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Budget (including currency): 100.000AR$ (Roughly 160-170USD) Country: Argentina Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Quick/chill games that I want to play on a couch instead of desktop Other details: I have an AMD A10-7860K processor, an Asrock FM2A68M-DG3+ motherboard, 12 GB of DDR3 RAM and a GTX 1050. Sadly, the motherboard was damaged a lot time ago and the complete system turned into e-waste since I used it as an opportunity to jump into Ryzen and DDR4 memory. It's still capable of running games but I have to 'underclock' (Yes, I'm Michael from The Office butchering words) the CPU so the system doesn't crash. Since it's e-waste I wanted to do a little experiment and build my own Steam Machine and share it with you guys. I'll try to share this adventure soon! The first thing in my mind is Steam official SteamOS (HoloISO I think isn't compatible with what I have) and make the entire system fit into a console-like format (A full tower could be annoying using the TV) Share your own builds or similar experiments! I leave here a photo of the motherboard screaming for help. Don't look at it too much!

Just wanted to know what you guys think about the Smach Z and if you were part of the kickstarter or plan to buy it when it comes out.

Has anyone ever modded a steam machine? It is possible. Why hasn't anyone done it yet?

Budget (including currency): $1200 Country: United States Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: AAA games Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): I’m not to sure what is inside atm but I plan on looking up what’s exactly inside the Steam machine to make sure. Hey everyone! First time posting here and I have sort of an odd question for everyone here. I am in possession of a steam machine beta console that was given out to only around 300 people. My brother entered the sweepstakes that happened in 2013 and ended up being one of the lucky ones to actually win one. My question to you is what can I actually do with it now? Is there any way that I can upgrade this thing and maybe turn it into something of an updated gaming pc? Is it too far gone that no new tech will actually be able to fit inside of it? I think it would be a cool little project to work on and have as a second gaming PC since it really hasn’t been touched since 2014. Let me know what you guys think or if there is any more information that I need to give to be able to help. Thank you! -Colton

Just bought a steam machine form a reputable retailer for $200... This beats any machine you can build for even $400 I am so happy with it guys let's talk about why this isn't brought up more!

Earlier this month Valve removed the Steam store page for Steam Machines, prebuilt computers running SteamOS, a Linux distribution built for gaming. This removal symbolizes the death of Steam Machines, which failed to ever really be relevant due to their lack of media attention, and the fact that many times they were underpowered. Though steam machines are no more, they did gve a nice platform to market SteamOS, a product that Valve is continuing to develop today, and will continue to support in the future. Over the last few years, Valve has been a large supporter of Linux gaming, to the point that AMD now has excellent open source drivers, and companies like Aspyr Media and Feral interactive have begun porting AAA titles like Rise of the Tomb Raider and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided to Linux. It's because of their past dedication that I don't believe Valve has any intention on giving up on Linux gaming, especially with the direction Microsoft is going with Windows for the last several years.

Hey i'm that annoying person who just can't let go of the idea of gaming on pocket PCs, and guess what guise, the Smach Z, that thing that has struggle to even become a thing for the longest time has finally reached the working almost final prototype stage, it's pretty thicc, but it's not quite final hardware yet, so hopefully they might be able to make it a bit smaller before release, for anyone interested, there's a bunch of videos from gamescom.

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/ykgxGf This is my upcoming Steam Machine build. Im looking for a small pc for indie games and occasionally fps. It will be paired with a steam controller. Budget is around 1200, including Monitor. What are ur opinions?

Hey People! Post your opinion about the Zotac SN970 Steam Machine compared to gaming laptops and the alienware alpha with regard to the performance and the price point.

Hi there! I just did a benchmark using Valve's tool to test VR on pcs, mine being a Alienware Steam Machine with the windows 10 os on it instead of steamos... And what I found was intreguing. So, my pc according to the 'post test results' say the GPU (Alienware Steam machines are equivalent to that of a 860m, which is equivalent to that of a 750ti) is not capable. But instead, I found that it ran 60fps whilst the test was doing it's thing, so this begs the question: Does the test scale performance based on the hardware, or is it just the post test being stupid and not recognizing the steam machine's GPU?

Hello people. I want to hear you peoples thoughts on using an xbox 360 for Steam in home streaming, or maybe even making it into a steam machine.

