Buzz
After much anticipation, the first Steam Machines have arrived: compact PCs offering top-notch gaming quality with the convenience of console-style living room setups. Unfortunately, most come with a hefty price tag. Here’s how you can build one yourself for far less.
Building your own Steam Machine isn’t just budget-friendly; it’s also more adaptable and upgradable. While any PC can technically serve as a Steam Machine, we’ve curated a list of parts specifically designed for an optimal living room experience: powerful PC gaming in a compact case, slightly larger than an Xbox or PlayStation.
The Components
After extensive research and testing, here’s our recommended setup for the ultimate DIY Steam Machine:
The Processor (CPU): Intel Core i5-4460, $189: While Skylake is now available, this affordable Haswell i5 still provides all the power you need for modern gaming, and pairs well with an inexpensive motherboard and RAM to help reduce the cost. It comes with a stock cooler, which will work just fine, but if you have a bit more to spend, this $42 Noctua cooler will offer better cooling and quieter performance.
The Motherboard: ASRock B85M-ITX, $64 after rebate: ASRock remains a top choice for budget motherboards, and for this compact build, their entry-level Mini-ITX board is a great value. Note that it lacks built-in Wi-Fi, so if you don't have ethernet access in your living room, you'll need either a USB adapter or a Wi-Fi enabled motherboard.
The Memory (RAM): Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB DDR3, $38: 8GB of RAM should be more than sufficient for current and future gaming needs.
The Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 7200RPM HDD, $52: You likely won’t need the full 1TB for just your games, but it’s hard to find cheaper alternatives if you reduce the storage space. While an SSD won’t boost game performance much, it will improve load times and help reduce “pop-in” in open-world games. If you’ve got extra cash, the Crucial BX100 SSD ($179) is a solid upgrade.
The Video Card (GPU): EVGA NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4GB with ACX 2.0, $329: The GPU is arguably the most important part of any gaming system, and after careful consideration, we chose the GTX 970. Despite some marketing controversy, it’s still one of the best value cards for high or ultra settings. It also has lower power consumption than its competitors, which is crucial for a small build like this. Additionally, it’s impressively quiet.
The Case: Silverstone RAVEN RVZ01B, $84: The Silverstone RAVEN series offers a console-like aesthetic, ideal for living room setups. It’s a little bigger than an Xbox One but fits perfectly in an entertainment center when laid horizontally. Alternatively, it can be set up vertically next to your TV. In fact, many pre-built Steam Machines use this exact case, making it perfect for your DIY setup. You can also opt for its successor, the RVZ02B, which wasn’t available during our initial build but is highly recommended now.
The Power Supply (PSU): Silverstone SX500-LG, $99: Power supplies can be tricky for compact builds, but the Silverstone SX500 fits perfectly. It provides as much power as you can get in such a small size, and while it’s a tight fit, it powers all the components beautifully in our compact case.
The Operating System: Windows 10 Home 64-bit, $99: While you could opt for SteamOS for free, it only offers about a quarter of the games available on Windows, so we’re sticking with Windows. Once you install Steam and set it to launch Big Picture by default, you’ll barely notice Windows and will have access to over 11,000 games.
The Gamepad: Wired Xbox 360 Controller, $32: There are many controllers to choose from, but we prefer the Xbox 360 controller. It’s affordable, comfortable, and works out of the box with most modern games. For a little extra, you can upgrade to the wireless 360 controller with a USB adapter, the Xbox One controller, or even the Steam controller for the full Steam Machine experience.
HDMI Cable: You’ll need one, but it doesn’t need to be expensive. This one ($5.49) will work just fine.
Total Cost: $993Purchase this build from PCPartPicker
You could create a similar gaming PC for a lower price, but our goal was to make something compact and living room-friendly, which adds a bit to the cost. However, it’s still hundreds cheaper than comparable pre-built Steam Machines, such as the Origin Omega ($1368 for similar hardware) or the Digital Storm Eclipse ($1363). If you’re okay with a larger tower, you can always build a standard PC instead.
