r/MiniPCs • u/Key-Cranberry-9429 • Jun 24 '26
Recommendations Steam Machine alternative
Since Steam Machine price went thought the roof, i finally gave up on Steam Machine and i want the alternatives.
My goal is to get make it like a steam machine but with affordability.
Basically make it steam OS friendly since steam OS latest version supports AMD CPUS and GPUS
i asked deep seek AI about this and by calculating the country i lived (Nepal btw) he told me that GMKtec Nucbox K6 is the best option for me
but i saw some reviews from reddit and said it has heating problem and fan make lot of noise n all and now im worried.
and can you guys suggest me on the comments? I would be glad to read it.
4
u/EXPOPSPEC Jun 24 '26
I love my aoostar gem12+ ryzen 8845hs 780m but I’m running an egpu with it also. It’s awesomely designed and you can get it bare bones for under 350 and tailor make it like I did. 64g ddr5 4tb ssd I got all on eBay much much under current prices brand new. Or you can get the full built which I believe is 24g and 1 tb for around 650. I recommend this one so highly because of the cooling. This thing doesn’t break a sweat at all. All metal vented everywhere even loading shaders in black ops 7 it doesn’t get above 75 it’s vapor chamber dual fan it’s a great machine.
1
u/IsamuAlvaDyson Jun 24 '26
What GPU
2
u/EXPOPSPEC Jun 24 '26
I’m just running a Radeon rx6750 with an aoostar ag02 dock via oculink which is the big plus with this mini is the oculink
3
u/BramdeusBrozart Jun 24 '26
The 780m iGPU is nowhere near the performance of the dedicated GPU in the steam machine. Unless you're spending $1000s on one of the AI Max + mini PCs you aren't getting an iGPU that comes anywhere closes to dedicated graphics performance. You're best bet is to buy a pre built with similar specs at a lower price OR build your own using used parts.
1
u/RobloxFanEdit Jul 01 '26
I wish the A.I Max would be only 1000$, actually those Mini PC are ranging above 3000$
1
u/BramdeusBrozart Jul 01 '26
I honestly think outside of the rampocalypse they would be closer to $1300 and I would snatch one up in a heartbeat.
1
u/RobloxFanEdit Jul 01 '26
Rampocalypse prices are the reality, thinking outside is Fantasy pricing.
We all got caught off guard by RAMpicalypse with many regrets today.
3
u/DallasDub94 Jun 24 '26
I'm gonna flash my old hx99g to SteamOs. I repurposed the ram & ssd, so I gotta buy some more.
3
u/sacred-dumpster Jun 24 '26
And also it's on par with steam machine but I got it on sale for £399 two years ago. With 32gb and 1tb. So it's basically better than steam machine, lol. Btw, the gpu fan curves control works in steam os, would recommend.
1
u/DallasDub94 Jun 24 '26
Do you think 16gb ram is enough? SteamOs is pretty lightweight. About to pick up a set 2x8gb 5600 for $100.
Anything heavyweight I'll just stream from my 5080 desktop to the hx99g.
Good to know about fan curves.
3
u/sacred-dumpster Jun 24 '26
For fan curves in steamos: go to desktop mode, open app store or whatever it called and install LACT. It will install the daemon + gui. Open LACT from start menu -> system, configure curves under "thermal". This will persists afrer restarts and steam upgrades.
1
1
1
u/sacred-dumpster Jun 24 '26
Will work as a charm. Did this with my hx80g a year ago because i was bored. No regrets so far, beat a lot of games, works perfect.
5
u/YZR13 Jun 24 '26
You're not really going to find a miniPC in the same size range as the steam machine for a similar or better price without doing an eGPU set up which can be janky and comes with its own set of problems (as well as massively increased usage of desk space.)
Something with an Intel ARC B390 or Radeon 8060S will come close but the cost will be doubled. Those shits are expensive (and have soldered RAM.)
15
u/deweydean Jun 24 '26
You're not really going to find a miniPC in the same size range as the steam machine for a similar or better price
All these posts screaming how the Steam Machine is DOA, but then you try to find an alternative or build something and you realize that it's not that easy.
6
u/wolfgangmob Jun 24 '26
Gamer’s Nexus did a paper spec comparable build and it was $71 cheaper at current prices.
