Steam Box Build $388.00

[booman]

Motheboard:
GIGABYTE GA-H81M-DS2V (rev. 1.0) LGA 1150 Intel H81 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

CPU:
Intel Celeron G1820 Haswell Dual-Core 2.7GHz LGA 1150 54W BX80646G1820 Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics
$47.99-$2.00 Instant$45.99

Memory:
CORSAIR 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 Desktop Memory Model CMV4GX3M1A1600C11
$34.99-$4.00 Instant$30.99

Case:
LOGISYS Computer CS706BK Black SECC mATX Mid Tower/Micro ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 480W Power Supply
$49.99-$8.00 Instant$41.99

Power Supply:
CORSAIR CX series CX500 500W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
$69.99-$10.00 Instant$59.99

Video Card:
ZOTAC ZT-70603-10M GeForce GTX 750 Ti 1GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 Video Card
$139.99-$20.00 Instant$119.99

Hard Drive:
Western Digital AV-GP WD5000AVVS 500GB 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal AV Hard Drive Bare Drive
$39.95

Total: $388
This doesn't include tax and shipping, so it will probably come out to $400.00
It not a "state-of-the-art" computer by any means, but should play most games on high settings in Steam or Wine. As a SteamBox, it will only be playing native Steam games of course.
I could have gone with AMD AM3+ CPU for $100 and a cheaper motherboard as well. Pretty much even out to the same price.
Also the Power Supply has a $20.00 rebate too, so that will lower the price even more.

In a few years this computer can be upgraded with:

• CPU
• Memory
• Video Card
• 2nd Hard Drive
• SSD Hard Drive

Upda

 

[mrdeathjr28]

In my case thinking about this


Case (2 options)


SILVERSTONE Black Aluminum skin reinforced plastic front panel, 0.8mm SECC body MILO Series ML03B Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case

64.99us + 0.99us shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163174


nMEDIAPC Silver Aluminum / Acrylic / Steel HTPC 5000S Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case]

64.99us + 5.99us shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811204036



Power Supply Unit (4 options)


Antec VP-450 450W ATX 12V v2.3 Power Supply - Intel Haswell Fully Compatible

39.99us + 3.99us shipping (15us rebate card)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371045


Antec EarthWatts Green EA-380D Green 380W Continuous power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Intel Haswell Fully Compatible

44.99us + 2.99us shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371033


CORSAIR CX series CX430 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

44.99us + 1.99us shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026


CORSAIR CXM series CX430M 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

49.99us + 2.99us shipping (20us rebate card)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139049



CPU

Intel Pentium G3220 Haswell Dual-Core 3.0GHz LGA 1150 54W BX80646G3220 Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics

56.99us + 1.99us shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116950



Motherboard (2 Options)


MSI H81M-E33 LGA 1150 Intel H81 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

49.99us + 1.99us shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130730


BIOSTAR H81MHV3 LGA 1150 Intel H81 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

39.99us + 5.39us shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138407



Memory


4096MB (2 Options)


G.SKILL NS Series 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model F3-1333C9S-4GNS

28.99us free shiping as gift

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231642


Patriot Signature 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model PSD34G133381

29.99us + 1.99us shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220773


8192MB (2 Options)

G.SKILL Value Series 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL9S-8GBNT

54.99us + 0.99us shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231607


Kingston ValueRAM 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model KVR1333D3N9H/8G

56.99us + 1.99us shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820239353



Videocard

ZOTAC ZT-70601-10M G-SYNC Support GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 Video Card

142.99us + 1.99us shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500327


HardDrive

WD Purple WD20PURX 2TB SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive

87.99us free shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=22-236-661


Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive

76.99us free shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148834


TOSHIBA DT01ACA200 2TB 64MB Cache SATA 3 (6.0 Gb/S) 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive

