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[DarkShadowXI]

I went ahead and ordered it. I forgot that one of my good work friends is on the waitlist for the same model and I essentially have a guaranteed sale on top of the return policy.

Risk free! Congrats!!

What an emotional rollercoaster this launch has been. That timing is insane lmao. I'm guessing you'll get it Monday-Wednesday.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

Risk free! Congrats!!

What an emotional rollercoaster this launch has been. That timing is insane lmao. I'm guessing you'll get it Monday-Wednesday.

So true. I was feeling just like hououinkyouma00 with my desire and hype fading out and then boom in the inbox and my turnaround time was about as fast as his.

It's a sexy little machine I had a little bit more time to mess with it today and played some Doom 2016 with the controller and mouse and keyboard. Installed a few other things when I get a chance to try them later as well. Can't wait to get a good day to sit with it and mess around in desktop mode.

Is it true that I could run like the battle net launcher and all of that with a compatibility layer?

 

[DarkShadowXI]

Yeah, and there's always ebay. Last I checked they were fetching a premium so you could always get out without any trouble it seems like.

They're increasing in value, too.

If these trends continue, by the time 2030 rolls around, the Steam Machine will go for…

*runs calculations*

90 billion dollars.

 

[hououinkyouma00]

Not sure if anybody will know but I have EMUdeck set up on my Steam Deck SD card. I know games installed on the SD card can be hot swapped but how would this work with EMUdeck? I would love to be able to just swap my card over to play on the tv and vice versa

Yeah, and there's always ebay. Last I checked they were fetching a premium so you could always get out without any trouble it seems like.


That's lame if true. It should go to someone else on the reservation queue.

Yeah, for sure. I'm hoping it's just an error with a set number of people because that's really fucked up if it's how it works.

Risk free! Congrats!!

What an emotional rollercoaster this launch has been. That timing is insane lmao. I'm guessing you'll get it Monday-Wednesday.

Yeah, it definitely has. Yeah, I'm hoping for an early next week delivery. I've gotten really lucky with Valve shipping being stupid fast. I remember when I ordered my Steam Deck OLED I ordered it on like a Saturday and it arrived Monday.

 

[gpn]

Finally got my purchase email for 512 + controller. Will be officially joining the club soon.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

Have to say the more time I spend with the controller the more I like it. I really love the tiny haptics on the touchpads but haven't found a very good use for the touchpads themselves yet.

I've never used a controller with buttons on the rear like this either so I have to get used to those being there and divine a good function for them in general.

 

[CuteFaceJay]

Not sure if anybody will know but I have EMUdeck set up on my Steam Deck SD card. I know games installed on the SD card can be hot swapped but how would this work with EMUdeck? I would love to be able to just swap my card over to play on the tv and vice versa

I'm guessing make sure you have EMUdeck installed on the Machine before trying to move the SD card over. If it still doesn't pick up the rom's you may need to run the EMUDeck parser after moving the SD card over and it might then find everything on the card?

 

[DarkShadowXI]

Russ over at Retro Game Corps just got his Steam Machine a couple days ago.

I'm looking forward to his emulation videos for it. He does a great job with breaking things down with easy to follow guides for those that can feel intimidated by it.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

Russ over at Retro Game Corps just got his Steam Machine a couple days ago.

I'm looking forward to his emulation videos for it. He does a great job with breaking things down with easy to follow guides for those that can feel intimidated by it.

I hadn't really considered it before but I will definitely tinker around with some emulation on this thing. I think I have a spare SD card somewhere that would work great for it.

I was able to get Battle.net installed successfully through Proton compatibility - that was easier than I thought. The whole OS is a lot more user friendly than I expected honestly. Didn't yet try to install any Battle.net games but wanted to see how installing the app went. What about GamePass? Is that possible to wrap and run like that as well?

 

[DarkShadowXI]

I hadn't really considered it before but I will definitely tinker around with some emulation on this thing. I think I have a spare SD card somewhere that would work great for it.

