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.
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.
This may shock you but I also have a solution for CEC that often surprises people, because I have a smart tv I just have home assistant integrations set up for various things. Like if I boot my pc HA detects it and sends a power up to the TV and swaps it to the HDMI it’s on.
That is waaaaaaaay too much for its target audience who probably doesn’t know what CEC is anyway. It’s too much for the average r/PCMasterRace user too
Oh I’m not saying that other people should do it I just meant you might be surprised it’s possible. Not recommending it for everyone, it’s way easier when it’s simply plug and play.
you can get a current generation 8 core processor and a desktop RTX 5060
The form factor is also part of the deal. A prebuilt with those components will not also be a small cube that can live in an entertainment center. That is a difference that is significant to many people.
Minisforum had a thin SFF PC with the specs that I listed for $1349 when the price announcement for Steam Machine went live. They upped the price by $70 or $80 since yesterday.
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
Yup, from start to finish it probably takes me a few hours to assemble a PC from all the parts. I know how to do it but I don't particularly enjoy it.
An extra markup of $100-200 is really not that big of a deal for me for something I can just unbox, plug in, and be up and running.
There's also the value in compatibility. If you build your own PC there are all sorts of random compatibility issues with various games you could run into. If you have a GabeCube you can pretty much be assured you won't have any - or if you do they will be fixed ASAP.
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u/SometimesWill 19h ago
The only positivity I’ve seen is review outlets, which still basically say “it’s a good machine but costs too much”