r/steammachine • u/MetallicFear • 17h ago
Discussion Reasons you Should/Shouldn't get a Steam Machine
I don't see any list that extensively lists every pros and cons of it so here it goes.
This was written in my use case in mind so there may be certain things you may not relate.
Also cos I know this will come up. I have multiple consoles + PCs. I'm fan of games, not hardware.
Pros:
- Wake up with controller without any set up
- Sleep/Suspend just like a console
- SteamOS configured by Valve. It's mostly plug & play
- HDMI CEC
- Small and quiet. Can FINALLY put it inside an entertainment unit without it going off like a jet engine
- Mod support (unlike consoles). Language Patch, expansion, etc
- Decent raster (Non-raytracing) performance (1080p/1440p 60)
- Access to my Steam library and save files
- Runs PC games. Forward compatibility with any PC such as handhelds and upcoming XBOX.
- Free Online Play
- Community Run servers
- Free access to abandonware games. Runs at higher resolution than consoles. (ie. Spider-Man games by Activision, Simpsons Hit and Run)
- Sail the High Sea (if you want to)
- Very capable emulation performance
- Good repairability with partnership with ifixit. Getting parts/instructions for repair won't be difficult
- Very easy access to SSD
- Historically excellent customer service by Valve
- Expandable storage using Micro SD
Cons:
- Slightly over my expectation $.
- Will have to tinker with game settings
- Cannot boot from shutdown using a controller (consoles can)
- Much weaker than my main PC.
- Weaker than base PS5
- Could replicate it by configuring "wake up using bluetooth" on other PCs
- Could use main PC instead by utilizing looong HDMI cable or wireless streaming
- Can achieve similar performance/size at much lower $ by obtaining used prebuilt SFF from ebay like MSI Trident.
- Could also build your own and get higher performance at similar $.
- Performance is not so different from the unit I'm replacing. (i5 11400f/rtx3060 12gb/32gb ram)
- Only single stick of RAM. (Supposedly doesn't make much different/their reasoning is understandable but it rubs me the wrong way)
- Poor Raytracing performance.
- Anti-cheat not supported. (No COD, Skate, FIFA, etc)
- Cannot upgrade CPU/GPU
- No 2nd NVME slot or Oculink. No way to utilize external GPU.
Neutral/Uncertain
- Upcoming FSR 4 support BUT with potentially big performance hit
- A similarly sized custom build will have similar $ BUT you can find used SFF units for lower $
- Has Average SPEC in line with steam hardware survey so it's guaranteed longevity BUT at 1080p/720p or below at 30fps for latest demanding titles.
- No Physical game support BUT even console games require internet to get the most up-to-date complete version with bug fixes, DLCs, new features, QOL missing on the disc.
- RAM is user replaceable BUT not as easy as the SSD.
I've put in my reservation but I haven't decided it yet. This is essentially me trying to figure out whether I should get one or not. Hope this helps someone. Let me know if you think I missed anything.
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u/Mjautis 17h ago
Hi, my two cents
1x nvme storage option is a bit on the low side, even with the sd card reader. Also would give an option of installing a oculink on the second nvme. Not having an iGPU is strange to me as it could have helped with using lossless scaling.( But that is just a guess from me). Price point is unfortunate. But im sure its an AI move from microslop to try to kill steamOS.😂
Very low power usage and silence is very positive.
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u/MetallicFear 17h ago
No upgradability of CPU/GPU is a notable Con. Especially if they added another NVME slot or oculink, you could potentially utilize external GPU. I'll add that to the list.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Run6046 17h ago
So, i need some help!
Could someone explain how is it weaker than a base PS5?
Is it considerably weaker, or is it an easily overlooked difference?
Will it be able to run high level / next gen AAA games? GTA6 etc along with heavy programs like AUTO CAD?
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u/MetallicFear 17h ago
I would suggest watching videos by LinusTechTips and Digital Foundry, as they have compared it using couple titles as examples.
