I need to get a new pc and am deciding on a mini pc to save space. I want to use it for non-intensive games (indie and possibly switch emulation at highest) and to do light office tasks (browser, obsidian, libreoffice and random hdd file management.)

I don’t know anything about mini pcs and there’s so many out there. Youtubers say that the Amazon ones aren’t good and another site I saw is very pricey for a nice one with 32gb ram which I do not need. As long as it has 16gb, a good amount of ports and isn’t going to die on me within a few years, I’m happy. If possible to upgrade ram/ssd that would be better.

Currently, I have $600 saved and rather not spend much more than that if possible.

Current accessories I have:

  • Keyboard (Wired and bluetooth)
  • Wireless mouse
  • Dell S2721HS 1920 x 1080p 27" monitor (no speakers, mic or webcam)
  • Basic usb-c dongle for my tablet (power usb-c, hdmi, regular usb) for now
  • Bluetooth/aux Speaker
  • Bluetooth/aux Heaphones

Also, any recommendations for which distribution to use? I have used Ubuntu and Mint before and am willing to use other OS as well as the gaming ones.

  • Rentlar@lemmy.ca
    4·
    9 months ago

    If you want the “cheap but can still play 2D games/older emulation (wii yes, switch no, others in between)”, you could look for used SFF office PCs, where I live they are less than $300 Canadian ($200US).

    If you want decent punch for the uses you’ve stated, a deskmini with a good APU (AMD Ryzen 3400G for example but there are many newer and improved ones out there) will fit your bill.

    Graphics cards eat up budgets quickly so only consider them if you want to spend at least $900 total in order to play very new games at high settings.