We Build a Budget SFF Steam Deck OS Gaming PC for Under $250!

[@arcaderacer586]

I have really missed these type videos from ETA! Love them!

[@PipereaRR]

Cool video as always, I have one request, it would be really nice if you could do sort of a comparison video using a PC like this, comparing the performance between Linux and Windows 11. It would be really interesting to see the performance difference using a lower end video card.

[@Congable]

funny how I just picked an old PC from my house store room when cleaning a while ago and saw this video💀💀

[@ak-ut7zy]

the signs are very clear 🍀

[@seguramlk]

Just put Linux on it

[@ranjitmandal1612]

💀

[@BREEZYM6015]

What are the specs?

[@user-tf4gk4ov9t]

This is great idea for me too. I just want to gamr on a budget. I don't mind if its just low-med. Settings.

[@matthewbond375]

Great video! Thank you for featuring gaming on truly budget-friendly platforms. I love it!

[@Sup_D]

A comparison between "Radeon RX 6400" & "Radeon 890M" would be nice.

[@fanis4093]

I expect 890M would be stronger, close to RX 6500X

[@ChrizMagadia]

How bout 680M or 780M

[@Sup_D]

@@ChrizMagadia 680M is RDNA 2, which isn't powerful at all. 780M had already been tested with other cards (Tech Power Up, has the data).

[@patsy02]

@@Sup_D 780M is an incremental upgrade over 680M. Talking 15-5% faster depending on the game.

[@Crustenscharbap]

RX 6400 is about as fast as the 780M but slower as the 890M.

[@gdjaybee742]

The Lenovo SFF desktops have the 16x PCI-E free. The drive cage obscure the length of the video card, but that is easily circumvented. This placing of the 16x PCI-E slot next to PSU is definitely done on purpose to dissuade educated consumers, or small companies who know simple PC standard upgrade path, and they implement this after the Optiplex 4090 series. This is the biggest reason I stopped looking at Optiplex SFF desktops for HTPC purposes.

[@Theendgamelv3]

I got real lucky on a a HP Envy Desktop which has a Intel 10th gen i5 with 12GB of RAM and 1TB NVME SSD all for $120. Trying to get a 3050 6GB right now for $125.

[@KH88898]

@@Theendgamelv3 congrats! From where? Do share!

[@blackhorseteck8381]

Thus 200'ish series (Ally, laptop and now SSF) is a great idea for the upcoming festive season.

[@JoJoDramo-ih7qk]

nah, waiting z2

[@NKG416]

love the budget linux build like this!

[@Kachow_9590]

This channel is the bazzite ambassador. I actually tried bazzite because of one the previous videos and I love it now.

[@shallotsubliminal7313]

Well I found Ryzen 1700x + GTX 1060 + 32GB DDR4 3600 RAM, Gigabyte AB350 Gaming 3 motherboard with a Zalman case and 600W for 100€ 😆

[@nelsonr.9450]

😯

[@ranjitmandal1612]

Amazing

[@InnerFire6213]

I have that same mobo. Just upgraded from a 2600 to a 5700x3d. Oldie but it’s still great today should last for another 5 years easily

[@Gigi-zy1kx]

Score

[@BREEZYM6015]

How much is that in U.S. dollars?

[@unicodeunicorn]

RX 6400 can't use more than x4 pcie lanes anyway. There is no need to plug it in the x16 slot

[@nickfury1279]

My sister runs this exact PC currently, with the same GPU. She has 32 GB of RAM in it, running Windows 10. Great budget rig

[@nelsonr.9450]

I just love how the hp elitedesk looks like a console 😁 some day I will have to get one! I think the best cpu is the 8700, for a OEM.

[@Gigi-zy1kx]

USB C. Don't forget that.

[@budge1972]

I turned an old works hp405 sff Ryzen 2200ge into a Bazzite rig and love it.

[@skorpysk]

Recently built myself a 100$ gaming pc, i use as a console PC got a 20$ Dell optiplex 3010, 30$ i7 upgrade, 50$ 1050ti and a 10$ 16gb ram kit

[@exocet2482]

@@skorpysk that kind of build is so cool, I’m building my gaming rig the same way. And since cloud gaming is OP on old hardware it’s really satisfying to run AAA games on ultra settings.

