The Best $650 Home Office Mini-ITX PC Build – September 2023

By Ari Altman | Published August 1, 2023 | Updated August 1, 2023

The Perfect Home Office PC!

If you want to build the best ultra-compact small office or work-from-home PC possible for just $650, 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 Intel

For September 2023, the $650 Home Office Mini-ITX PC Build features AMD’s Ryzen 7 5700G, an eight-core, 16-thread CPU with impressive processing power. It also has powerful excellent built-in graphics, which means you can easily run any monitor on this system without the need for a video card, and can even game on it when you’re not busy being productive!

To ensure that you have a flawless computing experience, this system features 16GB of DDR4-3600 RAM, rather than the 8GB of slower RAM used in most pre-built systems. The build also features a 1TB PCIe-based solid-state drive for amazing performance and plenty of capacity. It uses the M.2 form factor, which slips right into the motherboard, eliminating cable clutter and simplifying the build experience.

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 also includes a 200W power supply, which provides plenty of headroom for component upgrades down the line.

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 7 5700G w/ Vega Graphics
$177

AMD’s Ryzen 7 5700G combines the best of all worlds, with its speedy 8-core/16-thread CPU powered by AMD’s Zen 3 architecture, along with the incredibly-fast integrated graphics powered by AMD’s Vega design. It’s the ultimate one-stop-shop if you want extreme CPU performance and don’t want or need a separate video card!

The Guru’s Tip
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 –
ASRock A520M-ITX/AC
$105

This A520-based mini-ITX board packs in a ton of features for the price. That includes AM4 compatibility, six USB ports (including a Type-C port), built-in 802.11ac wireless networking plus Bluetooth, and an M.2 SSD slot with integrated heatsink.

The Guru’s Tip
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 2x8GB Ripjaws V DDR4-3600 16-19-19
$44

To get the most out of DDR4 memory, you want high frequencies, and G.Skill’s Ripjaws V 2x8GB DDR4-3600 CL16 kit delivers! DDR4-3600 is the sweet spot in terms of compatibility with the majority of DDR4-based systems, but most kits have weak timings. This one, on the other hand, is the real deal: 16-19-19 at 1.35V, to be exact.

The Guru’s Tip
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 upgraded speed level.
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Solid-State Drive –
WD_BLACK SN770 1TB NVMe
$51

WD knocked it out of the park with its ultra-high-performance, bargain-priced SN770 PCIe Gen 4 drive. Optimized for excellent real-world performance thanks to WD’s years of SSD development, it easily keeps up with much more expensive drives. This 1TB model can provide sequential read speeds of 5150MB/s and write speeds of 4900MB/s.

The Guru’s Tip
Competing in price with 500GB-class drives, this one is an easy pick!
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Case –
IN WIN Chopin Max w/ 200W PSU
$129

The 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 Guru’s Tip
The power supply included in this case has more than enough power to run the recommended CPU at full load without breaking a sweat!
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Operating System –
Windows 11 Home (Download)
$130

Windows 11 take everything people loved about Windows 10, and then takes 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! This version can be instantly downloaded and installed from any USB stick with 8GB or more capacity. If you don’t have one handy, we recommend you pick up a fast USB 3.1 thumb drive to install it, which can then be re-purposed for backup or file transfer use.

The Guru’s Tip
Originally released only as an update for existing Win10 users, Windows 11 hit retail in April 2022 and is definitely the best OS to use in a modern system.

Optional Products

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Solid-State Drive –
Silicon Power 2TB
$63

Silicon Power’s 2TB solid-state drive puts hard drives to shame, offering 5-10x the speed, despite coming in around the same price. For years, people dreamed of price parity between hard drives and SSDs – now they can have it!

The Guru’s Tip
This SSD 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
$98

This monitor offers a 24″ 1920 x 1080 panel, a 75Hz refresh rate for smooth scrolling, a slim bezel for sleek looks, as well as dual HDMI inputs and a VGA input. It even has built-in speakers!

The Guru’s Tip
We 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

While you may have an old keyboard and mouse sitting in your desk, treat yourself to a new wireless setup from Logitech, the MK270!

The Guru’s Tip
This 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

Need to use your PC for video conferencing? No problem! Just add this high-quality 1080p webcam from Logitech, which includes a built-in microphone. Just remember that if your monitor doesn’t have built-in speakers, you’ll also need stand-alone speakers for web conferencing to work. We’re amazed at the number of people who use headphones for video conferencing when it’s so much more professional to use gear attached to your PC, rather than your head!

The Guru’s Tip
You'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

Because desktop PCs, unlike laptops, don’t have internal speakers, we recommend you pick up Creative’s Pebble kit. Whether it’s music, You Tube videos, TV, or movies, Pebble will sound great.

The Guru’s Tip
Despite the name, these are far larger than a pebble!