Should You Build Your Own Steambox?

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If you are reading [H]ardOCP, the answer to this question better be "yes." Hell, most of you have everything you need right now to build one or you will after the next time you upgrade your primary box. ;)

Steambox has been a topic of much debate in the PC gaming community, promising a more gamer-centric PC experience, removing the need for the Windows operating system by providing you with a free alternative, while also bringing PC gaming into the casual mainstream, much like consoles, only a lot better.
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It's worth it for the flexibility of having Windows for other apps and better support.
 
I plan on either doing a steam machine, or buying the streaming box (although, I've had a fair number of issues streaming certain titles... namely low/inconsistent frame-rates and/or high latency)
 
I've got an X58 based Xeon with 12GB and a 660Ti in the living-room right now. It does just fine. A little bit bigger than most gaming HTPCs or Steamboxes, but it's completely out of sight anyway, so it doesn't matter. It'll shrink down further when I do another upgrade maybe in a year or so, then this one goes down to one of the kids.
 
What is this nonsense . Install steam OS then you have your own steambox ?
 
Wait until it actually launches in November. Right now its still a big WIP.
 
I'm running Windows on mine, but I've been thinking about giving Steam OS a try. I'd probably try it on another box though as I do a lot more than just game on that living-room setup.
 
I don't see why anyone would go this route at this time. Steam OS plays less games than windows, so it's not the best gaming box and honestly, if you're building a gaming box, you probably have a nice GPU. Is 80 bucks (or less) for windows going to kill you?

Then again, I'm swimming in Windows licenses, so for me, windows is free for years to come...especially if I activate a bunch of these 7 licenses then migrate to windows 10.
 
nilepez said:
I don't see why anyone would go this route at this time. Steam OS plays less games than windows, so it's not the best gaming box and honestly, if you're building a gaming box, you probably have a nice GPU. Is 80 bucks (or less) for windows going to kill you?

Then again, I'm swimming in Windows licenses, so for me, windows is free for years to come...especially if I activate a bunch of these 7 licenses then migrate to windows 10.
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Yeah, I have a stack of Windows 7 Pro retail boxes just sitting on a shelf. Windows 10 activations for sure. However, I'm always OS curious, and also like to see what people are up to with alternatives. I've been pretty surprised with the games that I see on Steam supporting multiple OSes lately. They've done a really good job SO FAR of getting devs on board I think. There is a pretty healthy mix of AAA and indie games on SteamOS/Linux/MacOS/Windows now. They've got a ways to go, and Windows is still dominant by far, but it's impressive. I would have never guessed they'd get as many as they have now even. Not to mention, if you're going to stream anything, then you can always stream the ones that aren't yet supported on SteamOS. (though I see that as a niche)
 
J3RK said:
I'm running Windows on mine, but I've been thinking about giving Steam OS a try. I'd probably try it on another box though as I do a lot more than just game on that living-room setup.
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Agreed; we need integrated access to more than just steam. Give me a good plex client, browser, Netflix, and Google play and we might be getting closer. A single function PC in the living room is a wasted opportunity.
 
Methos said:
Agreed; we need integrated access to more than just steam. Give me a good plex client, browser, Netflix, and Google play and we might be getting closer. A single function PC in the living room is a wasted opportunity.
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Which is entirely possible with SteamOS I would think as it's just Linux, but I'd have to try it out to see if it's really as easy/flexible, and also if my family could operate it to throw on a show or some music like they do now. I mean, I could MAKE it that easy, but since everything's already running on it, it would be quite a bit of work.

For someone that buys a Steambox to play some games that maybe aren't available on consoles, or they want mods for, etc. I could see booting straight into Big Picture being great. Eventually though, people get hungry for features, flexibility, etc. especially in the living-room context. I can't see Valve not noticing that though.
 
I build the PC I want, knowing that chances are excellent I can find decent Windows drivers for it. Last thing I would ever do is limit my choices of hardware according to the hardware-support limits of SteamOS, some other Linux derivative--or OS X, etc. Ugh...;) 50% of the hardware equation is the driver quality--as important as the hardware itself.
 
