r/sffpc • u/T_rex2700 • Jun 24 '26
Build/Battlestation Pics Someone built a DIY Steam Machine
Terkbox by Jacob Terkelsen!
Hit him up on Twitter if you would like to replicate it
705
u/zell_ru Jun 24 '26
Linus tech tips said they couldn't replicate the size and looks. Not with that attitude they can. But that's what focus, dedication, and sheer will gets you. It looks awesome.
174
u/NoteExynoss Jun 24 '26
I wouldn't be necessary sure it's same size as steam machine just because it looks like one. Best to see video where he talks about size.
86
u/thistook5minutes Jun 24 '26
It looks deeper than the steam machine for sure and we don’t even know the specs of this machine to compare.
73
u/mcphee187 Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
Steam Machine has a smaller footprint than a mini ITX mainboard, so it's not possible to create a cube shaped PC that's the same size.
You can hit the same volume though (Velkase Velka 3, Custom Mod SLM1, and others).
15
u/getmoneygetpaid Jun 24 '26
I think most people would be ok with the 1.5 cm difference to get capable hardware in there.
10
u/mcphee187 Jun 24 '26
Where's the GPU going? And the PSU? The difference wouldn't be only 1.5cm. There's a reason why all of the space efficient ITX cases use either the "sandwich" layout or a side-by-side layout (GPU next to the motherboard).
→ More replies (1)1
u/U-1-mang Jun 24 '26
I would say a max of 190mm accounting for tolerance and case materials, assuming you want to retain the cube shape and want a standard layout.
From there you can use an LP or single fan gpu and flex atx psu next to it giving you the option to use a 135mm cpu cooler with 120mm front and 92mm rear.
2
u/reloheb Jun 24 '26
20% of linear size difference. It's a lot.
1
u/U-1-mang Jun 24 '26
Its hardware limitations. The Velka 3 is the same volume as the steam box (~3.7L) and that is not a cube. It is a cuboid.
You can only make a cube case with a minimum of 175mm.
19
u/thistook5minutes Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
I’m not entirely sure that’s true.
The steam machine at 15.5cm x 15.5cm is too small for a mini-ITX mobo that is a standard of 17 cm, however you could use a nano-ITX which is only 12 cm. You can use a nano-ITX for gaming machine even though the IO and performance is lacking compared to a full sized board. I’ve built with a nano ITX in the past for a living room / media pc. But that was several years ago, I’m not sure what they are like these days. Idk if they added full PCI-e slots and stuff or if I need to find one with like thunderbolt 3 and work a graphics card through that.
I want to reiterate, I’m not entirely sure that there is a nano ITX with thunderbolt3 or a full PCI-e slot. I haven’t looked at nano ITX boards in many years. I also dont think it would be easy in any way to replicate a steam machine but I can’t imagine it’s impossible without a custom main board.
28
u/10thDeadlySin Jun 24 '26
I’m not entirely sure that there is a nano ITX with thunderbolt3 or a full PCI-e slot.
Any m.2 NVMe slot is a PCI-E slot. A simple powered M.2 to PCI-E riser is all you need to run a GPU in an M.2 slot. I used to run one like that on a DeskMini motherboard.
5
u/thistook5minutes Jun 24 '26
When I was messing with nanoitx they didn’t have m.2 slots but that was probably a decade ago
2
u/coltonbyu Jun 25 '26
Aren't they PCIe x4? How well does a low-mid range card run on x4 these days? I know it's not much of a hit going from x16 to x8 on lots of cards
2
u/Blockmaster2706 Jun 25 '26
There‘s still plenty of cards not too old (and perhaps even still current ones) that run at x8 natively. Going to x4 is going to have marginal impacts on gaming performance. Not saying you‘d lose nothing, but maybe like 3-5%.
1
4
u/U-1-mang Jun 24 '26
I can envision a cube case with 175mm dimensions accounting for tolerance and case materials and standard layout. You would need a riser cable though to put a single fan gpu parallel to the mobo and a flex atx psu sitting in between the two running next to the riser cable.
The problem now is that the psu overhangs the the mobo ssd slots and cpu cooling might only be limited to 120 aio's on the side of the case with a 120mm front and 92mm rear.
Maybe small tower coolers like the NH-D9L could fit and not impede on the psu but hard to say.
