Compact Mini-ITX gaming PC

DeepCool CH160 is a miniature case for the smallest Mini-ITX motherboards, but quite long video cards up to 30.5 cm, and even three PCI-Express slots in thickness. True, only if you use a compact power supply SFX or SFX-L. Whereas a full-size ATX power supply limits the choice of video cards to single-fan models.

The five body panels are made of mesh, which is especially important in the case of a tight layout. Behind three of them there are easily removable dust filters. The last sixth panel of tempered glass is attached with magnets. A tower up to 17 cm high or a single-section 120 mm cooler can be used as a processor cooler.

Unlike most other Mini-ITX cases, the graphics card mounts horizontally rather than vertically, meaning there's no need for a flex cable that adds latency to gaming. The interface panel is located not at the top in front, but at the side at the bottom. All elements are modern: a single power button, fast USB 3.0 ports, double-sided Type-C and a paired Mini-Jack.

GameMax Iceburg 120 infinity White is a single-section liquid cooling system with a heat sink of up to 180 W. Can be painted black or white. And the only fan and pump cover are decorated with ARGB lighting with the effect of a bottomless mirror. The cover can be rotated at any angle to neatly lay the hoses in the PC case.

To protect against bending, the hoses are reinforced with nylon weave. The backlight can be synchronized with ASUS Aura, MSI Mystic and Gigabyte Fusion motherboards. Support for ASRock Polychrome and Biostar Vivid has not been officially announced, but it will most likely work. The fan automatically adjusts to the processor temperature using PWM technology from 800 to 2200 rpm.

While the pump rotates strictly at a fixed speed of 2300 rpm, so that air bubbles do not form in the dropsy circuit. The soleplate in contact with the processor is made of pure copper. The kit includes mounts for all current processor sockets: AMD AM4, AM5, Intel LGA 1200, 1700 and even the future 1851 for Arrow Lake processors.

ASUS Prime H610I-PLUS-CSM is a Mini-ITX motherboard based on the initial Intel H610 chipset for the LGA 1700 socket, that is, Core 12, 13 and 14th generation processors. To support the latter, a BIOS firmware update may be required. The power subsystem is designed according to a 5+1+1 scheme: five phases power the processor cores, one phase powers the integrated video card, and another phase powers the memory controller.

Moreover, unlike the simplest H610 motherboards, the VRM mosfets are even covered with an aluminum radiator. An M.2 PCIe 3.0 SSD with speeds of up to 3.5 GB/s is installed on top of the chipset. A pair of DIMM slots accommodate DDR5 RAM with a frequency of up to 5600 MHz. There is also a cheaper version of the motherboard for old DDR4-3200 MHz memory.

Video card slot x16 fast version of PCI-Express 4.0, so as not to limit video cards with a reduced number of lines. The iGPU video outputs are digital HDMI, Display Port and analog VGA. The sound subsystem is 7.1 channel, and the wired Internet is gigabit. There are only four USB ports on the back, and half are slow 30 MB/s.

Intel Core i3-14100F is the only 14-generation processor with a homogeneous architecture, that is, with only powerful Raptor Lake Refresh cores without additional energy-efficient Gracemont. Thanks to Hyper-Threading technology, four physical cores are divided into eight virtual threads. The volume of the third level cache is 12 megabytes.

At a base frequency of 3.5 GHz, the processor generates only 58 W of heat, but Turbo Boost overclocking to 4.7 GHz increases the TDP to 110 W. The Intel Laminar RM1 boxed cooler is on the verge of overheating even at maximum speed. Therefore, we recommend forking out for better cooling: a turret or a single-section dropsy.

Can work with two types of RAM: DDR4 and DDR5. Moreover, in the second case, even non-binary modules with a total capacity of up to 192 GB are supported. Index F indicates the absence of an iGPU, but there is a simple Intel GNA neural module for accelerating artificial intelligence. But it's much slower than Intel AI Boost, which will appear in the next generation of Core processors.

The Sapphire RX 6500 XT Pulse ITX Pure is a video card of rare beauty, in which not only the cooling system casing is painted white, but also the PCB textolite. Only 15 centimeters long and powered by a single 6-pin connector, it is ideal for Mini-ITX PC builds with an SFX, TFX or Flex power supply.

