Steam Machine/ Theater PC Build suggestions

Taswell · March 6, 2015

With official steam machines, the full release of steam OS, and the Steam Controller/gamepad thing being announced for November I Want to build a Console Killer for my Living Room that will be able to crush my xbone-One, Xbox 360, and a Wii U that it will be sitting next to. (Note: there is no wired network were it will be and I already have a Plex server running that i want to incorperate into it)

Currently this Project has no budget but its not going to be a money eater either

Hardware:

Im pretty open here cause i haven't defiantly decided on anything except that i defiantly want it to be a low/mid range intel/nvidia ITX box.

CPU

I was thinking my prototype would be the Pentium 20th anniversary Model . I was also thinking maybe an i3 of some kind.

GPU

might a be GT 740 2GB FTW edition

Radeon R9 270? - do they even make these small enough

GTX 970 ITX card - totally doesn't fit in here lol (here come the bottle-necking comments)

Motherboard

maybe on a z97 motherboard or a H81, i dont know how much heat im going to be able to disperse so overclocking might be a no go

Case

i have some ATX power supply's laying around so ill probably try to find a case to fit one of those in there.

i thinkk i have most of everything else right now.

Mo5 · March 6, 2015

Wouldn't an APU be enough for a Steambox?

Lotus · March 6, 2015

It really depends on your budget. If you want the cheapest machine that I would consider, assuming you already have an ATX power supply, this is what I'd do if I were you:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($173.61 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock H81M-ITX/WIFI Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($71.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: PNY XLR8 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($53.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 270 2GB TurboDuo Video Card ($131.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced (Black) Mini ITX Tower Case ($24.99 @ Micro Center)
Total: $504.45
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-06 11:15 EST-0500

edit: and if you wanted to do something a little bit more adventurous but were basically willing to double the budget, you can do this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($222.75 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master GeminII M4 58.4 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($30.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97E-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: PNY XLR8 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($53.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($94.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: PNY GeForce GTX 970 4GB XLR8 Video Card ($324.99 @ Directron)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced (Black) Mini ITX Tower Case ($24.99 @ Micro Center)
Total: $915.57
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-06 11:20 EST-0500

SuperPug · March 6, 2015

For a steambox i'd probably wait for AMD's next generation of APUs...

Misanthrope · March 6, 2015

I would consider the silverstone raven though

Yes you will need an SFX PSU but just look at how many of the official steam machines actually use this case: it's like half of them

Taswell · March 6, 2015

For a steambox i'd probably wait for AMD's next generation of APUs...

I'm going Discrete Graphics in-case i want to play battlefield or something on it. I tried in Home streaming but i could handle the Latency+ Network Lag, it was bad at least for multiplier games. Assassins creed black flag was ok though.