I’d like to build a cheap (emphasis…CHEAP) usable Bazzite set top box to replace the kids old Xbox One as a console with controllers.
What have people built hardware wise with this in mind? It doesn’t have to game at 4K. 1080p is fine.
Thanks for any suggestions!
second hand rx6600 and r5 5600x or intel 12100f, whichever cpu is cheaper. A 500w psu from a relatively well known brand (ideally new) and you can cheap out on the rest. Ideally 16gb of ram.
If you hunt deals on fb marketplace you can probably get a whole build under 500 usd easily. But if the budget is in the used ps4 pro range. Buy a whole second hand gaming pc from like 2nd or 3rd gen ryzen or intel 8th to 10th gen, that would be a good starting point. you can upgrade the gpu in the future, you can make do with a 1060 or rx580
If you need a very small form factor that’s a different type of build entirely
Agree, on the RX6600, but I would pay the extra for the R5 5600 over the slightly cheaper 12100F, as I just built one of these and its not great, it struggles to push good FPS at 720P and 1080P, but at 1440P things level out, the Zen 3 processor seem to hold up better IMO.
Avoid ARC GPU’s for Linux gaming, these suck harder than a turbo charged Dyson, they are okay under Windows, but not Linux, I also tested a 16GB A770 with 12100F and an RX6600 and hands down, the RX6600 stomps the ARC GPU, also there is so many graphical issues with ARC under Linux still.
If your after a Mini PC that’s good value, the Neptune from Minisforum is pretty much a Zen 4 Ryzen CPU with a RX6600, but not sure if they still sell this one in all regions → Neptune HX99G-AMZ – official store
Thanks! I’m evaluating all of my options. I have a couple of Dells in my closet, an OptiPlex 3020 SFF and an OptiPlex 7010 desktop.
The 3020 is a nice small box, but my GPU options for it are extremely limited. I haven’t checked the 7010 yet, though. Maybe I can get a supported AMD card in that one.
If they are both SFF then you are going to have a rough time finding a GPU that’s any good to fit in those that’s AMD, as they will require half height cards, if they can fit full size cards, then you will want one of the following cards due to the PCIE Bus limitations:
1 - RX 5700 XT
2 - RTX 3060 12GB
2 - RX 9060 XT
All of these cards 16x PCIE which you will want if your stuck on Gen3 or Gen2 PCIE Bus
For half height cards, the only real options is nVidia as the AMD option really sucks unfortunately, I’d recommend not using either of those machines in this case.
Only the 3020 is SFF. The 7010 is a desktop system but power could be a consideration.
I could use a low profile RX6400 in the 3020 with the stock power supply. It’s not crazy powerful but it’s still an upgrade over the kids Xbox one S.
I would really avoid that 6400, you would have an easier time playing pick up sticks with your butt cheeks than trying to game on that thing, the Series S is more powerful, not real sure what AMD was thinking when they sneezed that thing out, also it only has 4x PCI Gen 4 support, those older machines are PCIE Gen 3 or possible 2, so the card will be double hamstrung, it wont work very well at all.
Currently the only low profile cards that are any good, I hate to say it, are nVidia based.
I recently put together a cheap gaming PC for my grandkids, I picked up an LGA 2011 V2 Mini-ITX Motherboard, a Xeon CPU, 16GB of ram for $90 delivered direct from China, purchased a brand new RX 580 8GB for $159 (All AUD) and the machine is pretty good, runs games pretty good, much more powerful than the RX 6400:
https://www.scorptec.com.au/product/graphics-cards/amd/107639-rx-580s85dd6
You can find even cheaper Board+CPU+Ram combo’s if you search on Ali, they’re all no name brands using recycled components, but they still perform perfectly and have solid Linux support, also the RX 580 is over double the performance of the RX 6400, has some media hardware acceleration support, double the vram and is priced about the same.
Here take a look at Techpowerup: AMD Radeon RX 6400 Specs | TechPowerUp GPU Database