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I can build a PC for cheaper
How the flying fuck would you know? The price for the SM hasn’t been announced yet and at the same time parts are increasing in price by a pretty huge margin.
- We don’t know the price yet
- Not everyone knows how to build a PC
- Not everyone wants to learn to build a PC
- Not everyone knows how to install a new OS
- Not everyone wants to learn to install a new OS
(Talking about OS because I’m assuming they want a console experience, not a windows desktop experience)
How do you know you can build one for cheaper if we don’t know the price?
if you are asking these questions… gabecube is not for you.
if you know how to build a PC/fresh install an OS… you should build your own steambox.
if you are a console refugee and want to join the pc master race without having to learn linux, fuck with drivers, or ever open a desktop, this is for you!
Ok so if I do fit the middle one there I should give up my job and family then cuz doing all that sucked up so much time. Might want to put that in as a disclaimer.
Running the installer for steamos, bazzite, nobara, or cachyos should take no longer than 20ish minutes or so… Steam and bazzite will work with no additional setup or config, cachyos and nobara might takes another 20 minutes once installed to finish up installing steam or obs or whatever else you need/want…
I’m bad at PC building, so that took me about 2 hours to assemble and fire up for the first time… But if you’ve already have a PC or boight a prebuilt, you don’t need to worry about that step
Aren’t hard drives through the roof on price suddenly because of AI boxes and aren’t games as chonky as heck right now? They are coming out at 150gb lately.
Building a pc is not cheap.
The box in question is tiny: about the size of a GameCube. Extremely portable, light, and quiet. Valve has a strong profit motive to ensure games can actually run on it without Windows, doing nearly all of the troubleshooting for you. Yeah you could install Linux on a system you built yourself. You can eat the responsibility of expensive mistakes you could possibly make in building it and setting it up. But if the steam machine doesn’t work ALREADY, straight out of the box, without the expectation for you to fuck with it, it’s valve’s problem. For grown ups who have a job and limited free time, not having to waste that time on unfucking shit may in fact be worth it.
Its a *gabecube*
Quite a bit of speculation in these comments considering we don’t even have a price yet
I would pay any price just so I have a pc with games only on it. I haven’t gamed in years cuz my pc is just too full of hobbies, video editing, photography, personal items, backups, movies, albums. Can’t game with all of that in my space.
A steam console where I can just lay in my chaise lounge and play some Terraria? Gosh yes
Meh. You can’t beat the economy of scale with boutique retail PC part prices. That said, you’re probably going to get the min quality for specified performance.
I can build a better PC for less money
Can you?
First of all, Valve has not even announced a price yet. Everything is still pure speculation.
Second, have you seen the price of GPU’s, RAM, and SSD’s these days? Consumers for gaming PC parts are competing for supply with industrial buyers now. AI is hoovering all the supply up with the backing from private equity. The GPU market never fully recovered from the cryptocurrency era either.
I’ve been wanting to build a new mid-range gaming PC for years now. I’ve kept an eye on prices. I spent ~$1k on a machine in 2019, with the GPU costing a mere $175. Nowadays a comparable tier of GPU starts at $600, and the cost fo a mid-tier machine is over $1,500, getting closer to $2,000 with the RAM and SSD prices.
Valve can get better bulk pricing on components. Their primary profit center is software sales, and it’s really hard to sell software when no one can afford hardware. So Valve is incentivized to design these machines that are resistant to being scalped or scrapped for specific components, and to sell them for relatively low margin in order to drive game sales. We already saw this with the Steam Deck- it was hardware that could play games without mining crypto.
I do think the RAM and maybe SSS supply could throw a wrench into Valve’s plans though. Just because if the prices go high enough, people could start buying steam machines to rip out the RAam modules and sell them separately. But we are nowhere near that level of RAM pricing yet.
People say the same about a Mac, and they are usually correct but a Mac is built to last and be energy efficient. Hardware/software integration is also tight.
You’d spend less building your own or buying a cheap windows machine but in terms of performance, energy efficiency, build quality etc you’ll struggle to get better value in the long run.
