Small form factor gaming PC recommendations?

General Discussion
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I’m interested in buying a gaming PC or laptop for Zwift. Does anyone have a recommendation for a good build, or pre-built system that will allow for 60fps and excellent graphics? I’m currently running on a tablet and want to upgrade to a larger screen and generally better performance.

I see few cheap small form factor options - and I’m wondering if I should just buy a brand name $800-$1200 tower (though would prefer small factor). Any recommendations for max performance without overkill are appreciated.

I’m not interested in Apple TV or Apple products in general. Looking for Android and Windows , and combining with up to a 22 to 24 inch touch monitor.

Thanks!

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This Facebook group is your new home

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The issue with going SFF is that you’ll really struggle to get a half height graphics card that will fit. Certainly not for sensible money.

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Thank you - no Facebook here though.

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Any regular sized models that might work? I have space for either.

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If you private message me I’ll email you some documents that will explain all.

Courtesy of @Dave_ZPCMR

1 Like
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First and foremost that’s ridiculous money, please don’t spend that much, and don’t buy a prebuilt if you are willing/able to build yourself. If it’s just for Zwift, you’ll be throwing away a ton of money. Likewise don’t buy a laptop.

You’ve not said what game resolution you intend to run, I’d assume 4K but it’s massively overrated for the extra power and cost required to maintain 60fps in the more recent worlds/areas, where the design team clearly have no idea of the cumulative impact of adding dense foliage to tight courses.

Going SFF is perfectly possible, it’s just more expensive for the motherboard, power supply and case versus normally sized stuff. Otherwise see here: Zwift on PC: The Ultimate Guide to Running Zwift at Its Very Best | Zwift Insider

Edit, at that screen size (doubt touch will work) then definitely just stick to running the game at 1440p rather than 4K. Far better value, and what you actually see in terms of features and detail doesn’t change at all.

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Just had a look, based on 12th gen Intel you’d probably be talking roughly a $100 premium to build with SFF stuff. Not worth it IMO, many mATX cases are a lot smaller than people realise.

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Thank you very much. I’ve been playing on a Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 10.5" and, while the performance is decent I’m ready for something a lot better. The screen is particularly subpar since many numbers are hard to read. I was thinking of picking up a $900 Asus Tuff laptop (good, current generation, but not top of the line) and mounting it for the app and then using a clamp arm to install a larger monitor. I’m less concerned with the total cost than getting an easy to use solution that’ll also maximize the visual experience. SFF isn’t as important, but my first thought was that there might be a decent option that would be fairly future proof.

I’d really like to retain touch screen, but I know that might not be feasible. I was also considering a Galaxy Tab S8+ due to the larger screen, which would also drop right in to my current tablet mount… but again, not sure it’ll be completely satisfying.

Going to read your article fully (skimmed, looks great, thank you!) And learn more.

Next piece will be hacking together a good mounting solution for my bikeerg.

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Absolutely crazy money to be restricted by a laptop, don’t do it. :wink: If you’re not bothered by dropping to ~30fps in big events and busy spots (Pace Partners etc) then you can chuck together something that will look exactly the same on screen for about a quarter of the price. See your PMs.