Many tech portals suggest that it's not a good time to assemble new PCs due to the high cost of graphics cards. However, the truth is that we're not seeing such competitive prices between mini PCs and high-performance laptops. Seeking another opinion, we came across the channel Optimum (formerly Optimum Tech), who shared a $2,000 build that we can definitely use as inspiration.
The Changing Graphics Card Market
The latest news (or rather rumors) indicate that Nvidia will finally retire the GeForce GTX 16 series. That means if someone needs a low-end option, they'll have to settle for the 6GB RTX 3050, explore the scarce availability of new RTX 20 hardware, or switch to AMD. Now, the vast majority of the builds we see on YouTube and other platforms aim to optimize price-to-performance... but let's imagine for a moment that we can play in Nvidia's sandbox, and our budget is $2,000. Where do we go? One possibility is to follow the ITX format route, which brings us back to Optimum's channel, where he published an excellent build.
The $2,000 Mini PC Build
Before we begin, we must address the most obvious point: What we know as "premium ITX" hasn't gone anywhere, and many of the parts Optimum uses here are more expensive due to their compact design... but if the priority is to build a high-end mini PC, the user won't think twice.
The case is an Ncase Formd T1, which competes in the same space as the Fractal Terra. Optimum places the T1 a step above (and his reasons are logical), but don't be fooled: The Fractal Terra looks great, especially in its "Jade" tone. The choice of processor, an Intel Core i5-14400F, is more interesting than it seems. In this case, Optimum prefers a chip with these characteristics to redirect part of the budget to the graphics card, but modern Core i5s are very different creatures. Both the 13400F and the 14400F have ten cores (6C/4E/16T), and since they don't exceed 65W TDP (officially), their cooling is simpler.
The motherboard is a Gigabyte B760I Aorus Pro (overclocking isn't in the plans, so buying a Z790 makes no sense), accompanied by 32GB of G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB DDR5-6400 memory, a Samsung 980 1TB NVMe (the board has an extra M.2 slot on the back), and an id-Cooling IS-47-XT cooler. As for the power supply, Optimum recommends a Corsair SF750 SFX 750W or equivalent (the Lian-li SP750 is a bit more economical). And finally, we reach the "star" of the build: an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super. With an average price of $1,100, the graphics card devours more than half the budget.
The build is completed with two CoolerMaster Mobius 120p fans on top. Optimum didn't focus too much on benchmarks, but Helldivers II essentially has fun with more than 110 FPS on High at 1440p, and temperatures are very reasonable for an ITX design, even under extreme loads like Furmark, and with the processor "unlocked," consuming about 100 watts under Cinebench. In summary: Yes, it's a beast. No, it's not the most efficient way to spend $2,000 on hardware. And yes, we would definitely build something similar if we could.