I wasn't considering emulation, either, but this is the perfect box for it

I was able to get Battle.net installed successfully through Proton compatibility - that was easier than I thought. The whole OS is a lot more user friendly than I expected honestly. Didn't yet try to install any Battle.net games but wanted to see how installing the app went. What about GamePass? Is that possible to wrap and run like that as well?

That's awesome! Wondering how the battle.net games would run?

I'm also curious about Game Pass. I'd consider resubbing, if it's a relatively seamless setup and the games run natively. But I have a feeling it won't work on SteamOS.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

I wasn't considering emulation, either, but this is the perfect box for it


That's awesome! Wondering how the battle.net games would run?

I'm also curious about Game Pass. I'd consider resubbing, if it's a relatively seamless setup and the games run natively. But I have a feeling it won't work on SteamOS.

Yeah I feel like it shouldn't but at the same time if you can download Battlenet and install and play games with that Windows app and a wrapper, I wonder why not? Granted perhaps there is a why to the not but we will see.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

I'm also curious about Game Pass. I'd consider resubbing, if it's a relatively seamless setup and the games run natively. But I have a feeling it won't work on SteamOS.

There's no native gamepass on SteamOS. But you can add the gamepass streaming link as a non-Steam game and add the icons and graphics and what not.

I get 1 month of GP a few times a year. The streaming works fine for me. You can also stream from your pc I believe. I haven't done that with GP.

 

[DarkShadowXI]

There's no native gamepass on SteamOS. But you can add the gamepass streaming link as a non-Steam game and add the icons and graphics and what not.

I get 1 month of GP a few times a year. The streaming works fine for me. You can also stream from your pc I believe. I haven't done that with GP.

Ah, that's what I figured. I'd have to think about what I'd be streaming on there.

Forza Horizon 6 would probably be...tough to play that way. Indie games would probably be fine, though.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

Ah, that's what I figured. I'd have to think about what I'd be streaming on there.

Forza Horizon 6 would probably be...tough to play that way. Indie games would probably be fine, though.

MS even made a how-to:

Xbox Cloud Gaming in Microsoft Edge with Steam Deck | Microsoft Support

How to set up Xbox Cloud Gaming on a Steam Deck device using the Microsoft Edge browser.

support.microsoft.com

But i'd get soemthing like steamgridDB to change the artwork. Adds an option in steam to change the artwork. Really handy for non-steam things you add.

 

[DarkShadowXI]

In this video, he mentioned that he locks the frame rate to 40FPS in 120hz mode using the built in frame limiter for a smoother experience.

I've never used that feature in SteamOS. Is it the frame rate limiter that you can find in the right hand side menu in SteamOS during gameplay?

And I'm assuming I set the resolution to 1080/120 or 1440/120?

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

In this video, he mentioned that he locks the frame rate to 40FPS in 120hz mode using the built in frame limiter for a smoother experience.

I've never used that feature in SteamOS. Is it the frame rate limiter that you can find in the right hand side menu in SteamOS during gameplay?

And I'm assuming I set the resolution to 1080/120 or 1440/120?

Probably because you can set a profile and thusly limit for each game there. I've found that really useful already.

 

[DarkShadowXI]

Probably because you can set a profile and thusly limit for each game there. I've found that really useful already.

I love that we can set profiles for games!

I'm assuming I'd want to limit games that are feeling hitchy/stuttery?

For the games that really don't want to cooperate and are very demanding, would I set the SteamOS limiter to 40FPS and set the resolution to 120hz/120FPS?

 

[Yoda]

My wife is really enjoying this, games that generally need a mouse (point and click) are more than playable with the controller (she refuses to play games at a PC/desk). I don't think the old steam controller ever caught on, but this newer variant where it's essentially a cutdown steamdeck is vastly superior.

