The Hardware: Inside AVADirect's Mini Gaming PC
Listed under AVADirect's Mini Cube Gaming PC category, this configuration starts with Lian-Li’s PC-Q28B. If you'd rather lose the black parts, you can order the PC-Q28A instead and still access the custom finish options.
Lian-Li doesn’t offer its cases in chrome, and chroming the case’s ultra-fine brushed finish would have destroyed that look. AVADirect instead applies a chrome-like vinyl film with a pressed-in brushed texture.
AVADirect does a remarkable job of covering the case’s surfaces, taking special care to wrap edges and remove port openings. Though vinyl wrap isn’t costly, the value of this $99 option comes from the time involved in applying the covering.
A premium build should support the highest-end media formats, so AVADirect included LG’s BH16NS40 Black 16x/16x/48x BD/DVD/CD Blu-ray burner with our sample. This $138 option also includes a brushed finish, though the lighting required to make it shine would have turned the case wrap into a photograph-dooming reflection. A retail boxed part, the LG drive adds CyberLink Media Suite 10 to the package.
Seasonic’s 80 PLUS Plantinum-rated 760 W fully modular power supply blocks the view of other internal components. Though this PSU offers much more output than the system needs, a Platinum rating assures optimal efficiency results.
Modular power cables make it easier for us to pop out the power supply for a look inside. AVADirect fits this build with a Core i7-4770K processor, a GeForce GTX 780 from Asus, and Kingston’s XMP Beast-series DDR3-1600 C9 16 GB dual-channel memory kit.