Steam Box Self Build

baz178

baz178

baz178

Associate
Joined
21 Jan 2013
Posts
792
Location
Leeds
Hi

newish to the forum so be kind :)

Right been thinking is it possible to self build a steam box ? just thinking it will be cheaper for me to build, than go buy one when they come out.
 
Well a steam box is basically just going to be a PC with steam OS on it,

They'll come in at ALL price points and with varying performance.

So the question is, what is your budget? and what are you wanting to play and at what resolution?
 
Doomedspeed said:
Well a steam box is basically just going to be a PC with steam OS on it,

They'll come in at ALL price points and with varying performance.

So the question is, what is your budget? and what are you wanting to play and at what resolution?
Click to expand...

if i spent around the £500 mark would it beat my ps4 and xbox one graphics ? or have to spend a lot more ?
 
fowler002 said:
You're looking at at least £2k ;)
Click to expand...

Helpful as always.

Well i don't like it when people 'compare' consoles to PC's theres a huge difference (pros and cons either way). I could explain but really if you're even looking at building a custom PC you should know yourself.

If you're looking for a small machine like the Steamboxes and consoles, this would spring to mind:

YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS Radeon R9 270X IceQ BOOST 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4440 3.10GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £139.99
1 x Corsair Obsidian Series 250D Mini ITX Compact Gaming Case - Black (CC-9011047-WW) £71.99
1 x Asus H81I-Plus Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £68.99
1 x Avexir MPower Yellow Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CM) £55.99
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 2 520w '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £43.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £608.52 (includes shipping : £8.00).



If you're not bothered by size.

YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS Radeon R9 270X IceQ BOOST 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-6 Six Core 6300 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £89.99
1 x Asus M5A97 LE R2.0 AMD 970 (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £59.99
1 x Avexir MPower Yellow Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CM) £55.99
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 2 520w '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £43.99
1 x BitFenix Comrade Midi-Tower - Black £29.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £512.02 (includes shipping : £11.75).




The rigs aren't set up to overclock.

Both cases are pre-order too.. If you're wanting to buy soon i can suggest some alterntives
 
Doomedspeed said:
Helpful as always.

Well i don't like it when people 'compare' consoles to PC's theres a huge difference (pros and cons either way). I could explain but really if you're even looking at building a custom PC you should know yourself.

If you're looking for a small machine like the Steamboxes and consoles, this would spring to mind:

YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS Radeon R9 270X IceQ BOOST 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4440 3.10GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £139.99
1 x Corsair Obsidian Series 250D Mini ITX Compact Gaming Case - Black (CC-9011047-WW) £71.99
1 x Asus H81I-Plus Intel H81 (Socket 1150) DDR3 Mini ITX Motherboard £68.99
1 x Avexir MPower Yellow Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CM) £55.99
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 2 520w '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £43.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £608.52 (includes shipping : £8.00).



If you're not bothered by size.

YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS Radeon R9 270X IceQ BOOST 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £149.99
1 x AMD Piledriver FX-6 Six Core 6300 Black Edition 3.50GHz (Socket AM3+) Processor - Retail £89.99
1 x Asus M5A97 LE R2.0 AMD 970 (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard £59.99
1 x Avexir MPower Yellow Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (AVD3U16000904G-2CM) £55.99
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 2 520w '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply £49.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD £43.99
1 x BitFenix Comrade Midi-Tower - Black £29.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £512.02 (includes shipping : £11.75).




The rigs aren't set up to overclock.

Both cases are pre-order too.. If you're wanting to buy soon i can suggest some alterntives
Click to expand...


Thank you so much, very help full. Was thinking of getting start at the beginning on February/Middle. Not comparing them but would that beat the graphics on a xbox one or ps4 ?
 
Well the consoles play games at 720p or 1080p so it really depends.

The hardware is certain superior to what the consoles pack..

But like i say the console aren't ALL about graphics.
 
The trouble with Steam OS is the PC is exactly the same spec and speed as any other gaming PC except by putting SteamOS on it you limit what you can do with it, have a very small selection of games and can only buy games from Steam (so can't resell etc). Why wouldn't you just put Windows on it, do everything SteamOS can do and more. You save the £80 you spend on Windows on the first couple of games you buy or sell second hand and have a much wider choice. I really don't get who SteamOS benefits other than Gabe Newell and Valve by trying to lock all PC gaming into steam. Wish they'd get back to making games rather than empire building :(
 
There will be a few benefits, firstly this is an OS designed for gaming so hopefully drive performance improvements (Linux has always struggled with driver support and gaming performance).

As there is no need to sell the OS then features won't get locked out to sell the newest version (directX 11 etc).

It'll be free. So it's perfect for cheap streaming boxes in the lounge where windows isn't needed.

There's nothing to stop you dual booting.

Essentially it's a free OS that gives you more choice. If they can get good performance out of it then it's a great development for PC gaming.
 
There's nothing to stop you dual booting.
Click to expand...

Was thinking the same thing.

To OP yeah it might probably save you some ££ as you can install another OS if you feel limited using steamOS.

Personally, I would never spend £400-500 on a console for me its a waste of money because it gives limited use.

but if you're a fan boy of Gabe then sure get a steam box :D
 
Been thinking on what you said, and using it like a proper pc with windows operating system on it. Ive decided that would be the best like you said you get more out of it then.

But i want to keep it as small as possible nice and compact, so thinking of using a BitFenix ​​Prodigy.

The games i am planning on playing are witcher 3, Watchdogs, Rambo, Diablo, Will that graphics card above be ok to play them, or would you get something better ?
 
baz178 said:
Been thinking on what you said, and using it like a proper pc with windows operating system on it. Ive decided that would be the best like you said you get more out of it then.

But i want to keep it as small as possible nice and compact, so thinking of using a BitFenix ​​Prodigy.

The games i am planning on playing are witcher 3, Watchdogs, Rambo, Diablo, Will that graphics card above be ok to play them, or would you get something better ?
Click to expand...

that GPU should be fine,todays cheaper cards are starting to pack a punch.
it's always a funny question to answer as most GPU's will play games,but it's up to the user to decide if he want's his card to run low,medium,high or ultra settings
 
Last edited:
Ronson12 said:
that GPU should be fine,todays cheaper cards are starting to pack a punch.
it's always a funny question to answer as most GPU's will play games,but it's up to the user to decide if he want's his card to run low,medium,high or ultra settings
Click to expand...

I wanted all the games to run on high settings. Is the card still ok, before I purchases ?
 
AMD GPU for a linux gaming rig are you on drugs?

Go Nvidia, the nvidia linux drivers are x100 better....

You should be posting in the linux forum as well as most people here will be windows gamers and practically clueless about linux.

No offence, but I am sure it is true. You can see that by the AMD GPU recommendations for a linux system.
 
craptakular said:
AMD GPU for a linux gaming rig are you on drugs?

Go Nvidia, the nvidia linux drivers are x100 better....

You should be posting in the linux forum as well as most people here will be windows gamers and practically clueless about linux.

No offence, but I am sure it is true. You can see that by the AMD GPU recommendations for a linux system.
Click to expand...

Have you read through the posts or just seen "steam box" then spec lists? If you bother reading through the posts the op goes on to say it'll be used "like a proper PC with windows operating system".
You might want to get off the drugs you're accusing the rest of here of taking :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom