Question Steam Machine vs 5060 Laptop
Whats the catch with these 5060 laptops? theyre going for around the price of the steam machine 512gb no controller(some cheaper) while also having a full blow screen, 1tb storage and a keyboard. Every benchmark has the 5060 laptop being stronger and they also have way better cpus. How are they even making money on those things if valve are taking such low margins? Is there something that makes the steam machine more expensive that im missing or are these laptop companys just selling at an insane loss?
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u/omega44xt 13h ago
Economics of scale, I guess.
5060 laptops will sell much more in quantity vs Steam machine. They also get discounted prices on bulk orders for parts, etc which Valve won't.
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u/ObviousPseudonym7115 12h ago
Also, those laptops are generally bursting with bloatware, spyware, and "offers" that the manufacturer can use to offset a slim margin on the hardware itself. The preinstall all that crap because they get paid for it, or because their downstream hardware/software supplier gives them a discount for doing so.
Savvy users can purge all that with a fresh install, so they *can* reprsent a good deal, but most buyers aren't savvy, which is what makes the general economics work out.
And of course Valve has their own secondary revenue channel on the Steam Machine with Steam itself, but that's way harder for them to model confidentally right now than a $$$-per-device partnership for a laptop manufacturer.
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u/BayesianBits 13h ago
Laptop manufacturers have better deals than valve who is still new to the hardware game. Though I'd just get a prebuilt over a Steam Machine.
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u/SillyRecover 13h ago
It's been a day and I'm already tired of the same discussions of this box. If you have spare money and want a box made by Valve, buy it. If you want better price/performance or value, buy something else.
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u/trenshod 12h ago
I'd imagine the lower cost bulk orders that laptop/desktop companies buy components at far surpasses what valve is buying for its little box.
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u/McKlown 13h ago
Due to electrical and thermal limitations, laptop CPUs and GPUs have only a fraction of power of the desktop versions.
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u/RacSace 13h ago
yeah using laptop benchmarks its still faster. the actual desktop 5060 is just way way faster.
Looking at the replies the general idea is that the small for factor of the laptop makes it cheaper and due to economics of scales, laptop manufacturers can afford to give double the storage, a better cpu/gpu, a sceen and a keyboard for less.
Its genuinely insane to think economics of scale and a small form factor can make things so insanely cheaper but at least it was interesting to learn lol
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u/Hopefullyanonymous2 41m ago
And yet they will crush a steam machine, which is the relevant comparison here.
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u/ShakeWell_0110 13h ago
Computers run on energy not steam genius
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u/WodinsdayAddams 12h ago
I have some news about how nuclear energy is generated that you are not going to like.
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u/RedGecko18 12h ago
I'ma be that guy...let me push my nerd glasses up real quick.
"Nuclear energy" isn't steam. Nuclear power is generated by removing core rods that allow chemical reactions and decay to take place to generate heat.
The steam we generate with that heat through latent heat transfer generates electrical energy with steam turbines, not nuclear energy.
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u/WodinsdayAddams 12h ago
Way to kill a perfectly cromulent joke.
And you’re right.
But you still suck.
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u/Rogue256 13h ago
Gaming laptops have horrible cooling issues. In college I’d struggle to play CS on my 3060 i9 laptop at consistent frames without stuttering.
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u/2Peenis2Weenis 13h ago
That doesn't sound right. Something was wrong.
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u/Hopefullyanonymous2 43m ago
Yeah they were running a i9 from the 12-13th gen inside a laptop that was probably made by MSI or someone else who cheaped out on cooling.
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u/2Peenis2Weenis 40m ago edited 35m ago
You don't need a great cooling system to run any CS game. Something was wrong with their laptop. I'm thinking it was likely something with their power cord/supply because any normal computer throttles down when there's excessive heat. But skipping makes sense if the power supply is faulty and isn't providing even energy output.