[@TheGameBench]

These systems are not limited to a single slot card. You can run a dual slot card in the x4 slot as it is open ended. It's not ideal, but for those wanting to run a different OS with a 1650, 3050 6GB or a 4060 LP (with a PSU upgrade) it can be done. Yes, there's a slight performance loss, but even with that around 11% drop, you're far better of than any single slot card. Besides, you're taking a performance hit running the 6400 in a Gen3 slot besides. So, it absolutely can be done. And if you wanted to replicate this build and run the dual slot Gigabyte 6400, you can, as the x4 slot in the 60 and 70 series systems are Gen3.

[@Kevin-vh6nn]

TFX-PFC500W or ITX-PFC500W Mini ITX please search that above, i know the brand gets a bad name in the gaming world but would that PSU work in these sff and we could now use the x16 with no problems at all? i just plan to use a 6600 or 7700 for now ty

[@dividion8102]

And the 6400 only uses 4 PCIe lanes anyway so it shouldn't even take a performance hit. I'd be curious to see how an Arc A380 (w/ Windows) stacks up against this, since you can get those Low Profile and they're essentially the same price for a new one (and should be about 20% faster).

[@TheGameBench]

@@dividion8102 Exactly. The Arc cards are another story. Since you can't enable Above 4G Decoding/Re-BAR, you're going to take a minimum of a 15% hit to the averages, but in some games it really impacts the frame rate consistency to the point it just is unplayable. You can try to do the BIOS mod that enables it, but I've seen people have nothing but problems doing it and it's pretty easy to brick the board. It don't feel it's really worth it when the 1650 is about $100 on eBay these days in auctions and just performs better in these systems... if you're running a Windows based machine.

[@dividion8102]

@@TheGameBench Good to know, thanks. I still haven't tried an Arc card myself. I'm interested in seeing how Battlemage performs.

[@ranjitmandal1612]

😮

[@NandR]

I'm building a 7040 PC right now. Upgraded my 2060 Super to a 4070 Super. Got a 7040 from goodwill for $130 with an i7-6700 and 16gb ram. With my 2060 Super and Xreal Air Glasses I'll have a mobile little gaming pc.

[@Kanivalos80]

In my country this pc would cost ~350- 400 eur (prebuild+6400). Still nice if you dont wanna bother building a cheap am4 pc.

[@TheVilivan]

Seems like a great value PC! Also I would love to see 1% frame lows, not just the average framerate, that can be a really important metric

[@ReaperCet]

Game bar compact mode basically turns your PC into a console already

[@just_ppe]

or Steam in Big Picture mode?

[@ReaperCet]

@@just_ppe yeah, but game bar is at system level, so you can boot into all of your various launchers from there. They work well together.

[@newstodayyt1]

Yea and when you have linux certain games won't work you'll have better performance on Linux but it's really not worth it

[@nempk1817]

My man living a delusion.

[@ReaperCet]

@@newstodayyt1 yeah, I tried using a steam deck like a gaming PC, but having to do everything through some sort of workaround gets tiresome.

[@docbrody]

This is a great theme for a video. Super low cost gaming pc.

[@2020Tech4U]

opti plex's and a lil TLC will be the best entry to PC gaming for a while, if your looking to learn how to build a PC this is a good start cause u have to add a GPU a SSD maybe even a PSU if some PCIe cables are needed and a lil extra juice. Just make sure the Optiplex has 4 digits like 4070 in it's name, stay AWAY from 3 digit unit's those are TOO old. Awesome video as usual bro

[@JohnSmith-qn3ob]

The top slot on that motherboard is an open ended 4x slot. You can still connect a 16x card into it, it will just run at 4x. You really should plug a 2 slot GPU into the top 4x slot to test it.

[@ZaberfangX]

Good part about steam os like over windows you can put it to sleep come back where you left off, sleep mode just better to deal with.

[@christianr.5868]

Can you wake from sleep with a controller on bazzite as well?