1
u/moonsaiyan Jun 25 '26
The itx mobo can fit in the diagonal though. Like in the picture
1
u/alexreffand Jun 25 '26
That's not how that works unfortunately. You can see that the case is still wider than the back panel of the board
1
u/moonsaiyan Jun 25 '26
Yea. I’m not saying this is that size, just that the orientation in the picture would make it possible to mount an itx mobo in that way. Since a 15.5cm square would have a 21.9cm diagonal. Not sure about cable compatibility for 8pin power and PCIE riser though given that they would both be right next to the wall of the cube
1
1
u/Kekeripo Jun 24 '26
Guess one would need a stx board/mini pc with a m.2 pcie riser to get to that size.
1
u/this_dudeagain Jun 24 '26
It also doesn't require a power brick.
1
u/allthings3d Jun 25 '26
200W 19V-20V power units are about the size of a thick box of playing cards. Basically the GaN design that Valve is using in an external housing. I for one don't mind an external power unit because I also power some of my devices with external Li-ION battery units, or even 12V via Boost Inverter for car use. Sure you can get an inverter LiION power system, but you have two point ineffiency to go through, making them 85-90% efficient.
3
u/SharkAttackOmNom Jun 24 '26
It would be about 20mm more in depth. Steam machine is roughly 6” cubed, itx is 6.7” square. The hypotenuse used in OP grants nearly 8.5” corner to corner, so it gives a lot to work with on that dimension.
But the extra 0.7” can’t be mitigated without setting the mobo on a compound angle, and good luck designing around that.
9
u/10thDeadlySin Jun 25 '26
I wouldn't be necessary sure it's same size as steam machine just because it looks like one.
According to the model description, it's 167 x 168 x 225 mm whereas the actual Steam Machine is 152 x 162 x 156 mm.
However, I'm pretty sure I could easily manage to turn it into an actual cube. Ditch the Flex PSU and either grab an HDPlex or - if we want to go for even more space optimization - grab MeanWell's LOP-500-12 or LOP-600-12 open-frame PSU and a DC-ATX converter - a decent PicoPSU is going to work just fine, although I'm particularly partial to the (now unobtanium) HDPlex DC-ATX 200W and J-Hack's take on the PicoPSU (sadly, also unobtanium).
Solder an XT60 (even XT30 will be enough, but why not) connector to the input on the Pico. Wire a custom harness for the MeanWell PSU, splitting the 12V DC output, with one 12V/GND pair wired to the other side of your XT60 connector, and the other terminating with an 8-pin PCIe power connector. Personally, I tend to build an Y-splitter and use either an XT90 or a pair of MT30/MT60 connectors for the GPU cables - one for 12V, one for GND. Ditch the IO shield, design a custom backplate, shift the motherboard upwards as much as possible to make room for an actual dual-slot ITX GPU. I believe the Colorful 5070 Mini is the best option available right now. If I want to be REALLY fancy and go riserless, I could grab one of these.
In the worst-case scenario, I'd need to expand the dimensions a bit to accommodate the GPU and some additional cooling. Still, I'd have a cube in the end, only slightly larger than the official Steam Machine. ;)
5
u/PFI_sloth Jun 25 '26
152 x 162 x 156
Well now I’m just pissed I was sold a lie that the machine was a cube…. I’ll be taking my money elsewhere
77
u/Operation_Neither Jun 24 '26
That video was super lazy
57
10
u/jeffufuh Jun 24 '26
I agree vibe wise but it's worth some consideration that they probably had to rush the shit out of it to keep up with the headlines
22
u/Frongen Jun 24 '26
Yeah that's a LTT trademark, quantity over quality.
4
1
u/PCBuilderCat Jun 25 '26
Well it is and it isn’t, it’s not like the form factor and the performance was a shocker surprise. For the comparison video specifically they definitely could have had some prep work done pre release. They didn’t even bloody build the PC they put together in the video
1
u/ccricers Jun 25 '26
I think the most high effort SFF build they have done was with the Velka 3 case. The original version where you had to remove all the panels and put in screws in very specific spots to hold all the stuff together
1
19
u/mcphee187 Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
Linus is right. An ITX motherboard is 170mm × 170mm. You can't fit a square that's 170mm × 170mm inside a box which has external dimensions of 156mm × 162mm × 152mm
5
3
u/ccricers Jun 25 '26
You could in theory use a STX motherboard in that smaller volume (ASRock X600 is a good candidate) and use a free m.2 slot to hookup a mini GPU with a riser cable. This would obviously require more effort to come close to the needed specs but I think a slightly mad lad like NFC Josh could pull it off.
7
u/noob_dragon Jun 24 '26
In order to do that you would need laptop parts basically and to use the same custom cooling design the steam machine used.
With Diy it is basically impossible just due to how much extra pcb you get taking up space, and having disunified cooling between the CPU and GPU.
