Spec me a Steam Machine

drunkenmunky

drunkenmunky

drunkenmunky

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9 Apr 2006
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232
I've been away from PC gaming for about 3 years and would like some help in deciding on the best build for a Steam Machine within my price range. My limit is £650 but would prefer to spend around £450-£500.
I will be using it just for Steam games.
I'm interested in the Forcebox Genesis, if anybody has any input on this? Or would I be better building my own?
I already have 8Gb of ram and an i5 from my previous build (see spec below) - will these be ok?
I'm looking at a minimum GTX 750ti. Would this be ok for the latest games in high/ultra settings or should I go for 960/970?
 
Can't you use any of those other old components?

Go for 970 definitely. Or 290x.

You'll have to find a motherboard elsewhere though.
 
sounds like you may have a few quid to spare

I'd go with a Z77 motherboard as the H61 is very limited and the following graphics card. Also changed the case to mATX as there's more boards this size.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus Radeon R9 290X DirectCU II 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (R9290X-DC2-4GD5) £229.99
1 x Crucial BX100 250GB SSD SATA 6Gbps 7mm Solid State Drive (CT250BX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x Seasonic M12II-520 EVO 520W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £61.99
1 x BitFenix Phenom MATX Cube Case - Midnight Black £54.95
Total : £426.92 (includes shipping : Ex.VAT).

 
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dacads said:
sounds like you may have a few quid to spare

I'd go with a Z77 motherboard as the H61 is very limited and the following graphics card. Also changed the case to mATX as there's more boards this size.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Asus Radeon R9 290X DirectCU II 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (R9290X-DC2-4GD5) £229.99
1 x Crucial BX100 250GB SSD SATA 6Gbps 7mm Solid State Drive (CT250BX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x Seasonic M12II-520 EVO 520W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £61.99
1 x BitFenix Phenom MATX Cube Case - Midnight Black £54.95
Total : £426.92 (includes shipping : Ex.VAT).

Click to expand...

Isn't a Z77 a full ATX board though?
 
Dont put a 290X in that case it will cool all the over components.
i just got the same case for the boy and i tried my 290x in it as i went nvidia, but it put the temps up a lot on the system, all drivers and CPU.
he was running an 7970 before.

i would think you need a R9 280x or get an nvidia gpu you need to avoid the 290/290x.
i am assuming your gaming at 1080p? 770/780 would all be good, and from the other team 270x/280/280x. if you want new 970.
 
P4Clock said:
Dont put a 290X in that case it will cool all the over components.
i just got the same case for the boy and i tried my 290x in it as i went nvidia, but it put the temps up a lot on the system, all drivers and CPU.
he was running an 7970 before.

i would think you need a R9 280x or get an nvidia gpu you need to avoid the 290/290x.
i am assuming your gaming at 1080p? 770/780 would all be good, and from the other team 270x/280/280x. if you want new 970.
Click to expand...

Yes, gaming at 1080p. Would the 960 be ok in this case with all the other components? I'd like to play games with high/ultra settings. I looked at the 780 but its priced similar to the 960 so wouldn't this be better?

To answer my own question after doing some research, both seem pretty close in performance but the 770 appears to be faster.
 
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drunkenmunky said:
Yes, gaming at 1080p. Would the 960 be ok in this case with all the other components? I'd like to play games with high/ultra settings. I looked at the 780 but its priced similar to the 960 so wouldn't this be better?

To answer my own question after doing some research, both seem pretty close in performance but the 770 appears to be faster.
Click to expand...

at 1080 ever game me/the boy play was at max setting on a single 7970.
BF4, CoD AW, Minecraft, Sims4, Grid autosport and so on. i have not played GTA V as i had it on xbox and it was poo so haven't bothered but its supposed to be a GPU killer.

I would think for 1080 you need to be looking at 280X or 780. my 770 didnt max out BF4 when i had one 12 months ago so i wouldn't get one now. 960 vs 780 i would think the 780 would/should kill it

if i was you i would get 780 or 970, on a budget a 280X can be had for £100 however the 780 at £155 would kill it and last longer.
 
Are you using SteamOS or Windows? Last time I checked Nvidia tended to have better driver support under Linux - not sure if there have been any changes on the AMD front recently though.
 
280x is a bit too expensive for my liking, considering you can pick up a 290x for £30 more. So I would look at picking one (280x) up in used condition as they can be had for around £100.

Or you can stick with the 290x but go with a better case which is what I would recommend.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Phanteks Enthoo Evolv Micro ATX Case - Black £81.95
1 x Phanteks Enthoo Evolv Micro ATX Case - White £81.95
1 x Bitfenix Aegis Micro-ATX Chassis w/ Icon Programmable Display - Black £79.99
1 x Bitfenix Aegis Micro-ATX Chassis w/ Icon Programmable Display - White £79.99
Total : £350.82 (includes shipping : £22.45 Ex.VAT).

 
Thanks for the replies. My heart's set on a 960. I just prefer nvidea and I think it has better support for SteamOS which is all I will be running. I don't really like any of those cases but appreciate the help :)
 
So you know that the 960s come with a free game, but OcUK also have a GTX770 (2 or 4Gb) on offer but without a game.

I think the 770 is a stronger card because of the bigger memory bus (256 vs 128).
 
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