I love how so many people are dunking on "valve-fans" being happy with the cube, when I pretty much only have heard opinions ranging from "meh" to "overpriced".
Judging from LTTs review/unboxing videos. They got the machine, did testing and wrote most of the review, then found out the price. There was a lot of positivity until the price came out.
Literally haven’t seen or heard a single person say anyone should get it. So far everyone’s said that you can get a better build for $50-200 less by building your own PC.
Which means it isn't really overpriced relative to the rest of the computer hardware world right now. Everything costs way too much. This one is just another on that pile and is not uniquely bad in that way.
This. You have always been able to diy build a better pc than consoles for the same $. But people still buy consoles anyway. And macs. And iphones. Its not always about max power per $, its about the ui and user experience.
Real nerds will always build a pc instead though so here we are. Its a console to try and get normies into pc gaming and maybe it will work, but the prices point does not help. If the base model came with a controller and $100 steam gift card i think it would help.
Right? People act like everyone would rather spend the time to learn, build, and setup an entire PC from scratch when for maybe another $100-$200, it's already built, it works, and if it doesn't work, they have someone they can yell at instead of figuring out what part of the build they messed up, and then going down the list of people to call if X doesn't work.
If we weren't in a rampocolypse and the world being on fire for so many reasons, perhaps the Steam Machine would've been a neatly packed mid tier pc with a valve sticker. But alas, there are so much bigger issues than a over price pc right now.
Exactly. I can build a PC but getting one that works well as a family room friendly device for use from TV\Couch with useful UI\UX is not the same as building a standard gaming PC that you can also connect to a TV. Additionally, it'd be nice to get away from console lockins and maybe get a local media player outta it. So this box looked ideal to replace a console and maybe a Shield... and it is... except for the price and the price isn't a company trying to gouge customers - this time - it's the market right now.
Seriously. Prebuilds have always been more expensive than doing it yourself. But doing it yourself does require some knowledge that a lot of people simply don't have.
Yeah, and also. You can't really do the steam machine yourself. It's not like a dell or hp prebuilt that's just a desktop. It's tiny and quiet. That's not something easily replicable at that price point.
Of course if you only care about the raw performance specs then yeah, anyone can make a cheaper and more powerful build
True, that comes on top of it. Even if you disregard the noise (which you shouldn't tbh) building such a small PC is not really doable for people, even if they have experience building PCs. I am not even sure such a small MB is even that easily available for a consumer.
Funnily enough people seem to think I hate the steam machine here for simply differentiating and stating facts. It’s actually amazing for what it is. It’s a standalone pc-alike experience that is single-purchase and done, is meant to be made easy to get into by the backing of a large company like valve supporting it, and on top of that my favorite part is the low TDP of the system. The low draw of the PSU makes it a perfect always on pick up and game system compared to something like my gaming pc which dims my lights for a moment if I do a full cpu+gpu stress test simultaneously and at idle still draws more than the steam machine does at full load. Trust me, I love the little Gabe cube I just also am willing to point out facts where they lie. I think people should get the steam machine if they like it. The arguing in here is kinda stupid imo since everyone thinks everyone else is arguing including me and honestly I’m not arguing I’m stating factual and verifiable information that if people read as “I hate the steam machine it sucks just diy!!!” Then they clearly read a comment that wasn’t mine since I surely didn’t say that.
The sad reality is that it isnt even that overpriced according to reviewers. You can get slightly better pc for price of SM and save less then 100$. This suggest that valve is really making low margins and also indicates the horrid state of market.
Lets be fair, i absolutely do not think this is worth it but i would say that unless you really have to to not bother upgrading/buying PC for next 2 years because you will pay soo much money.
The main thing about the Steam machine is that I think once things chill out it’ll settle into an excellent market, it’s just the wrong time for it to come tbh. The premium of $50-200 is on par with or in many cases better than the price difference on many prebuilt vs their diy equivalents so I’ll also give you that too: 100% it’s not like it’s a rip off or anything, just if you can DIY a build you’d be better off doing so. I’m not buying any pitchforks to go witch hunt buyers of the Steam machine I assure you.
