Mini Gaming PC < £400

[danieltanner]

Hello All,

I would like to build a mini gaming PC for around £400.

Why? I would like to build an entry/basic level mini PC to allow me to play steam games in my living room (via HDMI to my TV). I am largely a retro gamer but it would be good if the hardware could stretch to playing games like Half-life 2 and Portal. I would also need Windows OS, ideally in the same budget.

There are a number of posts on this website that are generally helpful, but I also have a xw8600 computer with 3GHz Xeon processors, lots of DDR2 ram and a number of SATA hard disks. This is an old though powerful workstation but is too big, heavy and hot for me so I would strip it for parts and use it to reduce build costs.

Would any of these parts be reusable for my build and if so do you have any recommendations for a case and motherboard to get started with?

Thanks for any help.

 

[Barty1884]

Other than perhaps a secondary storage drive, I don't anticipate much being worthwhile to salvage out of your older hardware.

Realistically, for what you describe, an AMD APU should be ideal.....

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2400G 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor (£129.59 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock - A320M-HDV Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£43.98 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Team - Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£74.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Storage: Team - L5 LITE 3D 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£24.95 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Case: Fractal Design - Core 1100 MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£30.97 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: EVGA - 400W ATX Power Supply (£23.69 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit (£82.38 @ Aria PC)
Total: £410.55
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-06-28 21:25 BST+0100

You would have to verify any motherboard as been updated to support the APUs though.


While mITX would be nice, that doubles the cost of the motherboard..... and puts you a decent margin over budget.

 

[danieltanner]

Barty1884,

Many thanks for your response. I think my requirements are unrealistic given the fact that I cannot use the processors and memory I have (this would have been great at keeping costs down).

Given this I have had a look at spec'ing an option for a mini PC, which appears to meet my needs. I want to manage my budget but think that a mini PC is preferable for me. I have pasted this below.

I consider this PC to be premium for my needs but I want a system that will not be quickly obsolete if my needs change. I don't have a great feel for what is worth paying more for or where I may be better to go with lower cost parts, i.e., how to balance cost versus performance for the different parts of the system.
What do you think of my list and are there any standout parts that I should downgrade or upspec? Sorry, I know it is a bit of an open question, but any responses would be appreciated. Also if you have a preferred solution for ~£600 let me know. Thanks.

**CPU** | [Intel - Core i5-7400 3GHz Quad-Core Processor](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/qnM323/intel-core-i5-7400-30ghz-quad-core-processor-bx80677i57400) | £142.79 @ Aria PC
**CPU Cooler** | [CRYORIG - C7 40.5 CFM CPU Cooler](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/Lbhj4D/cryorig-cpu-cooler-c7) | £29.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk
**Motherboard** | [Asus - H110I-PLUS Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/NCFXsY/asus-h110i-plus-mini-itx-lga1151-motherboard-h110i-plus) | £71.72 @ More Computers
**Memory** | [Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/sMbkcf/corsair-memory-cmk8gx4m1a2400c16) | £78.00 @ Aria PC
**Video Card** | [MSI - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB GAMING X 4G Video Card](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/H97CmG/msi-geforce-gtx-1050-ti-4gb-gaming-x-4g-video-card-gtx-1050-ti-gaming-x-4g) | £174.99 @ Ebuyer
**Case** | [Thermaltake - Core V1 Mini ITX Desktop Case](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/fGvRsY/thermaltake-case-ca1b800s1wn00) | £36.98 @ Ebuyer
**Power Supply** | [Corsair - CXM (2015) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/FQ648d/corsair-power-supply-cp9020101na) | £49.99 @ Corsair UK
**Operating System** | [Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/96RFf7/microsoft-os-kw900139) | £82.38 @ Aria PC
| *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |
| **Total** | **£666.84**
| Generated by [PCPartPicker](https://pcpartpicker.com) 2018-06-30 13:34 BST+0100 |

 

[danieltanner]

Here is another premium option (for my needs) that I have put together. This was constructed in Amazon, though I checked parts compatibility on pcpartpicker.

Let me know what you think.

Shopping Basket
1) Corsair CP-9020101-UK CX450M 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply Unit
£51.40

2) Windows 10 Professional ( win 10 pro) 32/64 Bits OEM Product Key - E-Mail delivery
£9.99

3) Thermaltake Core V1 Mini ITX Cube Case with Fan
£40.47

4) Zotac GeForce GTX 1050Ti 4 GB Mini Graphics Card - Black
£158.99

5) ARCTIC Freezer 7 Pro Rev. 2 – Compact Multi-Compatible Tower CPU Cooler | 92 mm PWM Fan | For AMD AM4 and Intel 115x CPU | Recommended up to 115 W TDP
£15.95

6) AMD Ryzen 5 1600 Desktop CPU - AM4/Hex Core/GHz/16MB/65W
£146.28

7) ASRock Mini-ITX Motherboard - AB350 GAMING-ITX/AC
£100.53

8) Corsair CMK8GX4M1A2400C16R Vengeance LPX 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) DDR4 2400 MHz C16 XMP 2.0 High Performance Desktop Memory Module, Red
£79.19

Subtotal (8 items): £602.80