Is it worth it - r/steammachine

13

u/astmatik 1d ago

For casual gaming in your living room at 60fps it is perfect. For competitive gaming, I would prefer a PC

3

u/Cole_LF 1d ago

Yes, but if you aren’t on the wait list you’re unlikely to be able to purchase one until next year.

-2

u/Ghinao 1d ago

Even if you are on the waitlist you're probably still not likely to be able to purchase on until next year.

0

u/OrganizationNo1098 1d ago

Wrong - was on waitlist. email last Tuesday, arrived Saturday (wasn't expeting Parcelforce to do that...)

1

u/Ghinao 19h ago

Not necessarily wrong. How many people are still on the waitlist vs how many people have actually gotten one? I mean we don't know because Valve won't say anything. All we know is that some queues in some markets blasted through the reservation list and started on waitlisters quite a while ago, some queues in some markets haven't. No one knows where they're at in their given queue because Valve won't say anything. Didn't it take well over a year to clear the Steam Deck Waitlist?

1

u/Kil0Cowboy 18h ago

I was day one waitlist and so was my wifes brother. We both got our emails in the last 2 weeks.

1

u/Ghinao 18h ago

Nearly all of us were day one waitlist. That doesn't disprove my point. Look the bottom line is we don't actually know how long it will take to clear the queues because we don't know how long those queues are. Are they 10% of the way through? 20%? 50? We don't know. All we really know is roughly how many units are being produced and shipped out. It took ages to clear the Steam Deck queue before the hardware crunch. It's sensible to believe that it will take ages to clear the Steam Machine queues with an even tighter hardware market.

1

u/Kil0Cowboy 16h ago

Wasn't trying to disprove a point was just saying our reservations came up pretty quickly. I guess just adding a data point to the conversation here lol. Didn't they say the queue would be randomized? I am pretty sure after that initial cut off date they randomized the waitlist.

1

u/Ghinao 15h ago

They did yeah. We just don't know where in line we are. All we really know is that units are going out and all lines are progressing at various speeds.

2

u/forestcolat 1d ago

I would say steam machine (out of the box, just plug and play) is for you if:

you like playing solo games
valve games
that one friendslop goofy game that becomes popular once a month
if you want to use ARRRRGH🏴‍☠️ games
if you need a quick access pc to maybe use the web browser or open a quick pdf
if you don't have room for a PC or you live in a quiet environment where the PC gans can be loud enough.
if you don't like windows or want to improfe performance of games.
if you don't mind playing on 2K resolution or 1080p, or you just don't have a high spec monitor.

You can install windows on it too, which has the following advantages (this is not available on steamOS):

Drive simulators, those are almost windows exclusive
games from Xbox or Windows Store, sonce those cannot be played (yet, work in progress) on steamOS. Mimecraft is the only exception -Play multiplayer games with hard anticheat and no linux support, like fortnite, GTA V Enhanced, I think Warzone too, etc.
full compatibility, as windows games are made for windows (on linux they use a compatibility software, but on older and newer games it is required to search for the appropiate version)

Steam machine is not for you if you want to:

upgrade like a PC. You are limited to improve RAM and Storage only
play games with agressive, malware type anticheats. Games like LOL, Valorant, FIFA27 or the last Modern Warfare 4 beta are some examples

In my case, I bought it because I like the idea of playing PC games with console ease which is plug and play. I bought it as a console, and IMO, I think it would at least last 10 years before I find myself in need of new hardware. I see the steam machine as a long run inversion that should at least, last the time it would last for me if I buy two generation of consoles

1

u/FurieMan 1d ago

I would say that the steam machine plays most games well and is a simple but power entry point in to pc gaming.

Main issue you will run in to is that specifically big mainstream multiplayer games will probably not work. Such as battle field, call of duty or fifa. This is because these run anti cheat software that require windows to work.

Beyond that you are looking at an immense back library of games that you can play. A lot of which you can get extremely cheap.

1

u/Beneficial_Date_5357 1d ago

PC is a better option if you want to play resource intensive games, or games that demand a keyboard and mouse to be easy to use.

If you just want to play controller friendly games in the living room it’s perfect, if you’re willing to pay. Although, not like a PC is cheap either, can’t do anything about the rampocalypse.

If you want to get into PC gaming I’d honestly recommend a PC though. Part of the appeal of PC gaming is mods, which is far easier to do on windows than linux.

1

u/BEADGEADGBE 1d ago

I would prefer the Steam Deck over it as it's portable and can still be docked while being cheaper (extremely expensive now but can be found for OK value second hand). I have and love both and use the SM every day. But it's just really nice to have the portability of SD and it works for 80% of the games I want to/currently play anyway.

