A YouTuber built a homemade Steam Machine for $950

A YouTuber has built his own version of a Steam Machine, claiming the build could be faster and cheaper than Valve's upcoming console.

The project was detailed in a video on the Zac Builds channel, where the creator walked through an attempt to build a console inspired by the unannounced Steam Machine using off-the-shelf PC components, custom hardware, and a fully original case.

Since Valve hasn't revealed what components the official Steam Machine will use, Zac Builds worked with whatever he could get his hands on. Most parts were sourced secondhand from local sellers rather than bought at retail to keep costs down.

After blowing the initial budget, he settled on a mix of older and newer hardware for the key components – CPU, GPU, and RAM – which made up the bulk of the final cost.

To get close to the expected size and aesthetic of the Steam Machine, the case was designed from scratch. The creator built a custom enclosure with front-facing USB ports, a front light panel, magnetic face plates, and even a real wood front panel.

The software side turned out to be just as tricky. Originally planning to run SteamOS, compatibility issues with newer hardware prevented the OS from working properly, so the build ended up on Bazzite – a Linux-based alternative that mimics Valve's interface.

In testing, the build hit 60 FPS at 4K in games like ARC Raiders and Cyberpunk 2077 using upscaling. Based on those results and the hardware inside, the creator estimated his build could outperform Valve's system by 50–100%, though no official specs exist yet to confirm that.

The total came out to around $950 – slightly under the rumored $1,000 price for Valve's top-tier model. The creator did note that his system draws considerably more power and lacks the plug-and-play simplicity you'd expect from an official console.