Not quite there yet … from left on surface, 5G internet, WireGuard router, pihole on a Zero W and 4x4 N95 HTPC, plus 1080p projector. When a computer that size (actually smaller, since I don’t need a SATA bay) can outperform my tower, though …
This photo of Meteor Lake shows 16GB of LPDDR5X on the package. AMD’s looking to kill the low-midrange GPU in the next couple of generations of APUs, with Intel attempting to reach parity. And all of this in a fraction of the power envelope of a midrange gaming rig.
Maybe it’s next-quarter-itis dominating the tech press, but these developments feel like they deserve a bit more attention given that all signs point to gaming 4x4 PCs with a wall wart in the next two years. This actually makes Intel’s exit from the NUC space somewhat surprising, but they’ve been shedding products pretty consistently and this may just be a part of that.
I’m in the situation of having a 5-year-old gaming rig that’s still going strong (caveat: I’m a factory/city-builder gamer so an RX 6600 works fine for me at 4K60), and moving into a stepvan in the next couple of weeks and therefore suddenly very aware of power draw, so all of this may be more exciting to me than the average bear, as I could see finally upgrading on account of a dead component in the next couple of years.
Yet there’s still that part of me from college that wants to keep abreast of the latest developments, and as I’ve watched now six desktop Intel generations hit benchmarks since I was the lucky winner of an 8086K, there’s been nothing that really draws a line in the sand and says “this will be the clear new minimum target.”
Intel starting over at 1st gen for Meteor Lake shows they see this finally changing. It honestly could have happened anywhere from introduction of E-cores to the seeming destination of Rentable Units, which have finally popped up outside of MLID. I’ve seen nothing about what AMD’s disaggregated endpoint looks like, even though I’m definitely looking to Strix Halo as where I may be able to ditch the ITX sandwich tower completely. Couple this with swapping out my TV for a native 1080p mini projector (a “maybe” suggestion that turned into having to try one at $40, and wow!), and I could be gaming in a van in fucking style with essentially zero dedicated hardware space in just a couple years!
Anyway, in situations like this, I’ve found that I may have inadequate sources, so I thought I’d see if anyone had suggestions.
I think most of what you have said is true, and I’m glad for it. I will continue to build enthusiast level computers and sit close enough to the bleeding edge because I enjoy it.
What I believe is likely to happen is that serious performance oriented gaming PCs will once again become fairly niche. I sort of bucked against the idea of micro form factor mini PC’s being a valid choice for gamers for a while.
It wasn’t until I saw the youtube video I’ve linked below that I realised something like the HX99G would MORE than fill the desire of most of my friends group in terms of gaming performance, thermals and user experience.
It’s not as small as the APU powered boxes that OP was talking about, and it has a dedicated wedge of silicon for the GPU but it is extremely cheap, extremely capable and seems to run fairly cool whilst being smaller than 99.9% of normal PCs.
My wife recently asked that I build her a gaming PC. She’s pretty casual and doesn’t mind 1080p gaming. All of my spare parts and previous gen hardware has already been put to work in a gaming PC for my daughter so I began the task of speccing up a reasonably decent 1080p gaming build from new parts. I can’t beat the price:performance ratio of the HX99G. Watch the video and see for yourself.
Keeping in mind that this is now previous generation components and a next-gen replacement is almost certainly due any month now…it’s nuts. Not only is he playing current release games at 1080p, in some titles they were happily over 100fps at 1440p, with fighting games even running at 4K without issue.
You and I will happily keep our server-sized monsters, but I know a LOT of people that will happily sit in this lane. The price is right and so is the performance. It’s like a console without so many limitations, as well as being a powerful PC in its own right.
https://youtu.be/BfXn-5-IYMY