General Analysis

In general, the system is exceptionally well built in regards to fit and finish. The ERA II chassis, which is unique to Steiger Dynamics, sports a sleek appearance paired with a professional design, which makes it a perfect fit for a home theater setup, and it's available in black or silver. My only complaint with the chassis is that getting to the regular SATA 2.5" drive is a bit more involved than it needs to be with the main storage drive being buried under the optical drive and many cables in a cramped location. Other than that, it features a couple of nice inclusions that will prove useful for HTPC fans, such as the HDMI port on the front panel with a cable that runs to the back of the chassis for easy plug and play with the graphics card. Pair that with the ASRock Z390M-ITX/ac motherboard, which has an Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3168 for Wi-Fi networking alongside Intel's I219V and I211 Gigabit LAN for gigabit LAN duties, and you have a nice feature set.

When it comes to specifications, the system is definitely tailored for gaming with the Intel i7 9700K providing exceptional day-to-day performance, while the ASUS GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Turbo can deliver playable frame rates at 4K with max settings in most titles. Furthermore, Steiger Dynamics offers an OC service and pre-overclocked the ASUS graphics card from its 1350 MHz core, 1750 MHz memory base clocks to 1540 MHz core and 1920 MHz on the memory. When it comes to storage, it too is more than fast enough with a Samsung 970 EVO Plus 500 GB NVMe drive for OS and critical applications alongside a Samsung 1 TB 860 QVO SATA3 SSD for storage. It should also be mentioned that this particular model features a front panel HDMI port with a pre-run cable to the graphics card for those using VR headsets.


The CPU cooler proves more than capable of keeping the CPU from hitting its thermal throttling point, while the extra venting and Noctua fan provide enough airflow for the graphics card to stay above 2010 MHz during stress testing. In fact, temperatures were more than reasonable considering the overall design and layout with the CPU and GPU both maxing out at 82°C. Sadly, noise levels were not as good as I had hoped with the entire system under heavy load peaking at 48 dBA. More realistic loads average 46 dBA, which, while a bit more palatable still isn't quite where I would like to see it. With this level of horsepower, it is a given that the system won't be silent. However, I would have preferred it to be in the 42-44 dBA range, where it would more easily be drowned out by games. When it comes to movies or music, it is a non-issue as the system remains nearly whisper quiet at idle to moderate loads with the noise range being 36-40 dBA. That said, Steiger Dynamics has informed me they are switching to a different blower style cooler in order to deliver a better noise profile which can only improve upon what I have seen here today. As for power draw, the system pulled a peak of 450 watts at the wall with gaming and other tests resulting in a power draw of 170-340 watts. Idle power was typical with the system averaging just under 60-watts when sitting at the desktop.


While overclocking the system is possible due to the K-series processor and Z390 motherboard, I would not recommend it. The smaller form factor in this configuration with the blower-style cooler means that as heat builds up, noise levels will only get worse. That said, for tweaking the system, the BIOS is fully featured and works just fine with no problems or issues to report when it comes to getting settings to stick.


My only other thoughts come down to the Couchmaster CYCON Steiger Dynamics included with this particular system. While I won't go entirely in depth here, I will say it worked just fine and proved to be a nice inclusion, making gaming on the big screen exceptionally quick and easy. While you can do this yourself, the fact that the CYCON has cable extensions and everything included makes it a nice option for those wanting something a bit nicer than what a quick DIY solution will provide. Also, don't mind the couch; its 1970's chic with a lovely crochet afghan blanket.


Overall, the Steiger Dynamics ERA HTPC is a decent system, and with the various extra features and options you can choose at checkout, it can be tailored to your needs for the perfect out of the box experience. For instance, if you listen to a lot of music and have a large Blu-ray collection, Steiger can pre-install Spotify and add PowerDVD 19 for physical Blu-ray disc playback. If you want to run a media center, they can set you up with Kodi, or if you want a quicker and easier solution, they can set up Plex for you. The system I am reviewing today came with all the extras pre-installed, and while I don't mind setting everything up myself, the plug and play experience was quite nice. In general, pricing is quite high for what you get, but considering the looks, appeal, and attention to detail, it might just be the ticket for your gaming/home cinema needs.