The little streaming link box thingy looks interesting if you want to play your PC in the living room.
 
I've had my own steam box for years now, its called an HTPC with Steam installed. Plugging in an Xbox 360 controller and the advent of Steam Big Picture mode just made things infinitely easier. TBH, I never saw the point of them developing the steam boxes. Valve just isn't big enough to go against the juggernauts of MS and Sony and for them to support so many hardware configurations is just asking for trouble. I applaud them for trying, especially when they are pushing Linux support for mainstream games further than anyone else has been. The Steam Controller shows a little promise though, especially when its usually preferable to use an all in one controller over mouse and keyboard. Having a controller like theirs full fill that role well enough when a game either doesn't have gamepad support or is better played with a keyboard and mouse (e.g. RTS games) could be pretty useful.
 
I'd say the main appeal of Steam boxes is mainly those who are interested in PC gaming but just are either not interested in dabbling in computers, or doesn't know how to is and is more farmiliar in the console space than PC space.

A PC would still be infinitely more flexible with specs and function than a steam box, but it's definitely a nice 'Steam Gaming for Dummies' alternative.

Personally however, I prefer to take my TV to my PC in my room, not the other way round.
 
jpm100 said:
The little streaming link box thing-y looks interesting if you want to play your PC in the living room.
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FTFY :)

Anyhow, no thanks on any desktop form factor PC. I'd spend a little more have gotten a laptop that can be taken places than purchase anything that's stuck plugged into a wall somewhere.
 
I'm hoping I can get steam streaming working on my android TV box, that will do all I really care about and use less power.
 
Quix said:
I'm hoping I can get steam streaming working on my android TV box, that will do all I really care about and use less power.
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It would be cool, but I doubt you'll see it since there isn't a steam client for Android. Especially since valve is making their own set-top hardware for the exact same purpose. With that said, it would be awesome if you can use the valve set-top box for Netflix/Hulu/Plex without needing a second PC. I'd ditch my AppleTV's in a second (i would miss airplay though)
 
dr.stevil said:
It would be cool, but I doubt you'll see it since there isn't a steam client for Android. Especially since valve is making their own set-top hardware for the exact same purpose. With that said, it would be awesome if you can use the valve set-top box for Netflix/Hulu/Plex without needing a second PC. I'd ditch my AppleTV's in a second (i would miss airplay though)
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If/when Vulkan takes off then I'd expect Steam to jump to Android as ARM processors continue to get more powerful.

Also Netflix should be coming along with other popular streaming since that's what was promised. And since the OS won't be locked down like a ps4/xbone you'd be able to add Plex/Koby/etc or perhaps people will create plug-ins that make it 1-click install
 
WaltC said:
I build the PC I want, knowing that chances are excellent I can find decent Windows drivers for it. Last thing I would ever do is limit my choices of hardware according to the hardware-support limits of SteamOS, some other Linux derivative--or OS X, etc. Ugh...;) 50% of the hardware equation is the driver quality--as important as the hardware itself.
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Yup. I've had co-workers who generally love Linux, stick with Windows, because of driver issues. Either way they'd run some windows (in a VM if they had *nix running) for Office apps and some vertical apps, but sometimes they couldn't even find a decent driver for the laptop's wireless and that's a deal breaker.
 
I don't really see the purpose for doing that. Even if you're building it for someone else so that it can be really simple, is it really that hard to double click the steam icon and start playing games?
 
CreepyUncleGoogle said:
FTFY :)

Anyhow, no thanks on any desktop form factor PC. I'd spend a little more have gotten a laptop that can be taken places than purchase anything that's stuck plugged into a wall somewhere.
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You can't build a laptop and they're not very upgradable either. I can see having a laptop, but I'm not going to run a laptop media server and if you're building a box for your TV, then an SFF seems like the way to go. It's a PS/XBONE replacement (in theory). If done right, it could be your HTPC too.
 
nilepez said:
Yup. I've had co-workers who generally love Linux, stick with Windows, because of driver issues. Either way they'd run some windows (in a VM if they had *nix running) for Office apps and some vertical apps, but sometimes they couldn't even find a decent driver for the laptop's wireless and that's a deal breaker.
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I have a Macbook Pro that I do my design work on. I love the device itself, and I use OSX for basic browsing tasks, but I run a Windows VM for all of my design software. I set up boxes or laptops on occasion just to try out a new Linux distribution for fun, and sometimes I run them for quite a while, but none of them have quite "stuck" yet for prolonged periods of time. They seem to be getting closer to that status though.