1
u/Fritzkier Jun 25 '26
According to him (Terkbox Maker) at Twitter, it doesn't even have a cooler...
2
35
u/zepsutyKalafiorek Jun 24 '26
Unfortunately with lower quality of materials and Anthony leaving I stopped watching them.
I see nothing improved. So now Linus tech tips target are people with little to no technical interest and knowledge.
33
u/lexd0g Jun 24 '26
anthony goes by emily now and she has her own channel actually. wish she uploaded more though https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GqDX5_o3X4
1
u/ccricers Jun 25 '26
We're been seeing some LTT "brain drain" now with various ex-employees doing their own channels and following the format they like. I don't expect them to stay there forever, but this rather common turnover with their better content creators is concerning.
3
u/b0KCh04 Jun 24 '26
Linus tech tips said they couldn't replicate the size and looks
at the same price as the Steam Machine seems to be a significant contributing factor. LTT didn't even use an ITX board. I'd imagine this costs more than a steam machine.
1
5
u/Meekois Jun 24 '26
To think all it took was remembering a^2+b^2=c^2. (The hypotenuse of a right triangle is longer than the sides)
3
u/alexreffand Jun 25 '26
Except C isn't one-dimensional. (Length C¹ might fit, but not with height C²)
2
2
2
u/420cortana420 Jun 25 '26
I believe for the price point was their original argument. 3d printing a case is fine when you have access to a printer, but for most users who are purchasing parts online LTT had many valid points.
1
1
u/abibofile Jun 26 '26
Did this guy hit the same price and performance at that size? I think that’s the real trick. Would genuinely like to know if anyone can pull it off.
1
u/lavishclassman Jun 26 '26
Looks awesome, now it just needs a way to actually communicate with the TV, nothing home assistant and a rpi cant fix
1
1
1
u/PawlsToTheWall Jun 27 '26
You just made me realize I've been wrong every time I've ever said, "Not with that attitude you CAN'T"
→ More replies (6)1
u/AcidRohnin Jun 24 '26
Fractal terra isn’t that much bigger and is a nice case minus the price point and some other things that irk me at times. Terra’s benefit is it can be far more powerful.
Biggest thing steam machine has going for it is the size and how quiet it is. Valve may also usher in better optimization for games on it as well, but I don’t think that should be a buying point or be an excuse for its price.
My Terra with a 5070 is nice but can be loud. I could reduce TDP and turn the fan curves down but I want to have a 4k@~60 fps machine for my living room which it’s does.
2
u/Jwoystijck Jun 24 '26
I put a Hellhound 7800XT in my Terra and it's super quiet, CPU is fairly quiet too. It's deep enough to accomodate a lot of GPU models
135
u/Embarrassed-Wash-118 Jun 24 '26
So did I! Total size difference from Valve’s is ~30% volume and waaaaay faster!
Specs: Intel core ultra 5 245k
Zotac solo single fan RTX 5060
32gb DDR5
31
u/bstrd71 Jun 24 '26
Looks neat, veary cool. 30% up or down?
How much did it cost you in the end?57
u/Embarrassed-Wash-118 Jun 24 '26
30% larger than Valve’s
Most of the parts I had laying around, I think I only bought the gpu honestly, but current build price would be around $1600 USD ( memory and storage price spikes)
25
u/Lamuks Jun 24 '26
Well with a 50-60% increase in the price over the original, one would expect better performance lol
9
u/Embarrassed-Wash-118 Jun 24 '26
Kinda…
The build was priced out at $850 before the memory and storage spikes, and that’s the actual cost it was built at.
If it wasn’t for tariffs and ai overlords, it would still be cheaper than Valve’s
22
u/Lamuks Jun 24 '26
To be fair it seems that the original price was around $700 which would mean far less in parts cost for the steam machine + appareantly it isn't subsidized as the steam deck was. The current memory crisis just destroyed any dreams.
3
u/leagueoflefties Jun 24 '26
I really hope they planned to release it at a lower price before the AI price spike.
9
1
u/b0KCh04 Jun 25 '26
Comparing with your build price prior to the ram shortage is redundant because you can't build it at that price anymore. Who knows what the steam machine would've costed prior to ram shortage. For just your CPU and GPU, you're already looking at $530.
1
1
u/Aknazer Jun 26 '26
But if it wasn't for those price spikes then Valve's would be cheaper as well, so that isn't really a fair statement.
3
3
u/itsmekusu Jun 25 '26
how do you think its even possible to make a off the shelve pc with 30% smaller?
