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OS Neutral What components would you use to build your own Steam machine?

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Poly

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 14, 2013
444
14
Germany
Main question is in the title.
I have a 720p projector which means i don't need that much graphics processing power to fire up my projector that gives me a nice picture with a diagonal of 2meters.
Currently i own a 360, but upcoming PC games like Star Citizen just make me want a pc again.

Now Steam has the Big Picture Mode and you can easily see if a game supports my much loved gamepad.
But what hardware would you put into "your" Steambox? I don't see the point in putting Linux on the box like Valve plans to because most games don't run on Linux so my box would get Windows7.

My plan so far:
-AMD FX-8350
-graphics card R9 280X(don't know the producer so far)
-8GB 1866MHz DDR3 RAM(don't know if i should go far 16GB straight)
-240GB SSD(no HDD)
 
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C

Cougarcat

macrumors 604
Sep 19, 2003
7,766
2,553
16 GB of RAM is a total waste for games. 8 will be plenty.

Personally, I'd go with intel so I'd have the option of hackintoshing it if I desired.
 
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Poly

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 14, 2013
444
14
Germany
Cougarcat said:
16 GB of RAM is a total waste for games. 8 will be plenty.

Personally, I'd go with intel so I'd have the option of hackintoshing it if I desired.
Click to expand...

Good point!
But i currently have my MBA from mid2011 which does fine.
 
Renzatic

Renzatic

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I would probably go with Nvidia for the first rev, considering they're working more closely with Valve to get things running as smoothly as possible. Remember, SteamOS is Linux with a pretty frontend. For the time being anyway, Nvidia drivers are good and getting better, while AMD drivers (from what I hear) kinda suck a bit.

I'd go with high quality, brand name mid-high end components. You don't have to go cutting edge, but you still want something that'll get you buy for a good 2-3 years. EVGA and Asus are always good options. For the CPU and ram, I'd get an i5 with 8GB on the high end.
 
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Poly

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 14, 2013
444
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Germany
Renzatic said:
I would probably go with Nvidia for the first rev, considering they're working more closely with Valve to get things running as smoothly as possible. Remember, SteamOS is Linux with a pretty frontend. For the time being anyway, Nvidia drivers are good and getting better, while AMD drivers (from what I hear) kinda suck a bit.

I'd go with high quality, brand name mid-high end components. You don't have to go cutting edge, but you still want something that'll get you buy for a good 2-3 years. EVGA and Asus are always good options. For the CPU and ram, I'd get an i5 with 8GB on the high end.
Click to expand...

Currently planning a ASUS MicroATX board with a i5 4570 CPU and 8GB 1600Mhz RAM. 250GB Samsung SSD.....but i'm still not sure which GPU to get.
 
Renzatic

Renzatic

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Poly said:
Currently planning a ASUS MicroATX board with a i5 4570 CPU and 8GB 1600Mhz RAM. 250GB Samsung SSD.....but i'm still not sure which GPU to get.
Click to expand...

Like I said, anything Nvidia. AMD is no go for a Steambox, at least for now.

Question is, do you plan on hooking it up to your TV, or are you planning on paring it to a monitor? If it's the former, go with a good mid-high line card. You won't be pushing the res over 1920x1080, so you don't desperately need as much power as you can get. The EVGA Geforce GTX 760 would be perfect for you. From what I've seen, it's more than powerful enough to handle future PS4/Xbone games at 1080p around 40-60 FPS.

If you're wanting to hook it up to a high res PC monitor, you'll want something with a little more oomph behind it. Like a Geforce 780. And yes, I am a fan of EVGA stuff. They've never let me down.

Though if money's no object, and you want to get the best of the best without any niggling doubts plaguing you, you can always drop a grand and get a Geforce Titan card. They'll handle everything.

Alternately, you could always wait for the Steamboxes to show up, and grab the one that suits you best. They're all certified by Valve, so you'll know they'll work.
 
P

Poly

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 14, 2013
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Germany
Renzatic said:
Like I said, anything Nvidia. AMD is no go for a Steambox, at least for now.

Question is, do you plan on hooking it up to your TV, or are you planning on paring it to a monitor? If it's the former, go with a good mid-high line card. You won't be pushing the res over 1920x1080, so you don't desperately need as much power as you can get. The EVGA Geforce GTX 760 would be perfect for you. From what I've seen, it's more than powerful enough to handle future PS4/Xbone games at 1080p around 40-60 FPS.

If you're wanting to hook it up to a high res PC monitor, you'll want something with a little more oomph behind it. Like a Geforce 780. And yes, I am a fan of EVGA stuff. They've never let me down.

Though if money's no object, and you want to get the best of the best without any niggling doubts plaguing you, you can always drop a grand and get a Geforce Titan card. They'll handle everything.

Alternately, you could always wait for the Steamboxes to show up, and grab the one that suits you best. They're all certified by Valve, so you'll know they'll work.
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I don't care Ati or Nvidea...but the 760 sounds good!
I will connect it to a 720p projector. So that's not even HD resolution.
 
