A Tiny PC That Can Game (M350 Case?)

[vegeta13613]

I am thinking about building a truly tiny PC that can, hopefully, be carried around in one hand. I would also like that system to be capable of some low-grade gaming (I am thinking at least Intel 4000 graphics, or maybe a good APU). I have built two PCs in the past, but this is a pretty new area for me. I have no experience with a small form factor or AMD...

The Antec Mini-ITX Case looks good, but as I really would like a capable APU inside, the 90w PSU will likely be a problem.

I am guessing the M350 will be my best bet, as I can get a 160w pico PSU for it, which should be more than enough to power a capable APU. It looks like it should even be able to handle a A10 5800k, but I have heard that APUs can put out a lot of heat, so that may be another problem...

Hopefully there are a few people out there who wouldn't mind helping me through the buying process of this build. I am definitely leaning toward the M350, but I am a bit hesitant to pick an APU/ mobo without a bit of input.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

You'll likely have trouble with heat in cases that small, and you will likely want to be using an SSD for less heat/space/power.

An APU is probably your best bet, though the new Haswell chips should have pretty awesome iGPUs.

Sounds interesting.

 

[vegeta13613]

You'll likely have trouble with heat in cases that small, and you will likely want to be using an SSD for less heat/space/power.

An APU is probably your best bet, though the new Haswell chips should have pretty awesome iGPUs.

Sounds interesting.

Without a doubt, a SSD is definitely the way I will go. Less power draw, less heat, and smaller than a spinning drive... all very important in this build. My confustion is more about an APU and a motherboard. For now, I am planning on going with the M350 case. I have seen builds with an A10 5700 APU, but I am wondering if I could bump this up to an A10 5800k without too many worries. I know the 5800k has a higher power draw, and more heat output than the 5700. I would assume the 160w pico PSU could handle the 5800k, but I don't know about the heat output issue... Also, I would LOVE some thoughts on a motherboard for this specific build.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

CPU cooler and case are the main tricky questions IMO.

You may want to see what Haswell offers in the iGPU department, it should come fairly close to the high-end APUs on a lot less power.

You only really have three MB options if going the FM2 route: http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/motherboard/#xcx=0&s=23&sort=a6&f=8,17