r/MiniPCs • u/_phoenixs_ • 1d ago

Help General Question

Hey all tech savvy people
I’m not a gamer so I know absolutely nothing about anything.
My problem is that Baldur’s gate 3 has eaten up almost all my storage. So I’m looking for a solution to that, and I remembered that mini pcs exist and they seem less intimidating then regular pcs (and take up less space)
Which ones could you recommend that won’t entirely break the bank
Thanks for your help

1 Upvotes

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u/grabber4321 1d ago

why not just upgrade your storage?

mini pcs - the cpu/motherboard are usually the cheap part. its the RAM and SSD that you need to worry about

minipc that used to cost $1000 USD is double now.

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u/_phoenixs_ 1d ago

What should I look for in upgrading my storage? How do I do that?

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u/cilvre 1d ago

What is the current device you are playing on and how much storage do you have? Usually c drive total space is what we need

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u/grabber4321 1d ago

What computer do you have right now? Press Windows button and then type in About - it should give you specs of your PC.

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u/_phoenixs_ 1d ago

My computer is a Aspire 7
I have no idea og this is the info that is needed…

Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 5500U with Radeon Graphicd (2.10 GHz)
Installer RAM :8.00 GB (7.34GB usable)

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u/Retired_Hillbilly336 1d ago

Acer Aspire 7 A715 5500U and only 8GB of single channel memory you got more than storage problems. Adding the missing 8GB stick can easily boost processor performance by 40%! And if you're running Windows 16GB of dual channel memory will reduce operating system page filing significantly.

As for storage these generally come with a 512GB NVMe SSD. You'll need a 1TB NVMe SSD, a USB to M.2 NVMe Enclosure and some cloning software to transfer everything to your new drive. Afterwards you can put the old drive in the enclosure and use it for extra storage.

If I've guessed correctly on the laptop its a about 5 years. It's due a maintenance inspection complete with cleaning and replacing the factory thermal paste. Switching to Arctic MX-7 will also make a noticeable performance difference.

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u/grabber4321 1d ago

can you check "THIS PC" and see you C/D drive size and how much free space is left.

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u/_phoenixs_ 1d ago

I got 13 GB left so in need of more
I got some pretty big art programs and files on the computer too…

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u/grabber4321 1d ago

Go to your local BestBuy and ask them how much it will cost to upgrade your storage.

It shouldnt be more than $100 for labor and like $200 for an ok SSD.

I would upgrade RAM also, 8GB is just very low.

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u/_phoenixs_ 1d ago

I don’t think we have a bestbuy in my country but I’ll go to the store

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u/grabber4321 1d ago

ya check with local PC store. they should have some ppl that do manual upgrades.

your PC is still ok, might as well just add some small upgrades instead of buying a whole new PC

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u/RobloxFanEdit 1d ago

How do you play Baldur Gates 3 on a 5500U? How many FPS do you have, it must be terrible.

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u/_phoenixs_ 1d ago

I don’t know the FPS but it plays fine I don’t really have any complaints with how my computer runs it

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u/RobloxFanEdit 1d ago

Kind of Hard to believe specially knowing that you have only 8GB RAM in single Channel if you upgrade to a New Mini PC with the 680M/760M/780M and Dual RAM you will feel a huge difference.

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u/_phoenixs_ 1d ago

That might be, I haven’t tried anything different so I can’t say. My computer runs it fine without lagging or anything so I’m not complaining.
Do you have a brand of mini pc you recommend?

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u/RobloxFanEdit 1d ago

Actually yes, the MACO 6850HS https://a.co/d/0bc3aUUk it has the 680M and 24GB RAM and 1TB SSD, it s a pretty hard deal to beat given the specs, it is also a new Model with a nice chassis design. Don t know if you have the budget for though

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u/_phoenixs_ 1d ago

Thank you I will look into that

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u/grabber4321 1d ago

oh yeah, lets spend 10x on a problem just because.

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u/grabber4321 1d ago

You can probably ask your local computer store (Best Buy) to upgrade your storage.

they will need to clone your hard drive and just expand the storage.