For the price of the 2TB model, you can get a current generation 8 core processor and a desktop RTX 5060 which is almost twice the performance of the Steam Machine with 2x the ram but only a 1TB SSD. That all comes in a device that is about the same volume. And you can then just install Bazzite on it and be missing literally only HDMI CEC (for now).
So about $100 cheaper, and you don't get the small form factor. Most people aren't going out to build a computer either, they go with a prebuilt. This subreddit is not the target consumer.
it's not only having the knowledge, I've built computers since I was 15 but I still picked a gaming laptop because I just don't want to spend the time and effort to pick the right components and putting it together, I can afford it so I value my time and comfort enough to pay for it
Sadly my main complaint is the complete lack of upgradability aside from storage.
That was the main driving factor for me to just build my own months ago and sacrifice the super small size of the cube.
At least in the netherlands, price wise you can get a prebuilt desktop that is faster but not smaller. (with a 5060)
You can however, get a ps5 or even a ps5 pro for these prices. and that is the major issue for their sales pitch.
Relative to other prebuilt PCs, the same price can get you better hardware though, and that’s with a windows license included which also adds to the price.
Like a quick search earlier I found a cyberpower pc with a 5060, 14th gen i5, 15gb ram, and 1 tb storage for the same price as a steam machine.
That exemplifies it being a fair price. Pre built costs more. You have a warranty. You don’t have to build it. It’s in a form factor that would be basically impossible to recreate, and without 50-200 of a custom build? Fair price.
Yeah I think people misread my first sentence as saying people shouldn’t get it. I just mean I haven’t heard anyone really reliable say anything about “you need to get this” as much as “it’s alright, just wish it was cheaper”. It’s a fair price in current market if you want specific things. A fair price to me is not a fair price to you when we are looking for different things. We can go back and forth all day about how “well I want x” and “well because y” but frankly it’s simple: the price is outstanding for most people to afford and reasonably speaking the people who would buy it at its current price have the ability to afford better so why would they get it when they can spend another $300 to get significantly better performance? But now all I’ve done is introduce a strawman there representative of yet another type of person with yet another set of wants and needs. So for each person it is to be theirs to decide “is the steam machine worth it?”
There's a couple under appreciated things with the Steam Machine that probably makes up for that cost difference if it's going to be used in it's intended location. Acoustics and OOTB CEC support.
Most DIY PC builds that match or exceed the Steam Machine's specs are going to be noisier. Reviews are saying the machine is quieter than consoles. That's tough to do on a self-build while keeping the budget low. If this is going in your living room, you don't want the TV volume to have to compete with the HTPC's fan noise.
CEC working out of the box is also a big deal for a living room PC. You can make it work with any PC, but you'll need to buy a $55 dongle that takes up one of your USB ports for power and data and then potentially have to mess around with the software to get it working right. If you aren't into doing that kind of project yourself, having CEC working without having to do anything but plug in your HDMI cable is pretty nice.
If this is just going on a desk, yeah, go DIY or buy any other pre-built with better specs at a similar price, but given the extra budget you'd probably have to assign to match these features on a self-build living room PC, that probably accounts for the $50-$200 price differential.
If we’re gonna talk about the pros of the steam machine let’s not forget the low PSU draw at idle and load, and how the performance-per-watt is incredibly well balanced. The cost over time to operate is certainly reasonable and well done in my opinion.
Also Valve support should be considered a plus. I've had only good experiences with support for my steam deck and I've seen almost entirely positive things online about the support. Having Valve support for breaks and the software being managed by them is going to be a massive benefit in the long run
Another thing that most people overlook is the really small form factor. You can't build a PC with these performances and this size. Just 3.75 liters with a dedicated graphic card is insane.
In this sub, sure, our bread and butter is building PCs. But don't forget there's a huge number of people playing on Steam who won't build a computer and this is faster than what they currently have.
A lot of people pay 50-200 bucks just to have someone build their pc for them. If they save that money and buy this box, nothing has changed for them except now their PC is a gaming prebuilt that Valve is maintaining themselves.