This is a fairly lengthy and detailed first post (with a few images) about a project I've been planning a lot and working on on-and-off for a little while, so be prepared for a lot to take in. @w@ Since around November to December 2015, I have been working on building a console-like PC gaming machine. A majority of this goal was realised when I had discovered this Dell Optiplex 760 computer at a local Cash Converters here in Australia. Click to view image. ⇩ When I found it, it came with a 4:3 Dell monitor, a basic Logitech keyboard and some random, uncomfortable mouse that I honestly don't care to even remember the make of. A staff member allowed me to look inside the system, without taking it apart, under their supervision, and I was surprised to find that it was impeccably clean. There was little to no trace of dust at all, and it basically looked like a brand new system inside. Initially I thought it was due to it being used in an office environment, 'cause I noticed that there were stickers/markings that implied it was numbered up like an IT department was maintaining it, and also a whole bunch of Dell keyboards of the exact same model were there as well, (of which I also snagged for the sake of not running out of keyboards). So between the Optiplex 760's well-maintained condition, what I got bundled with the unit and the $80 AUD price, I couldn't not snag it for myself. I had to lay-buy it at that point, sadly, because I did not have enough money between the buffer of other things I was planning to buy, but I managed to pay it off for the same price with no extra costs a week later and take the computer home with me, so that was fine. After that, I immediately got to work on exploring the system before changing anything, running some hardware tests built-in to the Optiplex 760's BIOS a few times, (albeit lazily except for the initial attempt), and figuring out what the computer's hardware config was and was last used for. It appeared it was actually last used by what I could only assume was a developer for Android apps. I obviously didn't bother to see what documents they had left on the system, as I have no interest in them anyway and that would be an invasion of privacy, (as much as it should have been properly erased before being sold to a thrift store). At the top of my head, I think at this point I was able to find that the system had an Intel Core 2 Duo with something like 1.8-2 GHz per core, only 2-4 GB of DDR2 RAM and a... I think it was 180 GB HDD? So basically not very good hardware for gaming at all. Not sure if those specs are good for mobile app development either, but I'm not a developer, so I'll leave what requirements are needed for that stuff to those who actually know about that sort of thing. Once done with that brief look around, I did a couple of things like retrieve the CD key for the copy of Windows 7 Pro that was already installed, assuming that it would be reusable when doing a fresh install later, and looked up some upgrade parts for the system. For the upgrade process, I was basically looking at a low-profile video card that would give me at least reasonal graphics performance for gaming, if not good. I'm still quite new with a lot of things still with building computers and not enough experience with computers to know what's good or not. So I picked out a few low-profile cards that I could get cheaply at the web store for an Australian store called Budget PC, picked out a Western Digital WD10EZEX as it was cheap and I know them to be reliable, and from there, asked my dad to help me with picking out the graphics card from what I had found and upgrading the CPU, as he is generally speaking more versed in computer stuff than I am. In the end, I got an MSI branded low-profile compatible graphics card with the Nvidia Geforce GT 610, an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 for the CPU (which I got through dad instead as my early xmas present, yay~), the aforementioned Western Digital WD10EZEX for the hard drive and a convenient TP-Link TL-WN725N USB wi-fi adapter for $11 AUD, giving me needed wi-fi capability. At first, I only had the graphics card and the hard drive, so I opted to work on getting them up and running first as I wanted this done as soon as possible. The installation went well with no problems that I could find. Unfortunately, I had discovered at this point that the CD key I had recovered was a dud, so either the system was using a pirated copy of Windows 7 Pro or the key had been used too many times. As such, the OS is still unactivated as of this post, as I haven't been able to afford to get a new CD key. Thankfully so far this has not been an issue as far as running Steam and so on, but it would be preferable to get it activated. That said, I am also considering buying a copy of Windows 8.1 as it would give me a longer support life to work with once Microsoft ends support for Windows 7 in 2020, and then I also have minor benefits like better support for 4K, (in the event I can get the system running well enough to do that), that nifty thing in the file explorer with being able to move files up in a directory by dragging and dropping files over the name of a desired folder in the address bar and having