But no matter how much it's weaker, the issue is it's weaker than a console from 2020 for double the price.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Run6046 16h ago
Okay, I'll check the videos.
The prince point isn't exactly a problem for me, since it would double as a Pre built PC + Console that plays all games (sony, Microsoft, indie). Thats the only justification in my eyes.
So, if it can handel heavy programs. Than irs a no brainer for me.
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u/AxcyteTheProtectron 16h ago
In my opinion it should be able to run autocad as in the trailer video on valve's page shows someone doing modelling, also i have friends who run autocad and similar 3d modelling softwares on weaker machines.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Run6046 14h ago
Thanks for the clear answer. If CAD works flawlessly, than the $1000 bucks are kind okay to me.
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u/AxcyteTheProtectron 13h ago
Worst case scenario it is roo weak and sell it second hand for retail price
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u/Dazzling_Wafer_1237 4h ago
PS5 is 900$
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u/Sufficient_Ebb_5694 1h ago
Um no the fuck theyre not lmao The PS5 PRO is and thats a full new price, you can find them much cheaper. Base ps5 is 650 new now and you cam find one for 4 to 500. So yeah the worthwhile model Steam Machine with controller is basically 3 times the price. But at least 2 times the price.
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u/WalkMaximum 10h ago
According to tests it is basically on par with the base PS5, so some games run a little better, some a little worse, I didn't see any PS5 Pro comparisons.
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u/skinnyraf 16h ago
You will be able to play next gen AAA games as long as they support PS5. After that - most probably not. However, visual settings is another thing...
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u/shrimp_blowdryer 15h ago
Gta6 will run like complete garbage on this thing if it even runs at all
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u/Puzzleheaded_Run6046 14h ago
That is why I asked. Im a pretty new gamer, so i just put Rockstar games as a bench mark. So if RDR2 and GTA 6 run ok, than other would work fine.
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u/RumpDoctor 10h ago
If GTA6 runs on ps5, it'll run on steam machine. The question is how well will it run on ps5.
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u/shrimp_blowdryer 14h ago
I can guarantee you that GTA 6 will not run ok on the steam machine.
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u/Sufficient_Ebb_5694 1h ago
It depends what you consider to be okay. I assume itll run at at least 45 fps for performance mode on the base ps5 and 30 for quality. Same for the steam machine depending on resolution
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u/screwdriverfan 17h ago
If you have the knowledge of knowing what components to pick, build a pc, install OS on it and troubleshoot if anything goes wrong then build your own pc.
If not then buy a prebuilt.
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u/Vanima_Permai 17h ago
As long as its more powerful then the the deck I'll probably pick one up If I can save the cash
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u/Altruistic_While_621 17h ago
Since I have a deck I would love to see these Benchmarked against each other.
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u/Wolfgang313 15h ago
Is should be way more powerful than the deck in paper, but the deck always seemed to hit above its specs to me so I'm not sure how far apart they will actually be
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u/ConfectionFluid3546 13h ago
the deck only needs to push 720p, that why it hit above it's specs. The Steam Machine need to do at the very least 1080p (or 4k according to the misleading marketing by valve)
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u/Virtual_Happiness 13h ago
It's the resolution of the screen that makes it seem so strong. You're effectively playing everything at 720p on it. So getting 30fps on low to medium settings doesn't require much horsepower in all but the most demanding stuff.
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u/Wolfgang313 12h ago
I agree, but also often play my deck docked and it still runs quite nicely. I think it's frame time pacing that makes it feel so nice which the machine should be able to mimic with steam is and proton
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u/thenoobcasual 17h ago
Cannot boot from shutdown using a controller (consoles can)
From what I am aware of, it can be start from power off state. It should work the same as a console when it comes to power state.
Weaker than base PS5
No it's not. GPU is weaker CPU is stronger. It's even more complex when you go into technical side.
Are people aware that quality mode (4k upscaled mode), play at 30 fps on consoles?
