Best PC Build: Steam Machine Under $1,000

[Gingerbread]

Best Steam machine under $1,000
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($204.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($66.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 Nano 4GB Video Card ($494.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($95.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $990.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-11 08:48 EDT-0400

 

[lp231]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG C7 40.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($294.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone RVZ02B HTPC Case ($64.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Silverstone 500W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $989.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-11 12:44 EDT-0400

===============================================================================

ok, with a change in case



PCPartPicker part list

Living Room Gamer V2.

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($309.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H170M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($99.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: GeIL EVO POTENZA 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Mushkin Reactor 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($209.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 960 4GB Video Card ($184.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Silverstone GD09B HTPC Case ($72.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: XFX XT 400W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($45.98 @ Newegg)
Cooling: Stock intel Cooler, but maximized case fans:
Case Fan: Cooler Master R4-C2R-20AC-GP 69.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($4.35 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Cooler Master R4-C2R-20AC-GP 69.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($4.35 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: Cooler Master R4-S8R-20AK-GP 28.9 CFM 80mm Fan ($4.75 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Cooler Master R4-S8R-20AK-GP 28.9 CFM 80mm Fan ($4.75 @ OutletPC)
Total: $997.12
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-10 13:57 EDT-0400

as before a 4 GB 960, plenty for 1920x1080 gaming on your living room TV. i7 gives you 8 threads along with 16 GB of Ram gives you plenty of time before you need to upgrade. all the case fans are chosen for their silence (19 or 20 decibels - whisper quiet - so noise should not be a problem. All the combined fans will be a low hum at most), 1 TB SSD gives lots of room and lightning quick speed.

90% of ITX board will only has 2 fan headers 1x CPU and 1x chassis. Unless those fans are running off a fan splitter, only 1 case fan can be plugged in. There are some with 3 and Asus Maximus VIII Impact has 5.
1x CPU, 1x Chassis, and 3x from the included 5-pin fan controller hub.

 

[logainofhades]

Jealous Fury

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($184.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($69.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($56.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.95 @ Amazon)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 Nano 4GB Video Card ($484.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Azza Z Mini ITX Tower Case ($75.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $989.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-11 16:12 EDT-0400

 

[Lightheart]

Best Steam machine under $1,000

Gaming in a Shoebox
CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 6MB Skylake 65W 3.2GHz Quad Core Processor ($194.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI B150I GAMING PRO AC LGA 1151 Intel B150 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.SKILL Aegis 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2133 ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Graphics Card: ZOTAC GeForce GTX 970 4GB ($289.99 @ Amazon)
Storage (Primary): Seagate Desktop HDD ST1000DM003 1TB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s ($47.99 @ Newegg)
Storage (Current Game Installations): SAMSUNG SM951 M.2 128GB PCI-Express 3.0 SSD ($99.95 @ Newegg)
Case: SilverStone Sugo Series SG05BB-LITE ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SILVERSTONE SX500-LG 500W SFX-L 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG 6X BD-ROM 8X DVD-ROM 24X CD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-Ray Drive For Notebooks Model CT40N - OEM ($45.99 @ Newegg)
Cable Adapter: StarTech SLSATAF50CMS 1.6 ft. Slimline SATA Female to SATA with SATA Power Cable Adapter ($5.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $997.86

If I'm going to put a computer out by my TV as a console replacement, its going to have to replace the console in the entirety, which includes playing my Blu-ray collection for me. So I needed to reserve about $50 for that. The other thing that I've really been itching to put in a build is a M.2 drive, and well, if we're going be using this on a daily basis to play games, I want to be spending as little time as possible sitting at a load screen. Using a M.2 drive that runs on the PCI 3.0 bus will do just that, and it's well worth the time to do a little storage management to make sure the games I'm playing at the moment are on the M.2 drive and everything else can live on the spinning chunk of metal. A final point, the SG05BB is small, I call it a shoe box for a reason, at 6.93" x 8.74" x 10.87" (H x W x D) it's smaller than most cases, but provides the luxury of a mostly full size graphics card (10" length maximum) which means you don't need to wait for the more expensive small form factor cards to appear in order to update the box in the years to come.