Except they don’t. Sure, if your comparing a $500 Windows laptop to a $2000 MacBook, then yes this is correct, but once you start comparing computers of the same price tag then it gets different. The parts on the Windows devices tend to be newer, faster, better screen/touch screen, and longer supported. Apple supports their computers for around 7 years before they can’t be updated, Windows on average 10 years. And yes, Windows computers do last 10+ years, everyone is complaining very loudly how their 10+ year old Win10 machine isnt getting updates anymore and cant install Win11.
OK but who said that the RAM isnt firmly soldered?
Gamer’s Nexus has reported that it is upgradeable SO-DIMM modules, though they did not confirm whether it is 1 or 2 sticks.
Okay, thx for clarify.
I remember that guy on hacker news who said Dropbox would never take off because he could build something similar with rsync. He’s not wrong, people who looked for something rsync could solve continued just use rsync. Meaning, people who want to build a PC for less will continue to build a PC less. The Steam Box isn’t for people who want to build a pc for less, though.
American bs product. boycot!
from my wife - we sit in front of a computer all damn day. we don’t want to sit in front of a computer all damn night too. we want to sit down in front of our TV and play games together in the evening. we just want it to work. we’ve built PCs and we have no interest in cobbling something together and supporting it for it’s lifetime. don’t act like that doesn’t come with a huge cost of time.
100% This, I work in IT all day. The last thing I want to do with my personal time is build and support a home built machine attached to my TV that my kids or wife will use to watch Netflix or play a few games. Especially if I am out of town and something stops working.
That’s why I own a PlayStation and pay a premium for their games on an inferior platform compared to PC. It generally just works with out me having to fuck with it all the time. I’d get a Steam box for the same reason.
I have game consoles, but I don’t use them regularly. Every time I turn them on, they want an hour of updates and a password reset just to use the dvd player.
A PC just works.
I bet a Steam Machine would just work too, because Valve aren’t as incompetent as the competition.
Sounds like because you don’t use those devices regularly they don’t get a chance to download updates. When you finally do turn them on after long periods being off they have a lot of downloads to do and your password has expired (My Xbox can be very frustrating when it comes to passwords)… PCs will perform the same way in the same circumstances.
But consoles do update and start working after a password reset, fewer choices and a curated environment means the non technically oriented like the rest of my family can get it up and running without bugging me.
Consoles are probably just not your cup of tea and that’s ok! 👍
To be fair, if you would use your PC as rarely as you seem to use your gaming console, it’s probably also want to take an hour to update…
I could still play games or watch DVDs while it updates
PCs do not just work. They require updates a lot more than your average game console especially if you’re cursed to use Windows.
I can use my PC’s DVD player while I wait for sudo pacman -Syu, or I can even not update it at all if I want. I can do the thing I wanted to do and then update it when I’m done.
…it doesn’t come with a huge cost of time. Literally no idea what the fuck you’re talking about. Where is the time cost?
You just buy a new PC every time you have a driver issue, huh?
Driver issue??
That would necessitate doing things other than playing video games on your pc
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You can literally just move the computer? I have a computer in my living room. In fact that is where it stays all day everyday.
But if you don’t want to physically move it. You can run a single fiber optic cable, or if you have Ethernet - connect a balun at the PC and at the TV…
An hdmi extender, routing a cable, and getting some wireless peripherals (which you’d need anyway) is a huge cost of time?
Unless you live in a mansion, I guess…
I like the steam box but idk
All this tells me is you don’t frequently mess with your computer enough to break it.
I want a steam box because my PC is always in some state of me fucking with it. I don’t want that to get in the way of my gaming.
I used to have my PC plugged in to my TV, steam box style, but it’s back on my desk now… with a long ass HDMI cable running to that TV so I get the best of both worlds. Steam box is definitely cool, I don’t understand the hate for it. Sometimes I think people are just whiners.
Yea that thing is rad. I’m thinking I’ll get it for my nephew someday if they release a new version when he’s old enough to play.
Either that or I torture him with Linux Mint and Lutris I haven’t decided yet.
??? What are you on about? Stop breaking your shit and then acting like the issue is the fact that it’s a PC and not the fact that you’re actively choosing to mess with it?
Like, what is breaking in the first place?
I LIKE breaking my shit. I don’t like missing my games. Steam machine is an easy answer.
Why would you not expect to be fucking with your steam box? Also I’m not even anti-steam box, I’m glad it’s your solution, but again: why?
