You guys Actually weren't kidding!
So- when I initially (over the last 8 months) saw everyone building their own PCs and running steamos or even bazzite, I thought that's a pretty neat idea. After the steam machine launch- 10x the talk. It sounded extremely legit to make it happen and I'm glad I did! I followed Linus tech tips for the hardware compatibility.
As a brand new PC builder I took my time over about 5ish hours doing the build. The next evening (midnight, dumb) I updated my ASRock bios and used RUFUS to add steamos to it. Those were extremely easy compared to the build actually and a lot less stress. Within 3 hours I got to downloading my first game! I can't wait to benchmark some larger and smaller games to get a feel for how the performance looks! I will likely need to step away from this cheap portable monitor though for the best results. Still trying to connect it to the t.v where I'm house sitting.
Also- would love to see more walkthroughs of this setup because I was struggling a bit to find a breakdown. Though Valve has some awesome instructions, I just got lost in the sauce with Ventoy- some video I watched said it was the best for steam os, really not the case. Rufus took some time to add the file all the way but when it was done, it was solid, no extra tries and my PC recognized it easily. Now it seems like all I do is get more games downloaded on some storage (have a 4tb USB one) and then get playing some sweet and savory games!
Same build I did: https://youtu.be/zvaO4DPM1ZM?is=JDiML\_QwBfL3BnR1 I almost went with the fractal design mini c case but decided this one looked cooler and was smaller (cubix g)
Edit 1: My ears are open for next step recommendations for steam os or desktop mode. I used to use Emudeck and really liked it but I may stay away from emulation on here for simplicity's sake.
Edit 2: Also- I really want to emphasize the fact that I'm not a techy person, I keep Internet stuff to a minimum. I'm a liberal arts major.. my work is in food production. So if I can do it, I definitely feel like most people can do this! I do believe that most of the people HERE already know how but I want to share about the simplicity of it.
Full disclosure: I HAVE dabbled in emulation stuff over the last few years, but that comes down to just tinkering with settings for the most part (and it's not even applicable to this setup at all). But that's just how I was predisposed to this- wanting something I could game with and tinker with more than the steam deck.
Anyway, with emulation you just follow some lengthy instructions or follow along with a video, same as this stuff, but this felt 6x easier in terms of the software. Setting up RetroArch or a handheld's OS was definitely more involved. I am certain that 3rd of 4th graders could handle this. Basically I don't think your age or skill set matters to build a PC and install SteamOs. And I'm sure it could be more involved if it wasn't steamOs, but this is a complete walk in Central Park.