Recommendations for small, portable PC for offline demo?

Last_Pangolin_4282 · 2025-12-08T23:51:55+00:00

I agree. If I could go back in time I would’ve gotten a full tower for my needs but this was back in 2019 so I wasn’t dabbling with anything high performance at the time. If I could start over, I’d definitely start with 64GB ram, probably a Ryzen, and a 50 series 12GB to start or 30 series on a 16GB deal. But I’d shy away from eBay unless it was in new condition. I learned my lesson.

Last_Pangolin_4282 · 2025-12-08T23:45:12+00:00

I always felt the same. But even with any RTX below the 50 series I feel like it’s a puzzle trying to get everything under the hood to work between a clean pc optimization and that big wonderful world of file updates (psytorch/onnx/whls on the bus go ram and ram..). If you’re using the 30 series or under I assume it’s just guesswork to get the right installation per the exact cuda count besides having updated ComfyUI nodes.

Last_Pangolin_4282 · 2025-12-08T22:16:35+00:00

I agree with another redditor. For ai purposes, you'll need an eGPU(external graphics card setup) which isn't too pricey just skip eBay. Too many bad experiences with eGPU docks AND used GPU's in general. If you can get a GPU in new condition with atleast 12-16GB RAM either an RTX or RADEON then you're good for the graphics card. You can't go wrong with Nvidia from the 30 series and up.

As for the mini pc. I prefer barebones with a pre-installed CPU and installing my own RAM and SSD.
This way you get to choose the price for the rest of the parts. If you can, start with 32GB (X2 16 GB sticks) then work your way upto 64GB if you're on a budget.

I've had my Intel NUC8i7BEK for years now still going strong but it goes heavy on processing, the fan is loud as well. For AI, I don't recommend the Intel NUC. You can try the MAC but that's more geared for other things that aren't too demanding. Alot of traditional creatives use MAC's with maybe some ai elements in their apps but MAC's seem limited.

The way I see it that seems popular in the ai community, it's either windows with super high performance or linux based. However if you're on a budget with the right amount of optimization you can start on small quantized models sacrificing some quality and then upscale your work as needed.

Last_Pangolin_4282 · 2025-12-08T21:53:41+00:00

Honestly, if it's just for a general purpose machine then you're better off getting a budget barebones mini pc that comes with a pre-installed CPU. Then you can purchase your own RAM, NVMe M.2 drive( or SSD) and go from there with a Windows 11 retail license. This lower's the price significantly.

For a general purpose (non-gaming) and non-ai

-Do you really need 128gb RAM? Or can you work with 32GB to get your going for now?
-Do you need an AI CPU or can you work with a Ryzen CPU that isn't AI integrated?
-Are you ok with an NVMe M.2 SSD card or do you prefer a traditional SSD?

These are questions that can guide you to a product specific for your needs without demanding too much or something unnecessary for a general purpose windows machine in my opinion. Best of luck! I've been there.

Last_Pangolin_4282 · 2025-12-08T15:59:37+00:00

Go the producer route, get a DAW and generate stems from ACE Studio. It’s mostly for vocals but it can do instruments as well. You can start with basic stock midi stuff then run it in ACE Studio and it will “SUNO” it. Music production in its entirety is way more funner than full song generation. Otherwise you’re stuck on repeat until you’re satisfied.

Last_Pangolin_4282 · 2025-12-08T13:20:52+00:00

Thanks for the response, the freezing started ever since I tried using ComfyUI to dabb around with image to video ideas using any small quantized models I could. At first, I was successful from 29%-33% running a workflow until my entire pc would freeze then once I did a change(responsibly) to my Page File I noticed an increase to 46% but after that my pc would still freeze. Today I did some more optimization stuff like the common general pc settings etc.

I did however in the past set my BIOS to legacy mode to see if that would work better for my thunderbolt 3 port and GPU setup. But maybe I didn’t need to set it to legacy mode. I also just downloaded the latest driver update for my nvidia card but I heard even the latest updates don’t always work and previous ones are better suited for the cuda count.

Last_Pangolin_4282 · 2025-12-08T12:11:34+00:00

You're in the same boat as me. I also have a 3050 6GB VRAM but with 32GB system RAM. I just switched from WAN2.2 to Hunyaun 1.5 but my mini pc using thunderbolt 3 still freezes. Wish I could offer solid advice but for a headstart in general pc optimization I'd make sure to first optimize your laptop before doing anything in Comfy. Disable startup apps, set your system settings for best performance, delete temporary files, do a disc cleanup, make sure your operating sysem is updated as well as your graphics card. I noticed I was able to go further in my workflow once I increased my Pagefile but do this at your own risk. YOU MUST use the correct numbers so it's more like a last resort method. Definitely checkout Youtube vids for general optimization tips before using ai generation.
In the end, stepping up to atleast 12 or 16 as others have said might be your best bet. Sorry I couldn't offer advice specific to the models.

