Entertainment boxes that go near a television are all the rage nowadays. Look at the success of the Roku and entertainment apps on Playstation/Xbox consoles. Now we have the Steam boxes going into testing with the capability of high end gaming on the biggest screen in the house. However, haven’t we had this ability for quite some time by connecting a PC to our television? The answer of course is yes and no, yes you could have attached a bulky PC to your TV and gamed on that screen, but nothing as compact as a console.

Manufacturers are beginning to answer the call for small form factor hardware in droves. From SFF coolers to high end mini-ITX motherboards. Without this small hardware many of the console designs and Steam box designs would be next to impossible. Of course Steam will be also releasing their OS for free so you could build your own Steam box. A great start would definitely be a high end mini-ITX motherboard.