As far as my "Steambox" gaming HTPC, it's still running Windows with Steam, and probably will be for some time. I do intend to give SteamOS a good whirling on another system though, as I just enjoy tinkering with new OSes, etc.
 
nilepez said:
You can't build a laptop and they're not very upgradable either. I can see having a laptop, but I'm not going to run a laptop media server and if you're building a box for your TV, then an SFF seems like the way to go. It's a PS/XBONE replacement (in theory). If done right, it could be your HTPC too.
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I don't think I'd _want_ to build a laptop anyway and it seems like that feeling very common since there aren't DIY laptops out there. I can see some valid reasons to have a desktop computer in a fixed location, but personally, I don't need or want a media server and would never consider connecting a computer to a TV (or even buy a TV for that matter) since video entertainment isn't something that I think is very relevant to me. If I want to stream something, I might do it with a laptop but I'm certainly not going to try to store that kinda stuff locally. Video is just not that important to me that I want to keep any of it on a hard drive someplace. I have used a netbook as a file and print server, but it just ended up being a waste of time and electricity since I can just keep all my files on a 32 GB thumb drive and use a wireless printer/scanner instead. I mean I did that kinda thing for a while, but it gets old having to be your own IT support or build and maintain all those systems for very little useful return when all you wanna do is check your e-mail or be able to pick up your netbook to take to a friend's house to show some pics of your cat. But that's my situation and I know a lot of people have lots of reasons for doing otherwise.
 
I use my PC for more than just gaming. I use it for programming, graphics work, reading and posting on the [H]... while an alternative to Windows may sound nice, I just don't see why I need this since what I have is working very well as it is.
 
Phoenix333 said:
I use my PC for more than just gaming. I use it for programming, graphics work, reading and posting on the [H]... while an alternative to Windows may sound nice, I just don't see why I need this since what I have is working very well as it is.
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Not really relevant because SteamOS isn't trying to replace Windows desktops.

Think PS4 or Xbox One, remove the the iron fist lockdown on the OS, make it moddable, upgradable, able to play mods, and your Steam library is on it without being limited to it. That's the longterm plan.
 
DPI said:
Not really relevant because SteamOS isn't trying to replace Windows desktops.

Think PS4 or Xbox One, remove the the iron fist lockdown on the OS, make it moddable, upgradable, able to play mods, and your Steam library is on it without being limited to it. That's the longterm plan.
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Exactly. The Steambox proper, or DIY Steambox concept would never replace my desktop or laptops, but having a PC that mostly exists to run Steam in the living-room is wonderful. Not only can I play media, emulators, Steam library etc. but if I want to play some multiplayer on the LAN (especially if it's someone that's used to a gamepad) it makes a great extra node to play on. I prefer to build my own, but I can also see the pre-built ones as great for people who are just dabbling in PC games. It might even pull more people in as a gateway to PC gaming to the point that they want to start building or buying more powerful PCs. It definitely only adds to PC gaming as a whole.
 
J3RK said:
Exactly. The Steambox proper, or DIY Steambox concept would never replace my desktop or laptops, but having a PC that mostly exists to run Steam in the living-room is wonderful. Not only can I play media, emulators, Steam library etc. but if I want to play some multiplayer on the LAN (especially if it's someone that's used to a gamepad) it makes a great extra node to play on. I prefer to build my own, but I can also see the pre-built ones as great for people who are just dabbling in PC games. It might even pull more people in as a gateway to PC gaming to the point that they want to start building or buying more powerful PCs. It definitely only adds to PC gaming as a whole.
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Sure, but the problem is it can't play all the games you have on Steam. IMO, if you can't play all your games, then it's a box whose time hasn't come.
 
nilepez said:
Sure, but the problem is it can't play all the games you have on Steam. IMO, if you can't play all your games, then it's a box whose time hasn't come.
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First of all, it's a PC. It CAN run Windows. Second, in just the case of SteamOS, take a look at how the support has grown in just the last year or two. Linux support on Steam started with a few indie games and Valve's own games, and now there are tons of games that list Linux support both indie and AAA. It's not perfect yet, but there are plenty of good games to play.

