Maersk container PC sitting on a desk with RTX 4090 for scale
The Container PC - RTX 4090 FE for scale.

Now that our Ryzen 7 7700X3D review is complete, I want to spend some time actually using this new processor to play games. I already tested it in 10 titles of course, but running the same test sequences repeatedly and actually sitting down for an hour or two of enjoyment are slightly different things. After all, this is the best value gaming CPU on the market (unless you're in the UK, where the 7800X3D is £10 cheaper for some reason) and I want to see what this thing can really do!

To that end, I've put together a small form factor gaming PC built into a cute Maersk shipping container from Overtek. This was designed to run Linux - CachyOS in the first instance - but I'm going to wipe that installation to give SteamOS a try now that it's ready for prime-time.

The specs are decent too, with an RX 9070 XT Hellhound kindly provided by PowerColor, a 2TB Lexar NM790 SSD and 16GB of Kingston Fury dual-channel DDR5-4800 RAM. That should give me a good sense of what gaming on Linux can offer, with performance and power that far exceeds the Steam Machine - albeit in a much larger and potentially noisier enclosure. (The Steam Machine is less than four litres in volume, while this container PC case is 12 litres, three times the size.)

Maersk Container PC: internals with 7700X3D
Here's what one side of the sandwich-style layout looks like. The CPU will be covered by a TR-AXP120-X67 low profile air cooler when fully assembled.

With that in mind then, I'm looking forward to seeing how Valve's OS compares to CachyOS. It's been a while since I used a Steam Deck regularly, so I hope that same effortless nature extends to a desktop and/or living room setting. The true test for me will be whether I'll be able to figure out how to get the BattleTech Advanced Universe mod installed, which I've thus far installed on Windows, macOS and Linux, and each time it's been a learning experience!

I'll also be trying to use this as my work machine, though I'll probably still have to turn to Windows for Photoshop and Premiere workflows as the Linux equivalents just aren't as capable - and, in our line of work, time is unfortunately of the essence.

If you have any questions or challenges about SteamOS or building your own Steam Machine, let me know in the comments below. I'd be happy to help out anyone that's interested in checking out Linux but is unsure about some aspects, whether that's performance, installation, part selection, compatibility and so on. Get in touch!