Mini PC Vs Desktop: More Fair Than You Think

[@lemagreengreen]

One day motherboard manufacturers will learn that spraypainting the back of the IO shield black from the factory instantly adds gamer appeal

[@CrocoDylianVT]

High end motherboards have that

[@Boogie_the_cat]

@@CrocoDylianVT yeah, I'm gonna pay $750 for one of those stupid mobos made from depleted uranium, forged in a whale skull, lined with chimpanzee testicle skin, and a dumb screen on the heatspreader that uses terrible software and is made of plastic. I'm just kidding, those mobos are usually 2 grand.

[@Goober2007]

@@Boogie_the_cat the strat is to buy bottom of a barrel complete dogshit motherboard so you can overcompensate in the CPU and GPU sector, this is how a real gamer builds a PC i say.

[@commander3494]

@@Boogie_the_cat okay, but for the 0.3% additional performance is absolutely worth it

[@Thenakedbakerchannel]

Normal people don't care what the io looks like concidering it's at the back of the pc

[@bluecollarwatches7048]

Got the wife a newer PC as her aging celeron needed replacing, bought a refurbished dell optiplex i5-8500 but was considering one of these mini PC’s. In hind sight I should have bought her a mini PC, she does crafting and has programs she runs for that and cruises the internet and some KZbin tutorials, very light usage. These mini PC’s are impressive for the casual user.

[@thesilentgametestr]

i have a mini, nothing special, but with an intel N100, 16gb ram and a 512gb ssd(soldered) it pretty good and snappy. cost me under 200 british sterling on amazon. Ryzen ones would be better if you needed a bit more graphical power

[@sumitchaudhary343]

What about durability? Are mini pcs durable with small motherboards

[@Lava-i3g]

@@sumitchaudhary343why would it need to be durable?

[@sumitchaudhary343]

@@Lava-i3g if motherboard gets burnt then how to buy new one

[@Lava-i3g]

@@sumitchaudhary343 there is very low chance of that happening . If it does however it would probably be better to just get a new one . If there is warranty it is better but I guess maybe some repairers may have extra motherboards

[@3000TonnenKoala]

That last sentence disturbed me, made me think (which I better hadn't) and made me laugh. Well done :D

[@sysfailure]

All PC builds require a blood sacrifice. Good to see you appeased the PC gaming gods here!

[@briliankamil4594]

Now that build have a soul..

[@bobjohnston1239]

Blood for the Blood God!!!

[@lindah6954]

The dam rivets are like mini razors.

[@annieworroll4373]

My last PC build didn't extract a blood sacrifice... but it was a retro build and holy fuck do the hot ends of soldering irons hurt.

[@Lurch-Bot]

For some reason, when i PC for sale as being built with blood, sweat and tears, it tends to turn people off.

[@MoultrieGeek]

RE: The Swing I'm scarred for life now. Thanks Dawid!

[@Indisposable]

I'm more scarred by the thought of gaming on a PC "that with enough effort can fit inside your person." - Dawid

[@DA_COOLEST_DUDE]

same 👀💀

[@DawidDoesTechStuff]

Amazon BDSM swing review in the works.

[@MoultrieGeek]

@@DawidDoesTechStuff Will the cattle prod make a return?

[@bigreddt73]

love the tab from the backing plate covering the hdmi port on the motherboard. cheers Dawid

[@DraftySatyr]

Been there, done that! 😐

[@DawidDoesTechStuff]

I was too distracted by my nailed bed type injury to notice. 😂

[@ParanoidMarvinMk2]

"With enough effort can fit inside your person." That is a disturbingly succinct way to put it.

[@Lurch-Bot]

I've known a few people over the years who would take that to be a challenge.

[@spritbong5285]

Hahahahah

[@hellmalm]

The highlight of the week is when Dawid uploads a new video! Please never stop, I do live for these small moments of happiness!

[@premiumsomdier]

"in 10 years we will all be gaming on pc's that are tiny enough they can fit inside your person" 🤣🤣

[@hecker4758]

Didn't expect the mini pc to be chiller than big boi Mini PC's are evolving at scary rates !!!

