Until we know the price point, it’s really hard to judge if the SteamCube is going to be a good entry point for Console > PC gaming, but I’m hopeful. Mostly because I don’t have time to build a PC and don’t wanna pay out the nose for pre-builts.
I hope the price is not that much high, companies actually pay a lot less the hardware so Valve can just put a lower price than the market theorically
Like instead of a 750€ they can put a 700€ or even 690€, who know
Yeah. I’ve watched a couple tech YTers break down the price and they seem to land on 699 or 799 for the price point. 799 might be too high for me personally as someone looking to replace my Xbox S and OLED switch with a Deck and Cube.
One thing to note is that the next Xbox will very likely be more expensive than the Steam Machine, regardless of what Valve actually prices it at. This is because the Microsoft CEO is demanding that Xbox make a 30% profit, which means that they can’t sell the consoles at a loss anymore.
My local PC hardware store offers assembly and setup services for ~20€. Includes installing and updating the OS and drivers, as well as stress testing to verify that the components perform as expected. More places should offer that option, really. Especially if they also sell pre-built PCs that are assembled in-house.
TBF there’s quite a lot of time that goes into researching the right parts and the right shops to buy from, which depending on the person might be considerably less enjoyable than gaming and also requires more mental presence than many games.
Doesn’t need to be. Pick a budget and your priorities, then bang together a shopping list on pcpartpicker. There’s plenty of easy guides and which processor is best for each budget range. Yeah if you’re trying to min/max it can take some time, but I just get the cheapest of every component (except SSD) and it’s been great.
To the average gamer, they don’t understand anything of the hardware and will have to look up every spec to see if they are important or not.
Then they get a bunch of conflicting information, especially when it comes to Linux distros and which one would be the best for them.
And after an entire week of research, will end up with a bunch of parts that are still not compatible and a thrown away money because they bought stuff they didn’t need or couldn’t use.
Why are you insisting they add an entire other hobby just so they can get a slightly better deal?
Maybe it’s how my brain works, but I’d have way more research to do about a pre-built than building myself one. I’d be worried about warranty and customer service, the build quality, are they using low quality components, and wondering where they are cutting corners.
The Linux distro analogy is a good one though. That’s probably one of the reasons why I still haven’t dipped my toes into Linux is that there’s not an obvious way to go, and everything I read about it assumes this baseline of understanding that I sometimes have and sometimes don’t.
Compatibility is not a real issue imo if you use the tools available to plan the build, such as pcpartpicker. There’s only a couple compatibility things and they aren’t too complicated. After you pick a CPU and GPU, it’s pretty simple to get compatible MB and RAM, big enough power supply, and an SSD. There doesn’t need to be anything more to it.
I don’t really consider building a pc to be a hobby. It’s really nowhere near as much work as people who haven’t done it think, and it really isn’t something you keep doing after it’s done. There’s not maintenance or things to play with all the time, at least no more than with a pre-built.
Maybe a downside is that tech support is up to you, or you have to pay for it. But you’ll be able to go to a local spot of your choosing and will probably still spend less than you would on a pre-built.
I always build my own PC. It’s only relatively easy if you’re used to the process, and even then it’s still substantially more difficult than gaming, because mistakes actually have consequences and many parts can’t just be sent back after you tried installing them.
Sure, if you are certain you found one that is current with current availability and pricing and where none of the specific parts have shot up in price relative to their alternatives. I have literally build a dozen PCs over the last 20 years and it would still take me time to make sure I had an optimal build at a reasonable price, even if using someone else’s build.
Until we know the price point, it’s really hard to judge if the SteamCube is going to be a good entry point for Console > PC gaming, but I’m hopeful. Mostly because I don’t have time to build a PC and don’t wanna pay out the nose for pre-builts.
With hardware prices being what they are at the moment, it wouldn’t surprise me if these wound up being cheaper than most home-built alternatives.
