The recently released Valve Steam Machine is somewhat awkward in that it uses a custom, non-standard PCB and non-standard power supply. This fact apparently has irked some people who decided that it makes perfect sense to try and cram a Mini-ITX board, Small Form Factor (SFF) PSU and full-sized discrete GPU into an enclosure of the same size. Cue the SFF Mini-ITX Steam Machine Case project by [3DCatt] over at Printables.
This is apparently a project done in cooperation with AMD’s [Jacob Terkelsen], who showed off the 3D printed case stuffed full with the aforementioned parts, which includes a GeForce RTX 5060 GPU. Of note is that the Valve Steam Machine uses a different cooling configuration as it has both the CPU and GPU on the same PCB. These share the same massive heatsink, as can be seen in e.g. the [Gamers Nexus] teardown video.
For this angular imitation machine it would have been nice to use a blower-style GPU, to exhaust the hot air rather than dump it all into the case. This is also an issue that was raised by [Jacob], with more ventilation added to mitigate the issue. What the overall performance will be compared to regular compact Mini-ITX cases remains to be seen, but if you really want to live the Steam Machine life and have some parts kicking around along with a 3D printer, it might be worth a shot.
I’m curious to see thermals on a machine using this. It seems like the only source of air is from behind, in which case it’d intake backwash and go into thermal runaway.
if you follow the link there are some better pictures of how its set up internally. it looks like it does the wind tunnel thing common in cube cases. with the whole case essentially being cooled by one large fan. the intake is just the gap around the front panel. cpu just seems to use a passive heat sink, the kind used in servers.
never mind, that looks like the psu brick after further inspection. looking at the bom it says you can use cpu coolers up to 30mm, which is about right for a low profile cooler. you arent putting a high end cpu in here, but probibly something better than either the deck or the new steam machine.
Sure, you can DIY a more performance machine, but it will be missing features and most people don’t DIY their computer hardware. This is fine for them DIY is fine for us.
A few thoughts I had while going over the design
I love ITX PCs so much
This projects looks like its tailor made to be converted into a sheet metal construction design
I love ITX PCs so much (did I mention this?)
SFF PSUs are darn expensive, I find that HP 1200W server PSUs are slim, but also crazy inexpensive. You can find ATX wiring harness kits for them (or just solder wires on your own) to make/obtain a compact but super powerful PSU
This design relies on one single large fan in the front. If it were me doing the design, I would have placed two fans on each sides, or maybe one on one side and the other one on top. Maximising airflow seems like a good idea, especially for ITX builds, and if you’re designing the case anyway, there is no reason why you shouldn’t go overboard.
The angular, ‘mounted in air’ construction is a bit alarming to me. I don’t know much about the strength of the plastic they used but I feel its much safer to have PC components mounted on the bottom surface, just in case something breaks and falls down. Heaviest components at the bottom, to make CoG low in case its accidentally pushed.
I personally associate ITX cases with travel and moving around in trains/air travel but a 3D printed case does not inspire confidence because of it being made of plastic. I myself own a Cooler Master NR200 case. Its really, really good as far as ITX cases go. All metal construction. But then again, I have no idea how strong 3D printed plastic is (I just print enclosures for my electronics projects, thats all). It may be fine.
I love it machines as well and have paid the tax for doing them.
But as someone as old as I (just turned 47 yesterday) building baby AT machines in hiking boot boxes the only fear of something falling was the (typically mfm) hard disk
Today I’m launching arm and nivida chipsets out into war zone situations and wondering if the locked down sd card misses a log entry if it gets hit by guns heh
its a flex psu and low profile gpu, its not going to weigh much at all. unlike my 12l machine where most of the internal space is heat sinks. its a heavy beast in a small package.
You can’t expect to casually drop that and not give more info!
unfortunately you need to go up to at least 10 liters before you can have a no compromises build. smaller are possible but with compromises. like 30mm cooler, 400w psu, low profile gpu (thats a rare unicorn on its own these days). i do like the out of the box (in the box?) thinking putting everything in diagonally.
