for a total of 16 GB), clock frequency of 5200MHz and CL40 timing.
5) Internal memory: for internal memory we obviously have to focus on a fast and high-performance M.2 module like the Silicon Power 2TB UD90equipped with 2 TB of internal memory, support for the NVMe 4.0 Gen4 PCIe M.2 standard and reading and writing performance of 5,000/4,800 MB/s.
6) Accessories: to complete the equipment we can choose a good one keyboard and mouse seta webcam HDand fingerprint reader (to exploit Windows Hello) it’s a Hub USB-C.
Conclusions
By spending around 1,000 euros we can create a truly compact and powerful PCequipped with liquid cooling, a powerful processor and all the components to quickly run Windows, the most famous programs and even some simple games (but without exaggerating, having the GPU integrated into the processor).
To complete the equipment we can also choose a good monitor o connect a video card to the available slot on the motherboard.
For further information we can read our guide to Ready-to-use mini desktop PCs and a guide on how build a perfect PC to buy on Amazon.