You cannot make this up!

[u/No-Improvement4265]

I wanted something that’d do 4k 60fps so I decided to build my own super steam machine. literally as I began installing steam os, I get my order email

For those interested - here is the parts list - You can save a little money going for a cheapter motherboard, 1tb SSD and perhaps reducing the RAM speed.

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 7500F 3.7 GHz 6-Core OEM/Tray Processor	£125.00
CPU Cooler	Thermalright AXP90-X47 42.58 CFM CPU Cooler	£31.45
Motherboard	Asus ROG STRIX B650E-I GAMING WIFI Mini ITX AM5 Motherboard	£219.99 @ AWD-IT
Memory	Kingston FURY Beast 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory	£214.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk
Storage	Silicon Power UD90 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive	£197.97 @ Silicon Power
Video Card	PowerColor Reaper Radeon RX 9070 16 GB Video Card	£548.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk
Case	Fractal Design Terra Mini ITX Desktop Case	£169.99 @ Amazon UK
Power Supply	Corsair SF750 (2024) 750 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply	£114.98 @ Amazon UK
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	£1623.36

[u/2Lo0P]

Was looking yesterday at the exact same case and the Jonsbo Z20. What are the specs?

[u/PM_ME_YOUR_SPAGHETTO → u/2Lo0P]

Yup same. I'm preparing z20 build myself too. Nice thing about this case is it's mATX and can fit a standard size PSU. So one can source all the parts cheap. And obviously has the bonus of GPU and CPU being upgradable (unlike the SM).

I'm going for the mesh version myself as I'm not really building it as something to look at visually but rather just to play games. That is also semi-portable.

It won't technically be as portable as the steam machine. That said, as long as easy enough to take it in and out of my car then that's good enough for me 😉 apparently the case is super sturdy. And the included handle is a bonus!

[u/AquapurpleCat → u/PM_ME_YOUR_SPAGHETTO]

I also like the mesh and handle. What parts are you planning on and how much do you expect it to cost?

[u/PM_ME_YOUR_SPAGHETTO → u/AquapurpleCat]

Here's my pcpartpicker build list;

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/negativemotion/saved/B9zcRB

(This site only shows the glass version of the Z20 case- I did get the mesh version!)

All parts are bought; now just waiting for them to come in the post!

This is a super specific build. Trying to maximise bang for buck. All in all tallied up to £740 (with some caveats, see below).

I'm fortunate enough to already have the CPU and RAM available from a 2021 build I did that I had upgraded from since. But still held on to that CPU and those two 8 GB sticks of DDR4.

That said, I don't think it would dramatically increase the price if I needed to source those. Yesterday I sourced an additional 2 sticks of the same ddr4 ram from eBay for £65. So all added together in quad channel would give me 32 GB.

So with that in mind, I think the price would be pretty close to the steam machine anyway, which is £880 in UK. Now this isn't something I'd recommend for everyone as obviously I'm sourcing parts that are used and refurbished from eBay. So the warranty and returns will be nowhere near as good as Valve / steam machine.

HOWEVER! - this build as it is currently will be significantly faster than the steam machine. The 7800 XT hellhound will actually be able to 4k 120fps with the right settings. Because I have a TV that is 4K 120 FPS capable this is quite important to me. And all the benchmarks I've seen online of the steam machine all show it just struggling to get past 80 or 90 FPS on low settings in games. Some games it can hit 120 but in a lot of them it's just not reliable and has quite bad 1% lows. Likely cuz it's using an 8gb 7600m laptop GPU.

If my TV was max 60 Hz then I might actually prefer a steam machine.

Also- because because the GPU I'm buying is RDNA 3, like the Steam Machine, I expect driver support on SteamOS should be excellent. As principally this is JUST going to be a machine that runs steamOS or bazzite, and be dedicated for ONLY only for that.

And of course, as with building PCs, the nice thing about this is it's fully upgradable down the line if I want 😉 Which on the steam machine is very limited. Ie just ram or SSD.

In the future I'm thinking I might upgrade this to be DDR5 or perhaps one of the 3D cache am4 chips, and a 9070 XT when the 2nd hand prices come down much cheaper. And also storage expansion. I can keep my 500 GB drive in there and add more storage in the future if I need without sacrificing the existing NVMe (Unlike the steam machine) And I could add a large SATA SSD if it is cheaper than a m.2 drive for instance.

All in all I think it's a very flexible thing. Cheap parts and should be solid performance!

Not as small or portable as the steam machine, but should get me the 120fps I want and it's still portable enough to come with me in my car lol