Are you planning to buy official Steam machine in November?

[Moreum]

Greetings the title of this thread says it all. I was hoping to discuss some ideas whether to buy official steamboxes or not. Anyways I'm planning to buy this model when it comes out Zotac steam machine SN970 since it's small and I can put it in bag to travel with it since I move around NY USA to Ukraine a lot so taking this powerful machine seems a lot of sense plus I like all the specs and how it has ability to get four displays going with hdmi * you can always use adapters for older models displays like dvi or vga*. Henceforth this is my idea I'm planning to sell my Zotac en760 and some other hardware and upgrade it to this machine. Also upgrading ram and harddrive on SN970 would be a good idea too.

by the way here's a link to Zotac SN970 : http://store.steampowered.com/app/353530/

and the full list of official steam machines you can check out here : http://store.steampowered.com/sale/steam_machines

P.S. somebody told me that they did cost analysis of the parts and said that it's better to make one rather than buying it, but yet again small form factor is the key here for me. Also what do you think about Steam Controller?

 

[Byondtester]

I don't ever buy pre-made. I like putting together the parts that I ordered myself after cautiously reviewing all the alternatives and then deciding on a final build.

What's important to me is bang for buck and pre-made computers tend to lack that. You're potentially wasting hundreds of dollars buying a machine like that that could've been spent elsewhere, either on better parts or just extra money to save up.

 

[LynchDev]

That's actually a really good price for those specs I reckon. Plus all neatly packaged up.

I think I'll wait until I read more reviews of the controller though tbh before purchasing.

 

[Byondtester]

That's actually a really good price for those specs I reckon. Plus all neatly packaged up.

I think I'll wait until I read more reviews of the controller though tbh before purchasing.

'

I'm always skeptical because they're trying to make as much money as they can so they'll try to slime you into some poor performance parts. For example, they won't tell you what PSU it is because it's most likely a low grade one. Alienware tricks you the same way.

 

[LynchDev]

Very true. No mobo listed or precisely what CPU is going to be in there either.

I would like to think though that the steam machines will be tested against popular games to make sure that most can be run with high-end settings, whereas alienware don't necessarily have to support all games.

 

[Byondtester]

Very true. No mobo listed or precisely what CPU is going to be in there either.

I would like to think though that the steam machines will be tested against popular games to make sure that most can be run with high-end settings, whereas alienware don't necessarily have to support all games.

Yeah they'll probably aim for 60FPS/1080p on the most popular games but I honestly doubt these things will be future proof especially with mobile GPU cards. People will always be better off building their own or ordering the parts and having the computer assembled at a computer shop.

 

[Alistair]

While I think Steam machines will fill a small niche they're certainly not for everyone, myself included.

I built a "Steam machine" sometime ago to test SteamOS but found it limiting in many ways. My biggest issue was Linux. Don't get me wrong, Linux is fantastic, I use it everyday but it was never designed with gaming in mind. Currently only a tiny amount of games work on Linux. While I believe its a push in the right direction, out of the door don't expect many of your games in your Steam library to run, certainly not many of your older games.

You can see the list here: http://store.steampowered.com/search/?term=&sort_by=_ASC&os=linux&page=1

Some of the pre bought systems are overpriced and have limited to non upgrade potential. If you're after a tiny form factor for a few years then they're great. If something breaks out of the warranty or looking to upgrade hardware you mite run into some issues.


Below is a low cost Xbox 360-ish size build.

Silverstone RVZ01 Raven
Asus H81I-PLUS
Intel Core i3 4160
8GB Corsair Vengeance
PSU - Be quiet! BN227 SFX (400 Watt)
Samsung SSD Evo 850
Any GPU of your choice (the case can even fit a titan)
Cost: £480 (without GPU)

You can lower the price by getting cheaper CPU,RAM and hard drive.

I have a higher grade system build if anyone is interested or if you want pics let me know.

 

[Moreum]

The reason why I'm getting the zotac sn970 is because I've had good experience with my current small form factor PC zotac en760 plus I need something I can in a bag and fly with it to Ukraine or another country otherwise I would build my own machine.

 

[WaywardChicken]

I'm planning to buy one and Stream from my main machine to do the heavy lifting. PC Gaming from bed? Don't mind if I do.

 

[Reizei]

No, I have my pc and the price is to high ^^

 

[Badwolf699]

My HP Pavilion G6 handles most modern games quite well so no, but if the price goes down to reasonable amount I may consider it.

 

[Underlord Vulukai]

seems fairly overwhelming results thus far

 

[RedBat]

That was one expensive piece of tech.

Is it so expensive in UK compared to Sweden to buy computers?

I will NOT buy ^^