Bro probably broke his first RAM tab holder because he thought only one of them opens
Baby steps
Lol yea okay I just opened up my DAD’S laptop yesterday to clean it. I went as far as taking apart the fan to clean it properly, and the quirky M.2 setup in his T470p as well, just to get everything out. I also just bought a “broken” webcam, and fixed it for my own use.
But I dON’t mESs WiTH mY coMPutER eNOuGh
I’m just…not a dummy
If your personal PC is always on working order, then I still claim you don’t do enough. Maybe you’re great. Be greater.
Nice ragebait tbh you got me
Covid, the wire company makes a wireless 4k HDMI extender, the EHW-200. There’s a 1080 one too, the EHW-100 for half the cost. Plug and play, no app. They’re pretty cool.
What is the latency on that?
I just used a $30 HDMI balun and a single patch cable to connect the Ethernet running from Living Room to PC. Just removed the router from the connection between the two and it works fantastic. No latency issues and Cat6 is more than capable.
I actually don’t know, our customers use them for presenting mostly. We usually use the HDMI over HDBaseT. I actually don’t know all the specs, I am in the Procurement side, they just send me lists to order. I just saw the wireless units and thought they were pretty slick.
EDIT looked it up 90-120ms a bit laggy, probably not good for gaming.
I’ll repeat what others likely mentioned before:
Valve specifically chose to build a mid range PC, so more people can afford it.
Also they priced it in a way where it’s still affordable while offering the convenience of not having to build it yourself. The majority of people never built a PC themselves, nor do they want to.
i think i must be their target audience because i’m excited as hell for the steam machine. i have no desire to build my own, i just want to play my steam games on my big tv. that’s it. they’re making that easy.
Not disagreeing with any of this, but it’s not like people who don’t build PC’s dont have plenty of options of prebuilt ones from either high end 3rd party stores as well as low end ones. To me it’s just another option to add to a long list which due to the company name will definitely sell more than the others right off the bat.
The key difference is that the Steam Machine can be controlled 100% for the controller with a OS built to be controlled by the controller, and seen on a TV.
Windows doesn’t do that. It fuckin sucks to see on a TV because the UI is so small, and the controller only works in-game.
I am most excited for the OS progress. I will be putting whatever on my living room pc as soon as it’s released. I can’t stand using a mouse and keyboard in the living room and having to scoot close to the TV
Maybe its the games I have played but my last pc was connected to my tv exclusively for 5 years and never saw that UI issue. I definitely had issues that sometimes needed addressing, but that wasnt one. I thought it worked good enough, but yeah the keyboard and mouse was always annoying. I used the Logitech all in one which was pretty small and mouse pad on the right side from the couch. For the most part I used it more for video playback though so I was in Kodi a lot and I would then use my phone as the remote control.
The games are rarely the issue. It’s the OS in between the games, switching between games on Steam Big Picture and then to Jellyfin or similar for media, a web browser, and so on. You can do it with a wireless mouse or trackpad, but it’s a bit of a pain. SteamOS will presumably have a better UI for that.
Yeah I have 2 sound devices. And Windows chooses randomly every single time it resumes from Sleep, or Power Off.
My option if I don’t want to get a keyboard/mouse is to hold the Power button ot the controller for up to 10s and use the right analog to maneuver the mouse, and R1 to left click. There is no right -click best I can see.
If I hold the button for over 10s then the controller shuts off.
What a shit ass system. Who picks a key combo with the power button?
Choose: Big, bulky, shining with full RGB spectrum monster (low-end)
Or small funny box that Just Works.
Lol, I also hate the RGB as well. I built mine a few years ago and it was annoying how badly it is just integrated into most parts now. Some had options where I could buy the same part without it, but some it was either buy it with it or get something else that was either lower end or higher end and not what I wanted at all. In the end it has a low glow and I just face that open window at a wall. Why can’t everything have a boring option like noctua fans.
Options is the key word. Options means no “one” has a monopoly.
To me the Steam Machine looks more like it’s supposed to be a console type deal. Like what the Steam Link was supposed to be.
Especially if you mainly use it with the Big Picture mode of Steam OS
But the Steam Box comes with Linux so it must better :)
Well, It’s a game box that doesn’t record everything you do, shove it into AI, and sell all your secrets to the highest bidder.
