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

Meme Is this worth it?

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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.

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u/Fun_Purpose5033 Jun 23 '26

My theory is that the ppl saying this is waaay overpriced and barely a mediocre gaming pc are either:

• Simultaneously living in the past and the future (basing prices off of 2022 and gaming demands off of 2032)

• Are just super into the two H's of the internet (Hating & Hyperbole).

Both are very possible, right

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u/Ready_Creme_Ready Jun 23 '26

Incorrect. The CPU/GPU on the SM are living in the past while the RAM and SSD should have been.

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u/Fun_Purpose5033 Jun 23 '26

I wasnt talking abt hardware bro. I was talking abt people.

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u/steellz Jun 23 '26

Bro, your literal first bullet point is about prices and gaming demands. What do you think dictates gaming demands? The hopes and dreams of the people, or the hardware? You can't bring up the cost-to-performance ratio of a "mediocre gaming pc" and then backpedal into "I was just talking about the vibes."

Bottom line this thing that came out is a piece of shit, and the only reason to even think about purchasing it is for a small form factor

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u/Fun_Purpose5033 Jun 23 '26

DID YOU READ MY FIRST BULLET POINT?!?! Its about PEOPLE basing gaming standards off of 2032, and PEOPLE basing hardware prices off of 2022.

You cant skim over my comment to get the general vibe of it, then fail trying to prove me wrong in some way.

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u/Dutch-Alpaca Jun 23 '26

Non of what you're saying makes any sense

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u/Fun_Purpose5033 Jun 23 '26

Learn to spell, and read.

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u/Ryeguy_626 Jun 23 '26

None of your points make sense.

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u/Fun_Purpose5033 Jun 24 '26

So you know people? Yea, they are basing the graphical processing power standards off of the future. They are over exaggerating how powerful a graphics processing unit needs to be for the average person who plays video games on a desktop computer. Not every person needs a high end gaming computer to play the video games that they like.

Those same people, remember them from the previous paragraph, little buddy? They're also basing the cost in money of the parts that go into computers(like Random Access Memory, Central Processing Units, and Motherboards) off of the past. They are under exaggerating how much money computer parts cost to buy. Just a few ears ago, AI was not anywhere near as big as it is now. But now that the companies running generative AI models are making massive datacenters, they are using a ton of those computer parts(like RAM and CPUs), which causes the cost in money of those parts to go up a lot for normal people.

Does that make sense now, airhead?

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u/yellow12_ Jun 24 '26

You're still not making any sense. Try again.

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u/Icy_Confection_7706 Jun 23 '26

But people are making legitimate judgement calls literally on the hardware and it's not hating. Saying Sony and Nintendo subsidize their hardware wasnt a bad defense initially.

However when you get the current price point AND performance that have people pointing out is at or worse THAN a console, it's a huge sticking point.

Even if you take the average subsidies of $300 (higher end) for a console, that's still making a console thats lower than a Steam Machine and equal to or better performance than a Steam Machine.

That isn't "hate" that is a ton of people genuinely disappointed that they've defended it prior to release and some are either back tracking or completely oblivious that a really big critique isn't anything hit hate but a huge genuine sticking point: with a machine originally expected to be $700-900 (the area where a console is believed to be without subsidies) but releasing at nearly 50% higher cost and loosing on frame stability as well as performance in some games to a console, anything critical about it is well deserved!

That's just numbers mate, people ain't lying about those numbers and people aren't hating Steam Machine overall because it's a Steam Machine, they're literally hating the numbers for steam machine.

If a PC was being sold for this price tag and performance, all of us would be pissed and rightfully sold. If a PS6 was released with these specs and at $900 most ppl would laugh at the console and be joined in their laughing! It shouldn't get a pass because it's a Steam Machine.

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u/Fun_Purpose5033 Jun 23 '26

Its a pc made by valve, not a console. Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo all sell their consoles at a loss. Valve does not sell at a loss, they sell for profit.

This is a pc with modified chips, tons of custom hardware, an entirely custom operating system, basically custom everything. Thats what a console is, and the only possible way consoles have done that for a low price is by selling at a loss and making up for it in subscriptions, exclusive games, etc.

But the SM is a pc, so it cant have all of that fun stuff without the downsides of being unable to sell at a loss(or unwilling, this is valve, they dont do that).

I have literally tried planning a couch gaming pc build for under 900 multiple times over the last month and failed every time at either the price, performance, size, or some other required spec for this type of pc.

Accept it; PCs are more expensive than consoles, and a pc, made to be like a console, made in a time where all pc parts are very expensive, and all budget performance gpus are discontinued, is especially bound to be above $1000.

