Need to build a Steam machine for a friend

[edutech4schools]

A friend has tasked me with looking at steam machines, initially he just wanted a pre-built system like the Aliemware machines but I am steering him in the direction of something that I can update the parts in a few years.

 

I have found this and wondered what everyones thoughts are?

CyberPowerSteam Machine i5-4590 400W Syber black case DIY Barebone kit - Ebuyer

 

I notice it comes with only a 400watt power supply, would this be an issue?

 

He has about £600 (less if possible) but I would like to drop a decent graphics card in and it must be quite and small as it will be used on the TV

 

Thanks for any help

[bald_pig]

Depends entirely on what card you go for. Use a website like pcpartpicker to spec something to your budget, and it checks compatibility and power requirements too.

[GuyJD]

Graphics cards have got a lot more power efficient these days my old GTX 460 would draw 160w where as my GTX 970 draws only 145w, so a 400w psu shouldn't be too much of an issue.

[edutech4schools]

What do you think of the CyberPower Steam Machine I linked, does it look OK

[GuyJD]

The Cyberpower looks ok a little pricey for what you get, the cpu and mainboard are around £260 so you are paying £140 for the case and PSU.

 

I've got an i5-4690 Z97 and GTX970 and it can take any game I throw at it on max setting and I don't generally see fps drop below 60.

 

It can take a full size graphics card so you should get a pretty good choice of cards, I'd say stick a minimum of 8GB or 16 if you can and it'd be a decent little machine and a lot more powerfull than most of the steam machines out there to buy pre-built.

[LincolnE]

I'd either go down the pre-built route or the fully buy all the components separately route.

 

That PSU isn't a particularly good brand. Given you can pick up reasonable ones for about £40-50 these days, I wouldn't risk it.

[GuyJD]

I just spec'd up something similar on pcpartpicker and with that combo of mainboard, CPU and decent graphics card it wouldn't even give me the option of a 400w power supply, so maybe it won't be good enough.

 

Here it is, the complete build came in at £900 but you could probably knock £100/200 off by going for cheaper options Intel Core i5-4590, EVGA GeForce GTX 970, Silverstone RVZ01B - System Build - PCPartPicker United Kingdom

[3s-gtech]

As we usually say when speccing gaming PCs, spec up to the requirements. Sounds like you have a pretty good idea of what's needed, but if he decides he wants to play The Witcher 3 at 4k you'll be on to a loser!

 

A quality 400W PSU will power a GTX 960 happily, according to Nvidia's specs pages. The GTX 970 wants a 500W PSU (from the same page). It would probably work, but no point in undercutting the manufacturers requirements when spending this much cash.

[edutech4schools]

Here it is, the complete build came in at £900 but you could probably knock £100/200 off by going for cheaper options Intel Core i5-4590, EVGA GeForce GTX 970, Silverstone RVZ01B - System Build - PCPartPicker United Kingdom

 

thanks for taking the time to do that, gives me a great starting point.

[GuyJD]

A quality 400W PSU will power a GTX 960 happily, according to Nvidia's specs pages. The GTX 970 wants a 500W PSU (from the same page). It would probably work, but no point in undercutting the manufacturers requirements when spending this much cash.

The manufacturer website always has to allow for you having other components that are power hungry too, as long as you check what's required for things like the CPU and GPU to boost to their resepective turbo clock then there's not much else in there that will put a varying strain on the PSU, for instance the build I just posted a link to says it will draw 307w even with the superclocked 970.

[edutech4schools]

OK I am back on this and my friend is coming round tomorrow. He has £550 so not going to be a blazing rig.

 

Currently this system is coming in at £650 https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/TwistedHelixis/saved/#view=WjJ323 and I somehow need to get it down to £550. I can do it if I change out the case for a standard atx case and then the PSU and Motherboard for standard parts but he really wants it to fit in the mini itx case.

 

Anyone got any thoughts how I can best get the price down (even by £50) without compromising the system too much.

[bald_pig]

You could save a fair chunk on the PSU, shave a couple of quid on the RAM, and check online to see if anywhere has a sale on any of the components

[Achandler]

Maybe not totally logical and I ahven't looked at everything you have chosen.

 

But using the later gen motherbaord and processor combo

Gigabyte H170N-WiFi Dual LAN AC WiFi Mini ITX Motherboard - Aria Technology

and

Intel Core i5-6400 2.70GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Aria PC

with

Corsair 8GB DDR4 Vengeance LPX 2133MHz Memory Kit for Skylake - Aria Technology

 

Actually takes abotu £12 off, maybe more if you don't need wifi built on the mobo

[GuyJD]

you could step back to an older gen i5 the 4460 will save you £20 and still give you a 3.2Ghz quad core

 

You could ditch the optical drive and go with USB installs and downloads, he can always get an external drive at a later date.

 

also you'll be limited by that SSD pretty quickly 250Gb is nothing when you've got Steam on a PC.

[ICTDirect_Dave]

Intel Core i5-4460, Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960, Silverstone SG06BB-LITE - System Build - PCPartPicker United Kingdom

 

That's my two cents and comes in more or less on budget.

 

I wasn't sure if the cooler would fit the case though.

 

And I agree that 250GB is small if you're installing 30-50GB games.

[edutech4schools]

Cheers, lots to think about.

[edutech4schools]

Intel Core i5-4460, Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960, Silverstone SG06BB-LITE - System Build - PCPartPicker United Kingdom

 

With that it lists under Compatibility Notes - Some Intel H81 chipset motherboards may need a BIOS update prior to using Haswell Refresh CPUs.

 

Would I need a processor that does support the motherboard in order to run the bios update before using the i5-4460?

[ICTDirect_Dave]

You would have to ask MSI I think. Depends if they're shipping with the bios update. Alternatively, invest an extra £20 in the H97 version