Yep. That's my point. A gaming computer is as big or small as you want it (within limits) but given the options on the market these days making it look the part should be manageable. But, I get it that "the wife" might not care as much about the look but because it is a computer and not mentally what she might want in the living room. Easier to fool her if it is a smaller, stylized box that you call a "media player".
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Valve Steam Machine, SteamOS Desktop, Steam Frame VR and Steam Controller
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Yep. That's my point. A gaming computer is as big or small as you want it (within limits) but given the options on the market these days making it look the part should be manageable. But, I get it that "the wife" might not care as much about the look but because it is a computer and not mentally what she might want in the living room. Easier to fool her if it is a smaller, stylized box that you call a "media player".
Tamlin_WSGF
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You are an experienced builder, so if you read what you wrote I am sure you agree that you cannot build them as big and as small as you want. You can build big and small PCs, but there are always sacrifices that needs to be made:
Power
Performance
Thermals
Noise levels
Size
Budget
Parts selection that plays nice with your build if you go Linux route.
And not to forget looks. You are building this for your living room and not tucked under a desk in your office or in a man cave.
All of these factors are constraints you need to consider and sacrifices you need to make.
I am in the camp of making it myself as part of the fun, but must admit Valves build looks more palatable for more people generally speaking for the living room.
And I love that Valve does this, because it makes my life much easier since Valve shares this with the community. I've had lots of HTPC builds in the past, lifetime subscription for many things like Plex and Launchbox. What Valve has made with SteamOS and can be found in different other distros, made the whole process much more seamless and low maintanance. Sacrifices lost from kernel level anti-cheat games (most which I would never play in the living room anyway) and some compatibility problems with some games is worth not having to use Windows as base OS.
DukenukemX
[H]F Junkie
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We had a dude here over a decade ago who put a PC in a Sega CD, so you can absolutely build a small PC. The sacrifice can be what you listed, but it's mostly the ability to work on it. The GabeCube is a nice small machine but it's also harder to work on than a mini ATX desktop PC. Micro ATX cases will get you there but the sacrifice is modularity.
Which is all parts. Today's Linux doesn't have these problems.
I'm not a fan in how the PS5 and Xbox Series X looks.
Here's a Micro ATX PC that is under $800 and has performance that's between a PS5 and PS5 Pro.
PCPartPicker Part List
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5500 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($74.00 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus PRIME B550M-A WIFI II Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($85.49 @ Amazon)
Memory: Silicon Power GAMING 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($99.97 @ Silicon Power)
Storage: Silicon Power A55 1 TB M.2-2280 SATA Solid State Drive ($129.97 @ Silicon Power)
Video Card: Gigabyte WINDFORCE OC GeForce RTX 5050 8 GB Video Card ($289.99 @ Best Buy)
Case: Cooler Master MasterBox Q300L MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: MSI MAG A650BN 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($59.73 @ Amazon)
Total: $779.14
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2026-07-30 16:21 EDT-0400
The problem is cost and anyone who says cost doesn't matter needs to look at history and see that they're wrong. Saturn was too expensive and so was the PS3 and it hurt their sales. Even the Xbox One had a high price tag of $500 because it came with a Kinect. You can't go charging more for the GabeCube when building and buying a PC is still the better choice.
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Every time you post a Gabecube alternative it's huge comparatively. Obviously you can build your own system that's more performant but then you also have to deal with the sourcing and warranty issues yourself. The Gabecube is for someone that wants a TINY system on their TV stand without any hassle.
Which is fair... but it does get to be a pretty small market: Someone who wants a system to play Steam games on a TV, doesn't mind that it is Linux meaning some of them won't work, is ok with low-mid-range gaming, needs it to be small, and is willing to pay a fairly sizable price premium. I mean I'm not saying that's NOBODY, clearly they are selling, but that is a small market. Most people in that market are probably care about games, not Steam in particular and thus are in the "Just get a PS5/PS5 Pro instead" category. No it isn't the same thing, but it is for most people who just wanna couch game without hassle. For those that really do want to do PC gaming, well then something from another vendor gets more attractive. No it isn't as small but you can get more for your money and running a Windows license really is the way to go for gaming as at this point basically everything runs on Windows, whereas many, but not all, things run on Linux.
