Building my DIY Steam Machine - Part 1
I took a chance on an AMD BC-250 from AliExpress for under AU$200 delivered, and seven days later a surprisingly well-packed piece of very unusual AMD hardware landed on my desk.
Building my DIY Steam Machine
A few days before Christmas, here I am unboxing My New ASRock AMD BC-250 16GB PS5 APU — A bang for the buck machine I picked up from AliExpress
Late in 2025, a very curious piece of hardware began circulating among PC enthusiasts, budget builders, and DIY tinkerers — the AMD BC-250. Originally designed as a cryptomining board using a cut-down PlayStation 5 APU, this unusual board has found a second life as an affordable experimental platform for gaming, Linux, and home projects.
I recently pulled the trigger on one of these units via AliExpress — and here’s how it went.
💰 Price, Purchase & Shipping
I ordered the AMD BC-250 board on 16 December 2025 for AUD 179.19, with the total coming to AU$197.12 after shipping. For a board that normally trades for far more on eBay and other marketplaces, that’s a very attractive pricepoint and one that’s perfect for tinkering or building an experimental system. wellous.com
To my surprise, the item shipped quickly and arrived seven days later on 23 December 2025 — right in time for the holidays.
📦 Packaging & First Impressions
When the parcel arrived it was well packed in protective packaging, with plenty of foam and bubble wrap to ensure the board was intact. For an AliExpress order, it arrived in excellent condition with no visible damage or bent components.
Unboxing it for the first time felt like uncovering a piece of hardware history — this board isn’t just another GPU or motherboard clone. It’s a repurposed mining unit built around an APU derived from the PS5 silicon, complete with Zen 2 CPU cores and RDNA 2-class graphics.
🧠 What Exactly Is the BC-250?
So what did I actually get?
The AMD BC-250 isn’t a typical graphics card or desktop board. Internally, it’s based on a six-core Zen 2 APU with RDNA 2 graphics and 16 GB of GDDR6 memory shared between CPU and GPU. This makes it surprisingly capable for general workloads and even some gaming when properly configured.
Unlike standard PC motherboards, it’s built more like a server-style insert board with passive cooling, DisplayPort output, USB ports, and a single 8-pin power connector. Getting it working outside of its original mining rig does require a bit of hardware know-how, especially around power and cooling — but many builders have had fun turning it into something useful.
🛠 Plans & Next Steps
Having received the board in perfect shape, my next steps include:
Testing performance under Linux — community documentation shows that the board can be made to run mainstream games and workloads with the right drivers and kernel support.
Building a custom case and cooling solution — since the board was designed for passive mining use, good airflow and proper ventilation will be essential.
Benchmarking — comparing real-world performance against conventional systems and seeing where this card shines (and where it doesn’t).
🧾 Final Thoughts
For just under AU$200 delivered, getting a piece of hardware like the AMD BC-250 feels like a steal — especially considering how rare these boards have become on the second-hand market. If you enjoy hardware projects, Linux gaming builds, or unconventional PC setups, this board is an intriguing item to add to your bench.
Stay tuned for a full setup walkthrough and performance benchmarks — coming soon!