Well as I thought more about it, it occurred to me that since space is literally a premium commodity for Japanese living spaces, even if the Steam Machine's specs aren't anything to write home about and can be equalled for less and well exceeded for its asking price, you can't cram it into the same form-factor AND get it as well integrated with existing equipment AND configured for usability as well. I know that because I've tried.
Steam Machine is up for preorder
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Please excuse me, I can't help myself- I'm going to post my PC parts. I'm very proud of this build and even my wife, who just teases me for this stuff, complimented the build. I had similar ambitions. I'm not sure about your specific integration with other parts needs, but my ideal PC was to be one that was:
1- QUIET (because I use it to listen to music and watch TV and movies, too)
2- Could handle modern AAA games, obviously
3- Was small enough to fit into TV stand so that it looks like a cable box or DVD player not a big honkin' desktop PC
4- In terms of integration, the big thing was having two working HDMI outs- one of the TV and another for a portable monitor so I can use it to do email/browsing stuff if I want at a desk with a large HDMI cable. So I got a CPU with an integrated GPU. The other is a USB DAC to listen to music via my stereo, that's not listed here, but the one I got is like $50.
The key things that finally helped me realize this were:
1- Micro iTX motherboards have improved so much. I dunno when this happened but they are legit now. Coupled with these tiny hard drives that are like chips and you're saving tons of space
2- Noctua. I don't become a brand fan boy ( pun absolutely freaking intended) for brands but goddamn boy if these fans aren't tight
3- Finally found a case that suits my aesthetics.
4- I am using a 1080p TV. Yes, this is of course the big "cheat" here. It's a living room PC for a living room PC where I never missed or needed better fidelity. I play single player games I'm not worried about more FPS, ray-tracing, etc. Yes, stability is important, so as long as the GPU can handle things, I made sure to have the CPU and RAM to offer that stability
The big down side is how hard it is to futz with because it's so small, of course. It requires various do-dads to lay everything out "flat" and careful cable management. But I enjoy that kind of stuff.
If/when I upgrade anything it will be interesting- it supposedly has room for a bigger GPU but I don't see it right now hahah. Of course the most immediate upgrade I would do if RAM wasn't so pricey would have been a second RAM card. But I'm not suffering any performance problems with the one right now.
I think it's basically a Steam Machine (I was meaning to do that at some point our of curiosity), though I haven't gone deep into comparison. It's the same price, too.
Here's what I came up with:
PCPartPicker Part List
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 8700G 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor ($264.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-L9i chromax.black 33.84 CFM CPU Cooler ($59.95 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock B850I Lightning WiFi Mini ITX AM5 Motherboard ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Viper Elite 5 16 GB (1 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory ($187.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Kingston NV2 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive
Video Card: XFX Speedster SWFT 210 Core Radeon RX 6650 XT 8 GB Video Card
Case: Fractal Design Ridge PCIe 4.0 Mini ITX Tower Case ($144.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS SGX 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Home OEM - DVD 64-bit ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $936.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2026-06-25 07:32 EDT-0400
Ok so I asked ChatGPT for a quick compare of my machine posted above to the Steam Machine and I got:
Overall Verdict
If I [ChatGPT] had to score them:
And I would even disagree with the "Living-Room Experience" verdict because the Fractal Ridge is designed to allow horizontal placement, which I use, and it looks neat.
The SteamOS Experience would apply only to gaming and since I use it for other things, this verdict doesn't apply to me personally.
All of this to say that since I think the Steam Machine is for like- what if Old_Hunter_77 but did NOT enjoy all the research and tinkering. My PC is actually way more expensive than the raw parts price because some of these parts replace older parts, and also shipping and all that stuff.
Overall Verdict
If I [ChatGPT] had to score them:
| Category | Winner |
|---|---|
| CPU Power | Your PC |
| GPU Power | Steam Machine (slight) |
| Productivity | Your PC |
| Storage | Your PC |
| Upgradeability | Your PC |
| Living-Room Experience | Steam Machine |
| SteamOS Experience | Steam Machine |
| Value for Money | Your PC |
| Long-Term Ownership | Your PC |
And I would even disagree with the "Living-Room Experience" verdict because the Fractal Ridge is designed to allow horizontal placement, which I use, and it looks neat.
The SteamOS Experience would apply only to gaming and since I use it for other things, this verdict doesn't apply to me personally.
All of this to say that since I think the Steam Machine is for like- what if Old_Hunter_77 but did NOT enjoy all the research and tinkering. My PC is actually way more expensive than the raw parts price because some of these parts replace older parts, and also shipping and all that stuff.
A fine setup, I'm impressed mostly with the case. I worked on a SFF case like it only once; I did not enjoy the experience but there's a certain pleasure in getting it right. Mind it has to be much easier now with NVMe SSDs and modular power supplies. The other things is though, like I get I'm referencing YouTube for this, but I've seen a lot of Japanese living spaces on the Paulo from Tokyo channel and I gotta say, every millilitre counts in some of these places. And your case is only smaller than the Steam Machine in one dimension, in every others it is at least twice as big and is going to give off way more heat.
There's also a couple of touches that I'm not sure you can replicate with a handbuilt PC. For example the Steam Machine has HDMI-CEC and the Steam Controller can wake the Steam Machine up just like an XBox or PS5 can be. PC controllers - under Windows at least - can't do that without regedit fuckery and even then its not super reliable.