It's also just about the price Valve is charging: Why is it higher than other PC vendors? Like I get higher than consoles, they subsidize, Valve doesn't want to. Ok, fair. But those systems at Bestbuy aren't subsidized and the HUB guys found plenty that handily beat the Steam Machine. Valve should be willing to thin down their profit margin to match commodity systems. The "it's smaller!" argument doesn't really hold up as the parts that have gotten more expensive, the RAM and the SSD, aren't more expensive at a small size.
Axman
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The mistake a lot of people are making is trying to compare it to or against consoles and/or PCs. It's not in competition with either.
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It's in a class of it's own (for now).
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They don't need to. The Gabecube is just a trojan horse for SteamOS. Sales of the actual system aren't the main goal. Valve wants other companies to step up and make their own Steam Machines.
No it isn't. This idea of "It stands alone" is fanboy copium. Nothing stands alone, even things that don't directly compete still compete and in this case PCs in particular are direct competition in every aspect except size. Trying to go and point out every little difference and act as though that makes something totally different and therefore incomparable is silly, and what the Mac zealots used to love to do "Well the Mac comes with a rewritable optical drive and a 10g NIC so any PC that doesn't isn't competition for it!"
It competes with game consoles and PCs for almost all the user base. Trying to pick on the little differences just doesn't matter, you aren't going to convince someone that wow, this really is a completely different thing they should own because of a couple minor items.
Well that's a huge fail then. Sales numbers like this are hardly going to convince Dell and HP they should jump in the market and then have to compete with it as the "Like a Steam Machine but not from Valve!"
Axman
VP of Extreme Liberty
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In that case then there's no difference between a gaming PC, a Nintendo Switch, and an iPhone.
My ideal living room cube wouldn't even run games. It'd be a game streaming box that runs off my main rig. Fast networking, high performance video decode hardware, etc. Pair it up with a PCI-e 4x card with a high performance hardware accelerated compression engine and a fast NIC. SFP+/28 preferred for me, but we'll also need a 1/5/10 multi-gig version which would of course be far more common.
That Masterbox case sucks, too. I bought one and it's thin, cheap, and flexible.
That's called a fiber optic HDMI cable. Here's what you do:
- You get yourself one of these of the length you need. Connect it from your PC to your receiver or TV. That's your video handled.
- If your PC is far enough away that RF signals aren't good to it, get yourself a long USB extension cable, preferably with a 2-port hub in it. This is where you plug in your wireless controller's receiver and your wireless mouse/keyboard.
- Get yourself a good wireless controller and mouse/keyboard. If you don't have anything you know you like I recommend this controller and this keyboard. If you want to game with the mouse and keyboard you'll want something different but presumably you do M+KB gaming at the monitor, controller gaming on the couch.
- Get Monitor Profile Switcher. This allows you to have multiple different monitor setups and change them with a menu selection or key press. You want to set up two: One with your monitor enabled and your TV disabled, one with your TV enabled and your monitor disabled. I use ctrl-shift-D to switch to desktop, ctrl-shift-T to switch to TV. When setting them up make sure you have everything set how you want it, refresh, VRR, etc as it remembers that stuff.
This is how I've been doing it for years. When my GF wants to game on the couch, I just send the video over there and she can game on the TV. When I want to game on my monitor, or use my computer for desktop use, I just send it back to my monitor. One system, dual use. No latency, fiberoptic cables do direct electrical-optical conversion so there's no buffering, no compression. Works great if you want a system that's dual-use.
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Tamlin_WSGF
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Its a bit hard to get into an argument if you can build yourself, since I prefer that myself. But, I can comment on your components selection.
Most of it is fine. Case is not my taste in design, but thats subjective. Not the worst I have seen, but looks cheap (its also cheap, so its that). For the objective parts:
Connectors on the side might cause issues for some (like placing the cabinet flush with other furniture in the living room).
The size makes it hard to put next to TV or under TV for many, so it might have to be on the floor.
Distance between PSU and GPU makes it hard to flip the PSU in case its on a carpet.
Case only comes with 1x 120mm fan in the back and you have stock CPU cooler on the CPU. Its low powered components that needs less cooling, but still the fans would have to work a little bit harder and in some climates might have more issues. Especially the GPU fans.
