I've done a little bit of research for a mini-form factor PC to be used for light-medium gaming in a location where a larger form factor would be undesirable. Reviews seem to be all over the map, so I figured I'd see if the community has some ideas.

The trick seems to be finding something in the $500-800 USD range max. I know the $1500 USD range will cover my needs, but that's outside the budget. 

By mini-form factor I mean something approaching the Intel NUC. I've used a Gigabyte Brix for non-gaming purposes, and it chokes on anything that moves pixels.

Based on the gaming requirement, minimum GPU is likely GeForce 960 equivalent. CPU likely i5 equivalent. 4 GB RAM minimum.

So, any recommendations?

Just as an alternative... have you considered a steamlink? It's a good solution if you already have a gaming pc, and dirt cheap.

14 minutes ago, ChaosEngine said:

Just as an alternative... have you considered a steamlink? It's a good solution if you already have a gaming pc, and dirt cheap.

 

Yeah, we have one for living room gaming. Does it work with non-Steam games/applications? I've never tried or looked it up. If it does, then that's a great option.. I just wasn't aware, but I need to be able to run non-Steam applications with it.

2 hours ago, khawk said:

Yeah, we have one for living room gaming. Does it work with non-Steam games/applications? I've never tried or looked it up. If it does, then that's a great option.. I just wasn't aware, but I need to be able to run non-Steam applications with it.

You can add non-steam games to steam, and it should work. I've never tried it myself, but AFAIK, you should be able to get your desktop, at least according to the FAQ. (note: that's pretty old and community-based rather than official, so might not be accurate).

Quote

You can even stream your desktop with full control of your PC, simply by adding something like notepad as a non-Steam game, then tabbing out of it while it's streaming.

 

16 hours ago, ChaosEngine said:

You can add non-steam games to steam, and it should work.

Ok maybe that's worth trying then. Much cheaper option.