[@Tankdmps]

everything aside, that rx 6600 is an absolute steal

[@aboohoo]

yeah, really! I know the mini is supposed to be the star of the show here, but that's a seriously impressive build for less than 600 bucks

[@johndoecake]

OH GOD ...that rear I/O HDMI with back plate metal in it

[@Tmtrnr]

dont forget the DVI VGA connection everyone uses those still

[@renerant]

"It's actually a feature" so the user doesn't connect the monitor to the motherboard instead of the video card 😂

[@HighIgnition]

Had happened to me in a few occasions, hahaha!

[@Xfade81]

since it's hdmi, it might even spark a bit for some extra flair.

[@Atari5732]

The last build I did I forgot to push those little tabs on the IO shield apart and a couple of them inserted into the motherboard inputs. It seems like such a simple thing to include a better IO shield.

[@Max_Ivanov_Pro]

Dawid's builds always have that perfect balance of humor and informative content. Keep up the great work!

[@DawidDoesTechStuff]

Thank you! I appreciate the nice comment.

[@alex.g7317]

@@DawidDoesTechStuffhe’s a bot 🤖

[@DawidDoesTechStuff]

@@alex.g7317 Oh! 😂

[@alex.g7317]

@@DawidDoesTechStuff yeah, a way to tell is by looking at their channel page, or if it’s obvious - looking at their pfp and username. I’m practically physic now.

[@alex.g7317]

@falcon_224 he only has 3 KZbin videos and made his channel very recently. The weird part is the shear amount of subscribers.

[@brandonvo9727]

Now put ur custom built pc against a $600 prebuilt lol

[@1-upanimations878]

We know how terribly that’ll go. Unless it was that Craigslist guy who souped up that old Desktop…

[@gnarlin4964]

06:22 Dawid forgot to bend the IO-shield's HDMI brace-tab inwards so now it's blocking the HDMI port. He'll either have to unscrew the motherboard, move it aside and bend it in or bend it in and out until it breaks off.

[@flexxx222]

with that 5500 he won't need that hdmi port.

[@BrunodeSouzaLino]

You can't use those ports unless the CPU has integrated graphics anyways.

[@Thanos0001]

Dremmel time!!!

[@BrunodeSouzaLino]

@@Thanos0001 You can break that tab using your fingers. It's very thin.

[@talibong9518]

maybe he blocked it on purpose

[@Styrofoam-ee]

For people who don't know or don't want to learn, with even kids who play Roblox or Minecraft, it's not a bad idea to pick one of these up for relatively cheap. Cheapest one goes for $150 honestly though past $500-$600 is a bit ridiculous, you're better off learning how to build a PC if you're going past that price range. Ofc the cheaper the Mini PC the less likely it's going to perform well with gaming, overall it's a pretty good market for Mini PC's right now. A lot of parents and businesses could use these.

[@arthurwintersight7868]

For "internet and office software" the N100 mini PCs are an absolute bargain. Their power consumption hovers around that of one or two LED light bulbs, they don't make much noise, and they function well as an office PC or even a small media server. Even for gaming, if everything you play is at least 4 or 5 years older than the original 2011 Skyrim release, it might actually run OK on an n100 mini PC. Retro gaming is probably fine.

[@lonergothonline]

now imagine the steamdeck competitors with the new thinner, blower style fans, with newer hdr-whatever-oled screens, which themselves probably would be running at 1080p120, with an optional lower screen display akin to the nintendo DS, for maps/macros/quick shortcuts, heck on on screen keyboard or whatever. running at 15w and outputting low-med setting games easily.

[@mvanalst2003]

Holy smokes, man! I’ve been looking for a video JUST LIKE THIS! Amazing job. Thank you for the content. BIG thumbs up and a like. Please keep them coming, sir.

[@jaygee1284]

Dawid, love your content. The humor is always just right. :)

[@joemayne2265]

I ended up getting mini PC with OCulink port for eGPU goodness. Yes it’s more expense, but it provides a means by which to access high end gaming if I want it and an upgrade path too. Price to performance even with an eGPU will of course be in favor of the larger system. You’re paying for form factor with the mini pc, just like with small form factor builds. But there’s definitely a market for playing games at lower specs but being able to easily travel with it (Steam Deck says hello).

[@georgeyreynolds]

Isn't the eGPU limited/throttled by the bandwidth of the interface and the max wattage of the enclosure though. Or is it as good as it can be ?