access to the metro app store in the event that I want to play a game that is available there, albeit as unlikely as that may be. There will be no Windows 10 on this machine for privacy and program compatibility reasons, and not wanting to deal with the very 'Windows Vista: the sequel" experience a number of my friends are having. For upgrading the RAM, I didn't have much choice for what I could do, so I used what DDR2 RAM I had floating around and got the system up to 5 GB. I would still like to get the system up to the maximum 8 GB it allows, (Gmod eats up a lot of RAM pre-loading all those mods, let me tell ya), but the search for more sticks of 2 GB DDR2 RAM has proven more difficult than I had thought it'd be, though I am not surprised as it's older hardware. Later on, my dad came around to help with a trip to a Jaycar store for a couple of modular chargers for unrelated stuff of mine, and then to help with the CPU. Naturally, he wanted to do it himself to make sure it was working, (though I think he just wanted the fun lol), so I let him do that with no problems. After that, we ran a couple of games to test the system. We used Half Life 2: Episode 2 and Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath just for the sake of it, managing to run HL2: Ep. 2 on close to the highest settings, and Stranger's Wrath on fairly high settings too. Stranger's Wrath suffered when running on ultra, but dialing it down to high got what we considered exponentially better performance vs. visual quality results. Basically; the system it the mark I was going for with a 'console' like gaming PC. As of right now, there are still a few thing's I'd like to do. Aesthetically, I'd like to change out the front CPU fan for an LED one. My preference is blue, but it wouldn't meld well with the lime green power button LED at the front of the unit, and from closer inspection, the LED would require some tricky re-soldering on the front I/O board and finding a tiny replacement blue LED, so I would unfortunately have to look for an LED fan in a green that matches up to the power button LED. It has come to mind to find some nice Steam logo decals to put on the Optiplex 760's case or even replace the rotatable Dell logo at the front with one that has the Steam logo on it, but I haven't even been able to find Steam logo decals tiny enough to fit on the front button or on anywhere I think would be cool both in an upright and sideways position, so I'm opting to put that thought on the shelf for now. Click to view image. ⇩ Regarding the functionality of the system, I would like to add a simple Bluetooth adapter via USB internally to the system, plus move the tiny wi-fi USB adapter already in the system internally as well, freeing up an external USB port and also giving me the ability to upgrade the adapter in the future with a faster one without worrying it'll break of or simply stick out like an eyesore like it would if it's externally connected. I would also like to mod an Xbox 360 wireless controller receiver into the system so I can use wireless Xbox 360 controllers with the system seemingly natively. There's two issues with that plan, however. The first being that I have looked high and low for low-profile, internal USB 2.0 expansion cards that will give me internal ports to work with, but I have only found several varying designs that use USB 3.0 and would presumably require an extra power connector, of which this system has none. I have considered just getting a USB 3.0 expansion card with two internal headers, adapting them to USB 2.0 headers and using them that way, but I have no way of knowing if it'd work at all, let alone how well that'd work. The second issue is that if I want to mod an Xbox 360 wireless controller receiver into the system, I will need to obtain some soldering equipment, including a heat-proof mat for safety, and I will need to do some cable shortening. Those two things would not technically be an issue, but then there's trying to make the sync button accessible and maybe making the LED on the board for the receiver visible too. Thankfully, there's a free front I/O expansion slot I can mod to have the button on, but that will require finding an appropriate, discrete button with cables to replace the one on the board, and I have no idea how to make the receiver's LED visible unless there's an easier method with fibre optics I can figure out for that. Click to view image. ⇩ If I can figure out those two functionality upgrade issues, however, then the system will have what I believe will be significantly improved controller support, being that it will be able to support Xbox 360, PS3 and Wiimote controllers. Great for multiplayer purposes when I wanna play with friends or if one of my siblings wants to play a game with me, and also for emulation purposes when I wanna run something like the Dolphin emulator for Wii and Gamecube games. So yeah, that's about it for my progress and little journey on this gradually evolving project. Hope y'all enjoyed that lengthy read. If anyone has any suggestions for functionality improvements I can make or if you have suggestions for how to solve my current issues, please feel free to tell me about it here! I'd love to hear about them! :3

