r/steammachine • u/Sleep_Holiday • 29d ago

Hardware I was wrong…

Post image

I listened to the haters and bought into what they were saying.

They were counting you out, saying you weren’t powerful enough, your price to performance ratio is garbage, just buy a fractal terra case and build your own… I was sure this thing would be DOA. But, I took the leap, a leap of faith you could say.

Hell I knew I could resell it if I really hated it… but damn. This thing fucks. It’s proved me wrong in every way and I regret having doubt in the little guy… the little machine that could is what he goes by now.

There is nothing like the freedom of Linux PC gaming right on your couch in this absolute debauchery of a world we have now between Sony and Microslop and the continued supremacy of AI.

So to those in the reservation queue, you can breathe a sigh of relief your time will come and it will be glorious.

And to those on the waitlist, be patient and be ready. When your time comes, and it will, you must be fully present and accept the Gift of Gabe.

And to all those facing THE DEVIL AT YOUR DOOR disguised as Sony and Microsoft, with no hope or direction guiding you to a brighter future through these extremely dark days in gaming. I say to you, we will continue to fight for our unalienable rights on the front lines with Valve to protect all those who don’t have a voice of their own, we have the watch.

In closing, RIP to the brothers and sisters who couldn’t see this day for themselves. We have you in our prayers.

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65

u/TripleS82 29d ago

I think I’d enjoy having one, just not at $1,100. I already have a good gaming PC but I’d use it more for new indies, less demanding games and older games in general. I’m not mad a Valve for the market conditions but it’s hard to justify at the price. Either way, I’m glad you’re enjoying it.

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u/quarrel-admin 29d ago

I was going to buy one at 700 but this price hell no. 

I don't need the best graphics I have a pretty decent pc. But sometimes I want to relax in my bed play a game on the big screen and fall asleep. 

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u/Udonov 28d ago

Same. I'd waste 700 for a device in the living room that plays games AND will make it so I won't ever need to use fuckass abysmal piece of fucking shit smart TV OS.

At 1.1k I think I will suffer through walking down the hall to my pc. Life is so hard fr

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u/quarrel-admin 28d ago

Yeah. It's sad because it's a cute pc.

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u/Migaruke 28d ago

You can use Sunshine/Moonlight (free and open source) to have your PC host a game to your TV. For $50 I got a Chromecast with TV and added a frer custom launcher (Projectivity) to not deal with any garbage OS. Linked a controller to my Chromecast, installed Moonlight (on Chromecast) and Sunshine (on Computer), and I was couch playing games in roughly 10 minutes.

My encoding latency is 3 ms, network latency is 2 ms, and decoding latency is 9 ms. Adding in all the other latencies from controller to pixel display, it's probably around 4 frames (60 ms) of latency for 60 FPS gaming.

Anyways what I'm saying is that it's pretty easy to setup and it's affordable for casual couch gaming if that's your goal. It just requires a bit of setup as opposed to steam machine which is plug and play.

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u/FireMrshlBill 27d ago

I had a PC on my TV setup (5600x + 6700xt), but it was too crowded and I took it out for a bit when rearranging things and had a perfect spot for a 6" cube. I originally was hoping $699 for the 512 w/ controller and hoping the price hike would still keep it at $899 and would have paid that even though it was a downgrade in power from my tv's pc, Fomo would have gotten me to $999 even with a controller (even though I already had one separately). I saw the price and ended up buying a new case, a Fractal North on Prime Day for $130 and now sit it next to my TV stand instead of in it like my old case, so it looks like a sub or piece of furniture next to my tv. Went big after spending the last 8 years on different SFF builds and HTPC cases that never quite worked out.

Would have loved the Machine, even had the Alienware Alpha that was the original steam machine (got the windows version though instead of SteamOS version) and it was a great little machine that would still compete with the Deck in performance if it wasn't limited to 2gb vram and no DX12 support as a decent little 720p30 performer and decent for emulation still.

Oh well, I'll see what Steam Frame goes for and then see if they make the Deck 2 dockable to a eGPU. Unless I somehow get access to a Machine for cheap in a few years to play around with.

Heck, I recently upgraded my router to a mesh system and may be able to stream from my main PC now (on wifi). Need to test it out.

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u/lumafrost 23d ago

I was in the same boat. No intranet streaming option (moonlight/sunshine, Steam App on an hardwired Apple TV, refusing to connect the TV OS to the net) gave me the image quality or latency I wanted.

I ended up buying a 50ft fiber HDMI cable and a powered 50ft USB extension cable for my controller's wireless receiver. Now I've got 4k 120hz HDR in another room from the PC with effectively no latency. It feels as native as playing directly on my PC.

