We're often asked what PC would be good to run Expresii. ​ ​In this blog entry we show you a few mini PC options. Note that if you don't need a PC such small, there're cheaper solutions if you build regular ITX PC's, which are a bit bigger.  

​For your reference, we tested a mini PC using the Asrock Deskmini A300. Specifically, we built a system with a AMD Ryzen 5 2400G CPU, 16 GB of DDR4 2666MHz RAM, and a 2.5" 256GB SSD hard drive.  The Ryzen  2400G has an integrated GPU Radeon RX Vega 11, which performs much better than those integrated GPU's from Intel, is fast enough for running Expresii smoothly. Note that you can still go by with 8GB of RAM and just 128GB of storage space if you have a tighter budget.

The DeskMini PC box is only 15 x 15 x 8 cm, with the power brick  1/6 of the box size. Total hardware cost the main unit  (i.e. excluding monitor, mouse and keyboard) is USD380.  ​ Depending on how you get a license for   Windows OS, the final cost could be sub-$400. There are also ready-to-use pre-built units available at e.g. Amazon at around $620 (OS included) ​ for those of you who don't want to build a PC yourselves.

I once had a   Mac Mini    but it died in just a few years - since the CPU is soldered onto the main board, I can not simply replace the faulty component like I can with a regular PC. ​ What is great about this Deskmini is that you can still upgrade the various components like CPU, RAM, storage like you do with a regular PC.   So I think the  a mini PC  with Ryzen 2400G & Asrock Deskmini A300 is a   sweet spot  on price, compactness & ability to change components.

On such a system with Ryzen 2400G, we get 95 FPS  when using a FHD (1920 x 1080) monitor.   The mainboard allows a little overclocking of the RAM, and we get 100+ FPS if we overclock the RAM from 2666 to 3000 MHz. 

The Deskmini also has an Intel version, but the supported Intel GPU's (e.g. HD 630) are much slower so we don't recommend the Intel variant.

The m2 eGPU kit with power supply mentioned in the 2nd video costs $116 from Ali Express (get the same thing + power supply for $50 from taobao if you can read Chinese and get them ship to your region). A used GTX 1060 with 6GB RAM could be as low as $135 on eBay. So, with a few hundreds of dollars you can add a powerful graphics card with when you need it.   For even cheaper solution, look at this guide and buy the NGFF version (i.e. for M.2)  dock. More reference here.

If you   have some more money to spare, and don't want to mess around with PC building, we recommend the Intel   Hades Canyon NUC:

The   Intel   Hades Canyon NUC  (Vega M GH, 16Gb RAM, 256 GB SSD at $1300)  is even  smaller than the Asrock DeskMini A300 yet much more powerful.   Its   Radeon RX Vega M GH GPU, which is much faster than the Vega 11 in the Deskmini,  allows you to run Expresii on a 4k monitor smoothly. If the 1k+ price tag is a litte too high, thre's also a version with a slower GPU  Vega M GL.   Also, look at eBay and sometimes there're offers in the $500-600 range as a barebone (i.e. you add your own RAM and storage).

Other ready-to-use mini PC's with   Radeon RX Vega M GH GPU (but not as tiny as the Intel NUC) include   this    Beelink Kaby G7   (with 16GB RAM + 256 GB SSD at $1150)  and   the   HiGame from Chuwi  at $1300.    

Conclusion?   You don't need a huge PC to run Expresii fast! ​╭( ･ㅂ･)و ̑̑    

We use the Quarter Mode of Expresii to create the ambigram《瑞豬 己亥迎春》. This mode shows the reflected images as you paint. 

We export the ambigram    from Expresii as a snapshot, which we then import into Inkscape for further manipulation.  After some arrangement, we print the design onto paper to make a paper cut.   We even pair the ambigram with a double-sided QR code, which we wrote a program to generate with reference to   Aleksey Tikhonov's article.  

Flipping the ambigram and testing  double-side QR code:

Here's the final product. Check out  our previous blog entry to learn more: 

​And here's one video that shows the whole process:

#翻轉字 #アンビグラム