 

[rkofan87]

My wife is really enjoying this, games that generally need a mouse (point and click) are more than playable with the controller (she refuses to play games at a PC/desk). I don't think the old steam controller ever caught on, but this newer variant where it's essentially a cutdown steamdeck is vastly superior.

i even found Point click adventure games even work pretty damned easily on PlayStation and or Xbox controller as well

 

[hououinkyouma00]

My wife is really enjoying this, games that generally need a mouse (point and click) are more than playable with the controller (she refuses to play games at a PC/desk). I don't think the old steam controller ever caught on, but this newer variant where it's essentially a cutdown steamdeck is vastly superior.

I bought the OG like day 1 and it was a very interesting controller. I really didn't like it at first but I decided to force myself to play through Portal 2 and about halfway through it clicked. I ended up using it quite a bit back in the day (not more then my Xbox controller but much more then I'd be willing to best most buyers did).

 

[jshackles]

Games and certain launchers that require mouse controls are kinda broken with the Machine / Steam Controller combo, because right now the way to move about is to hold down the Steam button while using the trackpads and triggers to emulate mouse movements. Only problem is that unlike the Steam Deck, pressing and holding the Steam button for more than about 5 seconds on the controller signals it to power off.

Has made it unnecessarily difficult to maneuver around in like Memoria launcher for Final Fantasy IX or making settings changes in something like PCSX2.

 

[jshackles]

Tried out Final Fantasy VII Remake. 4K gets about 80fps on high settings, capped to 60 and the only times I could make it drop below that was during texture loading (Unreal Engine strikes again). I know there are some third party frame generation / DLSS mods for this game, but I haven't tried them. Rebirth has it built in, so I'm expecting similar (if not better) performance, we'll see.

 

[hououinkyouma00]

Tried out Final Fantasy VII Remake. 4K gets about 80fps on high settings, capped to 60 and the only times I could make it drop below that was during texture loading (Unreal Engine strikes again). I know there are some third party frame generation / DLSS mods for this game, but I haven't tried them. Rebirth has it built in, so I'm expecting similar (if not better) performance, we'll see.

I do think Rebirth is quite a bit heavier just from being open world but from what I've seen performance is pretty good.

 

[simpatico]

MS even made a how-to:

Xbox Cloud Gaming in Microsoft Edge with Steam Deck | Microsoft Support

How to set up Xbox Cloud Gaming on a Steam Deck device using the Microsoft Edge browser.

support.microsoft.com

But i'd get soemthing like steamgridDB to change the artwork. Adds an option in steam to change the artwork. Really handy for non-steam things you add.

GTA VI here I come baby.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

GTA VI here I come baby.

That'll be a good troll post on X

 

[DarkShadowXI]

I'm 15 hours into Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter thanks to this thing. Just from this week alone. I'm terrible at making it through story games!

The convenience factor has been a real joy.

 

[simpatico]

That'll be a good troll post on X

How does it work? Can I buy GTA VI for Xbox and stream it to my PC without owning an Xbox?

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

How does it work? Can I buy GTA VI for Xbox and stream it to my PC without owning an Xbox?

Yes, if GTA 6 is added to Xbox Cloud Gaming's "Stream Your Own Game" program, you'll be able to buy it digitally and stream it without installing it, provided you have an eligible Game Pass subscription. Microsoft currently allows players to stream certain digitally owned games through Xbox Cloud Gaming. 12


However, buying a game digitally does not automatically mean it can be streamed. The game must be included in Microsoft's cloud-streaming catalog. 12


For GTA 6 specifically, Rockstar and Microsoft have not confirmed whether it will support Xbox Cloud Gaming streaming of owned copies. So the answer right now is:

• You'll be able to download and play GTA 6 on your Xbox if you buy it digitally.

• You can remote play it from your own Xbox to another device.

• Cloud streaming directly from Microsoft's servers will depend on whether GTA 6 is added to the Xbox Cloud Gaming catalog. 12

If your goal is to play GTA 6 on a phone, tablet, or PC without installing it, we won't know for sure until Microsoft or Rockstar announces cloud support.

 

[simpatico]

If your goal is to play GTA 6 on a phone, tablet, or PC without installing it, we won't know for sure until Microsoft or Rockstar announces cloud support.