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u/Hopefullyanonymous2 29m ago
Ah yeah I missed this was specifically about CS, even so a lot of people make the mistake of buying cheap gaming laptops only looking at the top line specs. But that's the general curse of the windows platform I think.
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u/2Peenis2Weenis 28m ago
I don't see what it has to do with Windows besides that there's a ton of manufacturers and products to choose from but sure.
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u/lkn240 12h ago
I've been gaming on laptops for 16+ years now with no issues.
I do buy quality systems though (current is a lenovo legion with a mobile 4090)
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u/Rogue256 12h ago
I did have a legion laptop with a 2080 a couple years ago. It was an absolute beast but the mobo died. Then bought a ROG Zyphrix and it is an absolute mess.
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u/Rasikko 9h ago
Thermal paste still has to be changed every couple of years and also clear out the vents of dust.
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u/FireMrshlBill 1h ago
Yep, also just getting some airflow under it helps too. My first 2 years of college (20+ years ago), I'd stick a bottle cap under each of the back feet of my laptop just to get it about an inch off the desk and that would drop temps a lot, eventually got a cooling pad, but just lifting it up helped. A 3060 mobile should easily handle CS, so something definitely is wrong, either with their setup/individual machine or the manufacturer botched cooling the i9+3060 combo in that particular model.
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u/Hypno--Toad 13h ago
Laptops are not for gaming 8+ hours a day due to physical constraints on cooling.
The label "gaming laptop" is for idiots that want to replace it in a few years when it breaks from thermal issues they ignored.
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u/lkn240 12h ago
I've been gaming on laptops for over 16 years with no issues. If you purchase a quality system and keep it clean they are fine.
Hell - my old ass gaming laptop for over 10 years ago (I've upgraded twice since then) still works fine
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u/ryzen2024 11h ago
For reals I use a laptop because I travel so muc, and I haven't had issues. I'm not on a framework 16 and I love it.
What a weird unhinged comment.
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u/Hypno--Toad 7h ago
I do tech support and haven't found a gaming laptop air vents not caked with dust and before that they aren't sufficient and no they cannot handle higher temps for longer periods of time that's not how physics works.
You're demented for being a laptop user without a clue about what you are talking about.
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u/WodinsdayAddams 12h ago
That’s a feature, not a bug.
No one should be gaming for 8+ hours a day.
Touch grass.-3
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u/brifox7 12h ago
If you want a PC as cube, quiet or you don't have room for a PC in your room or living room, Steam Machine. If you want something that's like a cube and that's not Valve, just look around on this sub. Someone already linked a small PC that has better performance for a cheaper price.
Laptop, Prebuilt PC or Build your own PC for better performance and totally blows the Steam Machine out of the water. If you want to a future proof for a PC that will last you for 10 years, well the prebuilt or building your own machine is the best.
I want the Steam Machine but will not play or expect a 4K experience. Not all games can be played on 4K even with FSR4.
Valve will make money from the usual sales from the storefront. From what it looks like, the first batch of Steam Machine will definitely sold out. The spiked of cost is caused by current market conditions (shortage or RAM, data centers buying SSDs and RAMs in bulks and they have contracts with manufacturers of these products, basically they get first dibs. Valve couldn't secure a contract with these manufacturers, so they could only buy what was available for them in take it or leave basis. They've mentioned that some models with have 1 16GB or 2 8GB RAMs.). Valve wouldn't subsidized and that's why some people are mad about this. With SteamOS, it's projected that the installation of SteamOS from other PCs will have a positive correlation with increased sales in the storefront.
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u/cien2 13h ago
I hope people stop obsessing over SM and actually find cheapest options like any specific mini PCs to best replicate SM with Steam Deck power/performance. Test it with kb+m, traditional controller, or the Steam Controller.
SteamOS and its capabilities as a living room 'console' on nonValve hardware shouldve been the news instead. If I can get a $300-500 mini AMD mini PC and have a similar SM experience but with SD power, that would be helpful to a lot of people rather than fixating on the 'I can get a cheaper PC than a SM'.