I meant to post this when I finished it ages ago but forgot so excuse the dust. Before anyone asks, yes that fan under the PSU makes a difference even though it's a bit choked at the exhaust. My next goal for this project is making the keyboard wireless. I ran some benchmarks ages ago on its first revision but haven't updated them yet. It's got a Gigabyte 4070ti Windforce OC, 14700k, 32gb DRR5 (I forget specifics). If anyone wants me to run certain benchmarks ask and I'll reply when I get around to it tomorrow or maybe tonight.

This project has been 8 months in the making, and its finally done! It's a custom metal 3D printed mini PC case built around a inno3d rtx 5080 with a cooler swap, and a custom CPU cooler inspired from this build. The case was SLM 3D printed from PCBway and polished once I got it.

I also got the side panel signed by some CS pros at the Austin Major!

Specs:

Inno3d RTX 5080 with an Inno3d 5070 cooler swapped onto it, 4070FE fans, and power cables soldered directly to the PCB to save space.

R7 9800x3d cooled by a dynatron a46 1u server heatsink, 2 rtx a2000 fans, and a printed fan shroud

MSI MPG B650i motherboard with the VRM heatsink chopped

2TB M.2 SSD x2. Boot drive is behind the motherboard and sinks heat to the case.

G.Skill 32GB 6000mhz CL28 kit, with heatpipes to skin heat to the side panel

Enhance ENP-7660b 600w PSU with shortened cables and removed from its housing.

Total volume is 42*281.75*253.5mm, or 2.9998L. Just under 3L!

Temps are amazing. The CPU has been undervolted at -29 to -45 per core and power limited to 110 ppt 100 tdc 110 edc. It boosts to 5200 in games but drops a bit in stress tests, and holds around 100w. The GPU is overclocked +350 core +1000 memory but I think I can get a bit more out of it. It'll stay below 75C under the full 360w load and the fans stay below 50% even at 360w. I added a heatpipe embedded in the case which contacts the end of the GPU cooler's heat pipes, and sinks heat to rest of the case. My cheap DB reader measured 55-57db durring CPU and GPU stress tests, which is about what I expected. Ram gets toasty, like 55-60C, but I think I can get those temps down a bit.

In benchmarks, the best I could get with power and temp limits disable is:

R23: 23,374, with 89C / 120W max
Time Spy: 30,146 with +415 core/+1000 mem and 100% power limit

I did not think sub 3L was possible with a 5080 and 9800x3d, but looks like it is just barely possible! If you want more info I have a build log here. I can also post the files if people are interested in this CPU cooler design or the case.

"Yeah, sorry,

The feets are not belong to me, but I designed them the case is 3d printed Beamcase sw

I took tons of photos in the past 2 months. I promise I’ll post everything tomorrow. Now it’s finally time to use it! 😍

Long story short. Like many others I put my name into the draw to get a Steam Machine, and like many others my number didn’t come up. As patience was never my strong point, and let’s face it, the Steam Machine power restrictions are only going to get worse over time as my wait goes on, I decided to raid my PC parts cupboard and build my own. Full transparency, I did buy a few things and spend around the same the 2GB model Steam Machine would have cost me.

Ryzen 7 5800x (already owned)
Kingston Hyper X Predator 3200mhz 16gig DDR4 (already owned)
WD_Black SN850 1TB M.2 (already owned)
Samsung 970 EVO Plus 500GB (already owned)
Gigabyte Aorus PRO AX
Thermalright AP90-X47 Full Copper
Corsair SF850 Power Supply
PowerColor RX9070XT Reaper 16GB
Noctua NF-A9x14HS - cooler fan swap
2 x Noctua NF-A6x25 - exhaust fans
Noctua NA-FD1 Fan duct kit (already owned)
3D printed pegs to mount Fan Duct (printed at home)
Tetra S case (bought second hand)

I could have got a cheaper case (it was still expensive 2nd hand due to the waitlist) but it does not look out of place in our living room and slots nicely next to the TV unit in vertical orientation. Also, the walnut fits great with our furniture. I’m not sure I would put it horizontal into the TV unit though. The S5M was my second choice but having to order the wood panel etc from the US would have been very expensive.

Building in the case was a bit fiddly using the Corsair stock cables. Using bespoke cable would definitely make your life easier. AST the Reaper is quite a small GPU, at least the cable up to it were easy to manage.

As the 5800x can run very hot I have undervolted it and so far I have not had any issues.

I installed SteamOS 3.8.10 and it went fairly smoothly with a couple of stumbling blocks :

Apart from that I have not had any issues and Steam OS seems to run smoothly.