I'd buy a couple months of gamepass for that.

 

[Durin]

Games and certain launchers that require mouse controls are kinda broken with the Machine / Steam Controller combo, because right now the way to move about is to hold down the Steam button while using the trackpads and triggers to emulate mouse movements. Only problem is that unlike the Steam Deck, pressing and holding the Steam button for more than about 5 seconds on the controller signals it to power off.

Has made it unnecessarily difficult to maneuver around in like Memoria launcher for Final Fantasy IX or making settings changes in something like PCSX2.

Kinda wish Valve let you change the guide button template, so holding down the button for 3-4 seconds forced a state change with a pop-up, and in that state you could just have mouse/trackpad controls globally with left/right triggers for mouse clicks, and then holding it down 3-4 seconds triggers it off. Not sure if just adding trackpad controls per-game fixes that for launchers, haven't tried.

PCSX2 games through emudeck's decky plugin should provide templates in Steam Input, so you can have quite a few useful settings adjustable with the controller on the left trackpad if I remember right. I think it auto-enables these control templates on emulated games you add via Steam ROM Manager through emudeck, but you can just look up what the commands are.

For the games that really don't want to cooperate and are very demanding, would I set the SteamOS limiter to 40FPS and set the resolution to 120hz/120FPS?

Yeah, setting it to 120hz for games you want to be at 40fps, and then set a cap works great because it's divisible. Less relevant if the game pushes past 45fps and you have a vrr display though.

 

[rkofan87]

I do think Rebirth is quite a bit heavier just from being open world but from what I've seen performance is pretty good.

this thing just keeps getting better and better

 

[rkofan87]

Games and certain launchers that require mouse controls are kinda broken with the Machine / Steam Controller combo, because right now the way to move about is to hold down the Steam button while using the trackpads and triggers to emulate mouse movements. Only problem is that unlike the Steam Deck, pressing and holding the Steam button for more than about 5 seconds on the controller signals it to power off.

Has made it unnecessarily difficult to maneuver around in like Memoria launcher for Final Fantasy IX or making settings changes in something like PCSX2.

WTF whose bright idea was that???
what do the touchpads do if you don't hold the steam button down?

 

[MidgarBlowedUp]

But I wasnt replying to Tina and her 12 year old son Jeremy. At least I don t think I was.

To be fair, Tina can't afford it and Jeremy probably just wants those robux or whatever the kids use these days.

 

[kevboard]

WTF whose bright idea was that???
what do the touchpads do if you don't hold the steam button down?

well, ever tried to switch to an account that needs a password in desktop mode on Steam Deck? you can't... like literally... if you have to input a password, you can not bring up the on-screen keyboard, because you're not logged in to Steam

so valve not thinking their UX through properly isn't new

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

"filthy casual" likes it

 

[Raelgun]

Finally got my purchase email for 512 + controller. Will be officially joining the club soon.

Finally got my purchase email for 512GB NO controller

They actually exist! (dont lose hope!... if anyone is waiting for one)

 

[hououinkyouma00]

I saw this video earlier and this all looks pretty good to me outside of maybe Dead Space?

 

[naguanatak]

First of all: To the people who have gotten a Steam Machine: congrats and have fun, despite the naysayers.

Didn't know where to post it other than in here. If it isn't wanted, I can move it or delete it, but I'd rather get some input from some more knowledgable folk in here.

I constantly read "lol, Valve... You can build your own steam machine for less, much more powerful" or something along those lines.
So I sat down and - in theory - build my own machine with my limited knowledge. Last time I build a PC was 2012, so I don't really know what I'm doing.

Tools used: ChatGPT to brain storm and get ideas, idealo.de to check prices, google to verify or find other sources.