[@ZaberfangX]

@@christianr.5868 don't know when I used bazzit was before the wake from Bluetooth as I moved to cachyos but I do miss putting my PC to sleep why gaming then coming back start playing.

[@ZaberfangX]

@@christianr.5868 don't know I change from bazzite was before the wake up controller update

[@ZaberfangX]

@@christianr.5868 I like to comment but KZbin deleting anything I say lol

[@matthewaltepeter8941]

That PCIe x4 slot is open ended and it’s been proven time and time again that the performance loss using x4 instead of x16 is minimal. You’d obviously still need a SFF card but you could put a much more powerful card into this system. I have this same Optiolex that I put a SFF 1650 into the x4 slot, with Steam booting directly into Big Picture mode in Windows, and have no issues, and get better performance than what’s shown here

[@maniack56]

I have this exact build collecting dust, I might have to install bazzite and emudeck and turn this into a living room emulation console.

[@1sparkyj]

Those CPU temps on Cyberpunk get a llittle toasty. I bought a Optiplex MT with a i7 8700, and am in the process of case swapping to fit a tower cooler. Works really well, such a bargain machine

[@MalamIbnMalam]

Giving me ideas for my future kids. Why spend $500 on whatever the newest PlayStation/Xbox will be at that time when one could do something like this

[@jenn_raye]

If you're looking to buy a used RX 6400, I'd also suggest looking for the Dell OEM RX 6500 (non-XT). It's also a single-slot low profile card and performs very similarly to the 6400 but just a tiny bit better. I snagged one for around $80 and I see them listed for around that price quite regularly on eBay.

[@Evercade_Effect]

Thank you for making this video and showing people with minimal effort. You can have a great gaming PC and not have to give in to the console overlords.

[@PavchBavin]

Hello Mr. ETA Prime Do you have a preference of Bazzite over ChimeraOS? If so, why? Sorry if you answered this after 4 minutes. I guess worse case scenario, I look impatient and you get user engagement lol

[@SavingPrivateBob]

I'd always recommend spending another 4-5 months of saving money and building. You have to live with your build for years, don't take shortcuts.

[@srvuk]

Pretty good indeed for the price.

[@GT5suprAwesome]

I went with an hp elitedesk because of the slot placement. you can fit a 2 slot gpu in the hp. I bought one back in june that came with a 8700 + r7 240 gpu for 100$. ripped it out and slapped a 3050lp in there.

[@Gigi-zy1kx]

Nice job eta.

[@AntonioGiungato]

Go Steam OS! Go Bazzite! Go Linux!

[@drewnewby]

The Optiplex 7060 with 8700 is overpriced for used off lease right now. 8400 / 8500 based systems are half, and leave room in the budget for the 3050 LP, which is much faster.

[@Ruiso7]

Don't think you can get one of those 3050LP cards in there... unless theu come in a single slot variant?

[@drewnewby]

@Ruiso7 You technically can in this unit, but I meant other SKUs than the Optiplex 7060.

[@BREEZYM6015]

I have a PC that has an i7 8700k and GTX 1060 6GB. What GPU should I upgrade to?

[@kr00tman]

Fantastic video as always, how would the 6400 compare to say a 1030 or a 1650 low profile, both of those should fit in there right?

[@DrocDoc]

I got a dell 3020s and got a rx 6400 , played a few games on it then lost interest.. damn I love ya prime

[@uawanalickmee]

With just a few fan and case mods my 4790 stays under 65 while doing just over 4.0ghz pulling only about 45 watts. I just love how well old hardware is aging since AAA games took a dump.

[@promarebs3895]

4790 with which gpu?

[@leandrostivensnogueira8708]

Sensacional a proposta deste video. Obrigado.