[@DeepteshLovesTECH]

Very few GPUs(PCIe 4.0 GPUs) are limited by PCIe 4.0x4 bandwidth. You'll have no problem with an RTX 4070 Super/4070Ti. Even a 4090 loses "only 20%" performance when not using an external monitor and next to nothing when using one. Regarding power, it depends on what PSU you are using.@@georgeyreynolds

[@rustler08]

That's a terrible idea, as eGPUs are massively limited by the bandwidth of the connector and that's not even factoring in the extra latency created from the less direct connection to a CPU. It's fine if you're running something like a cheaper 20-series, but don't for a second think that you're going to throw in something powerful like a 3080 or better and get anywhere near intended performance. If you're lucky, you'll get like 80% of the performance of the GPU. And it gets worse the more powerful you get in GPUs, which means you can't just talk about how the external GPU will allow you to keep upgrading over time. Add up the cost of this mini PC, a good GPU, and an eGPU enclosure and you could have just bought yourself a 4070 or 4080 laptop.

[@rustler08]

@@georgeyreynolds Yes, it is. eGPUs were fine for when GPUs were less powerful, but honestly at this point it's kind of a waste of money when you realize the power of modern laptops.

[@Slvrgs]

At that point why not get a tower pc with an igpu and later add a GPU.

[@akin242002]

Unless you are competitive gaming (professional gamer or paid tournament gaming), you rarely need a big tower PC. The only other needs are freelance video editors, Machine learning programming, or using CAD. Most people who are more focused on work than gaming are fine with a mini-PC playing 2-4 of the highly optimized 1080p games (Fortnite, Forza Horizon 5, CS Go 2, Apex Legends, or Leage of Legions). As long as the iGPU is Radeon 680M or higher, the casual user will not care.

[@royhandy8365]

If you build a computer and you don't bleed, did you really even build a computer?

[@bentpen3423]

Loving the regular uploads ma boi. Easily the best tech channel by far for both humour and information. Love ya loads babes xoxo

[@victoresarey4036]

I have a kamrui mini pc with 16gb ram and a ryzen 7 5700u and it's pretty good running windows 11 pro, probably could use more ram to help the vram but still good for 300 bucks

[@bigal2688]

Also remember the Ryzen 5500 only has 16 Mb of Cache compared to the 32 Mb on the 5600 and the 5500 is also limited to PCIe Gen 3.0 so with the X8 interface of the RX 6600 there will be a bit of a performance hit there too!

[@matuzaato]

Does it really affect performance though, for a higher end gpu a it could be, but with a 6600?

[@asuschrist]

@@matuzaato It does because it has x8 interface. If it had x16 it wouldn't be an issue.

[@sehabel]

The 5500 really isn't great for new builds, but I got one as a cheap upgrade for my old B350 motherboard since I can't use PCIe 4.0 anyway. I would only recommend it if you don't have a lot of money and still use something like a R5 1400.

[@WAFFLED_GMR]

The 6600 uses around 8 the majority time​@@asuschrist

[@WAFFLED_GMR]

​@@asuschristno gpus really use 16x

[@Twintania]

working on computers can often result in injuries surprisingly. Can't even begin to count the amount of times working on a older or vintage computer I've cut my hand on sharp metal

[@LordOfNihil]

anywhere you are working with sheet metal. was a system integrator back in the p4 era, using cheap steel cases that were all sharp corners. was amazing how often we restocked the first aid kit.

[@kandym3478]

my kids have gaming PCs similar to what you built, exact gpu even. When they start to age in the next few years I think mini PC will be their next systems

[@wyattkane]

I appreciate this channel’s commitment to holes.

[@andrewmcewan9145]

I'm 98% certain that the encoder is present in the apu's just for some reason amd don't let you use relive on them. This has been a thing since the first ryzen apus and there are workarrounds.

[@rockerforlife194]

Just set up my Peladn HA-4 today, Ryzen 7 7840HS, 32 gb 5600 ram and it it so fast! Nothing bogs it down and, the machine is beautiful, well crafted. Like a work of art! I love it and, I highly recommend the Peladn HA-4 for anyone looking for power, beauty, and a well built mini machine.

[@charginginprogresss]

3:20 that DDR5's sky high CL will make up for having higher frequency than the DDR4, don't worry.