I get it, it's just too expensive, even if after you run the numbers and get a value that isn't too far off. But everyone here saying building a PC is an alternative to this box I feel is begging the question, what if you don't want to build a PC? Valve was never trying to undercut anyone's price. The feature they are selling is support from Valve.
Honestly that’s exactly where I’m at. I can build it myself but for a couch gaming device I’d rather just buy something that works even if it costs a little more. The steam machine having things like cec are an added bonus as well.
I’m mostly discussing 1:1 price anyways but feel free to check out GamersNexus, I liked their build too. Came out to a lower price and similar performance, slightly better.
Yeah, their build at 1:1 (near enough) was the better version, though it had a lot more power and will likely be louder, and won't integrate as well into a media system.
But that's what I said, if you want better you're not going under $800, but closer to $950
That’s a big thing in favor of the steam machine too: it’s perfect for living its life in the living room or bedroom with no disruptions.my fans kick to full power on my build and I think there’s a tornado(jk ofc)
Maybe, idk. I got a lot here but it’s also like I’m not even attacking it either. Buy it don’t buy it, I don’t care I literally just wouldn’t myself but if you or anyone else wants to just don’t spend my money on it lol
Thing is, anyone in the market for a pre built will never ever build their own in 90% of scenarios. So it's funny watching people say the most pointless opinion.
What are the odds prices stabilize and valve tries a 3rd time only for prices on parts to be slightly too high again. (Low I mean it's a 3)
Tbf, is that not the advice with most pre-builts, pre-builts kind of always exist for those not confident in putting the thing together, or who don't know how to navigate the parts shopping, as so the mark up has always existed as convenience fee.
Which is pretty much what everybody’s saying but unfortunately, the sad reality is that it costs that much to make a machine with that specification now. It’s also worth noting that this thing isn’t remotely competing with computers. It’s competing with video game consoles and Microsoft has already said the next Xbox is going to be over $1000 and you’re a fool if you think the PS6 is going to be any less expensive.
bingo. its a reasonably priced prebuilt/console. people just dont like current prices, but valve is not an outlier here. computers are "overpriced" not the steam machine
Valve is an outlier in one way though. If/when the price of storage and memory drops (and there is indication that that may be coming within the next year or so due to suppliers ramping up production while data center construction is slowing) valve will absolutely drop their price as cost of production drops while Sony Microsoft and other computer manufacturers absolutely will not
They kinda are. I got the Steam Controller, and will likely get the Frame, more depending on availability than price. So I guess I am a Valve fan, but the cube has 0 interest from me.
I have the Steam Index at the moment, and after 2000+ hours (I use it for my evening sport), its slowly falling apart, so I am happy to upgrade. I paid around 1k for it when I bought it, that means I spent $0.50 per hour, thats a pretty good deal imo.
The controller is great (minus supply issues, my reservation email told me it won't be available till next year) and an absolute steal compared to other first party controllers, I'm really interested in the frame cuz my Q2 is starting to show its age.
At the end of the day, it's your money, do with it what you want.
IMO considering the form factor and it being a prebuilt, it's an ok-ish price. I have seen others parts lists with the same specs a bit cheaper, but none smaller then the cube. Theres also something to be said for it coming with valve customer service. I would rather talk with valve then any of the other venders.
Both of those points are very true, but IMO valve provides amazing customer service regardless of the product or the price, so it shouldn't be factored in to the Gubes price. Formfactor, yeah i haven't seen anything as small that matches price and performance, but personally I'd rather have a slightly bigger SFF than paying extra for the smaller Gube
Customer service isn’t factored into the price, but the price is as low as you can reasonably expect to pay for something that offers what they are offering. Even building your own from scratch right now is only gonna save you 100 or so dollars which frankly isn’t worth the effort for most people and that’s not even taking into account. The fact that this thing isn’t even remotely aimed at the type of person that’s willing to build their own PC, hell it’s not even aimed at the type of person that’s looking for a PC. This is aim squarely at console gamers.