We chose Haswell for this build to keep the cost low, and because our original test system was assembled before Skylake was released (we didn’t want to recommend something we hadn’t tested ourselves). If you’re after the latest and greatest, you can upgrade this build to Skylake for an additional $41: we suggest the Intel i5-6400, the ASRock H170M-ITX/DL, and this Corsair DDR4 RAM. You won’t see a massive gaming performance boost, but you’ll be on the latest platform for future upgrades.
Alternatively, if you want to save some money, you can downgrade the i5 to a Haswell i3. However, as games become more CPU-intensive and better optimized for multi-core processors, the i3 may struggle to keep up compared to the i5.
To save some money, you could opt for the AMD R9 380 as a video card. It’s $100 cheaper than the GTX 970 we suggest, but performance will take a noticeable hit. You’ll still enjoy a solid 1080p experience, but expect to run some games on low or medium settings, or experience frame rates below 60fps. Additionally, the R9 380 will become outdated faster than the GTX 970. It’s your choice if you want to make this tradeoff. (We didn’t.)
How to Assemble This Steam Machine
This guide assumes you have some basic knowledge of building PCs, but if you don’t, feel free to check out our complete guide to building a PC for additional help. That being said, the compact case brings its own unique challenges to the build process, so we’ll go over the core steps here. Watch the video above to see the entire build process, and don’t forget to refer to the manuals included with your case and motherboard for extra guidance when needed.
Here’s a simple step-by-step guide:
Begin by opening the case. Remove the two screws on the back of the side panel and slide it off. Set aside the front panel cables for now.
Next, unscrew and remove the video card bracket. There are six screws to remove, so make sure you get all of them. Keep the bracket for later. Underneath it, you should find a box with screws and accessories you'll need for the rest of the build.
Start by installing the power supply. Unscrew the power supply bracket—four screws—and carefully remove it. Slide the power supply into the bracket, with the fan facing down, and screw it in. Connect the power cable, and if the power supply has a switch, make sure it’s set to the “on” position.
If you have a traditional hard drive, slide it into the bay above the power supply bracket and screw it in place.
Once that’s done, reattach the power supply bracket and screw it back in. A magnetic screwdriver makes this step easier, as it’s difficult to reach dropped screws.
Now, take the motherboard and place it on the box it came in to create a static-free workspace. Release the CPU lever and open the bracket. Drop in your CPU, aligning the gold arrow with the arrow on the bracket, then pull down the lever to lock it in place.
Grab your RAM sticks, unlock the latches on the RAM slots, line up the notches, and press the RAM into place. You should hear the latches snap shut.
Given the tight case, it’s a good time to plug in a few cables. Use the 24-pin and 4-pin cables from the power supply and connect them to the motherboard. (Don’t connect them to the power supply yet.)
Take the I/O shield from your motherboard box and snap it into the case. Lower the motherboard into the case, making sure its ports align with the I/O shield, and secure it with screws.
Once the motherboard is secured, connect the front panel cables, including USB 3.0, front audio, power, and reset buttons. Check your motherboard manual for the exact locations of these connectors.
Now’s a good time to install the CPU cooler. Place it on top of the CPU, press the plastic pins into the motherboard until they click, and connect the fan’s cable to the CPU FAN header on the motherboard, which is right next to the CPU.
Next, plug the 24-pin and 4-pin cables from the motherboard into the power supply. It’s a tight fit, but with a little wiggling, they should connect. You can also connect the PSU end of the PCI power cable (the one with the blue tip) now.
Now it’s time for the fun part—installing the video card. This case uses a sideways GPU adapter for fitting large, powerful video cards into a compact case. Unscrew the PCI bracket from the mount, connect the PCIe extender to your video card, and insert the GPU into the bracket. Make sure it’s secure, then screw it in place to stabilize it.
Connect the PCI power cables, and slide the GPU bracket into its bay. The sideways adapter should slot firmly into the PCI motherboard slot. Once everything is set, screw the bracket into the case. (Remember to secure all six screws.)
