Small Form Factor (Build Help!)

Nighthawke · April 25, 2019

Hello!

I used to be a windows guy 10+ years ago, I built all of my own computers, sourced my own parts etc. I went to the dark side of MacOS and I'm wanting to build a small (emphasis on small) but capable windows gaming machine. I'd like to keep it under 1000$ I have monitors, keyboards, etc already, so I don't need to include any of that in the cost. I will ONLY be gaming on this machine. It will be connected to my ultra wide dell display as a second display source.

I started looking through featured builds on PCpartpicker and got overwhelmed quickly.

Could anyone recommend a build, or at the least what would be a good backbone (Motherboard, ram, processor) to start with.

DoomTheAssassin · April 25, 2019

16 minutes ago, Nighthawke said:

Hello!

I used to be a windows guy 10+ years ago, I built all of my own computers, sourced my own parts etc. I went to the dark side of MacOS and I'm wanting to build a small (emphasis on small) but capable windows gaming machine. I'd like to keep it under 1000$ I have monitors, keyboards, etc already, so I don't need to include any of that in the cost. I will ONLY be gaming on this machine. It will be connected to my ultra wide dell display as a second display source.

I started looking through featured builds on PCpartpicker and got overwhelmed quickly.

Could anyone recommend a build, or at the least what would be a good backbone (Motherboard, ram, processor) to start with.

Hi there! Id be happy to help with a build guide for you, what resolution will you be playing at and what is the resolution of your monitor. This information would help me get a perfect priced build for your specific needs.

Stormseeker9 · April 25, 2019

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor	$179.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	MSI - B450M GAMING PLUS Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$79.99 @ Amazon
Memory	Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$98.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Crucial - MX500 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$69.85 @ OutletPC
Storage	Seagate - Barracuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$59.78 @ OutletPC
Video Card	MSI - GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB GAMING Z Video Card	$379.99 @ Newegg
Case	Fractal Design - Focus G Mini (Black) MicroATX Mini Tower Case	$46.23 @ Amazon
Power Supply	Corsair - RMx (2018) 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply	$63.98 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$1008.80
	Mail-in rebates	-$30.00
	Total	$978.80
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-25 15:03 EDT-0400

Maybe something like this? @Nighthawke

Findiculous · April 25, 2019

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor	$179.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	Asus - TUF B450M-PLUS GAMING Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$94.82 @ OutletPC
Memory	Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$98.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Crucial - MX500 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$69.85 @ OutletPC
Storage	Seagate - Barracuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$59.78 @ OutletPC
Video Card	Gigabyte - Radeon RX 580 8 GB Gaming 8G Video Card	$189.89 @ OutletPC
Case	Fractal Design - Focus G Mini (Black) MicroATX Mini Tower Case	$46.23 @ Amazon
Power Supply	Corsair - RMx (2018) 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply	$63.98 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$883.53
	Mail-in rebates	-$80.00
	Total	$803.53
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-25 15:12 EDT-0400

or

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor	$179.99 @ Amazon
Motherboard	Asus - TUF B450M-PLUS GAMING Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$94.82 @ OutletPC
Memory	Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$98.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Crucial - MX500 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$69.85 @ OutletPC
Storage	Seagate - Barracuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$59.78 @ OutletPC
Video Card	MSI - GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB VENTUS XS OC Video Card	$279.99 @ Newegg
Case	Fractal Design - Focus G Mini (Black) MicroATX Mini Tower Case	$46.23 @ Amazon
Power Supply	Corsair - RMx (2018) 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply	$63.98 @ Newegg
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$913.63
	Mail-in rebates	-$20.00
	Total	$893.63
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-25 15:15 EDT-0400

Depending on if you want AMD or NVIDIA GPU. The MOBO allows expansion of RAM later on if you want.

Sorenson · April 25, 2019

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel - Core i5-9400F 2.9 GHz 6-Core Processor	$167.89 @ OutletPC
CPU Cooler	Noctua - NH-L9i 33.84 CFM CPU Cooler	$39.95 @ Amazon
Motherboard	MSI - MPG Z390I GAMING EDGE AC Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard	$154.38 @ Amazon
Memory	Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$78.99 @ Newegg Business
Storage	Western Digital - Blue 1 TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	$109.89 @ OutletPC
Video Card	MSI - GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB VENTUS XS OC Video Card	$279.99 @ Newegg
Case	Fractal Design - Node 202 HTPC Case	$72.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply	Silverstone - 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified SFX Power Supply	$70.98 @ SuperBiiz
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$985.06
	Mail-in rebates	-$10.00
	Total	$975.06
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-25 15:06 EDT-0400

@Nighthawke I would recommend something like this. for an extra $80 you can throw a 2060 into the case. You also might want to spend about $20 more on a modular gold rated power supply.

I've built a couple SFF pc's and from my experience you generally start with what case you want and then work backwards from there. You said you wanted a good back back bone so I went with a Z390 board for future cpu upgrades. You can save some by going with with and H370 if you want. If you find the case you want i'll give you a more personal recommendation.