First build that exceeds the steam machine significantly:

1. 170,00€ Case: Fractal Design Terra
2. 670,00€ GPU: RX 7900 XT Sapphire Pulse
3. 185,00€ CPU: Ryzen 7 7700
4. 215,00€ MoBo: MSI MPG B650I Edge Wifi
5. 170,00€ PSU: Corsair SF850
6. 70,00€ Cooler: Noctua NH-L12S
7. 150,00€ SSD: 1TB Western Digital Black SN7100
8. 420,00€ RAM: Crucial Pro OC 32GB Kit DDR5-6000 CL36

That is a 2.050€ build. I could go with a RX7900 GRE which should fit better in the case (the sapphire pulse being the only XT variant that fits) but it's around the same price.


Second build to more reasonably get into Steam Machine territory:

1. 170,00€ Case: Fractal Design Terra
2. 500,00€ GPU: RX 7700 XT
3. 160,00€ CPU: Ryzen 5 7600
4. 215,00€ MoBo: MSI MPG B650I Edge Wifi
5. 160,00€ Corsair SF750
6. 70,00€ Cooler: Noctua NH-L12S
7. 150,00€ SSD: 1TB Western Digital Black SN7100
8. 220,00€ RAM: Crucial Pro OC 16GB Kit DDR5-6000 CL36

That is a 1.645€ build

Am I missing something? The case especially presents a challenge that adds a premium due to needing specific Mainboard and PSU units. The RAM atm is just off the charts. ChatGPT lives in the past with 100-150€ cost for 32GB, but after pointing that out, it adjusted its prices.
So where are these people getting the idea from that I can build a small console form factor PC that exceeds the steam machine while costing less?

 

[SaturnSaturn]

Steam does not ship to my country, but luckily "third party stores" finally got the steam machine in stock. 512GB with no controller for 2100$..... Its insane and i am not buying one for that price.

Seems like a cool piece of hardware and i enjoy reading the impressions in this thread about it. Sooner or later i hope the prices will drop in my country.

naguanatak It's not possible to build a small form factor PC for the same price, people have an irrational hatred for this machine somehow. "wow 8gb vram in the year 2026". 1080p/1440p with integer scaling or tv hardware upscaling does not require more than 8gb of ram, its just insane the hatred this little box gets.

 

[naguanatak]

Steam does not ship to my country, but luckily "third party stores" finally got the steam machine in stock. 512GB with no controller for 2100$..... Its insane and i am not buying one for that price.

Seems like a cool piece of hardware and i enjoy reading the impressions in this thread about it. Sooner or later i hope the prices will drop in my country.

naguanatak It's not possible to build a small form factor PC for the same price, people have an irrational hatred for this machine somehow. "wow 8gb vram in the year 2026". 1080p/1440p with integer scaling or tv hardware upscaling does not require more than 8gb of ram, its just insane the hatred this little box gets.

Thanks for the response.
The 8gb vram is actually the main reason why I'm hesitant to sell other consoles and dissolve my humble crypto wallet to buy one in the beginning of 2027. I think that's holding it back the most when thinking about playing new games in 2027/2028 and beyond, the biggest bottleneck while the rest of the specs are reasonable for the pricepoint, form factor and other features a simple pc build lacks. 1080p would be enough for me as I can comfortably sit on my couch when gaming instead of the armchair I regularly use when plaing at higher resolutions on ps5.

 

[SaturnSaturn]

Thanks for the response.
The 8gb vram is actually the main reason why I'm hesitant to sell other consoles and dissolve my humble crypto wallet to buy one in the beginning of 2027. I think that's holding it back the most when thinking about playing new games in 2027/2028 and beyond, the biggest bottleneck while the rest of the specs are reasonable for the pricepoint, form factor and other features a simple pc build lacks. 1080p would be enough for me as I can comfortably sit on my couch when gaming instead of the armchair I regularly use when plaing at higher resolutions on ps5.