 

[AngryGoat]

[strike]Hadouken
CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($181.80 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ECS H81H3-I/HDMI (V1.0) Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($56.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team Dark 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($27.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($88.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card ($473.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone ML08B HTPC Case ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair SF 450W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Wireless Network Adapter: TRENDnet TEW-805UB 802.11a/b/g/n/ac USB 3.0 Wi-Fi Adapter ($27.20 @ Amazon)
Base Total: $999.95

Snapadoodle
CPU: Intel Core i5-6600 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($228.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($69.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 16GB (1 x 16GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($149.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($294.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone ML08B HTPC Case ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair SF 450W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Base Total: $951.93 [/strike]

[strike]Steamray
CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($204.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($69.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($149.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($294.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone ML08B HTPC Case ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair SF 450W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: LG CU20N Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($73.46 @ Amazon)
Base Total: $996.39 [/strike]

Warhead
CPU: Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($309.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG C7 40.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($69.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Avexir Budget Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($26.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 16GB (1 x 16GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($88.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 7K2000 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.80 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($294.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone Sugo SG13B-Q Mini ITX Tower Case ($40.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 400W ATX Power Supply ($29.98 @ Newegg)
Base Total: $998.72

Sorry for the multiple entries, I've crossed out the others.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

1 entry ^

 

[tothergnome]

Best Steam Machine Build Under $1,000
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/WGWqYJ
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/WGWqYJ/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($244.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG C7 40.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z170-A PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($329.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Thermaltake Versa H23 ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($53.98 @ Newegg)
Wireless Network Adapter: Gigabyte GC-WB867D-I 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($32.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $985.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-12 14:04 EDT-0400

 

[g-unit1111]

"Mommy What's A Console?"

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($69.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 Nano 4GB Video Card ($494.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Silverstone RVZ02B HTPC Case ($64.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Silverstone Strider Gold 450W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply ($88.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $997.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-12 15:44 EDT-0400

With an R9 Nano and an i5-6400, squeezed into a console size Silverstone Raven RVZ02, your XBOX One and PS4 loving friends will be asking that question multiple times over!

 

[unclemao]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($69.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($37.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 7K2000 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.80 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 Fury 4GB Video Card ($469.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Azza Z Mini ITX Tower Case ($65.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $993.71
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-14 08:16 EDT-0400


The red and green pocket rocket

 

[unclemao]

Btw just asking would the Bitfenix Pandora Be considered a valid choice btw? (stupid question i know)

 

[basroil]

Btw just asking would the Bitfenix Pandora Be considered a valid choice btw? (stupid question i know)

I would venture to say no because of the it's triple the volume of most of the other entries here. In fact, bitfenix doesn't make any SFF cases (no, the prodigy is not SFF by any stretch of your imagination

 

[unclemao]

I know, i know but it just had that console shape/figuire so i was tempted to ask 😛

 

[ScrewySqrl]

===============================================================================

ok, with a change in case




as before a 4 GB 960, plenty for 1920x1080 gaming on your living room TV. i7 gives you 8 threads along with 16 GB of Ram gives you plenty of time before you need to upgrade. all the case fans are chosen for their silence (19 or 20 decibels - whisper quiet - so noise should not be a problem. All the combined fans will be a low hum at most), 1 TB SSD gives lots of room and lightning quick speed.

90% of ITX board will only has 2 fan headers 1x CPU and 1x chassis. Unless those fans are running off a fan splitter, only 1 case fan can be plugged in. There are some with 3 and Asus Maximus VIII Impact has 5.
1x CPU, 1x Chassis, and 3x from the included 5-pin fan controller hub.

all the added fans have molex cables, and can be run (full blast admittedly) from the PSU without breaking a sweat all daisy chained together.

 

[Michael19]

Name: Steam_VX1_Nano
PC partpicker link: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/X2jwMp

Processor: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor - $194.99 (Newegg)
Motherboard: ASUS H170I-Plus D3 - $105.99 (Newegg)
Memory: Crucial 8GB DDR3-1600 Kit - $28.99 (Amazon)
Graphics Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 Nano AX9 4GB HBM - $479.99 (Newegg)
Storage: Sandisk Z400 256GB m2 SSD - $76.11 (Amazon)
Case: Thermal Core V1 Snow Edition - $54.99 (Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 100-W1-500-KR 500W ATX12V / EPS12V 80 PLUS - $39.99 (Newegg)
Cooling: Thermaltake CL-P008-AL09WT-A - $14.99 (Newegg)

Total Price: $996.04

 

[ParisYank]

Name: Steampunk Contraption
Objective: New technology, solid state, low power, quiet and unobtrusive. Steam.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6300 3.8GHz Dual-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Scythe BIG Shuriken 2 Rev. B 45.5 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($68.67 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus B150I PRO GAMING/WIFI/AURA Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($125.00 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($153.81 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GT 720 2GB SILENT Video Card ($200.00 @ Amazon) ($34 shipping removed)
Case: Silverstone ML04B HTPC Case ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Silverstone Strider Gold 450W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply ($88.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: LG WH16NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($59.98 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: Silverstone FQ81 27.5 CFM 80mm Fan ($13.99 @ Amazon)

Total: $989.42
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-15 16:36 EDT-0400

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