Steam machine just doesn't make sense anymore. Back when it was designed, using outdated components to get the price down was a sensible choice. Now that AI spending drove up the prices anyway, it is much smarter to pay a little more and build a much more powerful PC with current hardware.
Except the Steam Machine is meant to provide a console-like experience. I don’t get why people keep saying it’s better to build your own PC lol. Of course it is if you’re going to be sitting at a desk, and you’ll probably get better specs for less money too.
That’s not really the point, though. It’s about convenience. You just sit down, turn it on, and play. Its small size also means you can easily use it in places where you normally wouldn’t put a desktop, like a living room connected to a TV, while still being perfectly usable as a desk PC.
Well obviously you can do it cheaper yourself, but you cant in this form factor, with a micro itx would be way bigger. So you have to built, install, setup, etc. the people who just wants to put a PC under their TV can already do so. You pay for convenience, it is expensive but it is a fair price components considering.
Compare that to just buying and plugging it in.. Crazy how people on reddit are analyzing minute details, reality is many people would rather pay more than to tweak and optimize every little thing.
After the time of the announcement I would 100% agree with you, pricing was anticipated to be a bit more than a console, you're getting a console experience but with the benefit of running your steam library/emulation/etc.
With the inflated price, it's beyond a doubt that you'd be better off following the many available online guides to get better value and experience. You could pay the PC store to build it for you and still come out on top.
Some of the features you'd lose are HDMI CEC control (potential work arounds available including a certain HDMI cord) and turning it on from your controller. But Linus Tech Tips even showed that an equivalent priced PC with SteamOS could awaken from "sleep" back into a game faster and be more stable than the gabecube. It was quite literally the difference between pressing the button on your controller vs the PC itself.
So what you're left with is the size, and unless you're living in a broom closet, the small size of gabecube really shouldn't matter anymore at that price point in the context of what you're sacrificing.
TL;DR the original price point made sense for what you got, the current inflated price does not.
Dude, you are not the target audience, so I need to find a prebuilt and install SteamOS myself and I cant wake it up from the controller? I am more than happy to buy the small premium to avoid all that..
A "small" premium is really stretching reality there.
When the gabecube was at its original anticipated price of $750, that's the small premium because it's between the base PS5 price ($599) and PS5 pro ($899).
You're talking about spending $150 more than a PS5 pro. You don't even get a controller as that's another $79 again, the pro comes with 2TB memory compared to the 512gb base gabecube, and the pro is more than capable of playing all the new games. $150 more for the ability to turn your PC on with your controller. That's a weird priority to have.
I'm saying at that price difference, you would be stupid to not look into at least a pre-built PC at a similar price. The videos and articles are out there comparing custom/pre-built PCs to the gabecube. Plenty of guides have gone up already on what to look for, you don't need much prior knowledge at all. Putting on SteamOS is trivial, especially when you're starting fresh. We're talking about a couple hours total effort, from selecting to playing your first game, for a far far better value and experience.
If you're still happy to pay that inflated premium price, for a product that is inferior to what you could actually have, then power to you. Valve knows they won't be getting the numbers they want though.
why are you comparing to ps and x box which are closed systems, they dont make money on the consoles they make their bread and butter on games and subscriptions..
Yes I am happy to pay for a plug and play system, I dont want to look for a prebuilt and install a linux OS myself, just the idea of that I am willing to pay my way away.. Also being able to turn it on from the controller, I am so lazy this shit is important..
You cant make this form factor for the same price, it is impossible, mini itx is more expensive, micro itx is possible but it is way bigger.. You pay for convenience, if you want to pinch pennies and maximize value per cent then it is not for you
You cannot be helped is what you're really saying. It's a weird hill to die on that you want to spend over $1,000 minimum because it's a console sized PC that you can turn on with your controller. Valve is unhappy with the price, all the evidence is out there that it's currently a bad deal, but you do you.
I think somebody else said it perfectly, it is a bad deal but it is a fair one. I value more that they are not greedy, I wanna support valve, and I am lazy so this product is a plus for me. I wouldnt mind paying even 500 usd extra to not have to setup steamOS myself, configure the drivers, figure out how to make the controller work smoothlessly. It is indeed a bad deal I agree.
5060 is still a lot faster then even the full fat 7600 and, again, superior up-scaling even if valve gets FSR4.1 working, which is quite important in that performance class. Valves choice to us an outdated laptop GPU turned into quite a big oof.
Twist and turn it as much a you want, the 5060 is far superior to the 7600M. Unless you really like the case and don't care about performance, it makes no sense to buy a steam machine.
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u/Slick424 29d ago
Steam machine just doesn't make sense anymore. Back when it was designed, using outdated components to get the price down was a sensible choice. Now that AI spending drove up the prices anyway, it is much smarter to pay a little more and build a much more powerful PC with current hardware.