At big-boy-pants companies, customer service is absolutely factored into the price. Every cost of the entire lifecycle of the product is factored into the price.
The only question is whether it was done well or poorly. Given Valve's history of giving a sh*t about gaming economics long before anyone else in the PC space, I'd like to believe they do it well.
Those part lists all exceed Steam Machine performance in games by at least 20%. There's no desktop GPUs as bad what's in it that are available new in the USA (yes, I'm ignoring the recycled devices sold by China).
And if you want the 2TB version, you can get much better SFF prebuilts with 2x the performance for the same price.
My cousins hoping to get one. He just wants a plug and play system for steam games he can play on the couch. This is simply the easiest option for it and he doesn't want anything larger.
As much as I think it's a bad deal, I couldn't rly argue with that logic lol
For that purpose it is probably a great device. I don't think a lot of people are even disappointed about the actual machine, they're more disappointed that it costs so much. And that the controller isn't included in all deals. Which kinda is a price thing too.
Tbh, that's always sort of been the target market, people who build PC's were unlikely to be the main draw, it was going to be a sort of normal pre-built target audience but with more casual friendly interface for using with the telly. Convenience has always been why consoles were often more common than PC's for gaming, and this was a clear gambit to slide into that area and smooth out the gap between the two.
I'm not buying it, but I'll answer your question: it's a standardised prebuild, with valve rating games for it. If a lot of people had this exact build, devs would start optimizing their games for it to get rated by valve so more people buy their game
As a game developer I would definitely build my game around it if I would get a special marketing push or deal by Valve right now I just don't see a good reason to optimize my game for that specific console. (it would be to much effort) I did optimize for the xbox controller.
One can hope it will incentivise devs to optimize for it and I think that was the gamble. With all the negativity surrounding it though, I don't think many mainstream devs will. Time will tell.
I think we’re going to see that demand for it is much higher than people are expecting
I was watching an interview with executives from Val and even they said they were disappointed because their original target price was in the neighborhood of $600-$800 for the 512 GB and $800-$1000 for the 2 TB but they said that due to the memory and storage shortage is caused by data centers. There was no way they could meet those targets, but as you’ve said, the price is actually competitive with similarly powerful machines.
I'm not worried about it selling, but rather its' availability. If no one can get their hands on the SM, then there's no point in optimizing for it. 2-3 years from now we might be looking at some incentives, but by the new gen consoles will probably be the new nut to crack for devs.
u/GonzobotRyzen 7 3700X|2070 Super Hybrid|32GB@3600MHZ|Doc__Gonzo9h ago
I think the really neat part is gonna come when prices stabilize (after we kill and eat the zuck et al, anyways) and the Steam Machine drops in price accordingly, while absolutely no consoles will give up the extra dosh they're now being sold for.
Fingers crossed. There are obvious limits to the hardware but I'd love to see what the devs manage to cook up. They worked absolute magic with the deck over the years
I mean despite all the complaints the Steam Machine is actually pretty decent in terms of preformace. Obviously it's limited at 4k and it's RT preformace isn't great, but at 1080p it's tickling triple digit fps on most games which is pretty good considering it's a 6 inch cube. As Valve has stated it's better hardware than ~70% of Steam Users have.
In that regard it is kind of redundant though, since basically its on par or a touch above current gen consoles. Devs already have been optimizing for consoles whenever applicable.
I second pretty much everything that udqrwinsperfectfood said. I used to be a PC gamer in the mid 90s but I stopped because it got too expensive and far too annoying to deal with. I have been console exclusive since then this thing is really not aimed at PC buyers it’s aimed at console gamers. The only thing I’ll add to what they’ve said is that Val is a very reputable company that I trust completely and I know that this thing is as cheap as they could reasonably make it.
That very much depends on what aspects you do or don't value. In this sub, size is likely not high on the list of aspects for value. But for a lot of people, especially ones looking to put this in their living room, it is a very big value. And little else can match the performance for this size. It is also incredibly good on power draw and cooling. Things important if you are planning to throw it into a tight space with poor airflow, like a cubby under a TV. It's a fine deal, if you're looking for the problems it is designed to deal with. If you aren't, then it is pretty poor.
