Tiny ITX console-like set below 2000 USD

[Hamster325]

Budget (including currency): around 6500 PLN (around 1800 USD) 

Country: Poland

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: mostly games 

Other details: 

I want to build a tiny PC which I can use like a console under my TV in a living room. It has to be small to fit next to other consoles but also light to carry it between living room with TV (65" 4K HDR) to my gaming room with desk and monitor (27" 1080p 144 Hz). 

 

My first choice was:

Ryzen 7 3700X + Noctua NH-L9i

Gigabyte B550I Aorus Pro AX

(some RTX 2070 super, not decided yet, have to study which has best cooling)

G.Skill Trident Z 2x16GB 3600 MHz

Crucial P1 1TB M.2

Corsair SF600 PSU

And last but not least, the box - Fractal Design Node 202. Many said that it will heat like hell but...is it? It can be packed with two 120mm fans below GPU. 

Maybe You have some other ideas? Smaller the better. My second option was Thermaltake Core V1, which can be packed with standard ATX PSU and have some decent fan options. The con is - only 255mm GPU.

Third - SilverStone SG13, but from what I see it shouldn't be cooler than Node 202 and it's surely bigger and...uglier.

[dizmo]

Any 2000 series card is a very poor purchase. Wait a bit for the 3070. 32GB of RAM is unnecessary.

Welcome to the forum.

[Hamster325]

10 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Any 2000 series card is a very poor purchase. Wait a bit for the 3070. 32GB of RAM is unnecessary.

Welcome to the forum.

I know someone would say that. First of all, I'm not a fps/quality freak. I just want to play some games while have that spare 1 or 2 hours. 2070S will do that for some time and if it will be in Medium not High/Ultra settings? That's fine. 

Next thing, I can't be sure that 3070 will fit and be able to work in ITX cases. Especially that console-like. If it really be like 2080 Ti and now people telling me that 2070S will be hot...?

Yes, 16GB of ram is enough for now but can't be sure how next gen consoles affect requirements on PC. Especially to play in 4K. 

 

[jj9987]

20 minutes ago, Hamster325 said:

I know someone would say that. First of all, I'm not a fps/quality freak. I just want to play some games while have that spare 1 or 2 hours. 2070S will do that for some time and if it will be in Medium not High/Ultra settings? That's fine. 

Next thing, I can't be sure that 3070 will fit and be able to work in ITX cases. Especially that console-like. If it really be like 2080 Ti and now people telling me that 2070S will be hot...?

Yes, 16GB of ram is enough for now but can't be sure how next gen consoles affect requirements on PC. Especially to play in 4K. 

 

You're seriously overpaying for a 2000-series card right now. Just wait a few weeks and get your hands on a 3070 - you'll pay quite a bit less and gain so much more performance, along with some "future-proofing". Price to performance ratio is the key here. There will be all kinds of coolers for the 3070 - I'm sure there will be cards that fit into ITX cases and don't run hot constantly.

[Biomecanoid]

18 minutes ago, Hamster325 said:

I know someone would say that. First of all, I'm not a fps/quality freak. I just want to play some games while have that spare 1 or 2 hours. 2070S will do that for some time and if it will be in Medium not High/Ultra settings? That's fine. 

Next thing, I can't be sure that 3070 will fit and be able to work in ITX cases. Especially that console-like. If it really be like 2080 Ti and now people telling me that 2070S will be hot...?

Yes, 16GB of ram is enough for now but can't be sure how next gen consoles affect requirements on PC. Especially to play in 4K. 

 

its not that you are an fps/quality freak,  2000 series cards are not a valid choice from an economic point of view. I would wait for the 3060 which would be faster than the 2070 and probably consume less power.

[dizmo]

1 hour ago, Hamster325 said:

I know someone would say that. First of all, I'm not a fps/quality freak. I just want to play some games while have that spare 1 or 2 hours. 2070S will do that for some time and if it will be in Medium not High/Ultra settings? That's fine. 

Next thing, I can't be sure that 3070 will fit and be able to work in ITX cases. Especially that console-like. If it really be like 2080 Ti and now people telling me that 2070S will be hot...?

Yes, 16GB of ram is enough for now but can't be sure how next gen consoles affect requirements on PC. Especially to play in 4K. 

 

You knew someone would say it, because it's true. It's a waste of money no matter how you look at it. It ahs a lower TDP than the 2080Ti. It has the same or higher performance. Performance and heat are not tied together. Yes, you can be sure that games won't require 32GB. How exactly do you expect them to use more RAM than a console has, using the console as the reason? 

[Hamster325]

Huh...but why not 3080? It launches in less than 2 weeks, and I think I will manage the budget for it. Of course, it will need better PSU than 600W or 650W - nVidia says of 750W. For SFX standard I see only ideal for it Corsair SF750. But I think it may be waaaay too much to put 3080, which alone consume 320W, to SFX-standard chassis.

Core V1 won't fit 3080. So maybe some other ideas? Many nice custom-made chassises are not available in my country or in shop where I will buy ( www.morele.net ). 

[Biomecanoid]

12 minutes ago, Hamster325 said:

Huh...but why not 3080? It launches in less than 2 weeks, and I think I will manage the budget for it. Of course, it will need better PSU than 600W or 650W - nVidia says of 750W. For SFX standard I see only ideal for it Corsair SF750. But I think it may be waaaay too much to put 3080, which alone consume 320W, to SFX-standard chassis.

Core V1 won't fit 3080. So maybe some other ideas? Many nice custom-made chassises are not available in my country or in shop where I will buy ( www.morele.net ). 

You don't want to be putting a HIGH TDP card in a tiny mini-itx case for space ,noise ,heat and power requirements. For your intended purpose the 3060 is ideal.

[Hamster325]

3060 is not even announced so how could You know its fitting?

That's why I'm asking for advice and examples of minimal size chassis for this kind of parts. Don't tell me that 3070 is too big for overall ITX, becouse I've seen many builds with even 2080 Ti on wide variety of SFFs. 

[Biomecanoid]

3 hours ago, Hamster325 said:

3060 is not even announced so how could You know its fitting?

That's why I'm asking for advice and examples of minimal size chassis for this kind of parts. Don't tell me that 3070 is too big for overall ITX, becouse I've seen many builds with even 2080 Ti on wide variety of SFFs. 

The 3060 is not announced yet but it will be a lower spec card lower than the 3080 - 3070. People may put whatever they want in their PC does not mean they should. SFF is bigger than mini-itx.

 

In general your should not install very high TDP components in a small space because either you will have lots of heat and the components will suffer or you will have lots of noise to cool everything.

 

3000 series are very power hungry and probably produce more heat than the previous generation. The 3060 will be the least power demanding card probably lower than a 2080 but with the same performance.