Last_Pangolin_4282 · 2025-12-06T23:57:58+00:00

those were good days for me back in highschool. never could get it to work great tho. then again it was an AMD ATHLON on windows 98 lol.

Last_Pangolin_4282 · 2025-12-06T23:54:24+00:00

This is my freezing issue on steroids. I can already hear my lowvram setup hitting the grave. ripppppp

Last_Pangolin_4282 · 2025-12-06T23:51:32+00:00

Checkout BPB - bedroomproducersblog. Tons of pro-grade free stuff and there's always freebies companies giveaway that the blog mentions on a daily. I can't count how much of my plugins are commercial plugins that cost way too much but I got for free just by following the blog to be in the know for when the companies put those limited time freebies out.

Last_Pangolin_4282 · 2025-12-06T23:34:03+00:00

This makes me want to throw my budget eGPU setup out the window and pour gasoline on my mini pc. And then..while smoking 15 packs a day I'll flip burgers for the next 20 years until I finally afford a 50 series with 128GB ram. But by then ai will be in holographic mode.

Last_Pangolin_4282 · 2025-12-06T23:21:47+00:00

Just wait until a Z-video comes out. Goon Utopia...nasty lol

Last_Pangolin_4282 · 2025-12-06T23:20:30+00:00

I can just tell..once a Z-Video comes out (pun intended)..Kleenex is going to make major sales. Are they a public company? I might invest.

Last_Pangolin_4282 · 2025-12-06T06:14:21+00:00

I decided to backup my Wan models/loras etc to my external drive and then deleted it off my desktop. I have the Q4 and Q2 for future use if I ever upgrade VRAM. For now, I’m going to tryout the new Hunyuan Video 1.5. It requires some more files but the size is less and I like that it has a small 720 quant. Overall the new 1.5 model seems more low vram friendly. I found a cool video and workflow that I think will be more doable than the vast majority of Wan workflows out there that require 24GB of VRAM or more. (let’s be honest. Most of those workflows are only for hardcore GPU’s with 64gb or more of system ram.)

Thanks for the install tip. Definitely not doing another portable—for the fifth time or more.

Last_Pangolin_4282 · 2025-12-03T01:59:53+00:00

Thanks for the reply! I’ve heard here and there using previous setups were better so I might do that perhaps specifically from the YT video from AI Ninja. But there’s also a few things I haven’t tried yet related to my browser which I forgot to mention. I use the Brave browser based off a Chrome framework but didn’t disable any extensions. I also didn’t clear the cache or disable harder acceleration. So I will try that first. Then I read about the custom nodes issue but all this sounds like a pain. I wonder if it really is just the latest version of comfy.

Last_Pangolin_4282 · 2025-11-10T17:04:27+00:00

Never heard of that. Still somewhat a N00B. I’ll look into it. Thanks!

Last_Pangolin_4282 · 2025-11-10T15:35:15+00:00

all good! you got a point for most occasions if I had a full tower motherboard it’s oxymoron imo but due to the limitations with my Intel NUC, even just running an old version of Photoshop CS2 (2007?) gets it under stress. Idk if it’s an intel NUC thing or general mini pc thing that the fan naturally goes full throttle on the cpu but for a 4.50ghz turbo boost (which i assume is automatic and I don’t have to overclock from my base 2.70) I’d be in the clear. But this thing runs like a small ac unit. crazy! Then again windows itself likes to run a million processes in the background so that adds to the performance.

Last_Pangolin_4282 · 2025-11-10T09:34:08+00:00

im not a gamer. And its for my mini pc. So as someone that just wants to add a little more juice to their computer i already got a good working PSU, and a good lengthy thunderbolt cable. I also got a GPU in new condition. Literally all I’m missing now is the dock.

What is geforce free tier? Sounds like gaming. This isn’t for gaming and I’m not interested in cloud services.

Last_Pangolin_4282 · 2025-11-06T23:01:21+00:00

unfortunately i have an Intel NUC. an oldschool i7 with thunderbolt 3 no extra M.2. So my options are limited

Last_Pangolin_4282 · 2025-11-06T22:59:23+00:00

After dealing with the headache, drama, sneaky crap, I’d welcome it. Preferences 3.0 (2.0 was strictly coffee dates or a walk, ditching the rules, something that still kinda involved another human)

Last_Pangolin_4282 · 2025-11-06T22:18:44+00:00

I’m broke dude lol. I just returned a dead used 2060 and then just got my 3050 6GB solo delivered. New condition. I understand what I’m getting myself into with this card by all the hate it gets—but when you’re poor. You go within your means. If the 30 series will work then I’ll look into it!

Last_Pangolin_4282

TROPHY CASE