[@barreraaj]

I'd be curious to see how the Arc A310 compares in performance to the rx6400 in this build

[@Gigi-zy1kx]

I tried it when the gpus first came out. On a optiolex 5050 and an HP elite desk. Works great. The GPU drivers are alot better know than when originally released. Intel cpu + Intel gpu. What could go wrong? Lol

[@falconspirit7349]

Not bad especially for price

[@SwapnanilC1]

Try using cachyos handheld edition it is going to perform much better than stock bazzite

[@anthonyayre2910]

Nice job

[@RetroCrisis]

Is the 6400 the most current SFF Radeon card? I can't seem to find anything newer

[@chrisk3127]

nothing newer than last gen from nvidia or amd

[@bigdeelearning6406]

Did this to my hp already windows 10 coming to a end next year

[@Blind-Ambition]

I picked up the Lenovo variant that had 32GB RAM and (for some reason) an 8700K. Decided to put a Quafro T1000 in there instead

[@AClockhead103]

Finally something normal people can relate to

[@PopRockRevival]

These types of computers are all most people need instead of custom builds that cost over $1,000. All that needs to be upgraded is the graphics card and ram every few years. They're just as good and do the exact same thing. my Dell Precision 3420 16 GB RAM, i7-6700, NVIDIA Quadro K1200 still runs great.

[@bboy-oq3yk]

If you build something like this, what are your options on starting it from the couch? Via controller, wake on lan etc.. Shutting down us straight forward from the controller but I would. Really like to hear how you could go about it

[@balex96]

Hp elitedesk 800 g4 sff would be a better choice. More PCIe slots, dual M.2 slots, space for 3.5" and 2.5"

[@Storm-zr5qw]

Just buy a used rx6600 that will play any game in 1080p, sure it probably wont fit but there are work around. Snagged a used rx7600 8gb for just under 200$

[@dorktales254]

I'm building a living room PC, trying to be cost-effective and aiming for 1440p upscaled to 4k. Any suggestions on a build?

[@newstodayyt1]

Dell optiplex 3080 I5 10th gen rtx 4060 low profile apevia 400w and 24 pin to 6 pin dell adaptor

[@IncognitoActivado]

4k is a super-gimmick; not worth it.

[@dorktales254]

@@IncognitoActivado I just need to fill all the pixels on my TV

[@IncognitoActivado]

@@dorktales254 Not my problem.

[@evilcrashbandicootthetouho2753]

Everything is steam deck now

[@Hummingbird-sh9cw]

Thank you

[@Xx3SPAZxX]

This could be great for a dedicated streaming machine for mobile gaming. Set it up to be steam linked into. I wonder what you could do with $300?

[@brutesque]

I'd love to build something like that, but the case is still a bit big.

[@HundredKnight]

realistically, if you wanted a console-like experience with console-like graphics you could get a PS4

[@gontsekganyago4079]

That optiplex is x3 that money in my country 😢, the graphics card is also x3

[@thetechrealist]

Unfortunately, if that’s true, I recommend to pick up a different hobby because that’s terrible. Grab a bicycle & ride around instead

[@gontsekganyago4079]

@@thetechrealist ha! Funny guy😂

[@bluetech2809]

you can tell when it's a slow news period for mini PCs huh

[@razortotal]

@ETA PRIME - upper x4 slot is just 10% slower on average in this case, if not used with high end GPU, so if viewer has option to go single slot (100% fps) vs dual slot (85-90% fps) I would pick better dualslot card and has more fps even with bottleneck made by x4 slot, but you can go stuff like low profile RTX cards against something like 6400/1030 etc

[@garrysutcliffe6254]

Brilliant

[@jacobmohr1934]

thanks for the vid! question though: what is the benefit of using this linux build over a windows 10/11 build? Is there a performance based advantage going on here? thanks!

[@remixedcat]

linux is way less bloated than windows!

[@sputnik13]

Rtx a400 and a1000 are low profile single slot, when are you going to try those?

[@tomba27]

Does bazzite Support out of the box the Xbox USB dongles for the xboxjoypads? Oh the Steam Deck you needed to add the drivers for it

[@shockcrew5275]

The airflow clearance of that GPU looked worrisome, but 75*C at full usage is amazing. I upgraded a Lenovo M72 sff with a Xeon E3-1260L, 2 SSDs, 16gb DDR3 and a Yeston RX550 4gb low profile and with FSR getting implemented in more and more games, that PC still has some life left in it.

[@Lottofatto]

Bro how and why are there still GPUs being made with only 4 gigs of vram. That is insanity

[@kieranmccaffrey8671]

What's the most powerful low profile GPU you would put into this machine ?

