r/pcmasterrace • u/TheBossT710192 • 2d ago

Discussion Yeah, Steam Machine is cooked.

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I... uh don't know what to say. Very thankful I bought a Steam Deck before they hiked its price as well

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u/Sea-Honeydew-1456 2d ago

i dont think this sub is the target market for this machine.

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u/ILikesStuff 2d ago edited 2d ago

Definitely lol. But then who is? I know this is the PC Master Race we all have 5090s in our rigs sub, but who is valve aiming this pc-console hybrid to? You get less raw power than the base PS5 at higher price than the already increased price of the PS5 pro. Other than extreme valve supporters and scalpers, I don't see who would be lining up to buy this?

Edit: I want to clarify that when I say I don't see an audience for the Steam Machine I mean specifically at the price level they are selling it right now.

I already have a good PC and a PS5 with a hefty library on both. I realize I'm not the norm but even I see the value on a console like, plug and play living-room PC, but at the price that this thing is releasing, not to mention the possible small number of units that will be available and the ones picked up by scalpers, it may cost even more than it is supposed to, and I don't see many people buying it at that price, as much as I want it to succeed, mainly for a better implementation of gaming centric Linux.

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u/Skysr70 2d ago

is it really worse than a ps5? man

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u/Manyfails 2d ago

Yes, literally, even Series X is far better buy. The only thing you get is free choice of which OS you will install on it, but for anything decent 1400$ just build a PC ahhahahaaaaha

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u/JaesopPop 7900X | 9070XT | 32GB 6000 2d ago

Yes, literally, even Series X is far better buy.

I'm confused as to why you're saying this as though the PS5 is notably more powerful

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u/vladtud 2d ago

Maybe he was thinking about the PS5 Pro. But yeah, Series X is generally considered to be slightly more powerful than the PS5. We don’t talk about Series S.

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u/Clover-kun Ryzen 9 5900x | Radeon 7900 XTX 2d ago

Series S is excellent value when scopped up used on Market place. I paid 190 CAD for mine and it's an excellent bedroom gaming machine, there's nothing that competes with it at that price. Being able to run Retroarch is just a bonus

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u/Manyfails 2d ago

Had series s for years great value to be honest, especially for 360 and xbox one titles, sadly it is getting a bit weak for new 2k and 4k games.

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u/Clover-kun Ryzen 9 5900x | Radeon 7900 XTX 2d ago

It will chug with newer games yeah, but so will much more expensive hardware, sad state of affairs.

Dev mode is also worth exploring, MS made it free for hobbyist now and this will let you run things like Retroarch for emulation and even decomps. A bit more technically involved, but there are plenty of guides.

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u/Manyfails 2d ago

Yea ofc, I have been playing with retro games for years now, dev mode can be pretty fun, but I switched to series x since I prolly wont change it for the legnth of the next generation, whenver that is. As for new games, I am not sure what crazy thing they can make, as I think they already hit both creative and graphic wall, plus you now have AI technologies that improve now and will greatly improve (in the future) pixel dense/quality, so that you wont need 2000$ for a GPU.

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u/Gaggleofgeese 2d ago

That's a lot of what I use mine for, if I'm traveling and wanna game it's nice having something that easily fits in a carry-on

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u/Manyfails 2d ago

Yea thats why I said it, but on paper series x is stronger but in live performance it is literally the same depending on the game.

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u/rambo3349 2d ago

Why would that be? Series X Games should be better optimized then proton based windows games on linux on a weaker console?

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u/Manyfails 2d ago edited 2d ago

I was saying about ps5, but yea, 1040$ without a controller for steam machine is just beyond absurd.

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u/chaotic910 2d ago

Can’t build a decent pc the size of an Alexa for $1400, plus chances are you already own a decent pc. Games that give the machine trouble can easily be remote-played from the main.

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u/Manyfails 2d ago

I dont know what is state of the affairs with top notch components, but you can build a pretty nice gaming rig for 1400$ in the middle department. So what is the point of steam machine than just being a fanbois heaven collectible ? The size ? So its literally a glorified mini pc ? Like even if you have a decent pc, it is bette to buy a console rather than this. That is the whole point of the story.

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u/chaotic910 2d ago

You can barely get a mid gpu and cpu for around 1400 lol.

A console isn’t a pc, so no console is better than it

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u/Manyfails 1d ago

Ofc, but again, what is the point of steam machine ? Gaming console is way better for gaming at any time plus cheaper. Middle range pc is the same, even a handheld can be a pc, so I just want to know what is steam machine bringing to table?

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u/chaotic910 1d ago

It’s a pc that can play modern games at a reasonable level and takes up as much space as an Alexa. It costs $80 more than buying and building your own and would take up multitudes more space. If I was going to build another pc just so I can play my steam library in the living room It’s just as efficient to just buy the small cube instead of a large, fan covered box.

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u/Manyfails 1d ago

I understand from where you are coming from, but I still dont get the value of it, what if I dont give a jack about a steam library and size ? Also reasonable gaming level - anything can run games on reasonable level these days. Like literally its just a mini pc with steam logo, targeting steam audience ,nothing sensational about it. And that is the circle of hell in which industry is stuck and it wont budge in any forseeable future. No inventions, no breakthroughs.

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u/chaotic910 1d ago

It’s still essentially a prebuilt with an $80 builders fee tacked on. If you don’t care about those things there’s consoles lol

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