Hey everyone, I'm building a Steam machine soon (don't judge) and am 3D printing my own Mini ITX case. I've got a pretty good knowledge of PC parts but I just want a second opinion. Requirements: $800 AUD GPU max length: 160mm Mini-ITX No case or OS Include a $36 Noctua fan (I recently bought the LTT one for this) Thanks in advance, Alex

Amazon: http://geni.us/2wsP NCIX: http://bit.ly/1NaLm4g Steam Machines are finally here, and we're ready for dat sweet Steam experience in the living room. But is it everything we had hoped for?...

Hello Are you on a budget or do you want to build a Gaming PC/Steam Machine/Work Station/Hackintosh/Server but don't know which parts to choose? Well the I took my time to make a list (a very big one) to help you... DISCLAIMER: Please notice that I am NOT a PROFESSIONAL like Linus, what I am writing here is what I've learned with the community and Linus's video... Thanks to everyone on this Forum and Linus. If it wouldn't be LTT I would be still buying pre-builds PLEASE NOTICE THIS IS STILL IN PROGRESS I ACCIDENTALLY POSTED IT EDIT: Looks like it's going to take a while, Im having some issues with the internet... EDIT 2: The Spoilers are killing me.... *mental rage* GAMING PC's PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($64.98 @ OutletPC) Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($71.99 @ SuperBiiz) Memory: G.Skill AEGIS 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.98 @ Newegg) Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($72.00 @ Amazon) Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 270 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($129.99 @ Newegg) Case: Corsair Graphite Series 230T Black ATX Mid Tower Case ($54.99 @ Micro Center) Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($29.99 @ Newegg) Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ OutletPC) Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($88.98 @ OutletPC) Total: $592.88 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-31 16:19 EST-0500 PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($105.75 @ OutletPC) Motherboard: Biostar B85MG Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($44.99 @ Newegg) Memory: Crucial 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($29.98 @ OutletPC) Memory: Crucial 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($29.98 @ OutletPC) Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($51.88 @ OutletPC) Video Card: HIS Radeon R9 280 3GB IceQ OC Video Card ($179.99 @ Newegg) Case: Enermax Thorex ATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ Newegg) Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($19.99 @ Newegg) Total: $487.55 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-31 03:06 EST-0500 PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant CPU: Intel Core i5-4670 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($208.88 @ OutletPC) CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.75 @ OutletPC) Motherboard: Asus H97-PLUS ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($100.99 @ Amazon) Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ SuperBiiz) Storage: Crucial M550 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($127.88 @ OutletPC) Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($51.88 @ OutletPC) Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280 3GB DUAL-X Video Card ($177.98 @ Newegg) Case: Corsair Graphite Series 230T Black ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Micro Center) Power Supply: FSP Group 600W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($76.30 @ Newegg) Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($88.98 @ OutletPC) Total: $1001.62 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-31 17:14 EST-0500 1000$ - 2000$ PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($329.75 @ OutletPC) CPU Cooler: Corsair H90 94.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($89.98 @ OutletPC) Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Hero ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($126.98 @ Newegg) Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ SuperBiiz) Storage: Crucial M550 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($127.88 @ OutletPC) Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($51.88 @ OutletPC) Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 290 4GB Tri-X Video Card ($259.99 @ Newegg) Case: BitFenix Shinobi ATX Mid Tower Case ($77.46 @ TigerDirect) Power Supply: FSP Group 600W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($76.30 @ Newegg) Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($88.98 @ OutletPC) Total: $1299.19 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-31 17:19 EST-0500 STEAM MACHINES Coming Soon !!!! WORK STATIONS Coming Soon !!!! HACKINTOSH'S Coming Soon !!!! SERVERS Coming Soon !!!!

I'm building a mini itx machine. Using it for an HTPC. The rear of the case only has room for the psu and the MB IO shield. I have a Gigabyte GTX 970 mini which is in the front of the case. I need to extend the display ports to the rear at least 2 of them. I need it to be 4k capable. So basically a male to female display port cable with no signal degradation around 10" long with the female end capable of being mounted to the back of my case. The case is custom, Im not changing the layout. I would obviously like a cheap solution. I would be willing to use a cheap breakout board if necessary. It seems like most of these cables are either the wrong length or say they only support 1080p. Im really at a loss here. HELP! Thanks There are no pci slots at the rear of the case. This will be a custom fit. Edit: Maybe a better question is, can you extend a Display port without signal loss at any length. This is a panel mount I found, yet it says up to 1080p. Panel Mount

So as the title says, do you have any good Suggestion for a case for a Steam Machine. It needs to be little, but not to little, it still needs to be big enough to fit a graphics card... It's because I want to build a Steam Machine, but the Cases are to big or to small... So if you have any suggestion just let me know Thanks In advance! B)

So hey guys, I'm planning on building a Steam machine (don't know when), and I came up with 3 Ideas: #1: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Snopsteer/saved/zh4J7P #2: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Snopsteer/saved/nNRCmG #3: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Snopsteer/saved/Lf6ypg I have the feeling that they're very unbalanced, so if you have any suggestion in changing something feel free to post

Valve has made a list of all the official pre-built Steam Machines, which you can watch here: http://store.steampowered.com/sale/steam_machines Builders include Alienware, Falcon Northwest, Origin, and Zotac. Prices differ from $479.99 for the cheapest Alienware machine to over $5K for the Origin beasts.