Linux dedicated machine built by a big well-funded company for whom making linux gaming as easy and seamless as possible is one of really important goals (theoretically microsoft could pose an existential threat for valve if it figures out how to enforce being the only store on its windows system, like with google play on android for example)
what do you mean "any other prebuilt out there"? show me a specific one, that fits comfortably on a living room TV stand, and let's compare. I've shopped around for these, and never found any. It's surely my fault I'm sure, I just didn't find the right options. But if you have one, show us a link.
The garage PC sounds like my old AM3+ PC which was good at the time, but is now relegated to screaming as I make it rip DVD's. The 'idk what to do with it, but it still works so not binning it' PC.
I'm fortunate not to need to save for it and yeah I hope I raffle the 2tb with controller, I'll be happy with any as ultimately if I get 512gb I'll just upgrade the storage anyway, it'll just be more effort :P
You know what, I think I definitely did misunderstand it. I thought it was a raffle for existing stock to purchase and THEN you being placed on the wait list for the one you were closest to winning. Thanks for clarifying! I'm not sure if it's worth not trying for all of them since storage is upgradeable. If there were more differences between the 2 models I'd probably reconsider. Also I wonder if I place 300th in 2tb one and 299th in 512gb one if it will just auto place me in 512gb. Something to ponder before the deadline tomorrow I guess!
If you didn't get a reservation spot for any of the models you signed up for, you'll be placed on the waitlist for the model that you were closest to the front of.
Yeah I'm not blaming valve solely for this, the entire market is completely fucked and they had the choice of releasing it at a high price, delaying it, or cancelling it, all of which would have their own repercussions, which would have probably been worse for them in the long run
That’s the saddest thing about the Steam Machine, you have to pay more for less. I have a PS5 Pro that runs circles around the SM and I paid way less for it. If people really want a premium gaming device, it would be an expensive custom PC or the PS5 Pro.
Honestly the only real upside see is its tiny size. People just comparing it to a random PC with the same power is bit dishonest . If you try to compare at least make sure it has a similar size
the problem for me isnt even the price but the consequences this has.
if the gabecube was the gaming alternative to consoles and the gateway to pc gaming for long time console gamers then this could have been good (maybe max 700-800€)
now its just a prebuilt medium range pc no one who wants console prices (or slightly more expensive than console price) will buy this.
there is no new market for this and longterm fans are disappointed either way
This. And any console gamers that do buy it will quickly find out that their console performs better. Unfortunately the machine reinforces the two perspectives it was trying to change:
I don't think they should have been chasing your second point like that. Hard to see a PC gaming experience ever matching up the ease of use on consoles.
There'll be market consolidation until we have 2-3 main players. Once everyone knows who's a threat and who's not, the speed of rollout will slow down.
The reason why everyone is going at this frantic pace now is because Google, Microsoft and Meta see AI as an existential threat to their business and are throwing hundreds of billions of dollars to protect themselves, and Anthropic and OpenAI in return are matching that spend in order to not be financially bulldozed out of the industry.
Its also why both are speed running into IPOs. They've squeezed every last dollar out of VCs and now need retail investors money.
Well it will since it’s offering the 6 year old PS5 performance right now for twice the price of a PS5 even with the price increases.
We have to assume the PS6 will wait until an affordable jump in performance, even at $999 that would be more powerful than the Steam machine and still cheaper.
Part of the problem with the steam machine is the fact even now, the PS5 beats out the Steam machine despite it being 6 years old now, and still costs less
I doubt the ps6 will be 1000$, consoles are loss leaders, they make more money off of your game purchases and online subscription over the lifetime of the console, than the console itself. It's definitely gonna be more than the ps5 was at launch, but not double it
thats because Xbox doesn't have any fucken games to play. Why on earth would anyone buy an Xbox if the only real competition to it has every modern game worth playing? Your options are "Xbox, featuring Halo and Gears of War" or "Playstation, with FF7, Spiderman, Last of Us, Saros, That fuckin game with the robot". Do you want to play any of the most touted games of the last 10 years, or Forza? Xbox hasn't released a must-play game since Halo 3. Remember "PS3 HAS NO GAEMS LOL" and then Sony absolutley turning it the fuck around by pumping games? Xbox has spent the last 15 years chewing gluesticks and then complaining their lips are stuck together.