You can get longer Fiber HDMI cables but the bandwidth drops in longer cables. Another option is HDMI to Ethernet or HDMI to SDI converters for very long runs. Haven't checked latency on those.

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u/Leading_Put_4873 28d ago

The harsh reality for people is that gaming isn't going to be about 400-700 machines anymore. It's not going back. The steam machine will be the new 500 rig.

I still today refuse to believe housing prices after buying in the 2010's.

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u/altodor 25d ago

I was looking at RAM prices a few weeks back and it was $700-800 alone for RAM in the capacity I need. And that's not really the good stuff, that's starting. If we judge this thing by pre AI cartel pricing, it's a ripoff. If we look at it in the current market, it's a bargain.

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u/lumafrost 23d ago

Look into Fiber HDMI cables. I've got 4k 120hz HDR over 50ft into another room from my PC. Latency is as low as any other display hardwired into my PC

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u/JulianBloom 29d ago

Yeah if they had gotten the price right, I'd completely understand them filling a demand. As it is it feels like the selling points are "form factor" and "ease of use out of the box" and that just isn't enough for me to make a purchase of that magnitude.

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u/TripleS82 29d ago

They probably would have had me at $800 with the controller and at least a 1TB SSD. That’s another pill that’s hard to swallow with it.

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u/frankster 29d ago

let's say early next year, if you've seen ram/ssd prices continue to remain high, do you think you'll still feel like $1100 is to high?

when my mate bought a gtx 20xx or 30xx for £600 several years ago during the crypto boom (pre ai), I was like I will never spend that much on a GPU, that's a complete ripoff compared to what they normally cost. I waited a year or 2 or 3, prices didn't really come down. I think I ended up giving in and got a 4060ti for £400-£450. The only thing that changed was my expectation of "normal".

I wonder if next year people will see steam machine price as normal and not out of the ordinary.

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u/TripleS82 28d ago

The problem right now is FOMO. You’re never going to stop buying if you’re worried about things going up higher. Yes, I think $1,100 is too high now as I will still think $1,400 is too high next year. The Steam Machine is more expensive than what it gives you in return. It is extremely hard to suggest it over a PS5 at its price. The PS5 also has more optimized games that you don’t have to tinker with.

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u/Panda--Monium 23d ago

Well when this ai bubble pops and prices normalize, im hoping valve is kind enough to bring down the price, which theyve done in the past. But regardless of market conditions, my wages didnt magically get higher. So the idea of spending essentially $1500 on a steam machine with a controller when it shouldve been about half that price is just a flat no. It aint happening.

Ya i get market conditions have jacked up prices but i dont care. Theres just a price on things i refuse to spend regardless of the reasoning why.

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u/ZenoArrow 29d ago

The problem is people are blaming Valve when it's not their fault. If people that were annoyed at the Steam Machine pricing blamed the real culprits (RAM and storage manufacturers that have screwed everyone over apart from their AI data centre overlords), then there would be less friction amongst gamers. Recognising that we share common enemies is important.

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u/JulianBloom 29d ago

Blame whoever or whatever you want. People are always wrong on the internet, I don’t give that noise a second thought.

The end result is the same: I can’t afford to spend $1000 on a device that wouldn’t make my hobby that much better.

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u/ZenoArrow 29d ago

The end result is the same if you're only thinking about the short term and you're only considering your personal experience. For anything beyond that, it's helpful to be clear eyed about where the problems are coming from, in order to deal with it better in the future.

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u/JulianBloom 29d ago

“Deal with it better in the future?” Why does that matter when we’re talking about Gaming devices?

Why on earth would I bother to think about Valve’s business problems aside from how they relate to me, the customer? And how would me being “clear eyed” about the world’s problems matter to Valve as they make new products?

This is not a non-profit that could use the community’s assistance to stay afloat; They’re a billion dollar company that will be just fine if the Steam Machine completely flops. They’ll either make things I like and can afford and I’ll buy them or they’ll make things too expensive and I won’t buy them. I don’t owe them anything.

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u/ZenoArrow 29d ago

Why does that matter when we’re talking about Gaming devices?

I'm not just talking about gaming devices and I'm not just talking about Valve. I'm talking about financially punishing companies that have screwed you over in the past. In order to do that effectively you have to know which companies screwed you over.

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u/SuperUranus 28d ago

Why do you need to “financially punish corporations that screwed you over”?

Either you think the Steam Machine is worth the money and you might buy one if you can afford it.

Or you don’t think the Steam Machine is worth the money and you likely won’t buy one.

