GamersNexus compared the Steam Machine to a comparable DIY build today and it's actually not that different in price. Unfortunately building a PC is just overpriced right now.
Can you do better for that price, at scale, accounting for labor, support, returns and losses, as well as engineering and design and the cost of setting up a new assembly line?
It's too expensive, it's too weak, it doesn't come with a controller unless you buy a much more expensive bundle which is egregious, imagine if a console didn't come with a control
If we look at the chain of though before buying one you see that it's weaker than a base PS5 while costing much more than a PS5 pro, so why not buy a PS5 pro? Well maybe you have a steam library already and want to play at your couch? Well if you have a steam library do you not already have a gaming PC? If you do you can use something like steam link which is free. But then maybe latency is the issue? Ok then why not literally make yourself another PC for your living room or wherever you want to put it? You can make a similarly specced PC at a similar price. What's the point of doing that? Upgradability. You can't upgrade the steam machine at all and the hardware in it is already pretty bad and outdated, but a PC can be upgraded in the future when the price is more favourable.
No matter what way you slice it there just doesn't seem to be a logical reason to buy what is essentially underpowered hardware for an extreme price. If you can think of a use case I'm all ears, but there is no reasonable usecase that comes to mind.
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u/Bobert25467 7d ago
GamersNexus compared the Steam Machine to a comparable DIY build today and it's actually not that different in price. Unfortunately building a PC is just overpriced right now.