[@username_1985]

Waking up from a very alcohol filled night, eating some chicken nuggets and seeing the random canadian guy from youtube uploaded a new tech stuff video. As best as this sunday could get 😁

[@cv990a4]

When he says "screwing and cable management" - is that a reference to the computer or the sex swing?

[@madvoador1]

yes

[@steelfox1448]

Yes

[@Grommet2007]

Nice comparison! Those mini PCs are getting better and better. FWIW, I've never used AMD's solution for gameplay capture. Windows-G brings up Windows' built-in gaming menu, and from there I can select to record the last 10 minutes of gameplay. As I never last longer than 10 minutes in any game, that's all that I need :-).

[@Crustenscharbap]

The Mini PC has Video encoder. It also can encode AV-1 which the RX660 can't do. But this function is blocked in the mini PC. You can use OBS instead.

[@thesilentgametestr]

the funny thing is the xbox one/series sx and ps4/ps5 are already gaming pcs in a smaller footprint than a desktop pc. what would be cool is if you could replace the os of the consoles with windows and see how they perform in gaming in comparison.

[@OmegaLaser-xy4ip]

ALL consoles are mini gaming PC lol

[@victoresarey4036]

My desktop is a late 2021 alienware aurora r10 ryzen 5 5600x and a rx 5700xt with 32gb ram it's an amazing system with a 1000w psu. Paid 450 total

[@croypc]

why dont you plug in an external gpu to that mini pc? like an egpu

[@mraltoid19]

With Time you can get a little better for a little more, I did my media PC with the following: Ryzen 7 5700x - $150 Radeon RX-6650XT - $200 32GB Samsung B-Die Generic Brand - $65 2TB M.2 NvME - $75 A320 Motherboard - $55 SUGO G Case - $50 450watt PSU - $55 Took 2 months looking for deals, so $650 for a modern-ish PC is pretty good!

[@mraltoid19]

@@token7443 it's an FSP Gold-Rated, and the 5700x and 6650xt don't eat that much juice.

[@catto-from-heaven]

5700x on an A320 mb OOF

[@buildyourcomputer]

i like that your set is right next to the emergency exit in case one of these videos goes bad.

[@awwtv2603]

Omg, the Mmore really got me, that got you a upvote and a comment. good work Dawid

[@Collin_J]

That case looks slick. Very nice update to the old & sad Deepcool cases

[@theelectricant98]

Not very mini

[@lachezardonev9381]

We all know not to plug the monitor in the motherboard's HDMI port, but accidentally blocking it with the IO shield is a strategy I haven't seen before... 😆

[@seventhblessing.7371]

Have you changed the UMA frame buffer on the mini PC? to match the vram amount on the RX 6600

[@adamweb]

That ASRock mobo triggered my 90's PTSD from I/O shields that would never completely snap in place or line up with cases back then!

[@ghosttheoremproductions5469]

Just a slightly better motherboard would have netted component heat sinks, 8 pin cpu power, and 4 dimm slots. Which would go a long way towards future upgradability. Something the mini-pc completely lacks.

[@mr.bamboozle3053]

Short answer: not really

[@Daniel-ru8je]

Cpu wise its not that far off but the igpu being equal to a 1650.... yea no.

[@the_0hd251]

Bro why did you spoil it

[@frankwong9486]

Or another short answer : It depends

[@georgeyreynolds]

There are Ryzen 9 based mini PCs now 7940HS and 6900HS. DDR5 4800 up to 64GB ...

[@OHutchinson04]

Shorter answer: No.

[@davidsanders890]

The minisforum em680 is $400 for the 32/512 variant right now. Pretty much the best price/performance/footprint available. It would be interesting to see how a custom pc build would stack up to that.

[@Lukelovell2]

Ive said it before, this is hilarious and so clever. So glad I found his channel

[@neogenesiseva01]

With the extra Nvme port on the mini pc can you put a extern graphic card on it ?

[@yissnakklives8866]

The Minisforum um780 xtx comes with an occulink adapter and a port on the rear to plug it into without the need to case mod. But yes, it's definitely possible. Seen guys on here do it with this ser6 max and just cut a hole in the housing

[@DeepteshLovesTECH]

Dawid the Mini PC's 7840HS has all the encoders needed, it even has AV1 hardware encoding! But A-hole AMD doesn't provide Re-Live on their APU drivers!!!!!! Your only option is OBS where you'll get access to the hw encoders!