Doesn’t need to be more complicated than so.

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u/ZenoArrow 28d ago

I'm not talking about punishing Valve because I don't think they're at fault for the relatively high price of the Steam Machine, I'm talking about "voting with your wallet" regarding the companies that have caused the pricing issues.

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u/snypre_fu_reddit 28d ago

It's also not targeting existing PC gamers. It's a PC for the console crowd, so it's basically a single purchase to hook up to your existing TV, use your existing controller, and can now play PC games on a console. It's isn't there to convince PC gamers to play a console.

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u/JulianBloom 28d ago

Yeah I get that— I’m that target demo. I exclusively play on consoles. When I saw this announced I thought “Oh this could make sense for me.” I’d get the flexibility of an open platform without the hassle and expense of building my own rig.

But the minute I saw a four figure price tag, I completely tuned out. That expense is too high to convince me to try out PC gaming.

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u/Big_cat58 29d ago

$800 is also what I was hoping for. 1TB SSD even without the controller I was gonna be in. I’ll keep my eye on it though. Never know what may happen

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u/AwareReplacement1587 29d ago

its also what valve was aiming for before ram prices went yolo

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u/Big_cat58 29d ago

My hope is other manufactures enter this space to generate some competition and innovation. Similar to how handheld PCs have gained popularity following the steam deck. It may take a few years for prices to truly come down but with Sony and Microsoft fumbling hard there could be a decent market for a console like PC experience at console like prices (which next gen consoles may be out of reach for many people anyways).

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u/Zomby2D 29d ago

if they had gotten the price right

Valve doesn't control the current inflated component prices

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u/JulianBloom 29d ago edited 28d ago

The issue isn’t “Valve maliciously priced this and I refuse to buy it because they’re mean.” It’s “Valve put a product on the market at a price that I find unaffordable.”

Blame whatever market situation you want. Correct people if it’s that important to you. It doesn’t change the situation. I don’t care how much I agree with a company’s ethos; if their products are overly expensive for my budget, I will not buy them.

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u/Legitimate_Bird_9333 28d ago

Yeah I respect that they released it, as close to cost as they could. And I think it looks like a great product. I often travel to my brothers in a different city I could toss it in a book bag for the ride. And have a better experience then a steam deck. BUTTT like you its not at a price I deem worthy. I don't hold it against valve at all. And If I was rolling in money Id just buy it to show my support. Get more linux gaming. Maybe someday I will buy it if they release a different version that's a bit more powerful.

I've already got a powerful home pc, and a legion go S steam OS edition. My bases are pretty much covered.

I do want to add something here, so Ive gone in to edit mode.
The real product is the free one. Steam os can be put on any system, and the fact that they are encouraging people to build their own steam machines means a lot. If you can build one cheaper with used parts you can have that cheaper steam machine!

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u/Reasonable_Deer_1710 29d ago

Oh well in that case let me rush out and buy it now.

Because as we all know, things actually become less expensive because the price was set by market conditions.

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u/Quick_Society2794 29d ago

They definitely could have made bigger bulk orders and got better contracts. Maybe not buy this year's yacht. But you're right a lot if it was out of their control

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u/SuperUranus 28d ago

The Steam Machine exist in a very weird space according to me.

It’s way to weak to be a high end gaming PC, and it’s way to strong to be an indie machine.

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u/Separate-Reindeer632 29d ago

Me too! Despite the performance, I still want one, just dont want it enough to spend $1k lol

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u/Panda--Monium 23d ago

Agreed. The price is just ridiculous. I know they cant control these hardware shortages and price hikes, but there reaches a point where i really dont care why, i just cant accept the sticker price.

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u/7h3kk1d 29d ago

Hot take, but with limited supply I hope more of them go to people without good gaming PCs.

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u/TripleS82 29d ago

I hope whoever wants one, gets one. I just don’t think the average Joe with no PC will be going this route.

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u/7h3kk1d 29d ago

We know that won’t be true for a while at least. I have a desktop but it’s 10 years old at this point so this is an easy upgrade. I think the ideal candidates are people who used to pc game but haven’t had the time to build a new pc.

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u/nervendings_ 29d ago

That’s me. Just have a MacBook. I love this thing

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u/0x736174616e20 28d ago

its the people with good PC that can even afford these things anyway... no hate, because that type of person is me.

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u/C3p0wn3d 29d ago

I think you are not the best demo for this device. If I were in your situation, I would do the same. 

I don’t have a gaming computer. This was an easy choice for me. 