It’s basically a linux PC from a reputable vendor that comes with support.
And yeah, you could build your own cheaper.
And yeah, you could build your own cheaper.
Notably, though, this is the case with any pre-built PC; the Steam Box isn’t an exception. We don’t know the final price or specs yet but presumably it’s no worse value than buying something from e.g. Dell. Probably better value purely based on it coming with Linux and without the bloatware.
And also cheaper because steam expects to make additional money on each user in the future via steam purchases, so they can keep the margin smaller in the hardware price
Steam has explicitly said they are not subsidizing the steam machine as other console makers do
iirc they said they weren’t selling at a loss, but that’s not the same thing as selling at a low margin. PC manufacturers have to make essentially 100% of their profit from the initial sale of the device, but valve can make a smaller profit from the sale of each device because they know each device will lead to additional profit through game purchases
I thought pc makers made side profits with all the bloatware they install. And possibly some weird deals with M$ too.
Like everything else, you can find some that do and some that don’t. Best yet, it goes both ways. When someone sells you a bloated PC, they often share a bit of the payoff with you making the price slightly cheaper than would be possible otherwise.
Historically M$ has even threatened manufacturers NOT to sell with Linux installed. They attacked some major retail brands, threatened to pull their license to sell windows.
it’s a great big clusterfuck
They don’t know that, if they sell cheap enough it might be worth it for a random office somewhere to order a hundred and use them as work computers with no intention to ever buy a game in them. Also they aren’t going to be locked, nothing prevents you from getting one and run games purchased in every market under the sun that isn’t steam (and/or pirated games).
I don’t think they have any certainty that they’ll even make decent money on them. I am hopeful that this will be good for everyone but can’t exactly see how at the moment.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/valve-finally-confirms-leaked-steam-machine-price-rumors/
Well, it’s true we don’t have actual numbers yet, we do have some pretty solid info on the hardware. And we have some statements from Valve themselves that it’s not going to be console-priced, even though the hardware is clearly console specced.
Don’t get me wrong. I really really want it to work out well. I would love to have well, supported Linux workstations in people’s hands.
But I think we’re going to find its price is going to shove it into a niche audience.
This article says absolutely nothing except here say from a YouTuber?
They didn’t confirm anything?
With the prices of RAM…
Valve would have secured a pipeline prior to announcing the news at least for the first however many thousand/million/whatever units
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that comes with support
biggest point.
When you build your own linux pc, you will always have a big risk of some unexpected problems. Lowering the bar of technical expertise to run linux is the main selling point here IMO.
Yeah, I think the missing point is the average Lemmy user is not the target market. This is Steam’s attempt to grab market share from the other consoles. People with gaming PCs are probably already using steam. People with Xbox or PS are probably not. Steam needs to provide an out of the box ready product to let them existing console players play steam.
And it will be a development target, meaning devs will put in some effort to get their games working nicely on it.
This is me. I used to be a PC tinkerer back in the day. But now, ain’t nobody got time for that.
NGL, I kinda want one as a desktop. I have better gaming systems, but having a little borg cube on my desk with an ok amount of horsepower pushing two monitors would be pretty neat. I’d either give it a Tardis siege mode skin or a borg cube skin
Not just the highest bidder. All bidders.
And yeah, you could build your own cheaper.
I call BS.
At what theoretical price point for a Steam Machine, can you match the or exceed the specs, for less cost?
Ok, now also try to do that, and match the Steam Machine’s power draw, and form factor.
… Go on, show me your build, with current US prices.
Unless I somehow missed an actual price announcement for the Steam Machine, I wanna see how cheap you can get an actually comparable build done for.
Hey troll, go find a hobby.
I’m still waiting for a build and a price point for it.
Would you like to see the build I’ve been planning out for a while?
Its not an attempt to replicate a Steam Machine, its more of a… maximum possible bang for your buck build… it does have a similar form factor though, and an unconventional kind of architecture…
…though I did try to replicate a PS5 price point/performance parity build a while back… turns out, its not as easy as you may think to just lay out a PC build that’s actually pretty close in price/performance to a non PC standard architecture, made by a large corporation.
Or did you just want to do some namecalling, and entirely avoid actually backing up your claim?
You said you could probably make that build.
I’m just asking you to actually do that.