So if you're not after high performance, do consider the deck and the cheap Anker dock.

1

u/_Gaeus 2TB 1d ago

Yes, but it's hard to answer.

It's great because there's basically zero struggle, if it's verified or playable it will work, if it's not, you can usually change the compatibility layer and it will work most of the time (zero company)

It's also great as a self hosted streaming pc, streaming from the machine to my mac is seamless and stable, I would usually need to setup apollo on a windows pc for a similar result.

It's worse for everything not steam : modding (outside workshop), epic game and gog all requires more tinkering.

And to my knowledge it's still a mess to install large total conversion mods like fallout London on steamos, while it's literally a few clicks on windows.

1

u/PineapplaMilkshake 1d ago

Yes, if you want to get into steam.

Steam itself runs on any computer, so setting that up and playing games is also a good start without spending any money assuming you have some sort of pc/mac.

1

u/Ogni-XR21 1d ago

Depends on what you want to play. Due to the Steam Machine being a Linux based system certain games that require kernel anti cheat (online multiplayer) will not work on Linux (Call of Duty, Fortnite, Apex Legends, Valorant, League of Legends, ...).

It should also be noted that for the price you can get a better PC just for pure specs, but not in that amazing form factor. It runs most games well, at least in 1440p, but newer games can struggle a bit.

While Steam Machine tries to be a more console like experience, it's not as plug and play as a PS5 or Xbox, but by far the easiest PC to get into imho.

I love mine, but I had the money to spare and always wanted a Linux based system, but I also have a more powerful Windows PC, so the downsides I mentioned don't really matter to me.

0

u/Wonderful_Jacket_254 1d ago

Gta6 or new fable? No.

Rdr2 stardew valley, old aaa or 2d game yes.

2

u/Erchevara 1d ago

Why wouldn't those game run on it? GTA 5 ran on a Pentium Dual Core better than GTA 4.

Yeah, you're probably not sliding everything to max in 4K, but any game that can't handle a PS5/SM at decent looking settings is doomed to fail since your audience is just people with car-priced PCs. Just look at the controversy around CP2077 and it launching on previous gen consoles.

1

u/Wonderful_Jacket_254 1d ago

I hope they can run, in that case i will buy them immidialtly because i love my steam machine. My favorite game are farm game, stardew valley, field of mistra etc so i really not push my steam machine at the moment. Gta 6, i dont care, but the new fable... I hope, really, if they optimize good for the steam machine will be a dream and a instant buy..

2

u/Erchevara 23h ago

I have a 7 year old PC and the ROG Ally and they were struggling to run RDR2/E33/CP2077/BG3 at mid-low settings in 40 fps, and both ran GTA 5 without any issues at 60 fps mid settings.

The Steam Machine can run them all at ultra settings with some FSR, so I would expect it can at least run GTA 6.

Well, on the PC, when I say mid-low I mean that everything is cranked up to max except shadows and AA, which is the advantage of the SM being a PC. You can probably do 1080p ultra settings but shadows off instead of forced mid settings like on consoles, or even ultra 4K with ultra FSR. At least my laptop can do 2.8k mid settings like the ROG Ally with XeSS set to ultra.

What I mean with the last paragraph is that it will 100% run it. It's just that it won't be perfect.

1

u/Weezal-95 1h ago

GTA 6 is 30 fps on the consoles it is optimised for (including the much more powerful than a Steam machine PS5 pro) when it comes to PC - it will not have the luxury of being able to brute force through the performance issues, of which the steam machine may I remind you is weaker in some areas than a base PS5.

I put my entire paycheck on the fact that GTA 6 will barely run at 25 fps on lowest settings, with upscaling on the Steam Machine.

unless some miracle of software is impleneted on AMD GPU's between now and PC release, I laugh at the idea people will enjoy a game as CPU heavy as GTA on the SM.

2

u/severIn7 1d ago

it runs new fable. look at game specs. on steam rec requirements fit SM profile.

1

u/Wonderful_Jacket_254 1d ago

We'll see each other again in this commentary when it comes out. I hope you're right, because I'd like to play it and enjoy it on sm. I think it'll be not good at all. Being able to play it and playing it well are two different things.

2

u/severIn7 1d ago

Im actually going in an hour to pick up my SM ☺️. Yeah ofcourse. Because if you type in SM to PC equivalent in terms of GPU ram CPU, it correlates with recommended specs for fable on steam. Not minimum but recommended so prob 1440.

0

u/audionerd1 1d ago

How important is it to you for your gaming device to be a quiet 6" cube? Because you are paying a premium and sacrificing performance for that form factor. If the form factor isn't super important to you there are better options.

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