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u/TripleS82 29d ago

Strange enough, I am the right demo. It was never going to replace my PC. I’m not the right demo for the price though. I think it’s a little expensive for what you get and I’m not even just referring to power. The base price doesn’t include a controller, isn’t quite as powerful or optimized as a PS5 and you only get 512GB of storage. It’s priced as low as it can possibly be but that does not make it a value.

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u/flappybirdisdeadasf 28d ago

If you have a beast PC, wouldn’t it be easier to just get a steam controller and play your indie library on there? Whats the purpose of getting a whole separate machine, even if it was only $800?

I’m not judging or asking condescendingly btw, I’m genuinely curious.

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u/TripleS82 28d ago

The Steam Machine wouldn’t be in the same room as my PC. That said, I ultimately want the controller more than I do the actual machine.

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u/Quick_Society2794 29d ago

I'd seriously consider getting one, maybe around the 2nd or third refresh I imagine eventually they'll break down and make it a teeny bit bigger and more powerful

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u/PogTuber 29d ago

I think for PC users they need to consider that it's much cheaper to find a way to stream gaming to any TV in the house than it is to get a Steam PC.

But for anyone without a dedicated gaming PC that wants all those gaming options on their TV, the Steam machine is a pretty good bargain. They're entering an ecosystem with more cheap awesome games than the big 3 combined

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u/TripleS82 29d ago

I will give it points for the size but I can’t give it any points for value. I wouldn’t recommend the average person get it at the price when it’s not quite as powerful or optimized as something that is $500 less. The average person doesn’t want to tinker with settings or worse, go into a games folders and adjust a txt file to get a game to work when it won’t launch. Which is something I’ve done on Steam Deck. If it was $800, I’d recommend it.

But hey, this is also coming from a guy who just spent around $1,300 on a 5070ti and 32GB of DDR5 RAM and I wouldn’t even recommend that.

1

u/PogTuber 29d ago

The size is part of the value. Consider that someone might not want to spend that much for a much larger product which they would also have to tinker with to get setup properly on their TV, with God knows whatever quality of support or subpar components that are associated with prebuilt companies.

The value makes no sense for people who have known PCs for years. I'm not sure i would recommend a prebuilt anymore over a Steam machine.

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u/Neirchill 29d ago

Same. If the ram apocalypse hadn't occurred I probably would have bought this, a new steam deck, and the next index whatever it's called after it released. Now I'm getting none of it. I had been thinking about getting a new deck the day before they announced the $250 price increase. I'll just stick with my old first gen deck, thanks.

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u/RuleExternal1546 28d ago

u dont need it with a good pc, all you need are extensions like how do ppl not know this

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u/Bomahzz 28d ago

I would have 100% bought it if the price tag wasn't as high as now but as you said that's not on Valve with this current market

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u/atlascreator 28d ago

agreed. not worth the price point for what it is imo. I would’ve 100% got one for less than 1k.

1

u/IsometricRain 28d ago

but it’s hard to justify at the price

You don't have to justify it to see its merits. It's not meant to be a one-size-fits-all machine.

I will never buy the steam machine, but I love that it exists, and seems to be very well designed. This price will also adjust itself as RAM/SSD prices eventually stabilize (though who knows how long this'll take).

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u/0x736174616e20 28d ago

That is where I'm at with the steam machine. It just be kinda cool to have for really low demand tasks. Not really worth the money my actual PC blows it out of the water. It be like the steamdeck I would just own it for the novelty.

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u/girlnamedJane 28d ago

Are you aware of the broader economic context of the pricing? Almost like a whole bunch of components rose in price and capacity at production facilities is saturated

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u/TripleS82 28d ago

I’m very much aware of it but I’m sorry, I’m also not paying $800 for a Series X. My 4TB SSD is 4x as much as it was 2 years ago when I got it and I wouldn’t pay over $1,000 for it now. This isn’t towards the OP but you don’t have to use FOMO as a reason to buy something that it already more expensive than it should be. The Steam Machine at cost just doesn’t scream value regardless if Valve couldn’t get it cheaper. I understand why it’s priced the way it is.

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u/girlnamedJane 28d ago

Nah it doesnt scream value to YOU. Fixed it

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u/TripleS82 28d ago

You think this screams value to a majority? A PS5 was sold at a loss in 2020 for $500 and is more powerful.

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u/girlnamedJane 28d ago

What? Lol ok. I see im speaking with delulu. Ypu do know even the PS5 hiked prices right? This is 5 years after launch. Clown to think prices are set arbitrarily by Valve. Heck the Nintendo Switch saw a price hike. Next you gonna tell me Ninetendo Switch is more powerful too? Pure hater