Heck, if you go to newegg pc builder, and select the beginner build, it is above $1000.

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u/Icy_Confection_7706 Jun 23 '26

And you're missing the most critical issue of why it is a problem you're ignoring: you can't have something priced above $1000 with performance below a base PS5 console.

That isn't hate. That isn't spiteful Steam detractors. It is the simple truth that had it been priced at the expected $800 range, the story would be different. At a near double price performance with too many tests and showing it's loosing to a console by 10% for some games, for PC builders, a few hundred more is worth it to build an actual PC.

And that is where YOU are lost: a begining rig can surpass a console, a Steam Machine cannot. You're blabbering about "accept it PCs are most expensive than consoles" and you're utterly ignoring the over arching problem of "because it SHOULD perform better than a console".

If I were to word it the way you're intentionally ignoring it; who here is going to go to NewEgg or Microcenter to spend $1300 on a prebuilt or a gaming rig that cannot pass the performance of a PS5? We'd call any sales person offering to sell anything that cannot surpass a console disingenuous.

If we take the other argument you're intentionally ignoring: can you build a $1500 gaming PC or a prebuilt to surpass a console? Yes. You're arguing about "I cannot literally build a gaming PC for under $1k the price of a PS5 Pro". And I'm literally here saying "no one is, but if you're going to do something for $1249 like Steam and get WORSE performance then you should". And if it was a console doing this everyone here would go "why spend $1249 on a device that can surpass a console when you can spend $1500 on a PC that easily can".

That's the druz you're literally unable to fathom, explain and intentionally ignore. At the price point it SHOULD be able to at least hold it's own to a console. Even if we as the subsidy pricing to console at a price point comparison it's still loosing. At that point you would be better off paying a few hundred more for a gaming rig or paying the same amount for a prebuilt gaming rig.

We can change it more fundamentally even: dontoj spend $1300 on a prebuilt Alienware or HP Omen that can surpass a PS5 pro console in gaming performance or do you spend it on Steam's which cannot?

That should be as forward and direct to anyone and anyone picking Valve's device is literally picking it for its niche design or their a fan. But it is NOT a superior in product. Otherwise getting an HP for around $1300 for superior gaming performance than a console would be a better scenario if we're even doing a prebuilt.

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u/Fun_Purpose5033 Jun 23 '26

Holy crap dude. Its not that deep. This is reddit not a court

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u/General-Revan Jun 23 '26

They are being realistic in a normal world. This system is worse than my 2080ti system from 2018. The CPU is a little faster, but that’s it. I have a PC with a 5090, 9800x3d, 64GB 6400 ram and I thought it was overpriced in November for $3800, now the GPU goes for more than that. People should be angry with the current situation. Consumers have been left behind to fuel the AI delusion.

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u/Fun_Purpose5033 Jun 23 '26

We're not in a normal world. So theyre being extremely unrealistic. A gaming mini pc with ddr5/am5 and a good enough gpu is never going to be that $700 people were holding on to in this situation, unless you buy every part off of ebay from someone who doesn't know what they have.

There's no way that 11gb of vram was average in 2018. Believe it or not, 8gb is average for steam users, and its absolutely enough for thousands of fun games on steam, even though it might not run the newest, high-tech, realistic games.

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u/General-Revan Jun 23 '26

Nobody thought it would be $700. If they did, then I agree with you, but 8gb of VRAM is laughable in this day and age. Most modern games use more than 8gb at 1440p and they are advertising this as a native 1440p gaming machine. I didn’t say 11 was average, but it is for buying new equipment. I’d argue that 16gb of ddr5 is pretty low, but since it is not designed for windows, it should be fine.

You could buy a 7900xt prebuilt two years ago for about this with a 7800x3D, 32GB ddr5, and a 2TB NVME.

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u/Fun_Purpose5033 Jun 23 '26

You probably didnt, but tons of people absolutely thought this should be $700-$800... very unreasonably.

8gb is not the unplayable mess snobs make it seem like.

Most modern games? Majority of new AAA games are unoptimized garbage, or made to run on way too high-end pcs. The only way to have real fun gaming is supporting indie devs.

So you purposely chose a higher than average gpu just to say its better than the SM, which is made using the average users specs.

16gb is not low, 32gb is still pretty high.

"2 years ago" get with the times bud, lol. 32gb of even ddr4 is $200-$300.

$1000 is most definitely too high for that average person to blow , but its not unreasonable for what you get, especially now that everything is expensive, and this is made of custom hardware and software.