Valve recently confirmed that the new Steam Machine will launch on June 30, and while many fans were excited to finally see the return of a Steam-powered living room PC, the pricing caught plenty of people off guard. The base model with 512GB of storage costs $1,049, making it a much more expensive device than many were hoping for.

The reaction from the community has been mixed. Some players like the idea of an official SteamOS machine built by Valve, while others believe the asking price is simply too high for the hardware being offered. Well, for those happy to go the DIY route, there are plenty of possible configs for a DIY SteamOS-powered device – so we’ve curated one.

Build your own SteamOS machine for cheaper this Prime Day

Interestingly, Valve engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais recently confirmed that users are free to essentially build their own Steam Machine by installing SteamOS on a desktop PC. And thanks to Amazon Prime Day discounts (from June 23 to June 26), you can currently put together a system that’s not only cheaper than Valve’s official machine but also more powerful.

To help you out, we’ve put together a list of components that pair well together and offer even better performance than Valve’s cubed Steam Machine. While most of the deals are from Amazon, we’ve also included a couple of products from Newegg because we could source them for even cheaper.

For the processor, we’ve picked the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X. It’s a solid mid-range AM5 CPU that offers six cores, 12 threads, and a 105W TDP. We previously reviewed the processor and awarded it 4.5 out of 5 thanks to its excellent price-to-performance ratio. It’s more than capable of handling modern games and should remain a strong gaming chip for years.

For graphics, we’ve gone with the RX 9060 XT. It is one of the best budget graphics cards right now and can deliver excellent performance in modern games. Plus, AMD hardware has long been preferred for Linux gaming (SteamOS is based on Linux). The card comes with 8GB of VRAM and 2,048 Stream Processors; it’s a solid option for 1080p and entry-level 1440p gaming.

For the memory, we’ve selected the Patriot Viper Elite 5 16GB DDR5, which can reach speeds of up to 6,000MHz. Since most modern games recommend 16GB of RAM, this should be more than enough for the average player. For storage, we’ve added the KingSpec NX 512GB SSD, matching the storage capacity of Valve’s base Steam Machine.

After adding up all the components, the final price comes to just under $966. That makes this DIY SteamOS machine roughly $83 cheaper than Valve’s official 512GB model while also offering better gaming hardware.

Of course, the official Steam Machine comes with Valve’s custom design and out-of-the-box SteamOS experience. But if you’re comfortable building your own PC, Prime Day has made it possible to create a more powerful Steam Machine for less money. There are plenty of configurations you can go with – including many cheaper than the DIY build we put together.

About the Author

Abdul Haddi

Abdul is a tech writer and Editor for PC Guide, specializing in all things tech, gaming, and hardware.