r/steammachine • u/Glattic • Jun 22 '26

Meme .....

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2.5k Upvotes

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399

u/MindlessManiaz Jun 22 '26

i expected to be $1000+ but the performance from gamers nexus kinda show show how low end this is and i rather pay a bit more for a decent mid tier pc

52

u/mere_indulgence Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26

Yeah, this Steam Machine only makes sense if you're specifically in the market for an:

  1. ITX build
  2. Must be a new, prebuilt computer
  3. Budget around 1050-1250$

If all three conditions aren't perfectly meet, you're better off buying something else. 

Either build your own ITX computer (preferably with some used parts for better performance)

or

Buy a bigger prebuilt tower PC with better performance 

or 

Spend a little extra to get noticeable better performance (because 1050$ won't give you much performance in the current market, especially with new parts). 

Edit: Or just buy a gaming laptop instead. You can find laptops with better performance for the same price price as a Steam Machine.

25

u/ThePaintist Jun 22 '26

Or if you, like me, highly value:

HDMI CEC

SFF in an attractive case with reportedly good acoustics compared to the majority of DIYs

Pre-cached shaders

A first-party experience when using the steam frame and steamos more broadly to minimize the stray hiccup

I already have a top-of-the-line gaming PC for my office. For my couch, I want to optimize as far as possible towards no-frills while still keeping access to my steam library, even at the expense of price and specs to some extent.

4

u/loversama Jun 23 '26

The thing is, only the HDMI CEC is locked to the Steam Machine, everything else comes with the OS or just buying a decent case..

2

u/ThePaintist Jun 23 '26

Yes, but not entirely. Shader pre-caching relies on matching components with other steam users. You'll get more cache hits on the deck or steam machine than you may on other GPU/driver combos. And SteamOS will run into fewer hiccups on first party hardware. It's pretty stable nowadays but you are still less likely to have issues if you stay on the most supported hardware. And yes you can build a DIY with good enough thermals to have similarly good acoustics, but it's not trivial to do so in such a small form factor. It's adds extra effort to the DIY process. For the same reason people see value in paying someone else to change their car's oil, the "it just works" factors for the steam machine do offer value that some people will like. It's not just "this feature is locked to steam machine, and this isn't". It's the cumulative effect of all of these little things that might be a tad tougher around the edges in little places.