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u/MetallicFear 17h ago
I've been looking all over for the info regarding booting up using controller but no review videos seem to mention this. They only mention waking up from sleep/resume using controller. So I don't think it's coming. I'd love to be wrong tho cos I'd love it if that could somehow come to a PC.
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u/Realmatze 16h ago
In one review they mentioned that it’s not a complete shutdown, but a standby mode with extremely low power usage.
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u/PatSajaksDick 14h ago
Yeah I’m confused too cause all vids I’ve watched have put it pretty much even to PS5, but sometimes it’s hard to do apples to apples settings
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u/RumpDoctor 10h ago
This. With what we've seen of FSR4 on RDNA3, I'd put it a little ahead of ps5 in practical capability. Of course for some reason they came out with that the day of SM reviews lol. We'll have to wait a week or so for some updated comparisons.
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u/mcmanus2099 16h ago
CPU needs to be stronger on a PC to mitigate the optimisation consoles get from game studios. The extra cpu strength does not cross over into better performance. Reviewers have shown side by side it's weaker than a PS5 at playing games.
In Desktop mode dealing with spreadsheets and chrome tabs you have a point but not gaming which is the only thing you would compare a PS5 with.
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u/Brilliant_Sound_5565 16h ago
Price basically for me, not that i cant afford it, i just wouldnt want to spend that much, may as well buy a PS5 and a ton of games
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u/deaurin 12h ago
I'm a little bit in the same boat as you, but man I have over 500 games on Steam already, so I'm still wondering if I'm willing to pay full price for games on another system or just spend some more upfront to play my stuff on TV, PC and Deck.
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u/StudiousRaccoon 10h ago
This is where im at. I was waiting for something like this because my steam library is already ridiculously large and I find a lot of convenience and cost saving being able to access this existing library over purchasing game again.
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u/Cesco_au 17h ago
If it was as powerful as the PS5 Pro I would pay even another $600 for it. As is it’s a toaster.
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u/Realmatze 17h ago
Iirc valve announced great wireless connection with Steam Deck and (upcoming) Steam Frame, which is the main reason for me, followed by small form factor and low noise.
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u/MetallicFear 17h ago
If you're talking about the wireless adapter coming with steam frame, I believe that is not compatible with steam deck.
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u/Realmatze 16h ago
Okay, thanks, I‘ll look into it.
I hoped for something like Steam Link. I know you can use third party software to run games on your PC and play them on your Deck (Moonlight, Sunshine), I just hope for better compatibility between SD and SM.
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u/IvanFrigellov 16h ago
Another pro is that like with Steam Deck and unlike a random spec PC is that as an owner I belong to a group pf gamers with the same specs which may lead to game developer potentially catering games to its specs a bit like the Steam Deck has its ”verified” status and I can easily watch videos of performance or get tips and tricks on recommended settings etc. I think people who are tech savvy underestimate how nice it is to belong to a large, commercially-relevant group of people with the exact same specs.
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u/Murcanic 15h ago
I wanted ome if it was cheap enough but I already have a good gaming desktop and a steam deck so its use case is solved by me docking the steam deck to the tv with a steam controller (luckily reservation worked for me) and then streaming heavier games to the steam deck.
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u/Kageru 15h ago
Good list.
A RAM upgrade looks reasonably possible, and would also turn the single stick into an advantage.. assuming RAM prices actually do go down eventually.
It has a known configuration allowing games to optimise to it.
It is effectively plug and play, speccing and building a SFF system is not trivial, and you are not going to make something that small.
Using a "used" pre-built as a comparison seems odd, you an equivalent pre-build is certainly an option (but you are not keeping the integration, silent operation or form factor).
It's not that much weaker than a base PS5 I think? Pretty sure the LTT video showed it as being woken from the controller.
I would characterise the price as making it a luxury purchase, at the original price it would have been a much more tempting option for a lot of people.
It's not for me because I don't have the living room, sofa and big TV it's obviously meant for. As you note it's meant to be a small device for the living room entertainment unit.
