Looking back over a decade ago, assembling desktop PCs was all the rage, and nearly every household had one. However, this industry has gradually entered a decline, with desktops largely replaced by laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Recently, the popularity of games like “PUBG” has brought a resurgence to the desktop market, so today I intend to discuss this topic.
From a technical standpoint, assembling a PC is not particularly difficult; all the hardware is produced by manufacturers, and simply put, it’s just a matter of plugging them together. However, we often say that this trade is “fraught with pitfalls,” and it’s easy to get scammed. There are many reasons for this; we can’t blame merchants for being “unethical” since they also need to make a living. When additional requirements are imposed under limited resources, it involves trade-offs and compromises, leading to many problems that are self-inflicted. This article does not aim to delve into the detailed intricacies of assembly; if I find it necessary, I will write a few articles specifically on this topic in the future.
Do You Really Need to Assemble a Desktop PC?
I categorize desktop PC users into three groups:
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Consumer: Browsing the web, watching videos, working (text workers, etc.), and occasionally playing casual games.
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Gamer: Enthusiasts of large 3D games or VR games.
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Producer: Professionals engaged in video editing, rendering, image processing, artificial intelligence, and scientific computing.
If you are a Consumer considering assembling a desktop PC, my advice is: Don’t bother; just buy a MiniPC instead.
Here are my reasons for this suggestion:
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If you don’t understand assembly and have it done at a computer market, you will have thoughts like, “It’s only been a few days since I bought it, and now it’s having issues; could I have been scammed?” In fact, the likelihood of encountering various minor issues with assembled machines is quite high.
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Assembly often leads to performance imbalance issues; it’s common to have a great CPU paired with an outdated graphics card. The overall experience of a computer adheres to the “barrel effect”: the overall experience is determined by the weakest link, not the best one.
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With housing prices being so high, having such a large device at home takes up space that can cost thousands…
Representative MiniPC Product: Intel NUC
The acronym NUC was coined by Intel, and its official definition is “4×4 inch micro PC,” referring to a motherboard that measures 4 inches in length and width. See the image above:
Intel NUC
Intel NUC Skull Canyon
It was only after Intel launched the NUC product that similar products began to emerge in the market like mushrooms after rain. The rise of “ultrabooks” and NUC-like products in recent years is due to a significant improvement in the performance of Intel’s integrated graphics. Many people like to say that Intel’s approach to improving CPU performance is akin to “squeezing toothpaste,” but in recent years, they have truly not been squeezing toothpaste with their integrated graphics, as each generation shows substantial improvements over the last.
There’s a saying in the assembly community: “Intel sells CPUs and gives away graphics cards, while AMD sells graphics cards and gives away CPUs,” referring to the fact that a few years ago, Intel’s CPU performance was high while its integrated graphics were subpar, while AMD’s APU had decent integrated graphics but poor CPU performance.
However, Intel’s integrated graphics performance has now surpassed many low-end discrete graphics cards, giving rise to another saying: “Please remove the graphics card to improve performance,” which refers to some assembly shops adding a discrete graphics card that is worse than the integrated graphics just to make more money.
The high-end series of Intel NUC has a flashy name called “Skull Canyon,” which is the one with a skull logo in the image above, featuring what is possibly the highest performance mobile platform i7 HQ series CPU (the same used in Alienware laptops and the top-tier 15-inch MacBook Pro), priced at over 5000 yuan (varying with memory and storage size).
Additionally, many well-known OEM manufacturers like Gigabyte, ASUS, Zotac, etc., have launched similar products that are quite good, but they are not called NUC; instead, they have their own names, such as Gigabyte’s Brix:
Advantages of MiniPC
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Small size
Clearly, this is its biggest advantage. Many products even come with a monitor mount that allows you to hang it behind the monitor, making it feel like an all-in-one PC!
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Low power consumption, can run 24/7
This is also a direct reason why many download enthusiasts choose it; stable performance and energy efficiency meet the requirements of a server, and you can also use products like Peanut Shell DDNS to set up a personal server at home.
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Good expandability
You can increase memory and storage according to your needs, and even connect a discrete graphics card via Thunderbolt interface.
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Low noise
Many people dislike desktops due to noisy fans; as a MiniPC, the fan is naturally smaller, resulting in lower noise levels.
Is the Performance Sufficient?
Many people may worry about this: “Is it capable, being so small?”
Simply put, if you are a Consumer as described above and have not felt the performance lacking while using a decent laptop, then it will definitely suffice.
However, if you are a Gamer or Producer and have a good understanding of assembly, I still recommend assembling your own, as even the strongest integrated graphics cannot match discrete graphics when it comes to handling large games; we cannot expect a small horse to pull a big cart.
How to Choose
I personally understand MiniPCs as “laptops without screens and keyboards”; in fact, the hardware used is indeed the same as that in laptops, but they are much cheaper than laptops with the same configuration. MiniPCs vary widely in price based on configuration, ranging from less than 1000 yuan for entry-level Celeron dual-core series to around 10,000 yuan for a Core i7-6770HQ, so there’s definitely one that suits you.
Generally speaking, a NUC with a 7th generation Core i5, 8GB memory, and 120GB storage, priced around 3500 yuan, is a recommended configuration.
One personal suggestion is to pay attention to selecting models with Thunderbolt 3 interfaces when purchasing, as having this interface provides the capability to expand all hardware in the future, including discrete graphics cards. If interested, please look out for the next article about “Graphics Card Docks.”