The Nvidia GPU you chose, would not be the first I would recommend for a stable, maintenance free DIY SteamOS build. The belief that all hardware works equally good under Linux is wrong and SteamOS itself doesnt even support it, under gamescope its still buggy, so you are limited there as well if you choose other distros.
It lacks HDMI-CEC.
On the plus side, its more upgradable then the Steam Machine, dual channel memory and a little bit more power (I would guess a little bit less power in single threaded games on the CPU side, less cache and only PCIe 3 support from the CPU side which can restrict it especially if you get Vram overflow with the RTX 5050 only being 8 lanes to begin with).
That does not mean I disagree with you that you CAN build a cheaper, somewhat similar, in some cases with more performance then the Steam Machine. I actually agree. But I still can see the appeal of buying a turn-key solution like the Steam Machine for the current price.
Cost can be a problem for some on a budget. Thats fair enough. But Valves business model for the Steam Machine is something I prefer and that adds more value imo then the subsidized consoles.
Valve makes sure their wallet garden is front center, but they do not close off Epic, GOG, Ubisoft, Origin or other walled gardens. They do not make games exclusive and force people to buy the Steam Machine in order to play their games at max prices. You can buy the machine and dont not have to buy a single game from Valve. In the news, Valve is also working with Nvidia to support SteamOS. SteamOS is free to install and Valves work on games are shared with the community and not locked down to Steam.
Valve does not dictate how cheap your "Steam Machine" should be. I would guess they are happy if people build themselves one from used hardware or other vendors get a chance to build a cheaper or more powerful edition of the Steam Machine, like we have seen on Steam Deck. Prices are going to become MUCH worse next year for memory and storage according to manufacturers.
DIY will be the way to go for many. Steams effort in Steam Deck and Steam Machine is good solutions for many. Valve made 8gb Vram optimizations that they have shared, making it easier to stretch the hardware. Their "certified" program for games pays off, making developers more aware of gaming on Linux then ever before.
You can DIY yourself and make the machine the way you want it or go the convenient route and buy a Steam Machine for more limitations, but less hazzle. Its a win-win.
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Tamlin_WSGF
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Lots of truth in that. Console makers sell subsidized hardware to lock in gamers into their ecosystem, with incentives like exclusive games, comfort and accessories.
PC makes sells hardware for personal computing.
Valve have the opposite approach, where they give away their software for free, makes incentives for people to install it on their own hardware (including sharing their effort with the community for use outside of Steam) and sell hardware as proof of consept. Their store is available, no matter where you buy your PC.
The Steam Machine is, like Steam Deck, more of an addition to your PC then a competitor and you still need to buy a console if you want their exclusives.
Still, its a bit funny though. In all the "I can build a cheaper Steam Machine" youtube videos, I have yet to see anyone state how much their time and expertise it worth when they compare DIY prices against a prebuild Steam Machine. How much money would they take, if they were to build it for someone else and not earn money on Youtube doing it? Steve from Hardware Unboxed - Are your time and expertise free or did you leave something out when adding up the costs vs a prebuild? JayzTwoCents - is your time worthless too outside of Youtube?
Prebuild is a value option many chooses for lack of time and expertise. If its PC or Steam Machine, its an added value that they seem to forget in their narrative.The point many misses, is that Valve offers "Steam Machine" for free, provided you supply your own time and hardware, and their development efforts proves much that this is true. If their goal was to compete against other hardware, they probably would have locked it down or at least not put in development time to make it work on more hardware.
mullet
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This will all just be a side effect of SteamOS, it's all about SteamOS. It will spread like a virus.
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Yet they're selling them as quickly as they can build them.
The strategy is really no different than the Steam Deck (which is also more expensive and less performant than other options, yet it outsells all of the other PC handhelds combined). It's just another step on the road to get people to think of Steam as THE destination for gamers. With Steam support supposedly coming to Xbox it will allow those gamers to see a handful of the benefits and it wouldn't surprise me if you see many of those players start transitioning to SteamOS devices over the next decade. It's a slow burn that *should* pick up Steam (heh).
