PS5 APUs Repurposed for DIY Steam Machines
Gamers have found an innovative way to build custom Steam Machines using repurposed crypto-mining hardware based on the PS5 APU. The BC-250 board, which costs around $300 on eBay, includes a slightly cut-down version of the PS5 APU with six Zen 2 cores and a 24 CU RDNA 2 graphics chip.
With SteamOS and some tweaks, users can get playable performance across a range of games at 1080p. Modders have been able to unlock the two additional CPU cores, bringing the total to eight, and get the GPU's full 40 CUs working, leading to improved gaming performance.
In testing, Tom's Hardware found that with the full GPU available, the system was able to achieve performance close to that of a real Steam Machine, which costs over $1,000. The BC-250 board can be paired with old SSDs and Linux for a low-cost gaming PC.
However, users should be aware that they may run into compatibility issues with certain games, weird performance quirks, and potentially long load times due to poor storage.