Another $12 off vs. previous historic low at Best Buy. Amazon's robot might be price matching/beating other retailers (we're seeing Walmart at $402) http://www.amazon.com/Alienware-ASM100-1580-Console-i3-4130T-Processor/dp/B00MA7AMKY/?tag=linustechtips-20 only con is the fixed GTX 860M GPU and slow HDD (which you can swap out). otherwise a pretty compact Core i3 machine that can do light/medium gaming.

Hi all Linus people. Been looking at some steam machines recently and many people have actually said that steam machines are price competitive to building your own? I was like what isnt building always cheaper? Does anyone know of steam machines that arent actually that bad price wise compared to building your own? Thanks all

The PC I have found an old hp s3320br lying around my father’s office, it is a very small HP PC, and I want to transform it in a Steam Machine in the future. But my project for now is to still use Windows (I can use ubuntu, but probably wouldn't be able to install Steam OS right now) . The specs of the PC are: Motherboard: Irvine (HP-Foxconn LGA775 with Nvidia 7100 integrated graphics and nForce 630i chipset CPU: Intel Pentium E2140 (dual core @1.6Ghz) Ram: 1x1Gb DDR2 533Mhz Lan: Realtek 10/100 Mb/s HD: WD 320GB 7200rpm ODD: Random DVD R/W Card Reader 15 in 1 PSU: HP 160W The case uses a standard 5.25" ODD, 2 USB (2.0) and have a 15 in 1 card reader, not bad The phone is a Nexus 4 for size comparison. The Project Goals: Boot directly to Steam Big Picture mode Stream games in at least 720p 60FPS from my pc Watch Netflix Watch DVDs and maybe Blu-rays Customize everything in order to hide Windows Be able to use everything with only a controller Steps: Upgrade the Ram to 2x2GB DDR2 800Mhz (COMPLETE) Customize Windows and optimize it (IN PROGRESS) Install Steam Find someway to launch Netflix in full screen mode Find someway to rip and store my DVDs in a Controller friendly enviroment Customizing Windows Boot directly to steam Check if any other upgrade or optimization is needed Possible Future Upgrades This is a list of possible upgrades I may do if needed and if/or I have the money CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 GPU: Nvidia GT640 / AMD R7 240 / AMD HD7750 (+PSU 250/350Watts) HDD: 120GB SSD / 4TB HDD (via USB internal Header) ODD: Blu-ray STEP 1: RAM Upgrade I am doing this since I have 2x2GB DDR2 sticks from an old pc, and 1GB probably wouldn’t be enough. The side and bottom panel are only one piece, and you only need 3 screws to take it off The internal layout. In order to access the memory, first you have to remove the HP Pocket media bay Then the front of the case, and then the only screw that holds the DVD burner. The Motherboard uses standadr DDR2 DIMMs Just put the ODD back in place, screw it. After the Front of the case and the pocket media drive, then close the case. STEP 2: Optimizing Windows In this step I will first Install Chrome and CCleaner. After that I am going to uninstall almost everything and for last follow the list that I compiled for optimizing windows (almost everything from old tek syndicate and Linus videos) link Chrome www.google.com/chrome/ CCleaner http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner Defraggler http://www.piriform.com/defraggler REGEDIT → HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE→SYSTEM→CurrentControlSet→Control→FileSystem NtfsDisableLastAccesUpdate (1) info: Determines whether windows updates the last-access timestamp on each directory when it lists the directories on an NTFS volume, so specially if you are using a hard drive your computer isn't scratching the disk at all times. → HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE→SYSTEM→CurrentControlSet→Control WaitToKillServiceTimeout (?miliseconds) info: The time that windows waits to forceclose programs, normally when you shutdown your pc, normally it can take a while. → HKEY_CURRENT_USER → Control Panel→Desktop→MenuShowDelay (50?miliseconds) info: when you hover an option in the start menu, the time it takes to show the next menu SERVICES Windows Search → Properties → Start up Type → Disabled info: If you never/very rarelly use windows search you can disable it so windows don't keep indexing everything. MSCONFIG Boot→Advanced→ Number of Processors (MAX) Startup System Advanced System Settings → Advanced → Performance Settings (Animations...) System Protection → System Protection → Advanced (System Volume Information) Power Settings Optional Space Optimization CMD.exe → powercfg -h off (Turn off hybernate mode/delete hyberfile.sys) info: disable hybernate mode for people who don't use it. STEP 3: Install Steam STEP 4: Netflix App STEP 5: DVDs STEP 6: Customizing Windows STEP 7: Boot Windows directly into Steam Big Picture (link) STEP 8: The Test