P

Poly

macrumors 6502
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Jul 14, 2013
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Germany
Would i even get a better and nicer looking gaming experience when i connect that 750€ computer to my 720p projector than my seven years old Xbox360 was able to provide on that 720p projector?

Or does the 720p actually worsen the whole experience a lot? Maybe to the same degree as to what the Xbox is able to provide in terms of visual detail?
 
Renzatic

Renzatic

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Poly said:
Would i even get a better and nicer looking gaming experience when i connect that 750€ computer to my 720p projector than my seven years old Xbox360 was able to provide on that 720p projector?

Or does the 720p actually worsen the whole experience a lot? Maybe to the same degree as to what the Xbox is able to provide in terms of visual detail?
Click to expand...

Nah. You'll still be getting that "next gen experience" with higher polycounts, more finely detailed environments, and all that good stuff. You'll just be sacrificing a little bit of image fidelity.

Though on the plus side, you'll likely get 60+ FPS in every game you play.
 
cluthz

cluthz

macrumors 68040
Jun 15, 2004
3,118
4
Norway
Probably gonna try SteamOS on my main machine.
Got 16GB RAM and a GTX660 coupled with an i5 overclocked to 4.3Ghz.
Wonder how SteamOS is gonna work with NVidia Surround and SLi tho.
I find myself playing most games at 5040x1050 res these days over 3 screens.
 
A

Aegelward

macrumors 6502a
Jul 31, 2005
528
54
UK
I might just build a new computer after christmas. my build from 2009 was happily playing titles up until this year in high settings, so i was perfectly satisfied... but now I'm waiting to see what AMD's new CPU/APU are like.

Plus I'd love to build a system based around the Silverstone FT03-Mini chassis. I've been lusting after it since release.
 
P

Poly

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 14, 2013
444
14
Germany
Somehow I want this cool self-built pc and i easily can afford it but i can't really convice myself to do so.
I have a Xbox and it works since 6years for me....don't know :D
 
P

Poly

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 14, 2013
444
14
Germany
What do you think about the AMD FX-8350?
The next gen consoles also feature amd eight core cpus....so this basically means i futureproof my cpu? Or not?
 
Dirtyharry50

Dirtyharry50

macrumors 68000
May 17, 2012
1,769
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I doubt I'd ever be interested in building a Steam machine. I might in the future be interested in purchasing one already put together by a reputable company with decent specs, etc. for a good price.

This all depends entirely on how well this system would support playing my existing library of Steam titles as well as how well it is supported by new titles in the future.

This thing is in its infancy so it is way too early for any plans for me personally. For now I will just be watching with interest to see how it develops.
 
P

Poly

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 14, 2013
444
14
Germany
Dirtyharry50 said:
I doubt I'd ever be interested in building a Steam machine. I might in the future be interested in purchasing one already put together by a reputable company with decent specs, etc. for a good price.

This all depends entirely on how well this system would support playing my existing library of Steam titles as well as how well it is supported by new titles in the future.

This thing is in its infancy so it is way too early for any plans for me personally. For now I will just be watching with interest to see how it develops.
Click to expand...

You know that a SteamMachine, as it is planned by Valve, is just a regular PC. Nothing special....it comes preloaded with STeam and SteamOS, which you can both install on your own.
And buying an official SteamMachine will probably cost you A LOT MORE than building a pc with the same specs.
 
Renzatic

Renzatic

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Poly said:
And buying an official SteamMachine will probably cost you A LOT MORE than building a pc with the same specs.
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I'm thinking it'll cost a lot less. Valve wants people to put these things in their living room. If it costs as much, if not more than an equivalent self-built PC, it won't be able to compete against the PS4/Xbone. I'm thinking they'll buy the hardware in bulk to subsidize the cost, and sell them for a bit cheaper than a DIY setup.
 
lunaoso

lunaoso

macrumors 65816
Sep 22, 2012
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Renzatic said:
I'm thinking it'll cost a lot less. Valve wants people to put these things in their living room. If it costs as much, if not more than an equivalent self-built PC, it won't be able to compete against the PS4/Xbone. I'm thinking they'll buy the hardware in bulk to subsidize the cost, and sell them for a bit cheaper than a DIY setup.
Click to expand...

Plus if they aim it as a stream your games from your gaming PC to this for your living room TV, they won't need insane parts. Even just an i3 sub-$300 computer would be suitable for that. I think that would be a good box to sell, alongside an actual, full-fledged Valve gaming machine.
 
Renzatic

Renzatic

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lunaoso said:
Plus if they aim it as a stream your games from your gaming PC to this for your living room TV, they won't need insane parts. Even just an i3 sub-$300 computer would be suitable for that. I think that would be a good box to sell, alongside an actual, full-fledged Valve gaming machine.
Click to expand...

That's actually what they're doing. Steamboxes come in three flavors: a cheaper i3, a solid middle line i5, and an i5/i7 machine with a Geforce Titan onboard for the hardcore among us.

The cool thing about it is that, with a standardized set of hardware, even the i3 should be able to run native non-streamed games pretty well.
 
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