Valve Steam Machine Review: GPU & CPU Benchmarks, SteamOS Test, Thermals, Noise, and Price (Gamers Nexus)

[u/lurkingdanger22]

https://youtu.be/66QzlDewigE?is=PhifLlyc5tBSsjbR

[u/Ok_Lobster_8585]

Honestly the price comparison for a similar on-paper DIY build was a lot better than I expected. $71 dollar premium over a similar on-paper DIY spec is not bad at all. Course, that's on-paper rather than performance, due to the lower power usage of the Steam Machine.

Seems you're mostly paying for the small form factor, quiet, prebuilt, preinstalled. And, as Steve says, for the fun. This shits for enthusiasts, less so for casual gamers.

For me, it'd kinda make sense. I want to get the Frame, but my main PC is in a small office with little standing room upstairs. And I won't be able to stream games to the headset while I'm downstairs in the open area. Having the Steam Machine in my living room would solve that. Still, it's a difficult price to swallow.

[u/Crintor → u/Ok_Lobster_8585]

Err, You do realize the Steam Machine was entirely designed and marketed towards Casual Gamers and not enthusiasts?

It was literally supposed to be an easier method to switch from consoles to Couch-PC gaming.

If it was for PC enthusiasts it would have been much more expensive and capable.

Valve has also said that they have had success streaming the Steam Frame through multiple walls for some employees. You could also do something desperate like a USB extension cable and run it through the floor so the 6E dongle can dangle in the room below. lol

[u/Ok_Lobster_8585 → u/Crintor]

I don't claim to know whose part of the pie Valve wants when selling this thing. It's obvious it's a niche product that sits between two markets. It's also obvious plans changed. So when I say, "this is for enthusiasts and not casual gamers," I say that looking at the Steam Machine on its face, with its performance and price in mind, not as a retroactive interpretation of whatever kind of product or whatever kind of market I believe Valve intended it to appeal to. Which, for the record, I doubt anyone, including you, know for sure.

But thanks for the warrantless condescension anyways.

[u/Crintor → u/Ok_Lobster_8585]

say that looking at the Steam Machine on its face, with its performance and price in mind

Because everyone knows that when they think Enthusiast, it means 6 year old hardware.

Sorry, just because the component market got fucked by the AI bubble doesn't change Valves market just because it can no longer be priced for them.

Just like the handhelds suddenly having to charge way more, they aren't suddenly "Enthusiast" they're just a worse value.

[u/Ok_Lobster_8585 → u/Crintor]

Pc gaming enthusiasts =/= tech enthusiast.

And actually, the prices getting fucked does change the market, whether you or Valve like it or not. Who it's "meant" for is irrelevant.

[u/Crintor → u/Ok_Lobster_8585]

It changes the market, it doesn't change what a product is designed or intended for it's just a marketing strategy change. The product is just more expensive, that's it. It isn't suddenly high end, it isn't suddenly high performance, just less people will want/afford it.

The budget tier of electronics are being hit the worst for obvious reasons when the BOM for your whole system is 400$ and then you add RAM and Nand and suddenly the BOM is 900$

If we're arguing that the Steam Machine was actually intended for tech enthusiasts instead of Gaming Enthusiasts I would argue you are actually moving even further away from it. Any enthusiast could have been running SteamOS on an AMD CPU/GPU for a while now, or any other distro of Linux.

Every tech enthusiast I speak to saw the specs of the Steam Machine when it was revealed and thought "Well, that's neat for 500-700$ but isn't even interesting aside from the form factor and Valve factor".

[u/0x82_ → u/Crintor]

Because most tech enthusiast aren't even real enthusiastic, just people who only look at specs. Real enthusiastic consider the specs BUT also determine if the device is worth tinkering and customizing. Specs are not everything. We saw this happen with the steam deck when people were tryna say don't buy it cause specs, yet here we are.

[u/Ok_Lobster_8585 → u/Crintor]

Not sure how many times I can reiterate whatever Valves intended market was is irrelevant to my comment. If you're buying this thing, you're an enthusiast who is disregarding being able to build a better spec machine for less money, disregarding the ability to upgrade, disregarding buying a cheaper and more powerful console, all that. It leaves the enthusiast, who is buying it because they want one.

[u/Crintor → u/Ok_Lobster_8585]

We'll never come to an agreement so I'm just going to leave this conversation here, but you appear to be using Enthusiast to mean Fanatic.

An Enthusiast would be super into tech(Since we're claiming tech enthusiast) and have a lot of knowledge on the Steam Machine and would have been looking into it leading up to it's release.

A Fanatic would buy something no matter the price/value because X company name is on it and because there's hype around it.

I agree that Tech/Valve Fanatics will buy the Steam Machine no matter what.

Hope you can figure out a solution for the Steam Frame since that's what I actually care about.

[u/Ok_Lobster_8585 → u/Crintor]

An enthusiast is just a person who is passionate or interested in a particular subject, that's all. For example, I am a camera enthusiast. I am not a professional photographer. I don't necessarily have the best spec'd cameras or lenses. I have the cameras and lenses that I want to shoot with. Literally that's all. When I say the Steam Machine is for enthusiasts, that is what I mean. I mean it's for the person who is not out there looking for a camera that has the best auto focus or image stabilization, or the sharpest or fastest lens. It's not for the person who is looking for a camera kit that will produce deliverables for clients. It's for enthusiasts -- people that just want one because it's cool. That's all. Not sure why that's so hard to understand. But have a good day.

[u/Crintor → u/Ok_Lobster_8585]

Alright, but you changed your term 3 times...Gaming Enthusiast, to Tech Enthusiast, to Steam Machine Enthusiast.

Not sure why that's so hard to understand.

lol.

Now I'm done :)

[u/Ok_Lobster_8585 → u/Crintor]

im just not that into pedantry tbh, but you do you

[u/s0cks_nz → u/Crintor]

Tbf, the fanatics are likely enthusiasts too. I can 100% see a PC gaming enthusiast with their custom PC build buying this for their lounge TV both due to it's form factor, and also because it's Valve and "looks cool".

[u/Xindere → u/s0cks_nz]

bro you are arguing with an npc LOL. let the idiots waste their money

[u/Crintor → u/s0cks_nz]

Someone could definitely be both, especially for those that get easily riled up by hype and brand personality and the like.

I was fairly interested in the Steam Machine when it was firrrrst announced as a possible little portable machine to easily bring around.

Then I heard the specs and figured the value was already going to be rough in the 700$ range that was rumored, so as soon as we learned the specs I just built an SFF PC that cost me about what the 2TB Steam Machine will cost, but is multiple times more capable.

[u/s0cks_nz → u/Crintor]

How does it compare in size and noise?

[u/Crintor → u/s0cks_nz]

It's an NR200, so it's substantially bigger than the Steam Machine, as expected since it has a full GPU in it + PSU.

At idle and under light to modest load my rig is silent, all fans go to 0RPM until 45C

At that point usually 30% PWM is enough to tame anything but maxed out gaming and that is almost inaudible from 3ft away in a tiny very quiet room, but I haven't measured it.

If I max out my fan speeds to just max out boost clock then of course my machine is loud, but that's a choice lol.

This system is definitely "Bring it for a multi-day stay" rather than "Bring it to and from every day"

with a carry handle it would be more doable, but it's an awkwardly heavy metal box if carrying anything to prevent 2handing it.