A compact & mighty desktop PC
I've been building PCs as a hobby ever since I was 10 and it's quite impressive to see how far technology has come in the past 20 years.
This article was prompted by quite an unusual (but extremely fun) request from a client of ours who asked us to build her the smallest desktop computer for a budget around 1,200EUR/1,300USD and we were given a carte blanche on all parts, as long as it looked premium and performed solidly for office work.
Here's the story of that build and the rational behind each choice, should it help you in your current or future PC build.
The CPU | Heart of the reactor
AMD Ryzen 5 7600: 174EUR
When it comes to general day to day performance outside gaming, the CPU is the most important part in your decision making process. It will dictate which motherboards you can access, which type of RAM you should use as well as your upgrade path down in the future.
In recent years, AMD's Ryzen family has rattled the dominance of Intel's Core lineup, AMD's AM4 platform which started in 2017 with the Ryzen 1000 generation saw multiple generations until the 5000 series, all supported on the same motherboard, which created incredible consumer value. Case in point, in 2017 I purchased a Ryezn 7 1800X and an Asus Crosshair VI motherboard which I used until last year when I upgraded the CPU to a Ryzen 9 5900X, multiplying performance while keeping everything the same, that's unbeatable value.
In today's sphere, I see no reason to purchase an Intel 14th Gen CPU as the motherboards will not support any future CPU and most importantly: they consume a lot of power, thus generate a lot of heat. For a miniITX build (the smallest form factor possible), the Ryzen CPUs make a lot more sense, they're mostly faster yet consume much less energy and are thus easier to cool.
Our choice was set on a Ryzen 5 7600 CPU, with six cores and twelve threads and a high boost clock of 5,1GHZ makes it an exceptional performer that can also sip power and be cooled with any low-profile cooler. The AM5 platform is just starting, and since our customer likes to keep their computers for a long time, it will give them a solid upgrade path in four to five years.
The Motherboard | The infrastructure beneath
Gigabyte Aorus B650I Aorus Ultra : 280EUR
The motherboard choice is often vast and confusing, they all share similar claims, features, etc...But how to choose?
In our case it was simple, our customer wanted a minimum of three M2 NVMe slots as they were not going to use any SATA-based storage. Most mini-ITX boards were limited to two, this Gigabyte Aorus B650I Aorus Ultra had three, and an extremely solid power delivery module to the CPU which will make sure it can handle more powerful processor should the need arise down the road. Extremely well-built and oozing with all high-end features makes it a no-brainer for this build.
The Case | A terra worth of portability
Fractal Design Terra Silver : 167EUR
We've been pretty much seduced with Fractal's recent cases, especially the North. So when we set our eyes on the Terra, it was a no-brainer. Modular, well built, premium looking, silver with wood accents and most importantly a flexible interior spine that allows us to bias the space to either the CPU cooler or the graphics card. And that was excellent because this build will only use the integrated graphics inside the Ryzen CPU, which means we can dedicate all space to the CPU side of things.
The case has no fans to speak of and no dust filters, it's an open case vent so it doesn't really need a fan but the dust filter will require more regular cleaning that's for sure.
The RAM | Cheap and cheerful
Crucial RAM 16 GB DDR5 5,600 MHz: 41EUR
The AM5 platform needs DDR5 memory instead of the older DDR4 and DDR5 memory is much more expensive than its older sibling. Since our client will not be gaming or using any activities where extreme memory speeds are necessary, we decided to pick the cheapest 16GB RAM stick we found that ran at 5,200MT at the very least while picking a reputable brand as well. The Crucial 16GB memory module we found runs at 5,600MHz while costing only 41EUR, instant purchase and it ran at those speeds right out of the box, which the Ryzen CPUs always like to have.
The Power Supply | A non-compromise affair, always
Corsair SF750 Platinum SFX PSU: 180EUR
This was the easiest part to pick, our customer loves high-end power supplies as she's had a few that are all more than a decade old and powering everything as they should in silence and without any fault. Hence the 750W which is indeed way overkill for this build, but that also means less noise and less heat as the PSU will be relaxing all the time. With its Platinum efficiency and extremely high reviews across the board, it was an easy pick.
The Storage | Why have one when you can have two
WD Black SN770 1TB NVMe SSD : 75EUR x 2
How are we cooling that CPU?
Thermalright AXP120-X67: 31EUR
Thermalright is the king when it comes to value, the included Ryzen stock cooler wasn't really silent enough for us to leave it in, so we opted for this nice compact cooler that was very silent and managed to keep the CPU 10C lower than its 95C thermal limit when running it with PBO while remaining silent, it's a win.
Wrap-up
As an OS, a Windows 11 retail license was already at hand with the clients so this wasn't factored in the cost.
Total came in at 1023EUR, undercutting the budget by a decent amount while hitting the premium and small factor required. Here are a few pictures from the build:
