Suggestions for a compact PC for Steam games?

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josephhinvest

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#112312 4-Dec-2012 17:26

My next purchase, I hope (regardless of the lack of WAF) will be a compact PC for playing Steam games.
What I want is a compact form factor, a la Mac mini, or otherwise as small as possible, PC that I can use to play, ahem, Train Simulator 2013 via Steam.
I've been mac only for more than 15 years so I really have no clue about Windows. I have an Xbox but there is not a similar game, unfortunately. So I may have to buy a new device, damn ;)

The requirements are
As small form factor as possible, will be installed in entertainment cabinet.
HDMI connectivity as will be played on the TV
Powerful enough graphics to run at relatively high settings

I understand that games like this are relatively cheap, but have massive potential amounts of in game purchases, this is ok with me.

Main system requirements for the game are:

OS:Windows? XP / Vista / 7 / 8
Processor:Processor: 2.8 GHz Core 2 Duo (3.2 GHz Core 2 Duo recommended), AMD Athlon MP (multiprocessor variant or comparable processors)
Memory:2 GB RAM
Graphics:512 MB with Pixel Shader 3.0 (AGP PCIe only)
DirectX?:9.0c
Hard Drive:6 GB HD space
Sound:Direct X 9.0c compatible

Any suggestions as where to start?

Thanks,
Joseph

Nety

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#727078 4-Dec-2012 21:09

I would give away the idea of a compact PC if you want it to be a gaming PC. The two do not make good bed fellows in my experience. Basically you are putting a lot of hot components into a crowded space. Result things overheat and at best fail early at worst are unreliable and then fail early.

Media centre PC - Case Silverstone LC16M with 2 X 80mm AcoustiFan DustPROOF, MOBO Gigabyte MA785GT-UD3H, CPU AMD X2 240 under volted, RAM 4 Gig DDR3 1033, HDD 120Gig System/512Gig data, Tuners 2 X Hauppauge HVR-3000, 1 X HVR-2200, Video Palit GT 220, Sound Realtek 886A HD (onboard), Optical LiteOn DH-401S Blue-ray using TotalMedia Theatre Power Corsair VX Series, 450W ATX PSU OS Windows 7 x64

sidefx

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#727094 4-Dec-2012 21:39

Those requirements are fairly minimal though. An AMD Trinity (or even Llano if you want to go cheaper) based system in the case below should do fine on that game. No need for discrete GPU means less heat. And I think someone was mentioning that they work well undervolted for even less power consumption (and presumably heat)

ANTEC ISK310-150
http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/components/componentview.asp?r=p&partid=14847

Looks tight so would probably need to be careful with choice of motherboard.

Ragnor

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#727101 4-Dec-2012 22:04

Yeah you could get away with an onboard GPU for train simulator but if you want to play other modern PC games you generally need a discrete graphics card and thus need to go for a larger case.

What's your budget for this build?

Loaf

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#727706 5-Dec-2012 22:18

You could build a gaming mini-itx like I'm doing now.

Asus does a P8Z77-I DELUXE motherboard which is the high end option.

A New Zealand site ITXGamer is a community dedicated to mini-itx builds. People fit all sorts of powerful systems into small form factors.

Jarno

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#727728 5-Dec-2012 22:39

There recently was an article and discussion on The Verge about this.

CYaBro

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#727731 5-Dec-2012 22:48

How about one of the new intel next unit of computing (nuc) systems?