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.
And a full size PC will be much cheaper to upgrade later.
An ITX build would increase the costs a bit for motherboard, case, and PSU (an extra $100 or so), but I think the space savings is worth it. A GPU is also an option, and you’d need an external one for a mini PC, which isn’t ideal. Get an APU at first, and then a decent GPU later if it doesn’t hold up for $200 or so.