The Steam Machine is an awesome little system with serious gaming chops and cute aesthetics. They make a great entry-point for PC gaming if you’ve been sitting on the sidelines for a while and want that console-like experience, with some added PC functionality. But like everything else in 2026, they’re a bit expensive, and like everything Valve makes, hard to buy right now.

Fortunately, along with releasing the Steam Machine to the masses, Valve also dropped an updated version of SteamOS which works well with AMD GPUs, making it much easier to build your own homebrew Steam Machine. Yes, Bazzite is an option and is arguably more fleshed out, but if we’re going to be building our own Steam Machine, let’s use the real deal and make it as comparable as we can.

I’ve gone through more retailer listings than I can count, and here’s what I’ve managed to come up with for a DIY Steam Machine that will outperform what Valve made, for (slightly) less money. It’s not as compact, but it’s far more upgradeable, far easier to work with, and with its off-the-shelf components, far easier to fix and maintain, too.

The Build

From the outset, I wanted this build to be relatively compact, but there was no way we were going to be able to compete with the Steam Machine’s super-svelte design. It’s using bespoke hardware to deliver its performance and cooling potential in such a small footprint, and we just don’t have access to that.

What we do have, is an enormous range of components from a massive list of manufacturers, so we’ll be targeting a Micro-ATX system, which is smaller than a standard desktop system, but doesn’t have the price premium of maintenance headaches of Mini-ITX. So it's a mATX motherboard, mATX case, and nothing too huge on the cooling or GPU front.

The total comes in $58 less than Valve’s Steam Machine, giving us a useful saving that is well worth pocketing. However, if you still have that money handy and want to put it to good use, there are some upgrade options that aren’t too expensive you might want to consider. A faster CPU, dual-channel memory, maybe a bump to the next tier of GPU?

Let’s take a closer look at each of these components, why we chose them, and what alternatives there might be if your budget is a little lighter or has a bit more room to manoeuvre.

CPU – AMD Ryzen 5 7600X

CPU

AMD Ryzen 5 7600X

It's one generation old, but the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X is still a great gaming CPU.

The 7600X is a great entry-level CPU from the AMD Zen 4 generation of CPUs, and it’s actually cheaper than the 7600 (non-x) for some reason, so we’ll go with that. It has six cores and 12 threads like the Steam Machine, but it can boost up to 5.3 GHz - 500 MHz more than the Steam Machine’s CPU. It pulls a lot more power, but this is a desktop chip; It’s bound to.

If you want to boost your CPU performance a little more, the Ryzen 5 9600X is only around $10 more, and offers 5-10% additional CPU performance, as well as better thermal efficiency, which can help keep temperatures down.