Like I said, it will attract some people as an easy entry point. Many not-that-technical people root their phones, hack their consoles, etc. all the time. This is how enthusiasts are born. I can easily see someone picking one up, using it, then wanting more out of it. Installing Windows would be one thing they could pretty easily do.

There's also the "I want PC games, but for whatever reason I don't build PCs anymore." people. I know three of these. They're systems admins like me, but they lost the building spark (probably because of what they do for a living I'd guess) but have decided they want to play PC games again. All three have bought the little top-end Alienware boxes to go with their consoles. Luckily in my case, my job hasn't beaten out the will to build my own game systems. :D These guys seem happy with these though so far. Granted, they're also running Windows on them currently.

I think SteamOS has enough support so far to be viable games-wise. I don't think it's all the way where it needs to be yet, but it's on the right track, and even in its current state is definitely usable. By the time the machines officially hit, with SteamOS installed, I think they'll provide some value to people. Maybe not people like us, maybe not the core PC enthusiast demographic, but they'll open things up to people in the middle. Can't hurt anything.
 
J3RK said:
First of all, it's a PC. It CAN run Windows. Second, in just the case of SteamOS, take a look at how the support has grown in just the last year or two. Linux support on Steam started with a few indie games and Valve's own games, and now there are tons of games that list Linux support both indie and AAA. It's not perfect yet, but there are plenty of good games to play.

Like I said, it will attract some people as an easy entry point. Many not-that-technical people root their phones, hack their consoles, etc. all the time. This is how enthusiasts are born. I can easily see someone picking one up, using it, then wanting more out of it. Installing Windows would be one thing they could pretty easily do.

There's also the "I want PC games, but for whatever reason I don't build PCs anymore." people. I know three of these. They're systems admins like me, but they lost the building spark (probably because of what they do for a living I'd guess) but have decided they want to play PC games again. All three have bought the little top-end Alienware boxes to go with their consoles. Luckily in my case, my job hasn't beaten out the will to build my own game systems. :D These guys seem happy with these though so far. Granted, they're also running Windows on them currently.

I think SteamOS has enough support so far to be viable games-wise. I don't think it's all the way where it needs to be yet, but it's on the right track, and even in its current state is definitely usable. By the time the machines officially hit, with SteamOS installed, I think they'll provide some value to people. Maybe not people like us, maybe not the core PC enthusiast demographic, but they'll open things up to people in the middle. Can't hurt anything.
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I could also see people buying them for their kids depending on price. My two oldest kids have desktops to play games on that I built them. The two younger ones have laptops because I had a couple of old ones on-hand. However, I could easily get them a couple of mid-range Steam boxes, save myself some time, and they'd be plenty happy to use them. (and they'd be more powerful than their current laptops are) Right now I'm still happy to trickle down parts to build them PCs, but I don't have a ton of time these days, so this sort of thing is getting pretty damned attractive to me for non-critical PCs in my house (meaning PCs that aren't my personal ones :D )
 
J3RK said:
First of all, it's a PC. It CAN run Windows. Second, in just the case of SteamOS, take a look at how the support has grown in just the last year or two. Linux support on Steam started with a few indie games and Valve's own games, and now there are tons of games that list Linux support both indie and AAA. It's not perfect yet, but there are plenty of good games to play.
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My point is if you can't play all of your steam games on Steam OS, then what's the point? If I'm going to run Windows on it anyway, then what's the point of Steam OS?