I find most of the talk online about the 8gb VRAM overblown, had a 5060 8gb recently, before that a A750 8gb and never ran into any vram related bottlenecks at all. I mean if you should by chance run into something at 1080p at worst you can adjust a few "useless" sliders/settings down to medium to reduce the vram usage with next to no visual difference. The problem arises when you try to use it for 4k gaming or 4k FSR. Compared to the console you can fine tune your game for your machine which is a plus. Crimson Desert was pretty heavy in VRAM usage i must say, but again i turned a few settings down like hair quality and some volumetric/terrain settings and never hit the 8gb limit and pretty much saw no difference.

Since you are going to be playing on a TV that has built in high quality upscalers i would not worry about it, just be sure to feed it a 1080p signal so it can upscale using the tv hardware.

 

[naguanatak]

I find most of the talk online about the 8gb VRAM overblown, had a 5060 8gb recently, before that a A750 8gb and never ran into any vram related bottlenecks at all. I mean if you should by chance run into something at 1080p at worst you can adjust a few "useless" sliders/settings down to medium to reduce the vram usage with next to no visual difference. The problem arises when you try to use it for 4k gaming or 4k FSR. Compared to the console you can fine tune your game for your machine which is a plus. Crimson Desert was pretty heavy in VRAM usage i must say, but again i turned a few settings down like hair quality and some volumetric/terrain settings and never hit the 8gb limit and pretty much saw no difference.

Since you are going to be playing on a TV that has built in high quality upscalers i would not worry about it, just be sure to feed it a 1080p signal so it can upscale using the tv hardware.

I don't know about my TV honestly. It was a pretty cheap Sony Bravia. I cannot change or even see upscaling settings. It doesn't even have a dedicated game mode or stuff like this. I just disabled every 'extra feature' to not introduce some kind of extra input lag.

I'd be fine at 1080p. Most important for me in games is textures and lighting. That's what I prioritize when playing on Steam Deck for example. Don't have a recent gaming capable PC anymore, that dinosaur is from 2012.
I know I can adjust, but I don't want to play on minimum settings either...and looking at dev and optimization trends, I'm not so sure that little machine is future proof. Never liked FSR in any game I tested it on Steam Deck. Always prefer native rendering even at 30fps. That might be another topic on a big screen and a system like the steam machine that is much more capable than a Deck, but I don't have enough experience for that discussion

 

[DarkShadowXI]

Russ goes in depth in his videos, but he seems to love it!

Spoiler: TLDW: YouTube AI Summary

Summary: In this video, Russ from Retro Game Corps provides an in-depth, preliminary review of the Steam Machine after one week of testing. He explores its hardware, software experience, and overall value as a living room PC.


The Negatives (0:03:05 - 0:17:04)

• Price: The reviewer expresses frustration with the high price point (starting at $1,049), noting it lacks the value proposition of traditional consoles.
• Reservation System: The lottery-style launch and waitlist system are described as "haphazard" and potentially frustrating for consumers.
• Performance Expectations: The Steam Machine is not a cutting-edge device. While capable at 1440p, it struggles to maintain consistent 4K 60FPS performance on demanding titles like Doom: The Dark Ages (0:08:50 - 0:09:07).
• DIY Alternative: He highlights that users could build a more powerful PC for a similar price, though it would lack the small, console-like form factor of this device.

The Positives (0:17:05 - 0:23:51)

• Form Factor: The reviewer loves the compact, console-like design that reminds him of a GameCube.
• Ease of Use: The device works seamlessly with various controllers (including the Steam Controller) and offers excellent cooling, never exceeding 71°C in his testing (0:22:25).
• Backlog Crusher: The Steam Machine excels at playing indie games and older console-generation ports at high resolutions (0:19:56).
• HDMI CEC: The built-in HDMI CEC support allows for convenient control of the TV and PC using the same remote, enhancing the living room experience (0:23:26).

Software & Wishlist (0:23:52 - 0:38:12)

• Steam OS: The operating system provides a familiar, console-like interface similar to the Steam Deck.
• System Tweaks: The reviewer appreciates the per-game resolution settings but notes a few areas for improvement, such as missing system-wide chord/input customization (0:33:05) and a more elegant streaming/charging solution (0:34:49).