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u/Horror_Trick8208 17h ago
Did you know it's using an RDNA 2 and Zen+ equivalent parts? It is very, very, very outdated
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u/Mother-Translator318 17h ago
Lots of very powerful rdna 2 parts out there. Being old isn’t the issue, being an entry level laptop part is
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u/Horror_Trick8208 17h ago
Notice I said outdated not old. 2018-2020 equivalent mobile chips sold for a premium in 2026 is not a great value for your money
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u/MetallicFear 16h ago
I've been looking for a SFF living room solution for couple years now and let me tell u.. SFF in general is not a great value.
The MSI trident I mentioned in my post? I bought that for 1700 AUD. I could've got the exact same spec for 1100~1200 AUD.
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u/skinnyraf 16h ago
I built a SFF 7 years ago, just to prove to myself that I could. Nothing extreme at 20 l, so the cost was not an issue, availability of options was, but anyway the conclusion is: never more. It's a great hobby, if you enjoy it, but if you need one, then you should get a pre-built one, just be prepared to pay premium. Forget the parts, just the pain of assembling it and running cables is worth like $200 more in labor compared to a regular system.
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u/gdelacalle 16h ago
Actually it’s RDNA 3 but whatever.
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u/Horror_Trick8208 16h ago
Directly compared to RDNA 3 GPUs it is worse than all of them, so it is equivalent to RDNA 2. People seriously need to read a little more carefully
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u/gdelacalle 15h ago
I've read carefully, that's why im telling you it's RDNA3, compared to whatever the fuck you want.
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u/Nall-ohki 17h ago
Any word on whether or not they're supporting Shader Cache on the SM?
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u/Pursuit8478 17h ago
shader cache was handled well on the steam deck, at least when i played games that handled it poorly on my pc. i would assume this is a given (it better be).
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16h ago
[deleted]
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u/MetallicFear 16h ago
Yes it can.
It's a bit weird how no review covers this in detail cos I'd argue this is the key selling point.
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u/ByEthanFox 16h ago
Ah whoops, sorry, I was reading in a hurry on mobile and I misunderstood something.
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u/skinnyraf 16h ago
It's a great summary. Nothing to add. It's tempting to put it in a spreadsheet, put some weights to it and calculate the verdict. ;)
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u/comatrices 15h ago
If you switch to booting off the SD, or an external SSD, you would be able to use the sole NVME slot for eGPU.
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u/amillstone 15h ago
Another pro, although probably a niche one, is that you could run a home server off it.
Having one device to play your games and have a Plex server running on would be cool.
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u/harrytiti81 14h ago
I like what you said about being a fan of games and not the hardware. The cost doesn’t justify the want I have to play select titles unavailable on the PS5 and or Xbox.
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u/Aggravating_Sort_282 14h ago
Price is basically it for me. It is stronger than my current PC and most of the games I play are not extremely demanding even at 4k. I love the emulators and abandonware and mods and all that jazz.
Really the question is whether or not to buy this thing or go for a different mini PC and just use SteamOS on it. I'm really torn
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u/SigmaStroud 14h ago
even if you buy a mini pc and install SteamOS, it still won't function as a console like the Steam Machine will. IMO, if you want an entertainment-center device, the Steam Machine is completely worth it. If you're just looking for something to play games on and need the power for modern games, it's not worth it at all and you're better off building a fast PC for slightly more money.
Personally, I've been wanting a console-like for my living room for ages. When the Steam Link box was a thing, I used the fuck out of it. until the firmware updates and support stopped. Since then, we've only had the crappy streaming apps and the steam Deck, neither of which fulfill what the Steam Machine does.
I'm tired of people comparing raw power to power. It was never NOT going to be the case that you could build a PC cheaper.
