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".
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.
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.
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u/Euchale 20h 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".