DIY Steam O/S / Box?

[Conan257]

I've been tinkering for a little while with what sits behind my TV, currently a microserver for file sharing duties etc.

But with the Steam OS/Box announcements, I'm wondering if it would be worthwhile adapting what I have to support Big Screen Steam gaming.

Not sure if the O/S will do it, but could maybe virtualise the server element, but I'd like to:

Support steam games on a 1080p HDMI TV
Watch video's/movies through Plex
Run utorrent
Share files on my LAN
Run backups of machines on the LAN

The last 3 are currently done using Server 2012, and with a suitable machine I could easily virtualise this section. Plex is on a NowTV box but was planning on losing that and using a gfx card on the microserver.

The big question would be, how powerful would I need to go? I'd like this to be virtually silent and come in around £250!

 

[nick.lidgett]

What games do you mean by "steam games" the big hitters or just the indie/greenlight stuff?
A silent gaming rig that cost around £250 seems unrealistic to me, but then again it depends on what games you want to play and what level of detail you are happy with at 1920x1080.

 

[Conan257]

Been out of the game of hunting for the extra fps for a while now.

99% of my gaming is done on an i5/HD5650 laptop so I'm looking to replicate that kind of level ideally...

Don't play CoD etc much anymore, but would still do it at a medium resolution so I can play singleplayer modes...