But as I opined elsewhere: sometimes it isn't the price that's right, its literally everything else, and you just eat shit for the cost. I mean, if that link is accurate, it clearly tickled something in the Japanese user base, who classically are NOT big PC gamers.
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6650xt seems to go for about 300-350 usd. The ssd drive about 150-190 usd. Power supply should be around 130 usd. Tho a bit of a problem with these is that they're older models that have been phased out and no longer in production, so might be difficult finding stock. PSU should not be hard, but the GPU and SSD could be.
Also noticed the build only uses a single 16gb stick of ram, which is not ideal. Tho if you get a Steam Machine you also only get a single 16gb stick.
Before you buy a Steam Machine, you need to know about its RAM issue
The first batch of Steam Machine hardware is shipping with a single 16GB RAM stick. That means lower performance, but easy (if expensive) upgrades.
www.pcworld.com
Oh sorry guys, I did an export from PC Parts Picker, I didn't check the details.6650xt seems to go for about 300-350 usd. The ssd drive about 150-190 usd. Power supply should be around 130 usd. Tho a bit of a problem with these is that they're older models that have been phased out and no longer in production, so might be difficult finding stock. PSU should not be hard, but the GPU and SSD could be.
Also noticed the build only uses a single 16gb stick of ram, which is not ideal. Tho if you get a Steam Machine you also only get a single 16gb stick.
Before you buy a Steam Machine, you need to know about its RAM issue
The first batch of Steam Machine hardware is shipping with a single 16GB RAM stick. That means lower performance, but easy (if expensive) upgrades.
And yeah probably if a part was phased out, the site doesn't include a price because it's going off of retail sites.
Single stick of RAM- unfortunately, a consequence of bad timing and my own foolishness. When I got the motherboard, I didn't realize I was jumping from DDR4 to 5 and therefore had to buy new RAM, which coincided with the AIpocalypse price jump. So I decided to just get the one. But, like I said, it hasn't been a problem.
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Does kinda bump things up over the steam machine with all that added.6650xt seems to go for about 300-350 usd. The ssd drive about 150-190 usd. Power supply should be around 130 usd. Tho a bit of a problem with these is that they're older models that have been phased out and no longer in production, so might be difficult finding stock. PSU should not be hard, but the GPU and SSD could be.
Also noticed the build only uses a single 16gb stick of ram, which is not ideal. Tho if you get a Steam Machine you also only get a single 16gb stick.
Before you buy a Steam Machine, you need to know about its RAM issue
The first batch of Steam Machine hardware is shipping with a single 16GB RAM stick. That means lower performance, but easy (if expensive) upgrades.
Only one stick of ram is an issue, but not as much of one as people tend to say. With how fast DDR 5 is, even a 10% memory performance drop isn't as much of an impact as you would think.
A single stick of DDR4 would perform worse than two, but from what I’ve read that is much less of an issue with DDR5.
Apparently you can't even get one of these Steam Machine things- very limited run order, you have to literally win a raffle lol...
Plus, everybody is announcing price increases- Apple, ffs, let a lone XBox. PS likely to follow suit.
Mark my words- in like 2 or 3 years, this thing will start putting more units out there, it will upgrade some parts maybe, while other gaming consoles and PC parts will rise in price or be harder to get, and we'll start seeing "Actually the Steam Machine is Great!" articles and "hot takes."
Plus, everybody is announcing price increases- Apple, ffs, let a lone XBox. PS likely to follow suit.
Mark my words- in like 2 or 3 years, this thing will start putting more units out there, it will upgrade some parts maybe, while other gaming consoles and PC parts will rise in price or be harder to get, and we'll start seeing "Actually the Steam Machine is Great!" articles and "hot takes."
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With how scalpers are today, of course there is a raffle, even without the production issues from ram and storage costs. Speaking of costs, it would also make sense that Valve wouldn't go too hard into production since if the bubble suddenly bursts then they paid a ton for ram and storage that they can't recoup, plus the Steam Machine having to be priced much higher then expected should make a more limited run.
Those are good points.
But when the Steam Deck first came out, wasn't it also hard to get at first? I guess I'm not sure how much of all this is "Valve gonna Valve" and "everything else today is shit."
I think the other key point here is that Valve are probably not worrying about this selling, and I realized it's why I'm reacting so negatively to the joyous take-downs of this thing. Valve is not "cooked." I can't imagine they're wringing their hands over this device being a hit or not. It's not the centerpiece of their brand like the consoles are for the big three (despite everything is an xbox, I think we can conclude that the physical consoles are still important to the Xbox brand).
Folks be acting like "well I'm not gonna buy it, that'll show 'em." No ya won't. These the same folks boner tripping over the Steam sale I bet. We're gonna keep handing them 30% of every game we buy on their storefront forever.
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Yeah, I managed to get a reservation in within a hour or two of it going live and it still took like 4 or 5 months for mine to be shipped. I think the raffle is to try to alleviate that. But, the Steam Deck also had the benefit of being priced to move, it was a ridiculously good value, something which, due to market conditions, the Steam Machine just isn't.
I mean they do earn that 30%, they keep trying to improve discoverability, they created a great backbone that doesn't buckle under huge loads, it also works as a great IM client and all the other things that just make steam good to use. It also doesn't have ads, its one of the few places around that isn't loaded with ads.
