G1 Pro

MInisforum G1 Pro, a little more than the 2TB steam machine, currently see it on Amazon for $1439 USD. Has a vastly superior CPU, a proper desktop RTX5060, and 32GB of RAM. It'll run circles around the steam machine all day.

Compare it to the minisforum g1 pro or the Framework desktop with the 385 in it. Both are comparable in price to the 2tb model (and would actually be cheaper if they were able to be specced with 16gb ddr5 instead of 32), same or very slightly larger volume, and absolutely smoke it. There's no excuse

The minisforum g1 pro is also 3.8L and packs a desktop 5060, an 8945hx (16/32 zen4 cores) and 32GB RAM and is selling for ~$1450. Sure, its ~$100 more than the 2tb model, but just the extra RAM alone is worth ~$200, so there's really no excuse for valve IMO

Basically this. I see advice from people saying, "You can get comparable performance for the same price with the Framework Desktop!" Except, no, you can't, because the base "price" for that computer has no SSD. Once you configure it to be, you know, a computer you can actually use, it's like $500-80

https://store.minisforum.com/products/minisforum-g1-pro-gaming-pc this is about the same price of the 2TB/with controller but has a desktop 5060 in it and far better CPU and 32 gb of ram

This seems like a better deal but no SteamOS. 8945HX, 5060 8GB, 32GB RAM, 1TB NVME. $100 more than the 2TB model. https://store.minisforum.com/products/minisforum-g1-pro-gaming-pc

I mean sound is entirely dependant on components used, if you use a CPU cooler or a GPU that has high RPM fans then it'll always be loud regardless of the case. Case fans are generally quieter than component fans since they run at a lower RPM (and there's fans like Noctua that are made to be quiet).