[@that1kidonyoutube]

Is there a way to run the mini pc with an external gpu?

[@mmstick]

Yes, through Oculink or USB4.

[@maxmurphy6932]

This is peak entertainment

[@stephenarkless9444]

I get all hot and flustered when I see one of your videos pop up 😆

[@zephaniahgreenwell8151]

Much closer than expected

[@FrgottenFrshness]

the I/O shield that is bent in towards the HDMI connector is a bit concerning not sure if you noticed that yet at 6:20

[@Oxide445]

Thanks Dawid for the furniture suggestion, I now have a great idea to spice up my next funeral

[@jasonlewis810]

I'd be curious to see how they'd compare if you used that same GPU with an external usb4 enclosure... Would the beefier CPU make up most of the difference in bandwith for the usb4 GPU?

[@zuilok]

6:23 Dawid am I seeing a blocked HDMI port on the mobo caused by bad instalation? You really didnt get along with that I/O shield did you?

[@McSquiddington]

Whenever a friend or a colleague asks me about the value of miniPCs, I tend to limit them to client-side office stuff or as media servers. There's a big push for portraying them as "mobile", but I don't see the point of that form factor in this respect - not when laptops exist. I use a miniPC for work (clerical stuff, nothing fancy) and have a full-on gaming PC at home. I use a laptop anywhere that doesn't fit either location, and I have a Steam Deck. MiniPCs feel a bit like Netbooks - maybe useful if you're looking for a computer on the ultra-cheap and absolutely want to buy something new - but ultimately destined for obsolescence.

[@muhammadfaris7502]

sorry guys, but may i ask what is the stutter zone mentioned at 7:45? why the game stuttered when the pc is too powerful as dawid said?

[@scottireland4110]

Which mouse is that in 11:14 ?

[@rob90230]

How did you connect speakers to the miniPC? At 9:47, you did not have the speakers connect to the front audio jack.

[@cyanide_express]

bluetooth?

[@MichaOstrowski]

audio jack from the monitor is an option

[@greenbirdstar]

The RX 6600 is a god's blessing after owning a GTX 1060 for a long time

[@bigman7083]

im still running a laptop with a 1060 lol its a razer and does fine for basic gaming but i wish it was more powerful, granted the laptop looks and functions like a brand new one for normal desktop stuff, so i cant justify buying a new one

[@jonathont5570]

For 99% of users the mini pc is a great choice.

[@lindah6954]

How much torque do you put on a screw. A 1/4 turn before it snaps.

[@gamertrojan4038]

Ahh so I am not the only one who blood sacrifices with every new build lol

[@netdudeuk]

PC cases used to have slot backplates that you had to wiggle around to break out of the back of the case itself. I’ve seen more than a couple that were like lancets with a sharp point on the end.

[@Tellea]

I'd love to see if that mini PC works with an external GPU , you could have a very nice travel set up

[@Akotski-ys9rr]

3:45 I actually was considering buying that cooler master case for a really cheap pc build

[@LadBooboo]

6:20 yep, that's where i expected that stupid tab for the HDMI port on the i/o shield to end up. Very realistic build process, Dawid 😂

[@cezardan01]

What is the "stutter zone" and why does it happen at low settings of all things?

[@basilofwisdom]

Very short answer: no

[@therealwall-e]

If your really good at soldering and a bit of light coding (if there's a bios limitation or a bios settings that limits upgradability ) Then I'll say the mini pc can actually be turned to something extremely powerful With a proper GPU (A external PSU for the GPU) And maybe a 3 week soldering process for upgrading the CPU Possibly?

[@PhilKulak]

“Screwing and cable management” may be the best way anyone could spend a Saturday night.

[@nonyabusiness-f9e]

i got a rx 6600 for around the same price on black friday and i love it. it slayed anything at a1080p for me. i recently swapped it into my mining rig and its killing it in there too.

[@CaveyMoth]

You should do a side by side video, showing the entire build process of the custom PC on one side, and struggling to get the miniPC out of the box on the other side.

[@Ricelord4]

Even though the rate of advancement in tech is slowing down, it's still pretty scary how far we've come. Laptops and mini PCs that are just as powerful as previous generation desktop PCs in terms of CPU power, cellphones that can effectively act as multimedia hubs (Samsung DeX, etc)... I wouldn't have thought it possible 20 years ago.

