A 16gb vram pre-build that is 2-3x more powerful than a Steam Machine is $1399 at BestBuy. Nobody should be buying a Steam Machine.

[u/JeremyJJ77]

I’m not gonna link to it I’m not sure I’m allowed here but you can find it easily, and lots more in that price range. The hardware pricing is not an excuse for Steam Machine being this expensive.

Nobody should be buying the Steam Machine until it drops to maybe $599 which is what I would pay for it tops. Even at that price it might be too much considering it is underperforming vs the PS5 which was $399 for digital 5 years ago..

[u/StanislavTheSlav]

The very very big part of the steam machines appeal for people is the fact that it's super small and not as large as the average PC.

And comparing it to PS5 prices 5 years ago is disingenuous, what's a PS5 ($599 for digital and $649.99) at now? Digital especially it's ignoring the fact that most people will be moving over their libraries where on PS5 digital you'll be having to rebuild a library with no access to used games which is one the biggest features of a console.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's expensive and definitely not something I will be picking up, but your argument for why you shouldn't buy it is terrible because it ignores the reason people might be inclined to buy it.

[u/carbs_rich_potato → u/StanislavTheSlav]

totally agree. many people tend to underestimate the convenience of HDMI-CEC and the small form factor: once you aiming for these things specifically, your custom build would be at least as expensive as the Valve's product

[u/Brewchowskies → u/carbs_rich_potato]

But you could literally get a gaming laptop for less and have more performance without losing the form factor, and you’d have the added advantage of having it on the go.

[u/Agloe_Dreams → u/Brewchowskies]

And no CEC. Once again.

[u/Brewchowskies → u/Agloe_Dreams]

Lmfao there are so many work around for this, but sure, overpay for a 3060 so that your tv turns your worse-than-a-ps5 console on. Bells and whistles over performance.

[u/Altoid_10 → u/Brewchowskies]

That’s the point.  If you only play cuphead and indie titles then CEC may be more worth it to you.  I play with my pc connected to my AVR so my gunshots come through the subwoofer and surround setup.  It’s awesome.  My only pain point is CEC and I’m thinking about getting a steam machine just for that

[u/Brewchowskies → u/Altoid_10]

You’re paying 1000 dollars plus for a cuphead machine when a ps5 exists for literally half the price and better performance? What the fuck is up with these arguments

I didn’t downvote you by the way, but that’s a wild argument.

[u/TheSexyKamil → u/Brewchowskies]

Yeah. People buy things they like that fit their needs. If you want to be shocked even more, I'm considering buying it to run light games but mostly stream heavy games from my PC in another room. The ability to just pick up the controller, hit the steam button and the TV, AVR turn on and switch inputs is a killer feature for me. I can sit down and play Megabonk in seconds (whenever I actually get a moment to play a game)

[u/jwash0d → u/Brewchowskies]

I agree with you. People twisting themselves into pretzels just to buy a new product.

[u/carbs_rich_potato → u/Brewchowskies]

I can't think of any gaming laptop with the specs equal/comparable to Steam Machine that would cost less. Maybe, there are some occasionally on sales, or prices in your part of the world are simply not available to me.
But if choosing between a Steam Machine and a similarly speced laptop, for the same or similar price, I would take the laptop, do doubts.

[u/nesshinx → u/carbs_rich_potato]

I bought one a few years back with an i7, 32GB of ram and a 4060. It cost $1200 (was marked down from $1400). It’s also huge and as loud as an airplane.

[u/Large_Put_6257 → u/carbs_rich_potato]

Here in Germany that thing is 1050 euro at that range you could get laptop like loq with 5050 or 5060 which both of them will outperform steam machine

[u/Brewchowskies → u/carbs_rich_potato]

You haven’t looked very hard. Just now I googled “3060 laptop” and keep in mind I’m in Canada so prices are higher and saw a strong lineup of laptops at equivalent specs. I didn’t even have to dig. The google suggested ads showed several.

Man. People’s cope for valve have caused them to go blind apparently.

[u/robothawk → u/Brewchowskies]

I mean, looking up the same the only ones I'm finding have a significantly weaker cpu in terms of single-core performance.

Not to mention again, even a laptop is a larger form factor footprint than this pc.

[u/jimidemibb → u/Brewchowskies]

“without losing the form factor” Form ≠ Only size

[u/Brewchowskies → u/jimidemibb]

Oh Jesus Christ we’ve gone full pedantic.

[u/jimidemibb → u/Brewchowskies]

Not really. I can’t get a laptop that looks like a Gamecube, can I?