At some point, it maybe the way to go, but that time isn't now. If I build a game machine for my TV, it's gotta be windows, because there's no point in a 2nd OS to run some games that can already run on the other OS.
 
nilepez said:
Sure, but the problem is it can't play all the games you have on Steam. IMO, if you can't play all your games, then it's a box whose time hasn't come.
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Well, consider that lack of backward compatibility with old games hasn't stopped each successive console gen from selling millions upon millions of units. When Xbox One and PS4 launched, they started with clean slates. Same with 360/PS3, and pretty much every console gen before.

So like new consoles, SteamOS has to start somewhere, and in fairness it already has a bigger library of games than both Sony/MS consoles combined. Granted, a lot of that is Indie stuff.

Valve also isn't abandoning Windows so its not like people have to choose a side or something. All it is is one more way to play games on a PC.
 
nilepez said:
At some point, it maybe the way to go, but that time isn't now. If I build a game machine for my TV, it's gotta be windows, because there's no point in a 2nd OS to run some games that can already run on the other OS.
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This is a fair argument why it won't make sense for a lot of people, at least at first while it's getting off the ground. But once there's a critical mass of key titles, that's when people may begin deciding "I want to keep this under $500, and the $100 I save on a Windows license I can put toward a better GPU". And that $500 worth of hardware will far surpass the performance of PS4 and Xbone, especially as they continue to age while Nvidia/AMD GPU's get more powerful and midrange cards get ever cheaper.
 
SteamOS and Steam Machines are dead on arrival. And the irony is that they were essentially killed by Valve.

These things are going nowhere.
 
If you want to do gaming on an open platform in the living room, then Android will be the future for that. It just needs to be married up to some decent hardware. And I say that because there are serious companies that actually do real work that have a stake in promoting Android gaming.

If you want hats and crate and virtual economies, then you call Valve.
 
nilepez said:
My point is if you can't play all of your steam games on Steam OS, then what's the point? If I'm going to run Windows on it anyway, then what's the point of Steam OS?
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I don't think these are particularly geared toward people with an extensive collection of PC games already. I think you'd pick one of these up, plug it in, and start your PC game collection then. These are an entry point at the moment. I don't think (at least they'd be naive to think) that current PC Gaming enthusiasts would just switch over from what they're already doing until there's a compelling reason to.

To us, the cost of Windows is just something we deal with, and have for a while. However, if Valve doesn't have to add $80 (I know sometimes its less, sometimes more, whatever...) to the cost, they can get the machines out at slightly more attractive prices. The library that will run on SteamOS doesn't encompass all of PC gaming, but it's pretty formidable. Someone who just decides to pick one up as an easy means to play some PC games will boot into Big Picture, browse the selection of supported title, and choose from them. That selection will continue to get bigger. I don't think EVERYONE is going to make a SteamOS/Linux version of their game, but they've already made some good progress.

I'm not saying it's perfect, attractive to enthusiasts without the perspective of the potential casual PC gamer, I have no intention of running SteamOS on my main gaming systems or even in the living-room until at least 90-95% of my library is supported, but I'm not their target. Who knows if they'll be successful. I think they might be, but we'll see. I still think it's cool though, and any additional options to play games are fine with me. If they rope in a few more gamers with cheap ways to play, developers and publishers will see the $ signs and pay a bit more attention maybe?

Lot's of questions, but I personally wouldn't write the boxes or the OS off yet.

Now, if they pushed out a timed exclusive of HL3 for SteamOS... :D :p
 
Just sorted by SteamOS supported games. The list is quite extensive, includes a lot of AAA games, even some newer ones, and ones from devs that I might not have expected to see go back and port to other OSes. Granted, many were cross platform to consoles anyway, but it's still impressive.
 
J3RK said:
Just sorted by SteamOS supported games. The list is quite extensive, includes a lot of AAA games, even some newer ones, and ones from devs that I might not have expected to see go back and port to other OSes. Granted, many were cross platform to consoles anyway, but it's still impressive.
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Absolutely. Most of the games I've purchased recently have all been streamplay/cross platform Windows/Mac/Linux titles. Windows will always have better support, but it is encouraging how much attention other platforms are getting from developers. With IHS available, it certainly makes using SteamOS a viable option for a livingroom steambox.
 
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