MicroATX Gaming PC
We picked five submissions for the MicroATX Gaming PC this quarter.
Ultimately, Brandon402’s “Big Mini” Micro ATX Gaming Build triumphed over the other four configs to receive 18 votes.
Congratulations to forum member Brandon402 for having his recommended build picked by the Tom's Hardware community this quarter!
The MicroATX Gaming Build has always been about portable power for LAN parties. This year, an Ivy Bridge-based Core i5-3570K replaces the Sandy Bridge-based Core i5-2500K found in the 2011 system. Cooler Master’s award-winning Hyper 212 Evo keeps the quad-core processor cool, while providing decent headroom for overclocking.
ASRock's Z77M motherboard is equipped for SATA 6Gb/s, USB 3.0, and dual CrossFire.
Each of the motherboard’s two memory slots are fitted with an 8 GB stick of Corsair Vengeance LP DDR3-1600.
A single GeForce GTX 670 from EVGA was chosen to power this build’s intended application of hardcore PC gaming.
The system drive is a 128 GB Samsung 830 SSD, with a 1 TB Caviar Black from Western Digital storing user data. A Rosewill Capstone 80 PLUS Gold PSU powers this beast.
Fractal Design’s elegant and diminutive Arc Mini tower keeps this impressively powerful system somewhat portable. Asus’ DVD burner makes a second appearance in this year’s BestConfigs list as the obligatory optical drive.
This system came out to $1,149.46 when Brandon402 originally configured it. The current prices of Brandon402’s “Big Mini” Micro ATX Gaming Build can be found in the BestConfigs shopping tables.