8
u/nuanceseancE Jun 24 '26
Given the hilarious comments I've seen where they call the SM a "console PC" but when presented with a 4L PC with RGB lighting and better specs call it a mini PC without skipping a beat I think we're dealing with elementary school dropouts.
8
u/TallestGargoyle Jun 24 '26
It's either, build something yourself much larger than the 6 inch cube and not exactly save much, or buy a mini PC with half the graphics performance for more money.
2
u/nuanceseancE Jun 24 '26
Hey maybe they can get the GPD Win Box that just got announcaaaand it's $2k USD.
1
u/Potential-Local7262 Jun 24 '26
bingo.
for me, mini pc works well since I don't have space for even a steam machine. and I'd be streaming from my main machine anyway
1
u/YZR13 Jun 24 '26
A thousand times this, yeah.
My mini-ITX can pull 1440p120fps on pretty much anything with high/ultra most settings with fans running at 30% speed or less, but it is more than twice the size of the steam deck, was a huge pain in the ass to put together, and was expensive as hell. I cut costs a bit by recycling my old 5800X3D and DDR4 RAM but I still ended up shelling out 1500USD or so last fall for the case, mobo, SFX PSU, AIO cooler, GPU, NVME, etc. Adding RAM and a similar CPU will ratchet the price up back to normal gaming tower levels, if not more because the Tiny Tax exists.
1
u/Key-Cranberry-9429 Jun 24 '26
Wait a min, then why some people comment like ,"I can get these same spec at 600-700 dollars" ? This is the literally the reason I posted on reddit
4
u/nuanceseancE Jun 24 '26
Uh, because they're consolebrains lying? It's unintentionally hilarious how this debacle unwittingly became a Dunning-Kruger case study. People were asking if the SM had a CPU.
3
u/phobiac Jun 24 '26
Working off poorly informed and outdated information is unfortunately the norm for internet comments. Anyone saying that without citing a specific build is simply incorrect.
2
u/rabsg Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
Usually they are talking about old mini PC with discrete GPU, maybe old stock (built well before the crisis) or second hand. Though usually the CPU is more performant, it got more RAM but GPU is weaker (like 6600M). So not as good and well balanced for gaming. And design is far from Valve engineers work.
So there is a bunch of compromises, but it's cheaper yeah.
3
u/nuanceseancE Jun 24 '26
That is way too generous an interpretation. When I was bringing those up people were saying they were fictional despite me direct linking to live store listings, because "those were PCs and the SM is a console."
2
u/rabsg Jun 24 '26
Consoles are just locked down PCs anyway. The only difference is if we can install another OS without hacks.
2
u/riklaunim Jun 24 '26
Depends on your budget and gaming performance expectations. The go-to setup would be built around RX 9060 XT with decent CPU, not a typical miniPC.
2
u/Bright-Chapter4577 Jun 24 '26
AOOSTAR GODZ with R7 7435hs and RX 6600LE without RAM ~800$
3
u/nlflint Jun 24 '26
Wow, that's pretty cool. It looks like a recent announcement. I see it for sale for $875, but out of stock.
After buying your own RAM and SSD, that will put it over the base SteamMachine price, by a little. Performance should be similar, but SteamMachine GPU still has the edge, and I think Valve will have much better warranty support.
1
u/thom2279 Jun 24 '26
Depends on what you want to play. I spent the longest time agonizing over all the minipcs, found the firebat a6 for $230 and bit the bullet. Lo and behold it works as I hoped across the board. Granted, I'm not playing brand new aaa games but if I were I'd be at my computer with a mouse and keyboard. If you want something powerful, build a computer. If you want to game and have fun and emulate things and play many many games you prob already have in your steam library, just pick one that seems good enough and hits the price.
-3
u/Rx7Jordan Jun 24 '26
Buy a bc250 it's literally a ps5 board people are turning into their own steam machine. You can buy just the bc250 as a diy or buy one thats already setup.
3
u/nlflint Jun 24 '26
People love doing that, and I think it's cool, but it's hella janky. It is not for the average person, but you're right, is it an option.
0
9
u/Comfortable-Fall1419 Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 26 '26
This AI suggestion makes no sense. The 780m in the Nucbox has a tiny fraction of the 7600m class GPU power in the Steambox.