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usa all day
[H]ard|Gawd
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Have you guys seen PS5 jailbreak to run SteamOS, emulators & past PS# and XBOX and NIN? Maybe SEGA too...
PlayStation 5 Pro United States Current MSRP $899.99 for the 2TB model
It has been around awhile I guess...
EDIT: I noticed in the video that the PS% you use needs to have a specific firmware version, so maybe the PRO is a no-go?
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klYCTppC3Uo
PlayStation 5 Pro United States Current MSRP $899.99 for the 2TB model
It has been around awhile I guess...
EDIT: I noticed in the video that the PS% you use needs to have a specific firmware version, so maybe the PRO is a no-go?
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klYCTppC3Uo
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Or more they decide to build very little of them to be sure they would sell all they make quickly despite the high price point
Last PS5 firmware mentioned in the github repo from this video that is compatible (7.xx) is mid 2023, so if your PS5 has been offline since then congrats.
usa all day
[H]ard|Gawd
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Good work detective!
Honestly, IDK if that guy was running a separate DVD / format / memory card for SteamOS, another for PS emulation (EMU), another for X, NIN, etc.
I'd buy a box that did everything in that guys vid - if it was just a re-boot to load each system vs re-fomat, run DVD, reinstall, etc.
That really is a dream machine! ONE BOX TO RULE THEM ALL!!!!!!! Plays every game - ever made & they are FREE!
It's not hard to sell them as quickly as you can make them when you are only making them in very small numbers.
The strategy isn't the same as the Steam Deck. Valve Subsidised the Steam Deck on release. Gabe Newell called the price "painful" It was much cheaper than every other PC handheld at the time. Yet it performed just as well or even better than the much more expensive options. The Steam Deck's custom RDNA 2 hardware was nearly top of the pile performance wise.
Valve pushed the Steam Deck price and performance because they were trying to get market share of the handheld market. They said in an interview that they weren't doing that with the Steam Machine as they weren't trying to win market share and they were going to price it as a PC not a console.
DukenukemX
[H]F Junkie
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All the parts have warranty. The point is that me building a cheaper and better PC than the GabeCube should not be possible. Valve gets discounts and there's less parts in the GabeCube than the PC I listed. Either way, the GabeCube should be cheaper and come with a controller. At least put in a Microsoft Sidewinder gamepad if you're going to charge a grand.
The PS5 itself is very hackable. Linux support seems to be based on each individual version of the PS5 firmware, for some reason.
I've seen PS5's go for $100 if they're broken. Some have bad HDMI connectors which I have experience repairing. It's a fairly easy fix. Another common failure is a bad power supply, which there are a lot on Ebay that don't power on for $50 but that's a risk that it can't be fixed.
Building a PC is some of the most basic skills a millennial and GenZ should know. Nobody is asking you to solder wires or play with jumpers. If you get a flat tire do you just call someone to do it? If time is money then why even stop to relax and play games?Still, its a bit funny though. In all the "I can build a cheaper Steam Machine" youtube videos, I have yet to see anyone state how much their time and expertise it worth when they compare DIY prices against a prebuild Steam Machine. How much money would they take, if they were to build it for someone else and not earn money on Youtube doing it? Steve from Hardware Unboxed - Are your time and expertise free or did you leave something out when adding up the costs vs a prebuild? JayzTwoCents - is your time worthless too outside of Youtube?
If they locked it down then we'd have additional complaints.
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And you have to deal with a different company for each component, all out of Taiwan and that doesn't care about you in the hopes that you'll get a single component back within a few weeks (I'm looking at you Asus and Gigabyte).
Why? This is how building PCs has been since the beginning. It has ALWAYS been cheaper to build your own system than to buy a similarly configured pre-built Compaq/HP/Dell/etc. [H] was basically started on the idea that you could buy a cheaper CPU and overclock it to maximize your bang for the buck.
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mullet
2[H]4U
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How long is it taking you guys from signing up to get a controller to actually getting it. Mine says 2027, lol
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I signed up about 90 minutes after the initial Reservation opened and got it about 2 weeks ago.
Because the actual gaming is the bit one would *want* to spend time on?
It is unfortunate, but digital autonomy is valued incredibly far below "convenience".
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