Steam Machine Feedback

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
J

jeepman32

Honorable
Jan 14, 2014
5
0
10,510
Hello Tomshardware community,
(Mods if this is in the wrong place, could you please move it?)
I would like to ask of your opinion on the system. It would be 330x270x80mm in dimension, have anywhere between 700w to 1000w PSU, full GPU and 4770k overclocked. It would include a positive pressure design and a custom heatsink that would occupy the whole of the motherboard. It would include a TV card for your country, up to 6 HDDs, up to a Blu Ray drive with a touch button start. It would have a brushed aluminium lid (silver) which wraps around the top and sides, and the front and rear would be black polycarbonate. The lid would also have a large vent, stretching from front to rear.

So, feedback on the idea? Who would want one? The price (estimated, I have no idea about wholesales) would be about $600-$700 GPU-less. It would include heatsink, motherboard, fans and the PSU. Also, would you buy the system as a system (GPU, HDDs and whatnot)?

Thanks,
jeepman32
 
Solution
Rammy
I've never seen a high capacity Flex ATX PSU, certainly not 700-1000W.
Even if we saw a GTX790 or R9 290X2 or something, you'd never need a 1000W PSU.
Quite a lot of high end ITX boards have 6 SATA ports but not a lot of people need anything like that, which is why most ITX cases support somewhere in the region of 3-4 2.5/3.5" bays. The cabling alone would be a nightmare.
There's a lot of Steam Machines, in hugely varying sizes. I think the Gigabyte is the smallest so far, but it's IGP and an external PSU so it's kinda aimed at a different market.
I still think for the things you have listed, those dimensions are hugely optimistic. If you have some sketches or whatever to prove me wrong, I'll happily admit my mistake, but I'm pretty...
Sort by date Sort by votes
Rammy

Rammy

Honorable
Sep 3, 2012
2,492
0
12,960
I'm not entirely sure what you are asking. If this is a machine you are working on building then any sketches/CAD you have might help people to form an opinion.
If it's purely speculative, then I think your dimensions and specs are kinda optimistic/nonsensical.
You don't mention ITX, but based on the dimensions it's the only thing that would fit. There is nothing that would warrant a 1000W PSU that you can run on ITX. Not to mention that a standard ATX PSU is 86mm high.
Also, 6 HDDs is a very odd choice. Very few motherboards support this many disc drives, very few people need that many, and 6 HDDs stacked together, without considering any mounting structure takes up roughly 1/3 of the volume of your case alone.

I think you have a bit of a non starter.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
J

jeepman32

Honorable
Jan 14, 2014
5
0
10,510
Okay, so, a Flex ATX PSU is about 70x40x (X)MM. Done, that will fit in. Secondly, 2.5" drives as a storage standard and a Z87e-ITX board; 6 SATAIII ports, with the 2.5" only being 12.7mm maximum height. Thirdly, I would too be surprised of 1000w on an ITX board, but it is a feasible option. Fourth, I was trying to gain a grasp on what kind of person would want to buy this kind of kit as a product, and the dimensions/specs are entirely factual; the Steam machine is similar at 304x322x50mm (12x12.7x2in) .
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Rammy

Rammy

Honorable
Sep 3, 2012
2,492
0
12,960
I've never seen a high capacity Flex ATX PSU, certainly not 700-1000W.
Even if we saw a GTX790 or R9 290X2 or something, you'd never need a 1000W PSU.
Quite a lot of high end ITX boards have 6 SATA ports but not a lot of people need anything like that, which is why most ITX cases support somewhere in the region of 3-4 2.5/3.5" bays. The cabling alone would be a nightmare.
There's a lot of Steam Machines, in hugely varying sizes. I think the Gigabyte is the smallest so far, but it's IGP and an external PSU so it's kinda aimed at a different market.
I still think for the things you have listed, those dimensions are hugely optimistic. If you have some sketches or whatever to prove me wrong, I'll happily admit my mistake, but I'm pretty confident I'm not.
For reference the Falcon Tiki is around 100mm*325mm*350mm and the Silverstone Raven RVZ01 is around 102mm*375mm*344mm both of which are (as far as I can tell) reasonably similar to what you are considering. I'm of course assuming you'd use a PCIe riser in a similar fashion to those cases. Both only support a slim ODD and less drive bays than you are suggesting though.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
J

jeepman32

Honorable
Jan 14, 2014
5
0
10,510
Okay, so the GPU would be suspended by a 2U riser card, and the power supply (not being fully Flex ATX (I know it is backplane)) would sit on top of the GPU. The "PWS-707-1S" from SuperMicro is about the same dimensions, if a bit longer than a GPU. Put it on top and then that is the power requirement fulfilled. 156mm of space is left over. A laptop DVD drive is 120x120mm, and underneath its profile it can fit 4 2.5" drives. One mSata, one CD drive, 6 SATA filled. Heatsink occupies only available space and does not use more than is available. So, a bit of maths. For the width, 16cm (because the PCIe mounts on the board, which is about 1cm)+10cm=26cm. For the length, it is the longest component, hence 32.6cm. Height, being a little bit optimisic, is 4+4cm=8cm Adding in tolerances for external dimensions 27cm,34cm,9cm.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
TrueOtaku

TrueOtaku

Honorable
Feb 14, 2013
19
0
10,520
My question is..if that board only has 6 sata boards and they are all occupied by HDDs.. whats going to connect that bluray player? Second who needs 6 HDDs? im slightly confused..You can always just get less hardrives with more storage.. Are you going to be putting 6 4tb HDDs in there? who needs 24 tbs of space in a steambox?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Rammy

Rammy

Honorable
Sep 3, 2012
2,492
0
12,960
Those dimensions are definitely a little more realistic (though I imagine perhaps still a bit down on where they might be).
If you go up to 90mm depth and beyond, it's perhaps worth considering a standard ATX or SFX PSU.

As a general observation, pictures would definitely help convey your idea.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
J

jeepman32

Honorable
Jan 14, 2014
5
0
10,510
I'll have to cad up a snazzy design in the morning, but everything fits together. Because the PSU is only 40mm high, it sits on top of the GPU, and the ATX PSU design is a bit wasteful of space, and SFX only goes to 450w.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom