Is RTX A2000 the most powerful pcie slot powered gpu?

[Intelfreak]

I'm building a small mini-itx gaming pc for my son, as his old one has chosen to commit suicide and is not worth saving. 

 

I'm building it a small case, so small gpu is needed. Only low profile cards will fit and the psu dosent have additional 6 or 8 pin connections. So it needs to be slot powered and small. 

 

After doing research I've been looking for the most powerful lp gpu available and as far I can see, the rtx a2000 is the best of these small slot powered gpu's. But before purchasing it, I wanted to ask if anyone knows about of a better gpu? 

 

It will be paired with a AM4 B550 mini-itx board and amd ryzen 5 5600 none X i all ready have in stock. That should make a great little gamer for my son with out being a power hog. 

[Budget DIY]

Your username and this forum post, are funny to me. Happy you've seen the light.

 

On-topic: you've set some limits because of your case... What is the reasoning for wanting a tiny case for your son? "bigger must be better". (probably kids logic)

[Intelfreak]

7 minutes ago, Budget DIY said:

Your username and this forum post, are funny to me. Happy you've seen the light.

 

On-topic: you've set some limits because of your case... What is the reasoning for wanting a tiny case for your son? "bigger must be better". (probably kids logic)

Space confined. In short. We live in a small apartment for now after a divorce. Until I have my life and savings up again, we have to live with lesser means and that means we do not have enough space for a full size desktop pc. It's either a laptop or mini-itx system for now. Laptop is not upgradable, so it will have a shorter lifespan in my household that a desktop that can be upgraded over time. So a small itx system is what we go for. 

 

I was a Intel fan, but that's a long time ago. Dating back to X58 times. My own pc is zen 3 powered as well. Intels cpu before 12 gen was really not that impressive, specially rocket lake disappointed me, so I chose to go amd and frankly it has worked fine. A few hassels have come to me, but bios update fixed the problems I had early on. 

[Intelfreak]

2 minutes ago, Intelfreak said:

 

[Budget DIY]

3 minutes ago, Intelfreak said:

It's either a laptop or mini-itx system for now. Laptop is not upgradable, so it will have a shorter lifespan in my household that a desktop that can be upgraded over time. So a small itx system is what we go for.

What you're saying here, does make a bit of sense. However, it makes not much sense...

 

-You will be very limited in GPU upgrades, due to the case.

-If you would want to do a noticable GPU upgrade, you'd be replacing the case most likely.

-IIRC, mini-ITX has little to no room for expansions. Memory upgrade would probably mean memory replacement.

-With that board, you're on a dead-end when it comes to CPU upgrades. AM4 vs AM5 and such.

 

The only major advantage I see, would be maintenance and ease of fixing/replacing broken parts. (vs a laptop) In your highly specific usecase, I would recommend a laptop instead. If your son is careful, he could take his device over to friends and not be confined to a small home with maybe 1 friend visiting. (no-hate towards your situation, it is what it is)

[ToboRobot]

4 minutes ago, Intelfreak said:

Space confined. In short. We live in a small apartment for now after a divorce. Until I have my life and savings up again, we have to live with lesser means and that means we do not have enough space for a full size desktop pc. It's either a laptop or mini-itx system for now. Laptop is not upgradable, so it will have a shorter lifespan in my household that a desktop that can be upgraded over time. So a small itx system is what we go for. 

 

I live in a studio apartment, but I like big cases (Fractal Meshify 2 and Define 7).  Don't have lots of floor or desk space for two big ATX cases, but I have plenty of wall space and it's pretty easy to mount them up on a shelf and route a few wires in an aesthetic way.  It's a bit of a hassle to do any maintenance, but generally I don't touch the box regularly.

You might not be limited to small cases if you can find a cool way to mount the PC. 

[Likwid]

Wouldn't it be better to choose Itx case that can fit standart gpu, and buy rtx 3070 for same money?

[BondiBlue]

Is there any way you can move up to a slightly larger case that has room for full size components? You're really limiting the potential of this computer by keeping it so small. The RTX A2000 is a good low profile GPU, but it's going to cost you more than a full size card would. Even used they're quite pricey. 