Valve has made a mistake with the development of the Steam Machine, and here's why it's a big deal. http://www.tomshardware.com/news/valve-steam-machine-vs-xbox-ps4,25963.html While I do agree with a few point he makes most of th things he says i dont agree with. This is going to be a bit longer than one of my average news posts as I plan to go over it point by point. "In my opinion, the biggest problem with the Steam Machine is the fragmentation of the hardware platform. The first units have yet to come to shelves, and already there are more options for hardware to choose from than the choice of Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 variants that have come out over the years since release. This means that when a gamer goes to the store to buy a Steam Machine, he or she will have to face the same sales pitch as when buying a PC or a laptop." The problem with his reasoning here is that all of those are the same hardware or a guess may have very small revisions but in the same the exact same performance. Meaning that even if you spend more on say a X360 Pro over a X360 Arcade your getting the exact same experience even though you spent considerably more or less. I dont think this is really a issuse since it will all just work. All people really need to know is paying more gets you a better system. Also pertaining the person knows how much they want to spend or what kind of performance they want I imagine that it will be quite easy to determine which one to buy retail since they will only likely have one at each performance level. "Valve should make a reference hardware platform that all the Steam Machines should stick to. This includes a reference processor, a reference graphics card, and a set amount of memory. To control costs, manufacturers also shouldn't go above this reference hardware level." This i find just stupid if anything they should do the reverse and specify a minimum spec. The reason why I say this is I see Steam machines as a was for console gamers to finally be able to buy themselves a better experience if they wish and if someone just want to play indie games they can get one just powerful enough for that too. Something even better would be to have a diffident tiers and have them validated, say 480p, 720p, 1080p, 1080p+, and 4K. The tests would have to be standardized by Valve but they would allow ease of choice across retail brands and hardware brands. "There is no point to offering gamers something that's already available: give them what they need to cross the bridge, rather than re-marketing what's on the other side." The problem with getting console gamers to pc is just as he said before ease of use. Ease of use is not a hardware issue but a software one. I mean just look at the modern consoles their basically PCs with custom OSs. Create a OS that feels like a console and I think many console users will appreciate the ability to control their experience rather than being told this is the only one you can have. I have posted in many many threads on this forum about SteamOS and Steam Machines and where I think Valve is trying to take them and my reasoning behind it. In my eyes valves biggest hurdle is going to be content more than anything else as if you dont have that who's going to buy it. Examples of this would be 3DS, Wii U, PS Vita, and Ouya. Let me know what you guys think as I know many of you have different views on SteamOS and Steam Machines than I. I did my best to check if this was a dupe but didnt find another post. If it still is please kindly let me know

I will be going to college in the fall away from my home town of Albuquerque, New Mexico and I thinking about building a small, steam box like PC to take with me. I am in need of something to game on at college, but have not decided whether or not to build a small PC or just buy a gaming laptop. I think it might be too much of a hassle to transport a monitor and PC equipment every time I want to come home for an extended period of time. Let me know if you have any advice regarding this decision. I will be using it for 1080p gaming and some light editing and CAD software, and my budget is $1000 to $1250 including the os. Regarding the Mini ITX build though, here is my list of parts: Case: Silverstone Raven RVZ01 Motherboard: Gigabyte Z87N-WIFI RAM - Kingston Black 8gb (2x4gb) 1600 CPU: Intel i5 4670k CPU Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC90LS, probably going to change to something better - only have 83mm of space GPU: an aftermarket gtx760 is probable, not sure which one yet though PSU: Silverstone Gold 450w SFX power supply - The psu has to SFX sized to fit in the case Storage: 120gb Samsung 840 evo - 1tb WD caviar blue http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2YTIZ What do you guys think of this build as a small form factor PC that I could take to college?

Something to try out if you have a raspberry pi and an nvidia 600-700 series card. http://gadgetshow.channel5.com/gadget-show/gadget-news/limelight-turns-your-raspberry-pi-into-a-steam-machine