I have wanted to build a compact system for some time now, despite the fact that all my personal systems have all been in giant full Tower Cases... Hell my next PC is going to be built into a desk. (You can see that build log HERE)

So it is surprising to hear, especially from me that I want to put together a small form factor PC with budget in mind.

This build I am doing is for my better half, @Deeviras, for her birthday. So what better excuse do I need than to build her a new compact pc that is a vast upgrade to the one she is currently using.

Her current PC consists off....

CPU	AMD FX-6350
Mother Board	Gigabyte 970A-DS3 AM3+ socket
Memory	8Gb Corsair DDR3 1600Mhz, (2 x 4 GB)
Graphics Card	Nvidia GTX 750 Ti EVGA FTW
Power Supply	Generic 550 Watts ATX PSU
Storage	1Tb 2.5" HDD, 5500RPM.

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It was built about 4 years ago, but it is more than capable of running most of the games she plays at present. However, Arma 3 seems to struggle a lot on her current system, averaging only 25-27 frames per second, and with this being the main game she plays in the evenings. I thought an update would go along way in improving her gaming experience.

So I started to brows various PC stores to find the appropriate components that will work very will inside a small form factor case like a Micro ATX.

Looking online, I decided to buy all the hardware from Aria PC, not only do they always have some good deals on, but they are also local (about 10 minute drive), so if there is any issues, I don't have to mess around returning items or dealing with a faceless person behind a phone.

I started to look for a reasonable case in which to fit everything in. the build is budget orientated so the case had to perform and be within budget. I came across the Kolink Satellite, Micro ATX Case which is both small, but can accommodate a large, full size GPU and ATX power supply. This meant I did not have to mess around with finding the correct size GPU or PSU, giving me lots of options to work with.

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Next is the CPU. This was a fairly easy choice, and with AMD already being budget friendly, I decided to go with an AMD Ryzen 3 1300x. Yes it is only a 4 core and 4 thread, but when compared to an FX- 6350, or even Intel's i3, the 1300x wins every time in gaming performance.

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Motherboard was also a fairly easy choice, despite the lack of budget, small form factor boards available. The system wont be overclocked much, if at all so the Gigabyte DS2 Micro ATX AM4 Mother Board was an easy decision. Its cheep under £50,, and has all the basics you would expect from a modern MB.

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For graphics, I want to get something that can both perform, but not be overly expensive. The original idea was to get an RX 570/580, but the prices still haven't dropped all that much because miners are still buying them all up. So an Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti from Gigabyte was the clear choice. It is small, reasonably powerful, and can cope with today's triple A titles with ease. Not 4K, as @deeviras 's monitor is only a small 24” 1080.

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With the increasing prices of memory recently, I couldn't get what I initially wanted, so I had to settle for a a single stick of Crucial Ballistix Sport, 8Gb DDR4 2400Mhz. Even though I am only using a single stick, it will allow @Deeviras to upgrade in the future by adding another stick.

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With this being a small and compact case, the system will produce some heat, and with that in mind, I decided to get a GameMax Iceberg 120mm all in one water cooler, as the stock one would just recirculate the air inside. This would be more efficient and exhaust the air out of the case.

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There are hundreds of power supply's to choose from, but I thought I would stick to what I know. I am currently using a 1050 watt GameMax PSU in my system, so I went ahead and got a GameMax GM600 600 Watt Bronze 80+ power supply. When using a PSU calculator, it was recommended that I use a 550 watt PSU, however, this one was on sale and it would give more head room for any additional upgrades in the future. It is semi modular, quality cables, and comes with a 3 year warranty. All for just over £40.

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The only other thing that I bought was a GameMax wind force RGB kit which included 2 120mm RGB fans, an RGB LED strip and controller. This is mainly so I can change the fan inside the PSU and have the other on the AiO so it is in a push pull config, and I will figure out where to put the LED strip when all the components arrive on Monday.

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I can not wait until all this hardware arrives on Monday, I think @Deeviras will be very happy with the system she will be getting.
The only downside is I would like to get a 1Tb solid state drive to replace the hard disk she has, but after buying all this, my wallet is looking pretty empty. But it should be well worth it in the end.

I will be posting a build log, and then I shall get some benchmarks comparing her old PC to this new one.

Please go ahead and Follow @Deeviras.

She is a Gamer and Alternative Tattooed Model who posts daily about her modeling career, gaming and other useful information you may want to know.

Thanks for reading.

Don't Forget to Upvote, ReSteem and Follow for more content like this!

Stu @TechMojo

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