[Intelfreak]

2 hours ago, Budget DIY said:

What you're saying here, does make a bit of sense. However, it makes not much sense...

 

-You will be very limited in GPU upgrades, due to the case.

-If you would want to do a noticable GPU upgrade, you'd be replacing the case most likely.

-IIRC, mini-ITX has little to no room for expansions. Memory upgrade would probably mean memory replacement.

-With that board, you're on a dead-end when it comes to CPU upgrades. AM4 vs AM5 and such.

 

The only major advantage I see, would be maintenance and ease of fixing/replacing broken parts. (vs a laptop) In your highly specific usecase, I would recommend a laptop instead. If your son is careful, he could take his device over to friends and not be confined to a small home with maybe 1 friend visiting. (no-hate towards your situation, it is what it is)

I agreed totally that it will limit gpu upgrade. Butr there is not much choise of the matter. We do have two computer tables beside he choider. Mine and my soon. Right now we live in a 1 room apartment that normally is for 1 person. So space is tight as we are two.

 

RTX A2000 will be a noticeble upgrade for my soon. His old machine had a GTX 1050 TI.

When i move to a bigger living space, then yes i would properly let my son get a bigger case. But not before that.

As i said before. I all ready have a AM4 motherboard and a 5600 cpu laying ready. I am not buying new stuff, when it comes to CPU and motherboard.

 

2 hours ago, ToboRobot said:

I live in a studio apartment, but I like big cases (Fractal Meshify 2 and Define 7).  Don't have lots of floor or desk space for two big ATX cases, but I have plenty of wall space and it's pretty easy to mount them up on a shelf and route a few wires in an aesthetic way.  It's a bit of a hassle to do any maintenance, but generally I don't touch the box regularly.

You might not be limited to small cases if you can find a cool way to mount the PC. 

A wall mounted case is a good ideer. However it is not possible do to we live on a top floor apartment. Meaning where the PC´s are, the roof are going down and that does not give much wall space.

 

If anything, i would need to mount the case to the roof in stead.

 

2 hours ago, Likwid said:

Wouldn't it be better to choose Itx case that can fit standart gpu, and buy rtx 3070 for same money?

If living space alowed for it, i would apselutely chose that off cause.

 

1 hour ago, BondiBlue said:

Is there any way you can move up to a slightly larger case that has room for full size components? You're really limiting the potential of this computer by keeping it so small. The RTX A2000 is a good low profile GPU, but it's going to cost you more than a full size card would. Even used they're quite pricey. 

I know A2000 is pricey. I plan to get one used first of all. I know a person that has a computer store and people comes in for upgrades and right now he has a A2000 laying around to a good price.

 

Do to living space, bigger case is as told not an option until we can move in to something bigger.

[BondiBlue]

34 minutes ago, Intelfreak said:

Do to living space, bigger case is as told not an option until we can move in to something bigger.

Then in that situation I would get a laptop instead. Going with a system that is so limited just doesn't make sense. 

[Intelfreak]

1 hour ago, BondiBlue said:

Then in that situation I would get a laptop instead. Going with a system that is so limited just doesn't make sense. 

I can se your point. It's just i would end up with hooking it to a separate monitor anyway and a mouse and keyboard. Laptops are really not upgradable besides storage and ram. 

 

But maybe I should consider it. It would give my son the opportunity to take it with him. Mini-itx system would not be so transportable. 

 

There are plus and cons to both of it. I think I will need to think about it some more. Also have a conversation with my son, what he wants the most. It's him that would be using it and not me. 

 

However if i go for a laptop. The AM4 motherboard and 5600 i all ready do have from another pc i upgrade would go to waste and just collect dust. I could off cause sell it, but it is not worfh that much any more. So i would rather put it to use in my sons pc.

[Mark Kaine]

A2000 is very good, just make sure you have good cooling as its a blower style, even though it shouldn't run hot, good cooling is still important. 

 

11 hours ago, Intelfreak said:

can se your point. It's just i would end up with hooking it to a separate monitor anyway and a mouse and keyboard. Laptops are really not upgradable besides storage and ram. 

 

btw, i don't agree, there's nothing wrong with a mini itx built, especially not performance wise and *especially* not compared to a "laptop"