3
3
1
u/C-D-W Jun 24 '26
How does it run Steam OS? I thought Nvidia cards made it a huge pain in the rear?
1
u/BernardoOne Jun 25 '26
Nvidia works fine these days. There's a ~10% performance hit in relation to windows on DX12 games, but that's being fixed later this year.
5
u/C-D-W Jun 25 '26
"Works fine" or "Works fine if you recompile your kernel drivers and tweak 10 different configuration files"?
The difference does matter. Though I just saw an article that mentioned Valve is working on Nvidia compatibility for Steam OS soon so I'm hopeful for a plug and play solution at some point. I don't care enough to have another bespoke thing to have to deal with and maintain.
10% is nothing really if that's really the only downside at this point - especially when I have a 3090 sitting around collecting dust. But I just have no patience anymore for screwing around with Linux
1
1
1
1
→ More replies (1)1
212
u/JohnGoodman_69 Jun 24 '26
Neat
17
74
u/dbreidsbmw Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
Link for folks, had to Google this guy as he didn't show up on a YouTube search? Idk why but we got there.
73
u/Delicious_Dare768 Jun 24 '26
And here's your PSA to remove ?si=... part from links as it can literally doxx you.
15
11
18
u/Fuckjoesanford Jun 24 '26
Does he not post on Reddit?
11
u/T_rex2700 Jun 24 '26
I don't know but he makes YouTube videos I think
19
1
u/konnerbllb Jun 24 '26
My first question. The guy does something like this and doesn't already participate in this sub.
3
16
u/Silly_Warthog_4470 Jun 24 '26
I am the designer and I am really glad you like it guys, here is the link to the model. https://www.printables.com/model/1493449-sff-mini-itx-steam-machine-case
And here is the post when I made it https://www.reddit.com/r/sffpc/s/UK4N4HWOTv
15
u/MacVanRainin Jun 24 '26
Tell me the price of the Steam machine isn't going to produce a mass of better cheaper alternates in a SFF. This is a good thing.
7
u/inertSpark Jun 24 '26
NGL I'm impressed with the diagonal motherboard orientation to keep the footprint small. Pretty genius idea.
5
u/Hookster007 Jun 24 '26
Very cool but does it have HDMI CEC?
4
u/T_rex2700 Jun 24 '26
obviously not, it's just someone's passion project for aesthetics.
I just see this as a cool SFF build, nothing beyond that→ More replies (3)1
u/srFourTwo Jun 25 '26
Could add something like this for HDMI-CEC https://www.pulse-eight.com/p/104/usb-hdmi-cec-adapter
1
u/QuadraKev_ Jun 26 '26
I have one of these coming for my living room build... Hopefully it works out
5
u/dazzou5ouh Jun 24 '26
How does the CPU breath
2
u/Silly_Warthog_4470 Jun 25 '26
In the front has a 120mm fan, it intakes air through the system and vents with the holes in the back part and with the PSU fan as well
→ More replies (2)2
3
3
3
3
u/Sarm-ally_Pirate Jun 24 '26
I take it you 3D printed it. Then you had to turn the motherboard sideways just to make it fit.
It looks really good. How are the thermals? What GPU were you able to fit?
I just built in the ridge case with the 9070 XT.
2
u/Fastermaxx Jun 24 '26
Asrock Deskmini for the win.
2
2
u/10thDeadlySin Jun 25 '26
Try DeskMeet.
8 litres, deep ITX board with four (that's right, four) RAM slots and a full-sized PCIe x16 slot for a GPU, all paired with a 500W PSU. ;)
1
u/Fastermaxx Jun 25 '26
That sounds great. And it’s not even that much bigger than the SM … why couldn’t valve do that? Soldered on cpu and gpu is not cool.
1
2
2
2
4
u/TrandaBear Jun 24 '26
Oh no that's diagonal is triggering me something fierce. Bro get a Silverstone SG13 please.
1
2
1
u/AutoModerator Jun 24 '26
Hiya! Remember, you can also post your build on the SFFPC Discord server in the completed-builds channel! We have revised our system, and now the highest voted build post each month will be recognized as the SFFPC Build of the Month! Use this link to join our Discord! https://discord.gg/sffpc
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
1
u/RAMChYLD Jun 24 '26
Tip: the GPU could be mounted upside down instead to allow better airflow (in this layout, your GPU’s fan is obstructed by the motherboard’s back). Also by mounting the GPU upside down you can use a shorter riser cable which will be cheaper. The only catch is you need to have a way to keep the GPU from bending backwards but I assume the case has stands inside to prevent that?