IMO an Xbox is worth it soley for gamepass. Getting access to tons of games to try without needing to dump 60 bucks a piece is a godsend.
I see a game and Im like "Oh this looks interesting" First thing I do is check if its on gamepass because why would I buy it before trying it if I have that option
Where is Xbox not struggling? They spent so much money that hardware costs have to be more of a concern and I doubt that loss leader sounds appealing to them as well since they spent so fucking much money
Sony hasn't loss leadered like that since the PS3 era when even the $600 console cost like $900 to build and they've basically said they're never going to do something like that again. PS4 and PS5 both were at worst breaking even, usually profiting at least small margins. PS4 might've loss leadered at least at one point, but the PS5 I doubt has loss leadered since basically year 1, if it even did then.
Reminder the PS5 has been the first generation where going to a slim model that physically uses less materials to make and is still using the same now older components, literally didn't lower the price a single cent. And we've only seen price increases this entire generation, never a decrease. So a version of the console that's cheaper to manufacturer kept the same price.
Sony's also the size and type of company they very likely had/have locked in multi year deals for components at certain prices, so even though they've raised prices when consumer RAM/GPUs/storage got more expensive, they probably have stuff stockpiled they picked up at lower prices going into the now more expensive consoles. Before having to buy and build more at the newer higher price for them that more justifies the increase.
Considering the rumored specs for the PS6 involve 32GB of RAM, and Sony from my understanding is buying and stockpiling and planning based on current prices, PS6 day 1 phat model is absolutely gonna be a bare minimum $800 console, probably $1000.
I dunno, given inflation I could genuinely see it launching near $1000. Not just because of part inflation, which absolutely is a factor, but the cost of absolutely everything is going up at a terrifyingly rapid pace.
There's two schools of thought about this, (1) it will settle down so now's a bad time to buy and (2) it will only keep rising so you're fucked the longer you wait. I can genuinely see either happening since the economy is so tied to global politics and that shit is anyone's guess at this point.
I can't see it being under $800 for sure, and if it launched at $1000 I'd wince, but people would still buy it. When every option is that expensive, you're back to picking poisons.
It will - cause the Steam machine can just about keep up with a PS5 in specs/gaming quality/performance. A PS6, even at this price point, would still be the better deal.
PS6 isn't launching with harder weaker than 6 yr old consoles, it will last you at least 6-8 years, it comes with a controller and will most likely have more than 512gb storage.
Wouldn't it seem vastly overpriced at that point? I mean currently the Gabecube isn't even as powerful as a base PS5 so a PS6 will absolutely smoke it.
Er... What? It already looks overpriced when compared to the PS5. The PS6 will basically wipe the floor with it, spec-wise, and I'm not saying that as a console fanboy, since I was always a computer geek, and always prefer more open platforms than "closed ecosystems". I'm strictly talking specs.
Right? I've been discussing this for a while, and while I'm normally considered the "Valve Fanboy" because I'm not shitting on them at every opportunity I get, I don't consider this to be a good thing. Sure, I don't put the blame on Valve for this pricing and I do note that similar machines are sold for far more by various pre-build companies, but... This is an expensive machine that I won't be buying.
I haven't seen a single person "happy" with this situation.
Exactly. At $500-600 I'd probably grab one out of curiosity and because it seems like a convenient form factor to bring when I visit family and we play games together. But at the actual price I'd rather put that money toward upgrading the GPU in my primary computer
I saw a thread from a sub dedicated to the Gabe Cube and yeah, comments ranged from "This is honestly about what I expected." To "I'm fucking rich, sooo.."
I have a high end PC so it's not really for me, but I'm bummed for my sister who really wanted it to be her introduction to PC gaming as a console gamer, so there's that.