You meant mini-ITX?
Almost everyone who says ITX means mini ITX
Hardly anyone ever is referring to Nano-ITX, Pico-ITX, or Mobile-ITX. The first two are hardly ever seen outside of industrial systems, and no manufacturer has produced a Mobile ITX board since Via discontinued theirs in 2009.
I am still not sure if you do love ITX PCs or not… hmmm… if only you could state it more…
Oh well!
And how exactly are you planning on getting 3.3 and 5V from those psus? Genuinely curious
with all the cheap mini itx cases available I dont get the point of this. Its not even an attractive case. I could see it if it were some cool shape or something, This gives classic Maslow’s hammer vibes.
The point of this 3D printed case is the point of the Steam Machine, and is the essence of what you’re saying as well.
Lets skip back first; The entire objective of Steam OS was to ensure the Steam would run on Linux (mainly) so that Microsoft couldn’t lock users into it’s platform and create a monopoly using it’s App store. For that to happen Valve has re-created the Steam Machine, this time entirely inhouse but created a design that mostly goes againt the standard PC layout, while giving just enough that it kick starts the imaginations. Its the same reason Microsoft had to create the Surface laptops when the PC market was getting steamrolled by Apple’s Macbook designs. A reference that got the creative juices flowing and avision that was just far enough that it pulled the PC laptop market out of the old bulky machines into the sleak modern machines we see today.
And Valve will do that with the Steam Machine. As we’ve seen people are already apiring to be a steam machine like build. 3DCatt here has done it, Linus Tech Tips has built muliple of their own as well, and even you’ve said use a cheap mini-itx case or something cool.
The best part is still to come though, like the Steam Deck, games got ‘verified’ as compatible. Some existing releases even got patched to make their game controller only friendly and such to get that verification, and the vast majority, it not all of them will immediately get Steam Machine verified when it releases. This means for Steam Machine builds like this one you’re reading about, it won’t just be the case of a case, but there will then also be minimum hardware requirements. Ones that ensure the build meets the same spec as Steam Machine so users can make use of the Steam Machine verification to find games that just work, seemlessly.
Once people have that ability, Steam Machine becomes a base for the PC console. What you’re seeing here with this 3D printed case is that creativity and willingness to go along for the ride. Expect all types of Steam Machine builds in the future, from retro console styles like in a NES case, to slim lined og Xbox cases etc.
It’s just a matter of mindless aping like the rash of cylindrical cases due after the Mac Pro trashcan.
Need a cheese grater case.
Like this one? https://www.indiegogo.com/en/projects/dune-22545826/dune-pro-pc-case
Related:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstellung_effect
Maslows Hammer refers to using a particular tool, Einstellung Effect refers to using a particular solution, like cramming a gaming machine into a mini ITX case because you’re already familiar with the solution and you just need to cram out a sponsored affiliate linked article on Printables for money.
Yep, and I was referring to the use of a particular tool, The 3d Printer. As in “when all you have is a 3d printer, everything looks like a print”
This case design is a block. It could have been made using any number of techniques, 3d printing being one of the worst choices. The only reason to 3d print it was because 3d printing was all they knew. If only they knew more 3d modelling so the design would at least have warranted it a bit.
The fact that I discussed the uninspired design before mentioning Maslows hammer should have made it obvious that my opinion was related to the 3d print, not the miniITX steam machine aspect that would have fulfilled your “Einstellung Effect ” interpretation.
I see this far too often: printing plastic sheet?? Just buying a sheet and cutting it is too difficult?
Sometimes it is
I like the formfactor, but the 3 biggest fails of the steam machine, that this does not solves all of, are:
1 non-standard fan, why would you put that usbc in front of the fan. ideal: 80mm silent fan.
2 sepperate cpu and gpu chips, limiting speed, and preventing zero copy. ideal: apu w/24gb hbm.
3 price, at that price you woud be better of bying an xbox. ideal: 499$