Your cables will likely be scattered at this point, so try to tidy them up around the power supply to keep them out of the way of your components and fans.
If you’re using an SSD instead of a traditional hard drive, install it in the 2.5-inch drive bays on the graphics card bracket.
Connect the SATA power cables to your hard drive or SSD, then plug the other ends into the power supply. Do the same with the SATA data cable—one side into your hard drive, and the other into the SATA 3 ZERO port on the motherboard.
Your case should have included a three-pin Y adapter for your fans. Connect it to the SYS FAN header on the motherboard, then plug in the two case fans. When finished, close the case, screw the side panel back on, and attach the magnetic fan filters to the case exterior.
You’re all set! The case can be laid flat in your entertainment center, just like a DVD player, or stood upright next to it, resembling an Xbox. The case includes rubber feet you can install at the bottom for extra stability, along with magnetic dust filters for the fans. You can even personalize it by installing a vertical or sideways version of the RAVEN logo.
Once you’re finished, connect your Steam machine to the TV using the HDMI cable, plug it into the wall with the power supply’s included cable, and hit the power button. If you’ve done everything correctly, it should power on, and you’ll see the POST screen.
If it doesn’t turn on, you’ll need to open the case again and troubleshoot. You can find troubleshooting tips at the end of our general computer building guide here.
How to Set Up Windows, Steam, and Your Games
The challenging part is behind you. Getting the software up and running on this system is straightforward, but before installing Windows, you'll want to adjust a few settings in the BIOS first:
Power up the computer and press the DEL key to access the BIOS setup.
Navigate to OC Tweaker > Load XMP Setting > XMP 1.3 Profile 1 to make sure your RAM is operating at the correct speed.
Next, go to H/W Monitor > Chassis Fan 1 Setting and select either Performance or Full Speed to ensure the fan runs at a high enough speed to cool your system effectively. I found Full Speed to be relatively quiet, but your preferences may differ, so feel free to test both settings to see what works best for you.
Once those tweaks are made, you're all set to install Windows:
On your regular PC (not your Steam machine), visit this page and download the 64-bit version of the Media Creation Tool. Open it once the download completes.
Select the "Create installation media for another PC" option and click Next.
Pick your language and Windows edition. (If you used the recommended copy, it will be the Home edition. Otherwise, check your box or the email you received when purchasing Windows 10.)
Choose the type of media you want to create. A USB flash drive is recommended.
The Media Creation Tool will download and write the installation files for you. When it's done, eject your flash drive, plug it into your Steam Machine, and power it up.
To boot from the flash drive, press F12 when the computer turns on, and select the flash drive from the options that appear.
The Windows 10 installer should appear. Follow the on-screen prompts and, when prompted, select "Custom: Install Windows Only."
Select the hard drive you want to install Windows 10 on. Chances are, you'll have just one drive, so click on that one.
Click the "Format" button. (If the Format button is grayed out, click "Delete" first, then click "New.") Click Next to begin the installation on that drive.
Let the installation wizard guide you through the remaining steps.
Your computer will reboot a few times during the setup process, but once it's finished, you should be able to log into the Windows desktop. You're nearly there! Now, it's time to install your motherboard drivers, graphics card drivers, and Steam. Here's how to do it:
Go to ASRock's website and download the INF Driver and Rapid Storage Technology driver.
Extract both ZIP files to your desktop by double-clicking them. Run the INF driver installer first, restart if prompted, and then run the Rapid Storage Technology driver.
Next, head to NVIDIA’s website to download the drivers for your graphics card (if you swapped out our suggested card for an AMD model, make sure to download the drivers from AMD). Double-click the installer to install the graphics drivers.
Finally, download and install the Steam client from Steam's website.
Once installed, open Steam and sign in. Navigate to Steam > Settings > Interface. Check the “Start Steam in Big Picture Mode” box.
After everything is installed, reboot your computer. If all goes well, it should boot directly into Steam Big Picture mode, allowing you to disconnect your mouse and keyboard and jump straight into your games. You can even use your controller with games that don't natively support it, and stream games from your other computers.
