The Steam Machine is officially out and…let’s be real. Its starting price of US$1,049 (~RM4,319) makes it way more expensive than even the PlayStation 5 Pro, which officially retails for RM3,999 via official Sony retailers. Valve says it’s RAM suppliers that have forced its hand, but as an offset, it’s working on updating SteamOS to get it in working order to let folks build their own Steam Machines.
For AMD AI GPU builder and enthusiast tinkerer, Jacob Terkelsen, the price tag clearly cut deep, and to that end, it drove him to 3D print his very own Steam Machine. Ok, it’s obviously not a clone or 1-to-1 remake of Valve’s console-PC hybrid, but you get the idea.
Terkelsen named his 3D printed casing the Terk Box, after himself. As for the components, his shared list includes an AMD Ryzen 5 5500 6-core CPU, an ASRock B550M ITX motherboard, 16GB of Teamgroup T-Force Vulcan Z DDR4-3200 RAM, 512GB Patriot P300 PCIe 4.0 SSD, an XFX Speedster Radeon RX 7600 — they apparently swapped that out for an NVIDIA RTX 5060 — a Zalman CUBIX micro ATX casing, and a Thermaltake 600W ATX PSU that he also apparently swapped out for a 450W.
Terkelsen’s total cost came up to US$695.47 (~RM2,863), well below the US$1,049 asking price of the Steam Machine, but it’s clear that there were some questions about his decision. For example, when asked why he chose a 450W PSU when the RTX 5060 requires at least a 600W, he simply replied “When you know how things work, recommendations become suggestions”.
We also know the next question some of you would be asking: Valve and SteamOS aren’t technically compatible with NVIDIA GPUs. Again, Terkelsen’s answer was simple: “Bazzite, Comfy, Windows. Take your pick.” Clearly, he intended to create a gaming PC cum console that cost less than the Steam Machine, and they did. But, as mentioned, SteamOS isn’t entirely compatible with GeForce GPUs on Linux, although that is clearly changing now, given the most recent news about Valve working with NVIDIA to bring SteamOS compatibility to GeForce GPUs.
Terkelsen has actually released the 3D blueprint for his SFF Mini ITX models on Printables, if you’re interested on emulating his project.
(Source: AMD