[@vsuperbhat]

Hey I have a similar dell OptiPlex with i5-6400 and PSU of 180w. Do you think this PSU will support this GPU ? Thanks in advance

[@Ninjaman32a]

So basically it's a Steam console now. Interesting

[@joshuakastler7837]

This is something I'm very interested in doing, maybe paint the case to make it easier for my wife to stomach next to the TV. Would it be worth it to bump the ram up to 32G and a higher end GPU for slightly higher performance or would the CPU be the bottleneck there? Edit: Nevermind, After watching the whole video there is very little that I actually do that would be limited by this system

[@seekerofarcades4634]

🧐nice👍👍👍👍

[@Witchling86]

What type of Linux do you recommend for turning a asus laptop with a rtx 3050 in to a steam deck look alike?

[@nathanddrews]

Question for ETA and the chat... what would be your go-to OS/UI for a bullet-proof (super stable) and kid-friendly setup (parental controls)? I've already got hardware figured out, just looking for software... I don't need Steam, mostly just emulation.

[@ranjitmandal1612]

Remove the PSU a bit sidewards then install rx 6600

[@ChrizMagadia]

Whats would be a step up gpu for this build for better perfomance but affordable.

[@whisperjar4926]

Do you ever sell any of your builds.

[@nicomedesmadriz]

Uhhh the pre owned 6400 is very convenient

[@johngangemi1361]

The HP SFFs have the x16 slot in the correct spot. Not sure about the Lenovos. It is a shame Dell did this.

[@chadbealer4708]

Where was this four weeks ago? I just built one of these. Lol

[@daniel326935]

Question is if this it’s better than. A $350 mini pc ?😔

[@lifedroid]

Bazzite or garuda?

[@ranma8890]

Please revisit 5700G with bazzite

[@pablovi77]

Is ther any difference to just plugin the Steam Deck to a monitor???

[@Alessio.B87]

I have an extra Nvidia T1000 8gb from work, is the 6400 still better for linux?

[@MrWill7980]

How well would this work on an optiplex 5040? Right now I'm using one as a batocera box. It has an Intel i3 in it

[@simonbondar2151]

Hey I have a Question Does Bazzite os have a App Store, and can you install VLC on the OS

[@furioustester4056]

Im really good with new cpu, but anything beyond 11th gen intel and 5th gen amd, i have no idea about, since i started learning when am5 released, so would a 4060 work well with an 8500?

[@GM-bm1zg]

Buen video

[@siriuswinter1065]

damn i wish i could get these for under 250.. over here these are 300-400 buckaroos european

[@user-tf4gk4ov9t]

How about the temp. when playing for few hours?

[@AgentMoler]

6600xt is getting very cheap. $200 ish, would really make this a strong value for 1080p

[@Kevin-vh6nn]

ITX-PFC500W Mini ITX or TFX-PFC500W please search that above, i know the brand gets a bad name in the gaming world but would that PSU work in these sff and we could now use the x16 with no problems at all? i just plan to use a 6600 or 7700 for now Actually i plan to get a dell optiplex MT bc it has more room/airflow and usually better PSU, but this info above is for sff users and my general knowledge as well

[@skyline8121]

Question; isn't PCIexpress x16 power limited in SFF computers (HP, Dell, Lenovo)??? HP Elitedesk 800 g4 manual says 75watts pcie x16 it's tower version

[@razortotal]

any PCIe x16 is limited to 75W :) port itself cant handle more safely :)

[@skyline8121]

​@razortotal I get that, but in the case of SFF computers , they have x16 slots 3.0 in the case of this use scenario but power limited, manual says it but I haven't heard any mention it in any video, just the tower version have the full 75 watts for the x16

[@APOWER385]

Which operating system is it?

[@deandre1988]

What about freesync and high refresh rate on TV ?

[@CubbyTech]

Curious - why Bazzite? No mention of Steam itself - assume you're playing Steam games?

[@DowneyMax]

Yes

[@christianr.5868]

He’s playing steam games. Bazzite is a steamOS alternative