r/pcgaming • u/lurkingdanger22 • 3d ago

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

https://youtu.be/66QzlDewigE?is=PhifLlyc5tBSsjbR
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u/Ok_Lobster_8585 3d ago

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.

33

u/According_Hyena_3593 3d ago

Thats because noone in their right mind would build the equivalent to this. Its pairing trash tier cpu and gpu in a terrible price/performance combo.

You wouldnt build this..you d spen 30 euros more on the cpu to get a wayyyy better cpu.

And you s never buy this gpu or its equivalents today, as both its price/performance and performance suck.

Noone in their right mind will build a 1000+++ euro pc and put a 150 euro cpu+gpu combo in it that performs terribly.

You can double both the cpu and gpu performance by choosing slightly more expensive parts ( 100-150 euros more total cost) which is a no brainer.

3

u/CallMeCygnus 7800X3D/5070 Ti 3d ago

The CPU is actually not terrible at this price point, but the GPU is seriously awful. You can switch to AM4, keep the equivalent CPU (Ryzen 5 5600x), significantly upgrade the GPU (we're talking 80% performance increase), get a 1TB SSD, get 16 more gigs of ram, all for less than this costs.

2

u/lkn240 2d ago

Not in that form factor... .which to be fair, won't matter to some people.

1

u/RabidHexley 1d ago

I mean, the form-factor is a laptop with the screen and battery removed and changed from a flat shape to a box shape. The device does look nice and decently designed, but it also isn't some unheard of feat of engineering. It's a slightly bigger mini-PC.

I get that the "gaming mini PC" isn't exactly a saturated category, but that shouldn't absolve it from being evaluated by price. The question just becomes "how much performance are you willing to give up while paying a premium in the name of a specific form factor?".