Built on the RDNA 2 graphics architecture and supports a number of proprietary AMD technologies. FidelityFX Super Resolution 3 upscaling with frame generation to increase FPS in games with almost no loss of picture clarity. Alternative Radeon Image Sharpening for older projects without FSR support and finally Radeon Anti-Lag to reduce input lag.

Recommended for use with a processor and motherboard with PCIe 4.0 bus. The cooler consists of an array of aluminum fins, two copper heat pipes plated with nickel to resist corrosion, and one fan with highly curved blades to reduce turbulence. You can adjust the propeller speed and overclock the video card in the proprietary Sapphire TriXX application.

Patriot Viper Elite 5 RGB TUF - DIMM DDR5 RAM with snow-white heatsinks and orange light-diffusing prisms. The latter was added to comply with the TUF Gaming Alliance, that is, ASUS’ initiative to create various PC components in a single visual style: motherboards, video cards, coolers, etc.

In addition to the usual binary memory kit of 2x16 GB, there is also a non-binary 2x24 GB, which was achieved by increasing the density of the chips. Your motherboard may require a BIOS update to support it. In both cases, the Intel XMP or AMD EXPO auto-overclocking profile frequency is 6000 MHz, the timing formula is CL36-36-36-76, and the supply voltage is 1.35 V.

Two smart chips are hidden under the radiators. PMIC for uniform power supply of two virtual channels on one physical memory module. And ECC to detect multi-bit read-write errors and correct single-bit errors on the fly. The backlight is configured and synchronized using the ASUS Aura or Viper RGB App.

Wibrand Caiman M.2 is an M.2 NVMe format solid state drive from a Ukrainian brand with the most popular length of 8 cm. Suitable for laptops and desktop computers, including monoblocks and nettops. But it is not compatible with the portable gaming console Steam Deck (requires a shortened 3-centimeter disk) and the stationary PlayStation 5 (requires a PCIe 4.0 bus).

Whereas the Wibrand Caiman M.2 has a PCI-Express 3.0 connection interface, which results in sequential read and write speeds of 2000 and 1600 MB/s. Of course, when recording a very large amount of data at a time, the speed will decrease, which is typical for all modern SSDs without exception. Then it takes time to restore performance.

It does not have a heatsink, but given the non-hot controller based on an energy-efficient technical process, it does not need one. In addition, the absence of a thick heatsink allows the drive to fit even in thin ultrabooks. The Wibrand Caiman series includes both newfangled M.2 models and classic 2.5" SATA, with capacities from 128 GB to 1 TB. The warranty in all cases is 3 years.

The HighPower Astro G 700W is a power supply from a long-standing and respected manufacturer (formerly Sirtec), which directly manufactures the internal electronics for many other PSU brands. The body is painted white, but the ventilation grille and wires are black. Fortunately, they are modular, which allows you to leave only the bare minimum required for your PC configuration.

The fan with a diameter of 12 centimeters is decorated with RGB lighting, which also breaks through two oblong stripes on the sides of the power supply unit. Awarded 80 PLUS Silver energy efficiency certification, which at 89 percent efficiency is significantly closer to Gold than Bronze. In addition, this means that the device has passed independent external testing.

The power supply reliably protects other, much more expensive computer components (processor, motherboard, video card) from short circuits, power surges, overload and overheating. The Active PFC reactive power correction mechanism has been implemented. All this is backed by a long 6-year warranty.

Iiyama ProLite XUB2492HSU-W6 is a monitor with a white leg and frame, although most likely just a leg, because the frame on three sides of the screen is so thin that it is almost invisible. With a diagonal of 23.8 inches, the resolution is 1920x1080 pixels. The IPS matrix produces a brightness of 250 cd/m2, a static contrast of 1300:1 and viewing angles close to maximum.

The color gamut of sRGB 99% or NTSC 72% makes the monitor suitable for amateur photography and video editing. Gamers will appreciate the low MPRT latency of 0.4 ms and, conversely, the high refresh rate of 100 Hz. With the ability to synchronize with FPS in games using Adaptive Sync technology to eliminate image tearing. Flicker Free and Low Blue Light technologies reduce eye fatigue.

The Pivot stand allows you to adjust the height of the monitor above the table within a range of 15 cm depending on the user’s height. And flip the monitor 90 degrees between horizontal landscape and vertical portrait modes. Adding ergonomics are built-in 2x2 W stereo speakers, a headphone output and a four-port USB 3.2 hub.