My current PC is a month from being a decade old at this point, and I feel it's time for an upgrade: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/VKWLQ7
I want to build a smaller PC. I'm way over the tower form factor, and I want to build a smaller form factor. Ideally, it should be able to fit inside this box: https://store.usps.com/store/product/shipping-supplies/priority-mail-medium-flat-rate-box-1-P_O_FRB1
Here's a sketch of what I have planned so far:
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
- Motherboard: ?????
- Memory: 16GB
- Storage 250GB SATA SSD
- Video Card: Basically reusing my ancient GPU
- Case: ?????
- Power Supply: ?????
- Wireless Network Adapter: Some random USB wireless adapter that I'm using now since the wireless adapter I originally had no longer works
I'm hitting a few roadblocks:
I don't really know what type of mobo to look for other than its form factor (mini-ITX) and that it should have a video port. And it should be able to accept 2.5'' SSDs since some of them apparently don't?
The case is a massive headache for me. It seems like for smaller form factor builds, you have to build your PC completely around the case. The open cases like these two are pretty cool:
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https://www.newegg.com/p/2AM-05K1-00003
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https://xworks.store/products/x32-small-form-factor-open-air-case
They're also fucking $150+. The tower case I'm using now was 40 bucks in 2013 money, so around $50 in today's money. Those cases also require smaller PSUs, so I can't reuse my current PSU. And I don't think those cases or most smaller form factor cases like HDDs, which isn't a deal breaker for me, but it's more things to plan out and buy if I can't just reuse a 1TB HDD.
I'm honestly thinking about just buying paper stationaries like these:
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https://www.walmart.com/ip/Stackable-Paper-Tray-Desk-Organizer-4-Tier-Metal-Mesh-Letter-Organizers-Business-Home-School-Stores-More-Organize-Files-Folders-Letters-Paper-Binders/230405212
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https://www.walmart.com/ip/Honey-Can-Do-3-Tier-Steel-Mesh-Desk-Organizer-Silver/41981373
and just stacking the parts on top. I would also need to get a riser cable, but the AMD Ryzen 5 5600G has integrated graphics, so I wouldn't even need to bother with the ancient graphics card or the riser cable? Plus, they're not going to fit inside the USPS box.
If I have to get a smaller PSU, I have no idea about wattage requirements. Honestly, I just winged it a decade ago, and everything seemed to have worked out. I guess I could always fall back on "whatever the wattage of the current PSU is."
I think that should do it. I just have a whole bunch of questions and what-ifs because I don't have a complete picture of what the PC should look like.
This isn't as useful if you game, but I find used 1L PCs like Lenovo Thinkcentres to be excellent non-gaming desktops. You can pick them up used on ebay pretty damn cheap, mine is a few years old and I stuck 32GB of RAM, a 1TB NVME drive, and a 2TB 2.5" platter drive in. Some models you can even cram a video card into, using a PCIE riser.
Oh yeah, you can find "workstation" Dell or Lenovo PCs on Craigslist and eBay for pretty cheap because they upgraded a whole office at a time. They often have solid processors and ram inside already, but no GPU.
I actually had the idea of just getting a Thinkcentre Micro, but I wasn't sure how its graphical performance would stack up relative to my ancient video card.
How did you fit both an NVME drive and a 2.5" drive inside one of these: https://www.servethehome.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Lenovo-ThinkCentre-M900-Tiny-Internal-Overview.jpg Or did you use a larger form factor?
The NVME goes on the underside of the motherboard, there's a little hatch on the bottom of the case. The 2.5" SATA drive goes in the caddy in that picture.
Are you planning to do gaming? If you're wanting to do modern big resource games, a Thinkcentre isn't gonna cut it, but if you just dabble in retro gaming a recentish Thinkcentre should be plenty. I usually have a fuck-ton of tabs open in browsers and watch media on my M75q gen 2 and it's overkill for that.
Okay, that makes sense. And no, I don't really game these days, and when I did, my current graphics card was good enough.
In that case any of the 1L machines from the big companies should be plenty. They're a great value, and for somebody who built his first PC in the 90s it's still a bit of a mindblower to look at my tiny-ass thinkcentre workstation and know it's more powerful than every full size tower I've ever had in the past, on way less power, and much quieter.
They're neat for lightweight headless servers, too, or even a cool router project