Cramming PC components into a compact case is tricky, but luckily you don't have to do it all yourself. Some of the best small pre-built gaming machines sold by various vendors offer more than boring everyday office productivity, and the nightmarish cable management is already done for you. It's not the most expansive market in the world, but cutting-edge variants are still popping up each year alongside solid, long-standing choices from previous generations. If you're looking for something closer to the size of a modern-day console with the luxuries of PC gaming, check my top picks to fit various budgets and levels of expertise.
Best overall small gaming PC
The Trident 3 is a compact beauty, packed with 13th Gen Intel Core processors and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30-series GPUs for modern gaming in a discreet package. Onboard Wi-Fi 6E and USB-C ports join the feature list in this fantastic small-form PC perfect for gamers.
10th Gen alternative
Famed GPU vendor Zotac offers its pre-built mini PC, the Magnus One, with Intel Core 10th Gen CPUs and NVIDIA RTX 30-series GPUs. It's a few generations older than our best pick, but still an excellent low-power choice.
Tiny contender
A powerhouse on a tiny scale, the NUC 11 Enthusiast model houses an RTX 2060 6GB GPU and an Intel Core i7-1165G7 CPU. A 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD selection fit nicely in the middle of its range, but plenty of variations can fit your budget.
DIY barebones kit
The NUC 9 Ghost Canyon features an Intel Core i7-9750H Coffee Lake processor, and 32GB of DDR4 RAM clocked at 2666MHz. The onboard Intel UHD Graphics 630 chip is standard, but you can install an appropriately sized GPU via PCIe and change any other parts you want.
Budget choice
If you're looking to save money and space, the HP Pavilion TG01-1020 is a compact tower desktop PC with entry-level hardware. Its Intel Core i5-10400F pairs with 8GB of DDR4 RAM and a GTX 1650 4GB GPU.
Dock it
Not strictly a desktop, but our Steam Deck review showed it could run PC games in a compact form and pair with a docking station to connect to your TV or monitor. It's also possible to install Windows OS, so it's technically a PC now, right?
Choosing the best small gaming PC
Why you can trust Windows Central Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
Getting into PC gaming doesn't mean you need a monstrous tower on your desk, flooding the room with RGB neon lights. You can pack a lot of power into some seriously compact pre-built computers, with the Trident 3 from MSI being a shining example. It's packed to the gills with gaming-centric hardware, and that's reflected in its price. If you'd prefer to cut some costs, you can step down to the Zotac Magnus One without sacrificing much gaming power.
The NUC series from Intel are some of the best mini PCs available for the seriously small. Whether you choose the NUC 11 Enthusiast for an out-of-the-box PC ready for action or the barebones NUC 9 kit to complete yourself, they're impressive little space savers. If you want it tiny and portable, the Steam Deck can act as a mini gaming PC when using the official dock and connected to a screen of your choice, and a fully-fledged Linux OS lurks underneath.
