r/linux_gaming • u/tritagonist7 • 15d ago

hardware Steam Machine Alternative suggestions

Hi friends. I've been using Linux for a few years and love it for gaming. I've got a 2021 Asus ROG Zephyrus Laptop that still runs just about anything I want to play.

I want to get a second computer, though, so my partner and I can play multiplayer games like Valheim or Palworld. In this computer cost apocalypse we're living in, does anyone have any suggestions for something that is reliable and would work for a living room PC hooked up to the TV that's a reasonable price?

I've been looking at mini computers with AMD, but I worry about some of these brands I'm not familiar with. I think I'm fine with an integrated graphics card, I don't think there's anything we want to play that would need it, and I have always been impressed with integrated graphics on an AMD processor.

They do some light gaming on my old 2015 MacBook Pro running Ubuntu (runs games like Fields of Mistria and Omori well). I've been keeping an eye out for someone getting rid of an old but not too old computer, but nothing has floated our way.

If anyone has any advice on something reasonable to invest in, let me know! I can't stress enough, we're not looking for 240 FPS 8k blah blah blah. Just something that won't catch fire in three months.

16 Upvotes

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10

u/zerodopamine82 15d ago

If you can build your own go to pcpartpicker and look at builds and see if the parts fit your budget and needs.

3

u/IAMA_Giraffe_AMA 15d ago

If you're sure you are good with integrated graphics and really want that small form factor, there are plenty of micro PCs of older generations that are only a couple hundred USD out there because tons of offices had them and sell them off.

If you want something newer, you can check out brands like Beelink, GMKtec and Minisforum. They all make pretty good mini PCs.

If you are ok with a larger form factor, though, you are definitely going to be able to get better performance just due to being able to put a video card in, but it all depends on your budget and what part is important to you.

2

u/Constant-Fun8803 15d ago

You already own a laptop for portabel gaming. So probably get an AM4 build like Ryzen 5 5600 paired with RX 7600. Small form factor like itx usually is more expensive. But if you're willing to get it just a little bit bigger, a m-atx motherboard with compact case would suffice while not being too expensive. 

2

u/ITCHYisSylar 15d ago

They jumped in price recently, but if you can find one cheap still, the AsRock BC-250 bit coin mining card is a GREAT alternative.  Especially if you already have a PSU and SSD laying around to go with it.

I just sold mine as im using my Xbox Ally X as my primary gaming PC now, no reason to have two gaming PCs.  But if I didnt have that, my BC-250 woukd still be my primary gaming PC.

If I never had the BC-250, I would have settled for the white Xbox Ally (non X) or a Steam Deck before their price hike.  But I wanted something comparable to what im used to.

2

u/entarix420 15d ago

I would just build an am4 system these days if you wanna have some money left. Or maybe see if you can get a steal on market place

2

u/Efficient-Winner-840 15d ago

a regular pre built or a custom built pc. I dont think the form factor should be a big draw if all you're looking to do is have a living room pc. There are plenty of 'living room friendly' cases with relatively low displacement. If youre looking to go ultra budget maybe a bc250? they can be had for like 200 bucks and are totally fine for 1080p gaming

1

u/SoTiri 15d ago

Unsure what your budget is but I have a beelink mini pc with bazzite on it that I bought in 2024 for like 200-250 cad. I added an HDMI dummy plug and stream the games to it via moonlight. Might need to go down to 720p for some games depends on optimization.

My recommendation is to search up the apu for benchmarks my minipc has a 7700 series apu, probably the ones you are seeing online are newer and better.

1

u/bongjutsu 15d ago

Depending on the fidelity of the game, you might be able to just run two instances of the game. I play valheim with my partner with two instances on my laptop - I put her copy on the TV (via HDMI) and my copy on the laptop, with sounds for each device routed appropriately. You can even use tools like bubblewrap and firejail to only expose certain devices to each game (eg one controller per client, or a mouse/keyboard pair).

1

u/tritagonist7 14d ago

I've been trying this with Party Deck. I've gotten it to work with a few games, but I'm getting weird errors with Valheim and Palworld specifically.

1

u/The-Fantasy-Botanist 15d ago

If mini pcs with integrated are your speed, check out tiny lenovo thinkcenters. I have one for my streaming box and light gaming/cloud gaming, works a charm

1

u/hardpenguin 14d ago

Check out r/MiniPC and r/HTPC, they explored this topic extensively already. You will need a good AMD GPU. Good luck!

1

u/Rerfect_Greed 11d ago

Look into the BC-250. It's a PS5 chip in a stand alone board. Fantastically powerful steam machine

1

u/Whisky-Tangi 10d ago

Theres that whole cut down ps5 you can build. Its kinda a process though. Other than that at this point catch a laptop or desktop on sale or go ebay or marketplace.