Something like a gaming laptop without the screen?

[Slick5150]

I'd like to get a gaming rig setup to play on my big screen, but I'd like something as small as possible. I could obviously get a gaming laptop, but frankly would have absolutely no use for the screen (ever) and it'd be somewhat of a hassle to have to open it up to turn it on and whatnot.

Is there anyone making a system that's basically all the internals of a gaming laptop (mobile CPU & GPU) in a slab form factor without an attached screen?

Or am I just dreaming here?

 

[RayTheKing]

Maybe a mini ITX build? They're pretty small and don't sacrifice as much performance as gaming laptops since they use desktop components. The only main difference is that you can't fit an enormous GPU in most of the cases, and that there aren't a lot of SATA ports. Heat can also be a slight problem, but nothing compared to that of a gaming laptop.

 

[RayTheKing]

A decent mITX case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811345016

That should give you an idea on how tiny they are. Some are even smaller than this one.

 

[GreenOrbs]

If you are okay with integrated graphics, maybe you are thinking of something like an INTEL NUC. http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2289083 Its a 4 inch square that's 2in high.

If you want discrete desktop graphics you could try to build/buy a mini ITX rig though it does take up a bit more space than a laptop.

 

[RayTheKing]

I don't think NUCs are suitable for gaming, unless OP plays old/retro games. Don't get me wrong, Intel HD graphics have improved by a massive margin, but it just isn't enough for modern games.

 

[DaveSimmons]

mini-ITX can be fairly small, like the Silverstone SG-05 / -06.

For pre-built, Cyberpower has a lan box, Falcon Northwest has Tiki, Alienware has (something).

 

[Slick5150]

Yeah, don't want integrated GPU. Definitely need discrete. I'm just surprised there isn't anything like what you can get in a gaming laptop but without paying for a screen you don't want.

Thanks for the suggestions on the ITX builds though. It's definitely another possibility.

 

[HeXen]

I see in mags like Ibuypower or Cyberpc had a mini ITX build that wasn't too expensive, very small too.

 

[RayTheKing]

If you're planning on building a mITX build, you should answer the questions from the sticky

If you don't want to build one for any reason, cyberpowerpc and ibuypower are decent vendors.

 

[mfenn]

Sounds like you want a Steam Box or NVIDIA Shield. Do you already have a gaming PC somewhere else in the house?

 

[BrightCandle]

The problem with an mITX is its quite a lot deeper than a slab PC. The one advantage a laptop has is how thin and narrow it is making it easy to put in a backpack or saddle bag. An mITX case however is going to have this huge area of air in the middle which is there purely to support the honking great fan on the CPU and the enormously tall and perpendicular (by spec) GPU.

About the closest I think you will get to thin is an MITX case with a horizontal PCI-E adapter that will allow you to put the GPU across the top, but I don't know of any that support a dual slot GPU. Might exist though.

 

[Slick5150]

The problem with an mITX is its quite a lot deeper than a slab PC. The one advantage a laptop has is how thin and narrow it is making it easy to put in a backpack or saddle bag. An mITX case however is going to have this huge area of air in the middle which is there purely to support the honking great fan on the CPU and the enormously tall and perpendicular (by spec) GPU.

About the closest I think you will get to thin is an MITX case with a horizontal PCI-E adapter that will allow you to put the GPU across the top, but I don't know of any that support a dual slot GPU. Might exist though.

Yeah, that was the appeal of it to me. Rather than have anything with depth, I'd rather just have a thin slab I can put in my media center.

 

[RayTheKing]

Exactly how much space do you have in your media center?

 

[Slick5150]

Exactly how much space do you have in your media center?

Well, it's not that I COULDN'T fit something bigger, I'd just rather keep things as small as possible.