I hope the price is not that much high, companies actually pay a lot less the hardware so Valve can just put a lower price than the market theorically Like instead of a 750€ they can put a 700€ or even 690€, who know
Yeah. I’ve watched a couple tech YTers break down the price and they seem to land on 699 or 799 for the price point. 799 might be too high for me personally as someone looking to replace my Xbox S and OLED switch with a Deck and Cube.
One thing to note is that the next Xbox will very likely be more expensive than the Steam Machine, regardless of what Valve actually prices it at. This is because the Microsoft CEO is demanding that Xbox make a 30% profit, which means that they can’t sell the consoles at a loss anymore.
My local PC hardware store offers assembly and setup services for ~20€. Includes installing and updating the OS and drivers, as well as stress testing to verify that the components perform as expected. More places should offer that option, really. Especially if they also sell pre-built PCs that are assembled in-house.
Looking at the specs of it, it’ll likely be around PS5 level of performance for PS5 Pro pricing.
Exact pricing will have to wait to see what happens to the price of RAM, because that shit is mental right now.
You have time to play video games but you don’t have time to build a PC? Doubt.
You have time to build a PC but don’t have time to solder the boards yourself? Doubt.
TBF there’s quite a lot of time that goes into researching the right parts and the right shops to buy from, which depending on the person might be considerably less enjoyable than gaming and also requires more mental presence than many games.
Doesn’t need to be. Pick a budget and your priorities, then bang together a shopping list on pcpartpicker. There’s plenty of easy guides and which processor is best for each budget range. Yeah if you’re trying to min/max it can take some time, but I just get the cheapest of every component (except SSD) and it’s been great.
To the average gamer, they don’t understand anything of the hardware and will have to look up every spec to see if they are important or not.
Then they get a bunch of conflicting information, especially when it comes to Linux distros and which one would be the best for them.
And after an entire week of research, will end up with a bunch of parts that are still not compatible and a thrown away money because they bought stuff they didn’t need or couldn’t use.
Why are you insisting they add an entire other hobby just so they can get a slightly better deal?
Maybe it’s how my brain works, but I’d have way more research to do about a pre-built than building myself one. I’d be worried about warranty and customer service, the build quality, are they using low quality components, and wondering where they are cutting corners.
The Linux distro analogy is a good one though. That’s probably one of the reasons why I still haven’t dipped my toes into Linux is that there’s not an obvious way to go, and everything I read about it assumes this baseline of understanding that I sometimes have and sometimes don’t.
Compatibility is not a real issue imo if you use the tools available to plan the build, such as pcpartpicker. There’s only a couple compatibility things and they aren’t too complicated. After you pick a CPU and GPU, it’s pretty simple to get compatible MB and RAM, big enough power supply, and an SSD. There doesn’t need to be anything more to it.
I don’t really consider building a pc to be a hobby. It’s really nowhere near as much work as people who haven’t done it think, and it really isn’t something you keep doing after it’s done. There’s not maintenance or things to play with all the time, at least no more than with a pre-built.
Maybe a downside is that tech support is up to you, or you have to pay for it. But you’ll be able to go to a local spot of your choosing and will probably still spend less than you would on a pre-built.
I always build my own PC. It’s only relatively easy if you’re used to the process, and even then it’s still substantially more difficult than gaming, because mistakes actually have consequences and many parts can’t just be sent back after you tried installing them.
You can just copy someone else’s build on PCPartPicker. There are so many to choose from.
Sure, if you are certain you found one that is current with current availability and pricing and where none of the specific parts have shot up in price relative to their alternatives. I have literally build a dozen PCs over the last 20 years and it would still take me time to make sure I had an optimal build at a reasonable price, even if using someone else’s build.
That’s because you’re trying to achieve “optimal”, which is not a requirement if saving time is your concern.
No, but it is if maintaining affordability is, which is what the rest of us were talking about.
Great, and what do they do when they can’t order a specific part?
That is right, they will still have to do research.
And afterwards they will have to pay someone else to put it together.
Or they can skip all that difficulty and pay slightly more for a box that just works 100% of the time.
thank you for your adjudication.
tune in next week for more case outcomes here on Lemmy Court