Build your own

Around two hours for a first build if you take your time, less once you have done it before. There is no soldering and no special tooling, just a screwdriver and patience with cable routing.

Because comparing eight parts across five options each is the thing that stops people from starting. One pick per slot keeps the list orderable in a single sitting. Swapping a part is fine, but then the compatibility check becomes yours, and the case, cooler and power supply are where conflicts usually appear.

No. 1080p, 1440p and 4K describe what most current games do at reasonable settings, often with FSR upscaling. A demanding new release can land well below that and older games far above it. Use the tiers to narrow your choice, not as a promised frame rate.

Everything. The GPU is the part that decides your frame rate and it can be replaced on its own, which is the main advantage over a Steam Machine. Storage and memory are straightforward too, and the case, power supply and cooler carry over to your next build.

Official SteamOS supports AMD graphics. An Nvidia card will not give you a working SteamOS desktop, so every build here uses a Radeon GPU or an AMD APU.