Steam Machine watercooled: Valve’s modded console reminds us of Bane from the comics

Steam Machine mods are becoming quite common as modders get to spend more time with it. They range from unique faceplate designs to internal upgrades. For the first time, a water-cooled Steam Machine has surfaced, but the community seems to be focused on something else.

Shared by modder ‘techmagnet’ on the PcBuild subreddit, a short video shows the process of CNCing and installing a water block on the Steam Machine’s mainboard. The modder used the Makera Carvera Air desktop CNC to cut and carve the copper plate, as well as the clear acrylic water block. With some flexible tubing and rough case modding, techmagnet added the pump, radiator, and fan to the outside of the Steam Machine.

The finished product looks like a Frankenstein machine with tubes sticking out, like Bane from the comics or the Batman Arkham game series. As for performance results, the modder stated in a comment that temperatures dropped by 20 – 30 degrees on the CPU and GPU. This creates headroom that would allow for overclocking, but as of now, the Steam Machine doesn’t support it.

A lot of commenters, however, were more focused on the intro to the video where techmagnet is using an angle grinder with the wheel guard removed to hack into the Steam Machine box. A portion of people are more worried about the dangers of using a power tool in such a manner rather than the mod itself. Some others questioned the need for the mod since overclocking isn’t possible and the Steam Machine already has a solid air-cooling system.