When I first saw the Steam Machine at Valve’s office back in October 2025, the company told me that it’d release the files to 3D print new faceplates for the mini gaming PC. And while there have been plenty of 3D-printed faceplates out there, a stonemason has cut a Steam Machine faceplate from the same marble Michelangelo used.
I spotted these faceplates on Reddit, where user /u/GinoWT showed off three faceplates they made from different stones. The first of these was Statuario from Carrara, which is “the same quarry basin Michelangelo worked from,” according to the thread. They made faceplates from Sahara Noir (with a beautiful gold stripe going across it) and Roman Travertine as well.
Each slab is 5–6mm thick and bonded onto a 3D printed faceplate. That’s super thin, but according to the post, that’s to keep the weight down and prevent cracking. The result looks incredible. The Statuario one especially pops, contrasting really nicely off the black chassis of the mini PC.
If you really want to get your hands on one of these faceplates for your own Steam Machine, you can. It looks like /u/GinoWT is preparing a small batch to sell. They’ve thrown together a website where you can enter your name and email, and they’ll send along the pricing and shipping info whenever the marble plates are ready.
The biggest question I’ have about these faceplates is whether or not they negatively impact Steam Machine temperatures and performance. I did reach out to /u/GinoWT to ask if they’ve tested thermal performance, and they told me they’ve been running the Steam Machine daily with the faceplate attached and haven’t noticed any problems. They also said they’d be running a stress test with the stock faceplate against the marble one to see if there’s a difference. If that happens, I’ll update this article with that information.
Even though the Steam Machine was quite a bit more expensive than Valve was planning, I love all the cool things I’ve seen people doing with it. As more units make their way into the wild as reservations are filled, I can only imagine the incredible things people are going to do with it.
Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra
