Building a steam machine: choice of components and configurations

The launch of the Steam Machine really caught my attention. And my first question was… Is it a PC? yes, indeed it is a computer. Many brands have already opted for this design: Dell, HP, Acer… and it is that the thing promises. My next question was… what pieces do you bring? After seeing that the manufacturers did not "drop" garment, only that it would exist in an ITX version and NVIDIA graphics card. In this article I want to show you the usefulness of a steam machine, which components to choose, how to assemble it, install the operating system, see the performance and potential of this little cube.

Frequent questions

What is a Steam Machine?

It is the fusion between a game console and a personal computer distributed and designed by Steam. All of them come combined with the operating system SteamOS with linux nucleus (open code) a customized interface and compatibility with the games of the steam catalog. We are really in front of a computer that has installed a Linux operating system, no more and no less. Everything is adapted so that the final consumer is charging and playing…

Will I be able to play different games on the STEAM platform?

With SteamOS we are going to have something complicated, at least for now. Since the other two big companies: Uplay and Origin have not released their own operating system. That in truth they could unify it, and that is that the union makes the force.

Since that will not happen soon, we will have Windows 8 installed to be able to start games with physical support or other platforms, office automation, surf the Internet or use our software.

Budgets and choice of components

I have prepared three settings from the most basic to the most enthusiastic.

The two best consoles on the market today are the Playstation and the Microsoft Xbox, both tend to a price of around € 400 to € 500. Depending on our budget we are going to choose some of the three configurations above. In this guide we are going to assemble the intermediate configuration that I explain to you why I have chosen those components.

Case : In this case I have opted for a Silverstone Raven RVZ01 which is a chassis with Mini ITX format, very thin and compatible with many components. Its aesthetics is the closest thing to a video console that together with the components that we are going to assemble will give us many years of joy.

Power supply: As I have said many times, for me it is the most important component of the computer, since it is in charge of feeding and giving stability to the system. For this particular box, it forces us to choose a SFX format power supply, that is, something smaller than the standard one. I have directly gone to the most powerful on the market: Silverstone SFX 450w 80 Plus Modular that is capable of feeding the most powerful single-graphics graphics on the market GTX Titan / GTX780 Ti.

Processor: I have chosen an i5-4670k with multiplier unlocked, in case you don't want to overclock you can always leave it in stock as we will do in this guide. Why this choice? Very simple, first because I do not want to overclock because it will be air-cooled with the stock sink. In case of seeing that an i5 shoots up in price I have another configuration it may be the first with a Pentium G3258 or an i3-4310 that gives us a saving of up to € 100 or € 50. Although I will always recommend stretching a little more and opt for this i5 since the Pentium needs good cooling and to be lucky in the batch or in the case of the i3 the difference is small.

Motherboard: We have played it safe and reliable the Gigabyte Z97N Gaming with high-end power phases, DDR3 memory support, compatible with all LGA 1150 socket processors, includes a gigabit network card, 802.11 AC wireless connection and a beastly aesthetic. For my taste, it is the jewel in the crown. I want to thank Gigabyte for the assignment of the motherboard to assemble and enjoy this steam machine. As always from 10!

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RAM Memory: The board is ITX and allows us to connect up to 16GB. I have opted for 8GB DDR3 at 1600 mhz because the memory has a high price, this speed is great for us. If the difference is minimal, we could choose 2133 mhz or 2400 mhz activating the XMP profiles of the motherboard.

Graphics card: Graphics card: After much thought, the ideal was to mount a GTX760, but to adjust the budget a bit more I have opted for a GTX 750 Ti of 2 GB of Gigabyte, which thanks to its Windforce double fan heatsink allows us to have the graphics very cool. The best of all is its ideal quality / consumption benefits in the market.

Heatsink: Many of you prefer to mount the stock heatsink and my answer has always been a resounding NO. With this processor, it may be an option but the ideal is to mount a low-profile heatsink. We could be worth the Noctua NH9i or a Thermalright AXP-100.

Hard disks and SSD: The box allows us to install 2 disks of 2.5 ″ and one of 3.5 ″. I have chosen a 1TB Cavier Blue hard drive to host data and games and a 250GB Samsung EVO SSD to install the system, applications and games that I will use the most. This is the best configuration from my point of view.

Optical drive: In this case I have not chosen any, because the ideal is to have an external DVD to use with our laptop, tablets and in this steam machine. As in normal conditions we will carry data in USB or through our local network.