The Best $750 Small Office Mini-ITX PC Build – October 2024
Note: This build has been retired – please see our $500 NUC PC for similar capabilities at an even better price!
The Perfect Home Office PC!
If you want to build the best ultra-compact small office or work-from-home PC possible for just $750, this is the guide for you! Based on the mini-ITX form factor, this system offers plenty of configuration options without the bulk. This ensures that your new PC Build can be tucked away anywhere or put on display as a conversation starter!
This Month’s Build, Powered by AMD
For October 2024, the $750 Home Office Mini-ITX PC Build harnesses the power of AMD’s cost-effective Ryzen 5 7600, an ultra-efficient six-core, 12-thread CPU that can easily beat older-gen 8-cores and all of Intel’s competing CPUs. It also has capable built-in graphics, which means you can easily run two ultra-high resolution monitors on this system without the need for a video card, which is what allows this system to be so small! To ensure that you have a flawless computing experience, this system features 32GB of DDR5-6000 RAM, along with a 1TB PCIe Gen 4 solid-state drive for amazing performance and plenty of capacity.
The system is housed in a stylish and compact InWin Chopin Max case. Despite its slim dimensions, it’s specifically designed to fit AMD’s Wraith Stealth cooler, included with the CPU we recommend. It’s the only slim case designed around this standard! The case can also fit dual 2TB 2.5″ SSDs, listed in the optional upgrades section at the end of this guide, allowing you to turn this system into a great low-cost media server! The case includes a 200W power supply, which provides plenty of headroom for component upgrades down the line, including more powerful CPUs.
Parting Thoughts
To set up a complete home office system, don’t miss our recommendations for a keyboard, mouse, monitor and other accessories at the end of this guide. Throughout our guides, we provide Amazon links for our US readers, which will auto-convert for our readers in Canada, the UK, and parts of the EU. As always, please keep in mind that your use of the links we provide below helps support further development of these guides.
Required Components
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CPU –AMD Ryzen 5 7600
$199The Guru’s TipAMD did it again with Zen 4, simply smashing through the performance barrier in all respects. The 6-core, 12-thread Ryzen 5 7600 is up to 25% faster in content creation than its predecessor, while offering simply amazing energy efficiency plus the latest connectivity standards thanks to the advanced AM5 platform.This CPU comes with the 54mm-tall Wraith Stealth cooler, which is a perfect fit for this system's case.
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Motherboard –Gigabyte A620I AX
$150The Guru’s TipThis affordable AM5 board allows you to jump into AMD’s latest CPU ecosystem at a great price. It offers built in 802.11ax (WiFi 6E), a Gen 4 M.2 slot, a Gen 4 video card slot, plus six USB ports (including a Type-C). The key difference between the A620 chipset on which this board is based and the B650 chipset on boards costing twice as much is the number of slots and ports, but for an ITX board, that has little impact. There’s only so much space for these things in a compact form factor anyway, so for mini-ITX, A620 is a perfect match!The HDMI 2.1 port on this board can handle resolutions up to 4K, and the Displayport 1.4 output can support resolutions up to 8K!
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Memory –G.Skill 2x16GB Flare X5 DDR5-6000 CL30 EXPO
$100The Guru’s TipTo get the most out of AMD’s latest CPUs, you want fast RAM, and DDR5-6000 is the sweetspot not only in terms of price, but in terms of the AM5 platform. It allows for the highest overall performance thanks to running in 1:1 sync with the memory controller. And this kit is specially designed for AM5, thanks to the enhanced 30-38-38-96 AMD EXPO timings.This is the perfect speed to get the most out of both the CPU and its built-in GPU! Make sure to enter the motherboard's UEFI (BIOS) to select this RAM's upgraded speed level.
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Solid-State Drive –TeamGroup MP44L 1TB PCIe 4.0
$59The Guru’s TipThe MP44L PCIe 4.0, which blows past previous PCIe Gen3-based drives by harnessing the power of the PCIe Gen4 interface, is an absolute bargain of a high-end drive. It can hit up to 5,000MB/s in sequential operations!Competing in price with much slower Gen 3 drives, this one is an easy pick. And if you want more space, just pick up the 2TB version from the same product page!
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Case –IN WIN Chopin Max w/ 200W PSU
$129The Guru’s TipThe Chopin Max takes everything we loved about the Chopin Pro and “maxes” it out by adding another 7mm of CPU cooler clearance. Sounds like a small change, but it means DIYers can now use AMD’s CPU lineup and their included Wraith Stealth coolers. This was honestly something we had been wanting for years, because AMD’s budget CPUs and especially their coolers are so much better than Intel’s! Carried over from the Pro model is the impressive 200W Gold-rated power supply space for dual 2.5″ drives, and a gorgeous aluminum exterior, which gives this case a seriously-premium look!The power supply included in this case has more than enough power to run the recommended CPU at full load without breaking a sweat, and can even handle an upgrade down the line!
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Operating System –Windows 11 Home (USB) @Newegg
$139The Guru’s TipWindows 11 built on everything people loved about Windows 10, and then took it to 11! It adds significant under-the-hood changes to make it faster and more secure, and of course, the interface is sleek too! Note that we’re linking to Newegg, because Amazon long ago stopped selling this physical USB version of Windows, which is the most convenient one to use.Win11 is definitely the best OS to use in a modern system.
Optional Products
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Solid-State Drive –Silicon Power 2TB SATA
$93 The Guru’s TipThis SSD is perfect if you need even more low-cost, high-capacity storage. It will fit perfectly in this system's 2.5" hard drive bay - in fact, you can fit two!
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The 24-inch Small Office Monitor –Sceptre E248W-19203R
$80 The Guru’s TipWe recommend connecting this monitor to your PC with an HDMI cable, which will provide both display and sound.
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The Basic Wireless Keyboard/Mouse Combo –Logitech MK270 Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Combo
$28 The Guru’s TipThis combo uses a single tiny USB receiver, ensuring you'll still have plenty of USB ports left over for other devices.
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Webcam –Logitech C920x Pro HD Webcam
$60 The Guru’s TipYou'll also need speakers for video conferencing, so if you don't have a monitor with built-in speakers (like the one above), make sure to add the speakers below.
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The Basic PC Speakers –Creative Pebble 2.0
$19 The Guru’s TipDespite the name, these are far larger than a pebble!
Total Cost: $729
Required Components
Optional Products
- Solid-State Drive – Silicon Power 2TB SATA ($93)
- The 24-inch Small Office Monitor – Sceptre E248W-19203R ($80)
- The Basic Wireless Keyboard/Mouse Combo – Logitech MK270 Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Combo ($28)
- Webcam – Logitech C920x Pro HD Webcam ($60)
- The Basic PC Speakers – Creative Pebble 2.0 ($19)
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