The form factor is why this thing is cool though. I know a handful of tournament organizers who love how much better these things have gotten. (Also, this is using about a tenth of the energy that your ATX build will likely use.)
responding to edits:
What’s cool about spending ridiculous amounts of money on needlessly small products?
$550 is ridiculous? You’re not getting much more power in an ATX build if you’re only filling a 1080p display anyway.
Like Minesweeper tournaments?
Skullgirls, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core +R, basically anything retro and emulated, Puyo Puyo. Take your pick. This thing can run Street Fighter 6, and let me tell you how many problems there are with running it on a PS5, even if it outputs a better image…Sony really made things harder for everyone.
Because it’s doing a tenth as much work.
Exactly! Now you’re getting it!
And also, most game-playing time worldwide is spent on games that are over ten years old and don’t need a lot of power. If you want the form factor more than power that you don’t need, you may as well lower your energy bill and the amount of space this thing takes up in your home.
Why do you carry a smartphone around? Surely you could get more computing power per dollar if you just carried an ATX board around with you.
Why ATX when you can go MiniITX?
I do have an Ryzen 7 5700G in my DeskMini A300. But had to cut a hole in the case for the cooler.
That’s probably true. However, I’m sure there are people out there who have very limited space and do not need that extra power for the games ey play.
Given the world these last few years, there have been many people who have been forced to downsize and get or become room mates or live in an RV. This doesn’t necessarily mean a person can’t enjoy a little downtime. The primary point is that every inch counts. Or so, she says.
I have a mini-PC from Minisforum (not this one) dedicated as a media computer in my living room. It can fit nicely inside the TV bench, which a regular sized computer wouldn’t do. I like that I can play games like Horizon: Zero Dawn on it without any issue. I love it, and I gave about 800 USD for it.
I am planning getting a high-end rig for my office later (next year maybe?), and then I of course will not consider a mini-PC.