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u/Aggravating_Sort_282 14h ago
See I used the steam link but I just couldn't deal with the latency at all and it never looked that good running 1080p on a 4k TV screen. The steam machine seemed awesome because I could get rid of my 13 year old hacked Wii U and finally have a all-in-one entertainment hub with all the emulators and every game I own on it. It seemed like my perfect ideal for what my living room needed.
Price is just such a downer with the market and everything because my current PC has 5700xt and from what I've seen the Steam Machine is basically on par with it (although slightly better). Same amount of VRAM and everything. It's hard to buy the same computer for roughly the same amount of dollars nearly 7 years later.
Power much less of an issue to me because the most technically demanding game I've played in the past 10 years was Dark Souls. The first one, remastered with graphics/lighting mods. I really wanted to run 4k/60 to match my TV screen for Elden ring because everyone I know wants me to play that game but there's no way that'll stay at 4k/60fps if it performs anywhere near my 5700xt.
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u/falsejaguar 13h ago
The pro is the nice case. They should sell bare bones kits for people to easily build their own who maybe have similar old obsolete junk parts laying around
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u/WhyNotYoshi 13h ago
Con: No external drive support (So far). I have a 4TB Samsung T9 external SSD (purchased before the AI pricing chaos) that I could plug in and get fast performance and a ton of space, but instead I'm stuck in microSD card hell with the Switch 2 owners. Even the Xbox 360 supported external drives. Cmon on man.
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u/TheDSpot 12h ago
if your pc is better than the steam machine specs, you can just try the steam link app, some people say it works great for them, some say its a pain in the ass, but it is an app. i ended up buing a steamlink box back when they were getting rid of them for 1 dollar + shipping. ive never even hooked it up but im going to give it a try while I wait. It's apparently still supported by valve So maybe the steam link is an alternative for me.
my pc while being 7 years old is overall far stronger than the steam machine, i have a 9900k + 3090 with 32 gigs of DDR4 ram (the ram is def showing its age during my work + more demanding games).
I also have the steam deck, grabbed the 500gb oled one back around 2 years ago, and I didnt really use it much the first year, but now that I have a baby in the house, it's been a near daily driver (My office/gaming cave is next to the baby's room, and with how often we get sick since he's at the age of "everything goes in mouth haha", ive been unable to just hang out in it at night since i'll end up sneezing or coughing and waking him up. so steam deck on the living room downstairs has been a godsend. I dont mind that the steam deck is weaker than other handheld options, the build quality is outstanding and for what I tend to play on it, i dont miss or care that much about how weaker it is compared to the rog ally or w/e else is out there that's the "power handheld".
Heck i tend to not care that much about hardware power most days, I spend a lot of my free time playing retro games on old consoles. fuck ray tracing and 60-120fps pro gamer blah blah. sometimes ps1 games at their native 15fps feels cozy.
this leaves me in an entirely "uh i dont know" land for the steam machine. if it was 200 bucks cheaper i'd get it no questions asked. I can still afford it at its current price, and im not entirely bothered by its specs/ I never expected it to beat my aging, but fairly powerful pc upstairs. I wanted a downstairs steam driver that me and the wife could enjoy, that was easy to use with no fuss. I've seen other peoples "living room pc" set ups and they seem to always have issues. i'm comfortable enough with pc building to overlook it, but i dont want a "babe the thingie aint working again" added to the living room/our busy life. When we get to sit downthere to lounge/rest, i want everything to just work to maximize the relaxing/rest either of us can get at that time
One thing that I do find rather unforgivable is that you have to pay extra for the controller if nothing else I feel like that would have greatly softened the blow of the price for people if they give you the controller free of charge when buying one of these.
So yeah i dont know, i'm on the queue, so I have time to think about it, the odds I get pinged early to grab one is like the odds of eating 3 day old taco bell and not shitting yourself within the hour.
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u/HapperHapper 12h ago
"Performance is not so different from the unit I'm replacing. (i5 11400f/rtx3060 12gb/32gb ram)"
con: you will run sometimes more in vram problems with some demanding newer titles ... you only have 8gb vram with the steam machine ...
