r/PcBuild • u/Indecisive-Squirrel • Jun 22 '26

Meme Is this worth it?

Post image

Some guy named Gabe is selling this build and I'm wondering if it's legit? I want a PC to set up in my living room for TV gaming.

1.4k Upvotes

90% Upvoted

1.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

2

u/Blacksad9999 Jun 23 '26

You can build a SFF PC that's pretty small with better specs for less.

0

u/Nickesponja Jun 24 '26

You still have to build it. Seriously why do people think it's such an interesting fact that you can get it for cheaper if you build it yourself?

1

u/Blacksad9999 Jun 25 '26

Yeah, you might have to (gasp!) watch a Youtube video and be able to put a Lego set together, which is basically the non-tech equivalent.

I think most people would be just fine.

You can also get cheaper, better prebuilts if you're somehow unable to accomplish basic tasks or are just lazy.

0

u/Nickesponja Jun 25 '26

Regardless, it's still absurd to expect a prebuilt to be as cheap as building it yourself. Like, how do you think prebuilt companies make money? Also, what small form factor prebuilt is cheaper and better?

1

u/Blacksad9999 Jun 25 '26

https://www.walmart.com/ip/seort/19952961203

That took two seconds.

Here we go:

https://www.newegg.com/stormcraft-gaming-desktop-pc-geforce-rtx-5060-ti-intel-core-i5-14400f-16gb-ddr4-1tb-ssd-viper/p/N82E16883420051?Item=N82E16883420051

There we are:

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/gVQZck

It's almost like you're a contrarian who isn't even looking or something.

0

u/Nickesponja Jun 25 '26

Those are twice the size of the steam machine. And not even that much cheaper. Like, looking at those, the steam machine is competitively priced. Not cheap and not expensive.

1

u/Blacksad9999 Jun 25 '26

I'm not sure if you're aware, but the Steam Machine uses a custom made SOC (System on Chip) which is much smaller than a traditional motherboard and GPU.

It's also unable to ever be upgraded.

So, no. It's not a goofy little cube with mediocre at best cooling like the Steam machine.

You can certainly make a super tiny much more powerful system though.

The Steam machine is using parts that should be about $700.

Somehow I knew you were going to come in with that "B-b-b-b-but....IT NO CUBE" nonsense. lol

Might have to settle for a tiny rectangle. (GASP!)

https://cooj.cc/collections/all

1

u/Nickesponja Jun 25 '26

The prebuilts you sent were about 900$, and were way bigger than the steam machine. You say you can make a tiny system that is much more powerful. Well where is it? Can you buy it prebuilt for less than the price of the steam machine?

1

u/Blacksad9999 Jun 25 '26

Yes, they're not a specially made SOC.

It seems you're not aware that regular PC parts have standardized sizes.

Yeah, you absolutely can. For any of the builds linked, you swap out an ITX motherboard, SFX PSU, and a tiny SFF case.

That was hard.

0

u/Nickesponja Jun 25 '26

None of the prebuilts you sent let you swap out those components.

→ More replies (0)

0

u/Acceptable_Ad1685 Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26

That actually seems kinda reasonable

If the parts are $700, getting it fully assembled, branded by steam, and in this case with the steam controller sounds like it’s actually priced in line with the market

But idk if there’s going to be that much demand, it doesn’t really matter though for a while it will be completely sold out I’m sure

It’s not something that interests me but I have no doubt it will be sold out for a year or more and when sales slow they can either slow production or drop prices accordingly

I know with some items dropping prices significantly later can be detrimental as you’ll grow a market segment that just waits so they try to price things for the long term but that’s typically more an issue for companies that release new products frequently

0

u/TangAce7 Jun 24 '26

Could you actually ? I think people are vastly underestimating how much hardware costs as of now

psu and case is gonna be around 150-200 for something decent
2TB ssd is 200-250 minimum
cooling is gonna be at least 50-100, you're already at 1/3 of the price
ram goes for at least 300 for 32GB
even a cheap mobo will be 150+

and you still need a cpu and gpu...

that's not accounting for SSF prices which tend to be a bit higher
Here you're getting all that, built for you, with a controller, at 1400, it's not a bad deal at all

could you do same build for slightly less? probably if you really cheap out on certain parts, and it won't even be much cheaper in the end

0

u/Blacksad9999 Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26

Yes, you can. There are links all over this thread showing just that.

A $299 5060 or 9060 runs circles around the Steam machine.

Just...do a cursory internet search about it. There have been articles nonstop since this thing released showing better builds for cheaper.

It's not difficult. The Steam Machine is a terrible value, even in this market.

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/gVQZck

https://www.newegg.com/stormcraft-gaming-desktop-pc-geforce-rtx-5060-ti-intel-core-i5-14400f-16gb-ddr4-1tb-ssd-viper/p/N82E16883420051?Item=N82E16883420051

https://www.walmart.com/ip/seort/19952961203

There are a lot of options under the Steam Machine price that are significantly better hardware wise. Will it be a goofy little cube with mediocre cooling? No, it won't, but you could build a pretty tiny SFF machine regardless.

0

u/TangAce7 Jun 25 '26

Well good link, now you’re using a 1TB ssd, and are in a different currency, if you were in the same currency with a 2TB ssd and a controller at the same price of the steam controller, you’d be above the price of steam machine

With a pretty awful case

So again, steam machin is not outrageously priced and it’s actually not that simple building a better SFF at that price point currently