[@gozitgupta6165]

Bro these mini pcs are going crazy for real it's gonna be a huge market. Credit to Dawid for making some quality content. Let's respect him 🗿🍷

[@Valion13Gaming2]

That mini pc supports EGPUs as well via USB4 if it's the one I think it is. Still would lose out to a custom tower, and EGPUs are still not as stable or performant because of being done over usb, but they're getting better. It's interesting stuff, thanks for the video.

[@BrunodeSouzaLino]

They are if the use Oculink, which is essentially a PCIe Gen 4 lane connected to another using a cable.

[@Straussy247]

Im aware you would never be using the hdmi port on the motherboard anyways but if ya do you gotta bend the little tag out of the way first. Love the vids Dawid

[@UncannySense]

Hi Dawid seeing as you've had sponsored access to Bequiet cases, I was wondering if you could test standard vs inverted motherboard case configurations. My 20year old LianLi PC-V1000B case which I am still using nowhas the inverted motherboard arrangement which I believe is better... But I am curious if there is any performance/cooling benefit. I think some Bequite cases can do both orientations so it might make for some interesting results....?

[@massivemancomputers]

The Montech Air 100 ARGB is an excellent budget m-ATX case.

[@alexmcd378]

But how do they compare at compiling the Linux kernel?

[@97BuckeyeGuy]

That's actually a really nice looking Deep Cool case.

[@Fuscao_Preto]

btw, you can increase the mini pcs gpu memory all the way to 16gb and still have another 16 for the cpu.

[@sixyears]

Was the price for the home built system in Canada 🇨🇦 dollars or USD ?

[@dansanger5340]

Using your list, but making it 32GB/1TB, I can build one for $623.93 on Amazon. I'm surprised how cheap it is for a very decent gaming PC. I bought the mini PC about a month ago for $580, but this video will be very helpful if I want to build a real gaming PC in the future.

[@AnnaDoes]

I love your little meltdown at ASRock and how it got back at you

[@MR.Peanut2]

Question: do you update the mobo bios or do you just drop the cpu in?

[@doesitgame]

At 1:09 I just have to assume this build becomes "Dawid does potential unintended arson stuff" lol

[@vanfly6731]

awesome as always thank you for the video

[@Bboyman1150]

2:55 the vrm on the motherboard look very oem overheatingish

[@playerofgames7916]

Tou 10:40 ??????? LoU not Tou Moving on ...

[@IcebergTech]

*sigh* I'm gonna get accused of plagiarism in about two weeks.

[@darthpotwet2668]

Unlucky

[@Kurzyia]

I’m looking for a gaming pc but should I buy a normal gaming pc or a mini pc ?

[@uig81357]

The timing of this video is perfect because i just recently purchased an rx6600....currently waiting for the rest of the components to build my new pc 😅

[@uig81357]

Omg i just realized the processor and ram are same as well 😂

[@gundalfthelost1624]

Great GPU for 1080p/1440p gaming on high (or even ultra) settings. Got the PowerColor Fighter version of the RX 6600 in one of my rigs myself. Runs cool, performance is extremely stable and it's such a good value. I do suggest changing the fan-curve (from factory the fans are off until the card reaches 60c in temp). The fans aren't loud so there's not really any reason to keep them off, better to have a solid curve via MSI Afterburner for example so they are always on. A cool running card, is a long lived card after all. Mine runs at 40% until it reaches 60c, then it climbs to 65% followed by a steady climb until it matches 100/100 temp/%. Since I changed that, I have never seen GPU temps over 58c, not even while playing Dead Space Remake or Cyberpunk with the graphics cranked.

[@uig81357]

​@@gundalfthelost1624Still havent built my pc, but I will look into the fan curves when I complete the build...ty for the advice 👍

[@TheSchwarzKater]

Every good PC build needs some blood sacrifice.

[@mtb24only]

Can you put external gpu on that mini pc? like in a case from Razer and similar

[@dhyanvohera]

Hey David hope you read this recently i had came accross a short where a person buys a similar mini pc and connects it to a rtx 4090 somehow maybe you can try something similar

[@airtioteclint]

8 noticed most mini pc have integrated graphics. Can they handle emulators?