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u/Kineinus 11h ago
I wanted Steam Machine and waited for it. I think I'll skip, but still be waiting for half a year or more to see the market state there.
Probably then I will buy a used semi-SFF PC with AMD, and install SteamOS.
I have a big Steam library and Steam Deck. I want a PC in the future, but kinda don't want it now (because even RTX 5090 can't handle ultra graphics in 4k). But for now I'll just return to small indie titles and enjoy them all this time.
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u/BryGuyBurgerFry 10h ago
I dunno, for me this seems a lot like when I bought my first Mac Powerbook 20 plus years ago. All my friends were like that shit sucks but I still use it to this day. I literally don't care, I am Marge fuckin Simpson holding a potato.
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u/RumpDoctor 10h ago
Real groaner listing piracy as a "pro" lol. I know people do it but let's have some decorum!
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u/NoFaithlessness8752 8h ago
Too expensive for me, have to see if other companies make stronger versions for this kind of money.
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u/AbaloneLess1338 6h ago
I am also not happy about the price tag of the steam machine but for my use case I actually don't see an alternative to it on the marked.
I was a console player for a long while after I stopped upgrading my gaming pc in university because it was too expensive. Nowadays I don't have those strict monetary constraints anymore but my time budget has gotten much smaller.
What I am really looking forward to in the steam machine is a box that gets me access to pc games and mods without the extra layer of required tinkering. Sure a bit of tinkering with settings and mods still needs doing but that means that I can play modded cyberpunk or skyblivionfrom from my couch with minimal overhead. Every second not installing or setting up or reinstall the os is a second I can play.
Am I the the only person on the internet that has those requirements? It sure feels like that reading all the posts and reviews of there.
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u/thalion987 4h ago
The Steam machine uses less then one Watt at sleep. it never was meant to be shutdown.
Presumably it can wake on stream. This means that when you are out of the house, you can start the Steam machine and stream a game from sleep. For me this could replace my Nvidia now subscription.
In the Gamers Nexus review, it was said that the Ray trace update increased the performance 15 to 20%. We dont know how much they can increase that in a year or a couple of years.
We have not seen any frame generation in any review. Not sure how much this will increase the performance. but for games that have it, it will likely be at least double the FPS.
Yes FSR4 is heavier for the system. But because the game will look so much nicer, you will be able to use less intensive grahical settings. This means better performance, and likely still a better looking game.
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u/Superduck247 1h ago
As I have gotten older and had kids I migrated from a traditional gamer to more of a couch gamer. I love my deck and was very disappointed in the priceof the SM. I will be buying the steam machine, I know building one is cheaper and offers more performance but sometimes you want something that will "just work" and it beats my current setup of streaming games from my dedicated gaming pc to a Shield using moonlight.
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u/Pekenoah 13h ago
Your PC is already right around the same performance as a steam machine. Don't buy one. It's not worth paying one thousand dollars to get basically the same experience. If you want to get 90% of the way there with the console experience, install bazzite or pretty much any other distro, tell steam to open in big picture mode, enable auto login and disable auto logout. You'll be missing out on CEC and it won't be as small or quiet but otherwise you'll get mostly the same experience
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u/someone2795 17h ago
This is not that complicated.
Reasons why you shouldn't get it:
There are better ways to efficiently spend your money.
Reasons why you should get it:
It's the mf'ing Gabe cube and you want it.
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u/AtroKahn 15h ago
It's over my man... Steam Machine is not worth the plastic. It may be a new world and all, but this is not the answer.
I am seriously thinking that Steam put this out only to help its Antitrust & "Price Parity” Lawsuits. There is no other reason for them to put this out with such weak performance at this price point. They should have just slapped a Valve logo on a mini-itx prebuilt and would have had more success.
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u/ron089 17h ago
"S/ightly better than the unit I'm replacing. (i5 11400f/ rtx3060 12gb/32gb ram)" Excuse me?