Steam Machine ‘competitor’ with AM4 platform claims DDR5 support and uses mini PC chassis with no discrete GPU support
Most Steam Machine clones we have seen so far may offer similar specs and similar price, but they have issue competing at the same form factor. There’s simply no way any company can make such a small PC unless they go full custom like Valve (CPU and GPU on a single board). Putting the ITX form factor into a similar size requires some innovative thinking, such as the custom project from Jacob Terkelsen .
Now, a Steam Machine-style PC listing has started appearing on Reddit, claiming to offer a compact SteamOS system with desktop-class AMD graphics at a much lower price than Valve’s own hardware. The listing was shared on Reddit as a 2TB model priced at $688. First issue? The image shows a white mini PC that appears similar to CHUWI’s UBox design, but the claimed hardware does not match that type of system.
Chuwi Ubox
The specs do not line up
The higher configuration lists an AMD Ryzen 5 5500 processor, Radeon RX 6750 GRE 10GB graphics, 16GB DDR5 memory, a JGINYUE B350I-PLUS motherboard and M.2 NVMe storage. The actual title for offer refers to 16GB DDR5 memory.
Source: Reddit
That is where the first problem appears. Ryzen 5 5500 is an AM4 desktop processor, and AM4 does not support DDR5. The GPU claim is also difficult to match with the system shown in the listing. Radeon RX 6750 GRE is a desktop discrete graphics card, not a mobile chip. CHUWI’s UBox uses mobile APU hardware with integrated Radeon graphics and no discrete GPU option. There’s simply no room for it, so it’s physically impossible.
The price also raises questions
The listing reportedly asks 4,680 RMB, or around $688, for the 2TB version. That sounds low once the individual components are checked. I did some digging on Chinese platform, just to see if its possible to build something like this. The cheapest RX 6750 GRE 10GB listing I found was 1,859 RMB (dual-slot and dual-fan so it would never fit). A 2TB PCIe 3.0 SSD starts around 1,199 RMB, 16GB DDR4 memory is around 449 RMB, Ryzen 5 5500 is around 600 RMB, and the JGINYUE B350I-PLUS board is listed around 268 RMB.
That already totals roughly 4,375 RMB. Add 400-450W flex PSU and we are already surpassing the budget. And we are still short for the case, CPU cooler, assembly, seller margin, shipping and warranty. It also does not include a controller as the photo suggests.
The hardware configuration is possible in a normal small-form-factor PC. It would need DDR4 memory and enough space for a desktop RX 6750 GRE graphics card.
So stay safe out there and do not believe every Steam Machine-style offer you see. Well, many still don’t believe Valve’s own pricing above $1,000, but that’s a different issue.
Source:
China has cloned a White Steam Machine, with 6750GRE (10GB), R5 5500 and 16 gig DDR5 with SteamOS, at 2TB for 688 Dollar
by u/kaldeqca in steammachine
