Need help building a desk pc

[Thatguy-nospace]

Budget (including currency): less than 2k would be cool

Country: United states

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: all games I guess.  Phtoshop, cad, sketchup, ...excel.  firefox

Other detail-  

so it's been about 20 years since I've built a pc, and I find myself in an unfamiliar land.  I'm looking to build something as low profile as possible.  A desk pc with a monitor that hides away when not in use.  

Dimensions aren't really a concern, as I can build the desk to whatever size (within reason).  And the engineering aspect is already planned and I've built a prototype for the lift mechanism that works well enough.  

But I'm lost when it comes to parts.  Back in my day, a pentium and half a gig  of ram would get you there.  Times have, evidently, changed.

Here's the goal- I want to be able to play games at decent graphics settings, be able to hook up my TV via hdmi, and be able to use photoshop, cad, and other software without the computer getting bogged down.  I'd like the form factor to be less than 3 inches high, so water cooling seems the way to go.  

I've tried pc parts picker and Tim's guide, but I'm lost.  Are there any kind souls that can guide me to the mother land of gaming?

[jaslion]

Less than 3 inches? That is not a lot of space even for a watercooled system.

 

Also no way you are getting a good fully watercooled computer for 2k ESPECIALLY right now. Easily 500 plus would go to watercooling here if you want to make sure it all fits in that small space then you have 1500 left for a system where over half will be spent on a 3060 because prices are kinda wack rn.

[dean_5234]

Agree with @jaslion, raise your inches and up your budget. 2k is impossible to do with a full watercooling loop with prices right now

[jaslion]

2 minutes ago, davemc said:

Agree with @jaslion, raise your inches and up your budget. 2k is impossible to do with a full watercooling loop with prices right now

I mean a fair few motherboards are basically most of that height. So forget about getting a block or tubes on there.

[DigitalGoat]

57 minutes ago, Thatguy-nospace said:

Budget (including currency): less than 2k would be cool

Country: United states

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: all games I guess.  Phtoshop, cad, sketchup, ...excel.  firefox

Other detail-  

so it's been about 20 years since I've built a pc, and I find myself in an unfamiliar land.  I'm looking to build something as low profile as possible.  A desk pc with a monitor that hides away when not in use.  

Dimensions aren't really a concern, as I can build the desk to whatever size (within reason).  And the engineering aspect is already planned and I've built a prototype for the lift mechanism that works well enough.  

But I'm lost when it comes to parts.  Back in my day, a pentium and half a gig  of ram would get you there.  Times have, evidently, changed.

Here's the goal- I want to be able to play games at decent graphics settings, be able to hook up my TV via hdmi, and be able to use photoshop, cad, and other software without the computer getting bogged down.  I'd like the form factor to be less than 3 inches high, so water cooling seems the way to go.  

I've tried pc parts picker and Tim's guide, but I'm lost.  Are there any kind souls that can guide me to the mother land of gaming?

Take a look at DIY Perks, he basically builds what you are describing, and lists all the parts he needed to get it all low profile, including a CPU block with side ports.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Perqf0dOGLk

[Thatguy-nospace]

21 minutes ago, DigitalGoat said:

Take a look at DIY Perks, he basically builds what you are describing, and lists all the parts he needed to get it all low profile, including a CPU block with side ports.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Perqf0dOGLk

That's actually where I got the inspiration.  I figured I could add an extra inch and change to alot for better/cheaper components.  I just... don't know what parts to get.

Based on other replies, I guess now is not the time to build a pc?

[Thatguy-nospace]

45 minutes ago, jaslion said:

I mean a fair few motherboards are basically most of that height. So forget about getting a block or tubes on there.

But isn't most of that height just the io?  

 

I guess I'm confused.  I have a laptop that's only half an inch thick when the screen is closed.  Why would a pc have to be so much bigger?

[jaslion]

49 minutes ago, Thatguy-nospace said:

But isn't most of that height just the io?  

 

I guess I'm confused.  I have a laptop that's only half an inch thick when the screen is closed.  Why would a pc have to be so much bigger?

A laptop is a purpose built system with everything as small as possible. It also runs far far far lower power stuff.

 

A desktop is a standardized set of parts. That run at near their limit thus consuming and generating a lot more heat. They also normally go in a standard case not something super small so there is no real consideration for keeping it super thin. You cannot compare a laptop which is purpose built to a desktop which is a set of standardized part sizes.

 

Now for the board. Almost all boards have mandatory heat sinks that are above the io. Then you have your cpu block too which will pretty much hit the top of the desk at 3 inches.

 

Either way for 2k you aren't going to watercool a computer and still get a decent computer. Especially not now. The gpu's that would even fit in your budget  here do not even have waterblocks.