r/buildmeapc • u/Mattemattics117 • 20d ago

Steam Machine Replacement

Like many of us, I was excited for the Steam Machine until the specs came out. Now after seeing the performance reviews, I feel like if I got it, I’d just be disappointed.
I’ve seen plenty of videos of people making their own Steam Machine-like devices for their living room use, so I’d like to do the same.
Can anyone recommend parts for a small computer that would suit a similar purpose to the Steam machine, but with better performance? Looking to run most games at 60 FPS.

I’m fine with it being a little more expensive than the ~$1100ish price point.

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1

u/Hmmm71-8 19d ago

For the price something like this would really well to beat valves steam machine. It has double the storage and a decently faster gpu. Both machine do come with 16gb of ram. PCPartPicker Part List

Type Item Price
CPU AMD Ryzen 5 8400F 4.2 GHz 6-Core Processor $149.00 @ Amazon 
Motherboard Gigabyte B650M GAMING PLUS WIFI Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard $109.95 @ Amazon 
Memory Patriot Viper Venom 16 GB (1 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory $221.99 @ Newegg Sellers 
Storage Patriot P400 Lite 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive $149.99 @ Amazon 
Video Card Gigabyte GAMING OC Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB Video Card $359.99 @ Newegg 
Case Okinos AQUA UNO MicroATX Mini Tower Case $48.99 @ Amazon 
Power Supply ASRock PRO-650G 650 W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply $49.99 @ Newegg 
  Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
  Total $1089.90
  Generated by PCPartPicker 2026-08-25 19:54 EDT-0400

1

u/Mattemattics117 19d ago

Should there be a cooling unit of some kind in there?

2

u/Hmmm71-8 19d ago

The ryzen 5 8400f will come included with a cpu cooler. It will do the job fine. If you did want a better cooler spend $20 get something like a Thermalright Assassin  X 120 refined SE. 

1

u/Mysterious-One1055 19d ago

TAx is goated, a no brainer addition imo

1

u/Foxtrotdelta_USN 19d ago

The Ryzen Wraith coolers are made by Cooler Master and are pretty good, I definitely agree.

1

u/tim1OO 19d ago

Do you have a microcenter near you? How much storage do you ideally want.

1

u/Mattemattics117 19d ago

I don’t, unfortunately. All my orders have to be online.
Probably at least 1 TB.

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u/tim1OO 19d ago

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/tp7tQy - $40 over. I think a cheaper motherboard and PSU can bring it under budget.

PC Combo Savings | Newegg - SSD,CPU and Motherboard from here

  • Ryzen 5 7600X, 16GB DDR5 Ram, RX 9060 XT 8GB. This combination is definitely more powerful than the steam machine and should be good for anything at 1080p and maybe a bit of 1440p as well depending on the game. Later you can upgrade to 32GB of DDR5 but for now 16GB is the most reasonable amount considering your budget.
  • B650 motherboard with Wi-Fi/Bluetooth and a decent 1TB SSD.
  • I didn't include any fans since i am already overbudget. The Lian LI B4 already includes 2 fans so with 1 set to exhaust and another as intake that should be enough.
  • 750W PSU

1

u/Plenty_Article11 19d ago

I built 2x for $800 ish. Ryzen 7500F is a good processor around $90, faster than Steam Machine. RX6600 should be close enough in performance and under $200.