ThinkStation P3 Tiny

I'm on a miniPC (Lenovo P3 Tiny) and was using a dGPU RX 6400 (4gb). the PC was put together just purchasing used parts seperately I have a 4k monitor that can max at 60hz With the RX 6400 (i think i paid $105 USD) i was able to run CP2077 at 1600:900 Medium 60 FPS w/o frame generation The other nig

AFAIK it seems like the major OEMs (Lenovo, Dell, and HP) all use custom boards these days. You could go with something like a Lenovo P3 Tiny (has dual M.2) and could add a USB-C DAS for the 3.5 disks.

3D modeling means u need a workhorse (workstation) i think if anything you're looking for a 'workstation laptop' but the prob is laptops are capped by their low power consumption features and so if she actually uses her laptop sitting at a desk and connected to a monitor while she's doing 3D modelin

AFAIK "barebones" is a mini PC case. Plenty of those for like, $50 ebay. so $450 for the rest of your system, prices haven't come down personally i'm a fan of the Lenovo Tiny mini PCs. You can prob get a m90q gen 2/3 which has a slot for a low profile dGPU I have a p3 tiny gen 1 (ThinkStation, DDR5)