Conclusion (0:38:13 - 0:39:50) Despite the painful price and availability issues, Russ concludes that he loves the Steam Machine for its elegance and convenience, making it a compelling option if you prioritize a polished, out-of-the-box experience over pure component value.

 

[DarkShadowXI]

Am I missing something? The case especially presents a challenge that adds a premium due to needing specific Mainboard and PSU units. The RAM atm is just off the charts. ChatGPT lives in the past with 100-150€ cost for 32GB, but after pointing that out, it adjusted its prices.

So where are these people getting the idea from that I can build a small console form factor PC that exceeds the steam machine while costing less?

You're not missing anything at all. Guilty_AI has challenged some folks on here that say "you can build something much more powerful and cheaper". They reply back with builds that simply can't do it. And nothing comes close to the form factor, feature set, or plug and play ease of use.

 

[jshackles]

Russ goes in depth in his videos, but he seems to love it!

I knew Russ would dig it, as it's basically a retro game enthusiast's wet dream.

 

[naguanatak]

You're not missing anything at all. Guilty_AI has challenged some folks on here that say "you can build something much more powerful and cheaper". They reply back with builds that simply can't do it. And nothing comes close to the form factor, feature set, or plug and play ease of use.

I mean chatgpt build me one that exceeded the Steam Machine performance at around 1,100€ before I intervened that it calculated hardware prices without taking the ram/nand crisis into account. I was hopeful when I read the price of the machine but then raised an eyebrow that it calculated 32gb ram 6000 cl 30 with 90€ which is roughly 310€ less than it is in reality nowadays here in Germany. The ssd was 80€ but in reality is around 150€.
Every time I tried to reach Steam Machine prices I needed a big case and the hopeful solution to finding used GPU and RAM which again in reality are priced almost exactly at the prices for new hardware atm. Every alternative that was brought forth by chatgpt was more expensive than it calculated at first draft... So wasn't an alternative at all.
Leaving me with the bitter realization that it seems impossible to build one for yourself at better prices.

 

[phant0m]

I knew Russ would dig it, as it's basically a retro game enthusiast's wet dream.

Still massively overpriced. If your main use case is retro, buy a mini PC like this for under $500 and install Batocera on it.

Will run everything through PS2/GC/Dreamcast wonderfully and skips needing to do all the setup for EmuDeck & other launchers. It's a vastly superior OS for retro.

 

[jshackles]

Still massively overpriced. If your main use case is retro, buy a mini PC like this for under $500 and install Batocera on it.

Will run everything through PS2/GC/Dreamcast wonderfully and skips needing to do all the setup for EmuDeck & other launchers. It's a vastly superior OS for retro.

Sure if all you want is PS2 and below, that's probably a better option. But if you want to go up to PS3/PS4/Switch emulation, that machine is going to struggle a bit. The Steam Machine also has the benefit of being able to play everything else from your Steam library, including heavy hitters from the PS5 generation.

As a purely "retro" system, I agree it's massively overpriced. As an extremely capable mini-PC, it's hard to beat even at the $1,000 price point.

 

[DarkShadowXI]

hououinkyouma00 what's the ETA and what's your hype level at??

 

[phant0m]

Sure if all you want is PS2 and below, that's probably a better option. But if you want to go up to PS3/PS4/Switch emulation, that machine is going to struggle a bit. The Steam Machine also has the benefit of being able to play everything else from your Steam library, including heavy hitters from the PS5 generation.

As a purely "retro" system, I agree it's massively overpriced. As an extremely capable mini-PC, it's hard to beat even at the $1,000 price point.

Switch should run ok on any mini PC with a 780m

I can't imagine the SM is going to be great at PS3 emulation either though, maybe it's improved vastly but last I used RPCS3 it hammered my 5800X3D + 3080. PS4 I'd assume just buy the PC/Steam versions and nix the emulation overhead (save Bloodbourne I guess).

But to your point, if you want a 'does great at retro, pretty good at last gen and can kinda keep up with modern AAA' it is a one stop shop.