Mini PC for games?

I wanna play some games, but I haven't built any PCs since like 2002. I've been teaching myself about what parts are around now and how stuff works, but it seems like there's a global chip shortage and it might just be more easy for me to buy some little prebuilt thing. In this article about Steam Deck development, Valve recommends using a particular model of mini desktop PC along with installing Manjaro KDE. I really don't know anything about what any of the hardware in that thing is like, but from this we can assume it must be fully Linux compatible. https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2021/11/valve-adds-documentation-for-steam-deck-development-suggests-manjaro-linux-for-now/ The specific model can be found here - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08SC66X5S/?coliid=I1O070WINV7CJV&colid=1L36RI8G8FJSZ&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it&th=1 Because of Valves recommendation and the presumed 100% linux compatibility, I was just about to buy it. But on that store they also have a more beefed up mini PC, but since I don't really know anything about it's internals, I don't know if any of it is less compatible than the cheaper one. Here is the stronger one - https://www.amazon.com/MINISFORUM-Elitemini-Desktop-Computer-Graphics/dp/B09KSX45WN?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1 Maybe the drivers that linux would use to work in the cheaper would not work the more beefy one. Does anyone else know? If everything should work fine with it the I might just get it. TLDR: My question is basically this: The parts inside the lower power model that Valve recommends is 100% linux compatible, are the somewhat different parts in the more powerful model also 100% linux compatible?

>amazon.com/dp/B08SC66X5S/ Did you read this comment? https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RGZ8BUSZEH54H/ For $200 less you can assemble that second amazon link yourself in a mini-ITX build https://pcpartpicker.com/list/xZwMqp (5700G, 32GB RAM, 512GB SSD, etc.) The catch is, besides the time assembling, you'll most likely need to flash the BIOS with a USB stick if there's no indication on your shipped mobo's packaging that it has already been flashed to support Zen 3 CPUs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsyCQrm-Uc0 Make sure you follow the steps correctly, pick the proper BIOS for your exact mobo model, it's easy to screw up and brick it (though temporary removal of CMOS battery supposedly can fix it) forcing you to RMA it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1v_AuUlyVg The advantage of this build over your prebuilt is you can later buy and add a better dedicated GPU if prices ever become sane again in a few years. The 5700G iGPU or an equivalent i5-11400+GT1030 can only handle low settings in modern games: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnHg3kPRerA

>>53729 > this machine is locked to a proprietary setting to not allow it to install linux. I was excited about AMD technology but instead was left with a piece of brick. What the hell? Then how is Valve running Manjaro on it?

Linux can run on pretty much any x86_64 hardware. Modern CPUs like brand new Intel chips may have some driver issues immediately upon release, but if you use an up to date kernel like Fedora or OpenSUSE Tumbleweed you'll get support very quickly. The CPU in the computers in your amazon links will be Linux-compatible, but as >>53729 mentions you'll have to read reviews and see if anyone's put Linux on it, and how that's gone for them. These "literally who" brands that sell cheap gear on Amazon with nonstandard motherboards/BIOSes are probably not going to support Linux as well as more mainstream box. If you don't have money to throw away, make sure someone else has run Linux on it first before buying. https://www.servethehome.com/introducing-project-tinyminimicro-home-lab-revolution/

>>53717 if you plan on playing any modern 3d games (like portal 2 in you picture) at decent resolutions then this is bad idea, then you want a dedicated graphics card and the smallest form factor would be mini-itx

>>53717 I read good things about s922x and lenovo m93p. I have the larger version of m93p and it plays dolphin emulation. I wonder if the s922x is linux compatible myself, though android can do lots of things regardless... Then again I'm neet so this is a neet perspective on rather nice smaller pc's. The s922x is a mali android type device but opengl 3 so can do dolphin and batocera linux says it supports it, the s922x, of which makes it interesting to me. I've wanted one of those 4:3 monitors by the way. I used to think they were self charging but actually charge other devices, kinda lame, but I want one of them. Those 8'' 4:3 ones. I recognize that monitor from my 'saved for later' list. It's brand anyway. That one is too wide. The one I want takes rca and hdmi and vga and as stated is 4:3 ratio. Also has speakers in the back. It's only 12v so getting a battery to run it might be easy. I have a car monitor that's 3.5'' for my pi 3 and it's 12v but I used a 'special' cord as an inverter to make the 5v 12v while lowering amperage. If there's enough amps it can work that way, a special cord. I bought the cord for a baofeng ham radio by the way, that way I can charge it via cheap 5v usb having solar panels of which I do own if 'something happens'. I'm obviously not interested in 'PC gamging' nor steam but emulators myself. Again, it's a neet thing. If you're really cheap you'll get a pocketgo v1 like I did. I hope opendingux keeps evolving. So yeah, 100ish lenovo m93p, 120ish android tv box thingy, 30ish usd pocketgo, raspberry pi's, those are my things to bring up in this thread. The pocketgo is kinda too small and off topic though, they do have opendingux 'cabinet' style devices though. Such opendingux has mupen64+ in alpha by the way. Some are cool and have mips processors, I wonder if that's going to make opendingux come back somehow with how people program things? Or the vivante gpu drivers along with such things? Also, not that I've ever built a pc, but mini-itx seems interesting as a motherboard. At the same time costly and not worth the effort with all those android tv boxes around (not that I've even owned an android tv box, I'm just saying). PS: what is valve and why should I care?

>>53934 Portal 2 is not a modern game, it released 10 years ago, a 5700G APU can easily handle it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRNZYfWX2AQ

>>53934 I was not looking at these mini PCs because they are mini, I was looking at them because I want to play some games that are coming out and building an actual PC right now is a crapshot because of the pandemic and the chip shortage. Meanwhile, Valve says devs should use these to test Steamdeck games. Thats why I asked.

>>54444 pic is from the amazon page steam deck runs at 720p, which looks awful on a regular sized monitor. but i guess some people aren't bothered by low resolutions so for them it would work fine

>>54444 also there is no problem with shipping because of the pandemic, there is problem with shipping because of the martial law the governments have instituted.

>>53717 build one yourself, this fits even a larger Graphic card https://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=607&area=en

>>54486 its important to differentiate that the steam deck is designed for the monitor attached to the device, but its capable of outputting 1080p. you wont get great fps in some games but you can for example play something like unreal tournament 99 on a 4k monitor and it output properly

>>53717 This might sound absolutely ridiculous (because it is), but if you have money to burn buy one of Lenovo's tiny ThinkStations and game on that. They have dedicated GPUs which are about as powerful as a 1050ti.

Honestly, I don't even know how to approach something like this. Just... Look for people selling their used hardware, and see if you can pick up a good combo. Or try looking for government agencies or companies selling off their old office hardware. It isn't that bad most of the time. I bought mine used for 200 bucks, which is about half of its components price. Stuff like mobos and CPUs doesn't really go bad, it's mainly things like RAM and storage you gotta watch out for. Still, RAM is very long-lived, so storage is of primary concern, especially SSD drives, because people often don't use them properly and fvck them up in the process.

>>53717 Mini PCs like thin clients and NUCs are neat, but not very practical. The way to go would be a small office machine, you can have a pretty fast quadcore CPU and a decent amount of memory for cheap. Only problem might be the GPU. Older radeon workstation cards(FirePro/Radeon Pro) can often be found for cheaper than their consumer equivalents, and the smaller size and lower power consumption makes them more suitable for small office systems. The GNU/Linux support for these cards is expectedly excellent.