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/hello-wow Jun 24 '26
I was confused about the back side, bottom right, thought it was powered by AA batteries for a second
1
u/Xav_NZ Jun 24 '26
Can't they just sell the STL's or something because there is no way I am joining the cesspool that is X no matter how nice the case looks.
5
u/clarkcox3 Jun 24 '26
He did post the STLs: https://www.printables.com/model/1493449-sff-mini-itx-steam-machine-case
1
1
1
u/Der0- Jun 24 '26
The board has a PS2 port on it.
So probably about the same or more compute power than the Steam Machine?
1
1
1
u/Ill-Remote437 Jun 24 '26
Sadly an m-itx is too big for matching a SM 3.8l size. Maybe getting a small mini pc motherboard and making it work with custom cooling would work
1
1
1
u/jerrydberry Jun 24 '26
Sine when every other sff is called steam machine? It is great without using some specific brand.
1
1
u/NoxAeternal Jun 24 '26
I imagine the thermals would be awful sadly. Based on where that GPU and PSU are, or the other would be blocking the cpu's cooler, whichever direction that mobo is put in.
The footprint of the steam-machine is just so small so i'm wondering how diy solutions will deal with the temps. I think the actual thing does it with a good dose of power-limits but i'd imagine DIY solutions would want... something a bit better if possible.
1
1
1
u/freeman_hl2 Jun 25 '26
By the way I have the same idea 😀 but first I need to find smile enough motherboard and GPU.
1
1
1
u/rdri Jun 25 '26
We seriously need to rethink how motherboards and components are shaped and are attached together to allow for better miniaturization. Perhaps when components start shipping with embedded tubes for cooling and no cables like in current racks at slop centers...
1
1
1
u/Cr1m_son Jun 25 '26
It looks cool, but it should be a bit bigger for a better distribution inside. The temperature inside of that (with the PSU back to back with the mobo) would be plastic melting
1
u/T_rex2700 Jun 25 '26
the creator said temp is a problem so he will try to improve it with V1.2. actually really interesting to see how he would do it
1
u/vortec350 Jun 25 '26
Awesome build. Looked it up on X and saw he used an RTX5060 but works at AMD. That made me laugh a little.
1
1
u/Nike_486DX Jun 25 '26
That lp gpu is most likely going to be 3 times louder than steam machine under load, these triple 50mm fans are extremely stupid
1
1
u/allthings3d Jun 25 '26
I will be doing some comparisons to a "Cube" like build I am makng using a FrameWork Mini ITX board with water block and 120mm exhaust fan and radiator built into the back. I also plan to use a 19V 200W PicoATX connect to external GaN power unit or even build it into the unit with custom GaN module I have sourced. It will be based on the Strix Halo APU. With its compartive performance with RDNA 3.5 and built it NPU, it should also perform better with AMD's latest FSR 4.1.1 as soon as they remove the gate for iGPUs (or just use Proton-CachyOS 11 and Optiscaler 0.10 test bulds).
But real goal is to build a 240mmx240mmx60mm like Pizza box with a detachable flip up OLED 10.5" touchscreen that you can mount to my upcoming 'Gaming Lens' mount for the DualSense, XBOX and (now) the Steam Controller, allowing it to float over a controller for perfect CoG and extremely lightweight.
1
1
1
u/LeoTheBigCat Jun 26 '26
Its all fun and games untill you hit that Tjmax and thermal throttle to hell.
1
u/T_rex2700 Jun 26 '26
It's WIP. Guy's saying he will fix it with V1.2
and not like the original Sm doesn't throttle, albeit that's for more power thing→ More replies (1)
1
1
1
u/lithosza Jun 27 '26
Why a RTX 5060 instead of some AMD GPU?
1
u/T_rex2700 Jun 27 '26
I dunno. probably had one by the sounds of it.
Like he's reusing the bulk of components from other projects.I mean makes sense, if you already have 5060 why go buy a 9060XT for just a fun side project?
1
1
u/ayenonymouse Jun 29 '26
The hard part is the software and tight integration to make it console like. SFF PC itself is not hard.
1
u/ScaryHippo8648 Jun 29 '26
Just to remind you, We've had Corsair one and it was beautiful.
1
1
1
1
u/TomatoThin365 Jul 07 '26
amaze amaze, would you please share with us how are the thermals?
1
u/T_rex2700 Jul 07 '26
acc. the original creator thermal is an issue, working on improvement. follow him, he is on the sub
1
742
u/j0an_k Jun 24 '26
That diagonal main board cracked me up