Steambox - anyone built one?

JerryMungo

JerryMungo

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I'm going to build one I think, what I want is a relatively quiet box, so no major fans, and a smallish but reasonable form factor - xbone size.
I'd like to not pay through my nose and it needn't play everything at high res. What should I use? Recommended specs?
I'm thinking i7, 8Gb RAM, 512 SSD and about R5k max on the GFX card, preferably less...
Not sure about the chassis though...
 
Drop down to an i5.
Get a Nvidia 1060 or Amd RX480
Get a 256gb Ssd, and a Hdd. Games are big these days.

This will play all games of full HD at max settings for most games.
 
DunDarach said:
I'm going to build one I think, what I want is a relatively quiet box, so no major fans, and a smallish but reasonable form factor - xbone size.
I'd like to not pay through my nose and it needn't play everything at high res. What should I use? Recommended specs?
I'm thinking i7, 8Gb RAM, 512 SSD and about R5k max on the GFX card, preferably less...
Not sure about the chassis though...
Click to expand...

SteamOS specifically or just a gaming machine in a small case? SteamOS is still in beta as far as I know but free so there's that...I haven't specifically checked which games I play run under Linux but be sure to check that out if you did mean SteamOS.

1060 over the 480 especially for small form factor builds.
 
Yeah - I guess I'll do Windows and give myself the capes to play my fav old school emulators too
 
SYNERGY said:
Drop down to an i5.
Get a Nvidia 1060 or Amd RX480
Get a 256gb Ssd, and a Hdd. Games are big these days.

This will play all games of full HD at max settings for most games.
Click to expand...
Thats awesome news, i5 will definitely save a bit of dosh.
 
DunDarach said:
I'm going to build one I think, what I want is a relatively quiet box, so no major fans, and a smallish but reasonable form factor - xbone size.
I'd like to not pay through my nose and it needn't play everything at high res. What should I use? Recommended specs?
I'm thinking i7, 8Gb RAM, 512 SSD and about R5k max on the GFX card, preferably less...
Not sure about the chassis though...
Click to expand...

OP i went down this path too looking for a small book type chassis but in the end i just left the console gaming at the tv and pc gaming at the desk.

The first issue is with game controls, most of the steam games do need a keyboard and mouse unless you stick to AAA only which tries to be as mainstream as possible.

My main issue was the chassis, the only one i could find that would have worked for me was a lian li product. It's a book type chassis and support up to around 300cm video cards, what put me off it was the 4k+ price tag.

What i eventualy ended up trying was a Intel i5-5675C (It has a onboard Intel Iris Pro GPU) Broadwell cpu in a CFI-A6X19 chassis. The chassis ships with a 150W psu which is too light for the cpu, you'll need to buy an 300W SFF psu. I also had to modify the drive tray inside the machine and cut a hole in the lid to get enough air flow to it. The Broadwell cpu did well enough except on high end games it was super lagy and had terrible load times but in retrospect it was because i didn't upgrade to a 300W psu, i think it was power starved. The chassis only has room for 2.5" drivers and if you fit more than one you'll have to make some kind of custom bracket.

I sold the kit eventualy after i realised the game controls is a problem. Maybe when we get steam controllers here i will try again.

A good middle ground if you have room for it is the Coolermaster Elite 130 chassis. It's a cube chassis for itx but can take large video cards, water cooling and multi drives.
 
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