73.99us free shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822149407


In my case choose this parts

Silverstone Case 66us

CORSAIR CXM series CX430M 430W 53us

Intel Pentium G3220 59us

MSI H81M-E33 52us

G.SKILL Value Series 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 56us

ZOTAC ZT-70601-10M GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 145us

WD Purple WD20PURX 2TB SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5 88us

Total 519us, is more expensive but have GTX 750 with double memory, double system memory, HTPC Micro ATX case

Other things like WD purple is more personal preference (24/7 work) and screencasting work (this machine only used at 720p for performance)

Maybe put 2 hard drive


In other things use this PSU calculator for 24/7 work for this machine

http://powersupplycalculator.net/

This machine shows 194w

And on this PSU calculator (Courtesy Coolermaster)

http://www.coolermaster.outervision.com/

This machine shows 256w

 

[booman]

Not bad
I chose a Gigabyte motherboard because it was cheaper than ASUS, even though I prefer ASUS any day.
I've had a few Gigabyte motherboards and they run fine.
I love Corsair Memory! Always used it and always will. I've only ever had one experience with a bad stick, they replaced it for free.
I also went with Corsair Power Supply because the Enermax Power Supplies were too expensive. I always go with Enermax and they have been very reliable. Only had one go bad on a build for my Dad. They replaced it for free and even sent me a nicer model. Every single Desktop I have uses an Enermax Power Supply.

My biggest concern is the Intel GPU conflicting with the Nvidia GPU
I hope the BIOS allows me to disable the Intel GPU so there are no problems.

 

[mrdeathjr28]

Not bad
I chose a Gigabyte motherboard because it was cheaper than ASUS, even though I prefer ASUS any day.
I've had a few Gigabyte motherboards and they run fine.
I love Corsair Memory! Always used it and always will. I've only ever had one experience with a bad stick, they replaced it for free.
I also went with Corsair Power Supply because the Enermax Power Supplies were too expensive. I always go with Enermax and they have been very reliable. Only had one go bad on a build for my Dad. They replaced it for free and even sent me a nicer model. Every single Desktop I have uses an Enermax Power Supply.

My biggest concern is the Intel GPU conflicting with the Nvidia GPU
I hope the BIOS allows me to disable the Intel GPU so there are no problems.

No i have this board and work correctly (no gpu problem intel and nvidia discrete card) as desktop board allow select with gpu use (integrated or discrete)

Respect sound in my case realtek chips works good on linux with my machines

I choose corsair psu because have modular design (only connect needed cables, save space especially in HTPC case)

In memory theme sometimes fail dont matter brand, actually this brands produce thousand sticks and error possibilities stay present indepent brand (and this situation is apply to all sadly )

Harddrive WD purple i like because is designed for record all time 24/7 video monitoring work

 

[booman]

Good point! I'm glad the BIOS lets you choose between integrated or discrete.
I knew about possible memory errors in any stick, but I rarely have any from Corsair in over 12 years of building my own computers.

I really wanted to put an SSD drive in this box, but too expensive. I couldn't believe that Western Digital was only $40 for 500 Gigs... That is amazing!

 

[mrdeathjr28]

Good point! I'm glad the BIOS lets you choose between integrated or discrete.
I knew about possible memory errors in any stick, but I rarely have any from Corsair in over 12 years of building my own computers.

I really wanted to put an SSD drive in this box, but too expensive. I couldn't believe that Western Digital was only $40 for 500 Gigs... That is amazing!

Good luck with this brand, in my case have some kingston, patriot and markvision and works good, however corsair have good price in this moment on value memory

SSD is good but as you said is too expensive

1SSD + 1 2TB HDD vs two TB HDD

I prefer two 2TB hard drives, space is more important in my case, in future SSD maybe good

 

[booman]

My server has 3 Terabytes of storage, but my desktops are 250GB or smaller
When you have 9 computers it gets expensive to upgrade them all

But since I've noticed a lot of cheap WD hard drives on newegg.com, maybe I'll do some upgrading soon