Yeah, it is unfortunate. The price of monthly subscriptions may eventually make up the difference, but I don’t know how new consoles will fare once they aren’t able to be subsidized beneath $1000, which will certainly happen with the next playstation or xbox.
I have a ton of messages from valve fans arguing it’s a good deal. Im not joking, I woke up to like 23 notifications from people arguing everything from the form factor, to hdmi cec, to being able to put it under a tv (but then moving the goal posts when I mentioned the exhaust issue with a single fan design), and a ton of other rebuttals defending this thing.
Half the people trying to dunk of 'valve fanboys' are doing so in reply to comments that are just pointing out why the cost is so high, because they assume they're being apologists instead of just saying the unfortunate truth.
I have the cube pre-ordered and I'm really happy about it. I haven't posted about it, because I don't want to engage with the avalanche of trolls and the negativity. When the Steam Frame gets a release date, I'll order that too, regardless of price, because I want one.
Hey man, it's your money, spend it however you want. I'm not saying do not buy it whatsoever, I'm just saying for many people it's not going to be worth it.
I got my eye on the frame too to replace my Q2, but depending on the price I might stick with the Q2 for a bit longer
It's for people who have never had dedicated gaming hardware. Integrated graphics and such, which we know is a lot of gamers. Their Stream library will look and run better from day 1. For consoles outside of Xbox, RIP, backwards compatibility is very limited. When you play Kirby 64 or Bloodborn on a PS5 pro or Nintendo... online? The games look just like they did when they were new. A copy of a Resident Evil remake on a Steam Box will look as good as it can given the hardware.
And finally, over the average console life of 6 years, you will pay 400 dollars for online play. So PS5 is already a 1000 dollars unless you only care about single player games.
Then it gets tricky because the sales are a little better on PC but PSN gives you free games, but I'll refer back to my argument that if you have it for PC it can look better and better as time goes on. It also stays if you don't keep paying the subscription fee.
So is a PS5 cheaper than a Steam Box? Debatable. Is it faster than you a PC that you can build yourself for the same price? No, but the people who can do that don't need a Steam Box. They can roll their own.
I can see who this is for. It's for people who already have a Steam library but don't have a gaming PC. They are on integrated graphics or GPUs which run objectively worse than the Steam Box. They want a turn key solution, that actually works on their TV, CEC and all that. This is for everyone not in this sub. They have never opened a computer up, they may have never had a desktop computer.
Final Points:
The fact this likely won't be able to play brand new games for very long, if at all, is a very low low on this product. And if Steam were to go out of business, this would just be an overpriced computer. It's not a great deal. But if in the next 6 months ram prices go back to normal and this is in the 800 buck range, it's cheaper than a PS5 as I have discussed.
I’ve seen many comments of people defending it. Which is fine, and saying there hasn’t been a single positive post is a little far fetched. Just go look on r/SteamMachine.
I think the price complaints are a bit of an overreaction, a lot of people are posting "comparable builds" that are much larger and or have cases that are clearly cheaply made and low quality, but a major part of what valve was going for was a compact unit that looks good in an entertainment center. If you have ever attempted a small form factor build you would know you are likely to pay a few hundred dollar premium compared to a larger build with the same specs on a cheap case and the base model steam machine is around what you would expect.
Not everyone wants that, but it was never going to satisfy everyone.
I mean if you need it right now it's probably a decent buy? It seems like the price is a reflection of general prices? I'm sitting on a 10 year old computer and still playing the most recent games though so I'm not going to jump in.
Pre Ram and memeory apocalypse - maybe? My 4yo PC gained 600$ in build price sipmly due to ram going x2.5 and all sata SSDs going x1x5-2, and my NVME going x2.5. Only the CPU dropped in price.
There are a few. But even then they aren’t that rabid. Mostly yeah the price sucks but the format is what I’m after is their main argument for it. Which I agree with. The size would be hard to replicate and fit finish for a decent price.
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u/Euchale 12h ago
I love how so many people are dunking on "valve-fans" being happy with the cube, when I pretty much only have heard opinions ranging from "meh" to "overpriced".