Exactly, the small form factor is a huge draw. I’ve built as-small-as-possible cheap gaming PCs before and never gotten close to this size.
I currently use one with no video card that just streams my main PC, but the streaming sucks.
Comment on Steam Machine pricing announced (from $1049-$1428 USD), reservation lists open
snooggums@piefed.world 3 weeks agoI wanted the tiny box format for playing my steam library on the TV without needing to run a cable from the PC. Wasn’t sure I could build one this small so I waited to see how much this was.
Around $800 for the 2TB model was my hope when it was announced. Stupid AI data centers screwing over memory prices.
binarytobis@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
grue@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
The cube form-factor is nice, in a “sit on top of the furniture looking pretty” sort of way. However, I think a short-depth 1U form-factor to stack with hi-fi equipment would be a good way to do it as well, and relatively easily achievable to DIY with off-the-shelf parts.
Prove_your_argument@piefed.social 3 weeks ago
I don’t think I would have much success trying to build a SFF PC today for 1k or less. You pay a premium for mini-itx and really tiny cases, PSUs, everything. The only cost that is the same is the CPU really, even a heatsink often needs to be very specific to fit a case.
The last two SFF cases I picked up that are high quality were $200. Just look at minisforum stuff, their products are expensive and look nice, it’s all in the same vein.
You can definitely find better deals for desktop gaming performance, for sure, but I doubt people are going to find something that’s off the shelf at 27L or less and same or better perf for cheaper.
mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
FYI, there’s STL files available for a 3d printable mjolnir case. Really small form factor and you can save a fair bit of money by printing it yourself
snooggums@piefed.world 3 weeks ago
Yes, a completely different setup than I have would allow for other options.
UnspecificGravity@piefed.social 3 weeks ago
Something like the Small Form Factor Optiplex computers fits nicely into any old home entertainment or stereo setup, but I suppose we already have about a thousand machines that will fit that slot and people that wanted to do that probably already did.
Statick@feddit.online 2 weeks ago
I built a PC last year for my living room and I’m running bazzite on it. Works great. Slightly larger than a console but this is the case I used.
snooggums@piefed.world 2 weeks ago
The Gabe cube is roughly 6x6x6 inches.
That case is nearly 15x16x4 which is far, far larger. I already have a case that size which is how I know the 6” cube form factor would be much better for my setup.
sparky1337@ttrpg.network 3 weeks ago
I mean, you can do the same thing with a steam deck if you have it. I got one of those anker docks with an RJ45 and ran CAT6 from where my fios ONT hits my network switch and where my big gaming pc is. The wireless streaming sucks big time and is completely unreliable.
SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I think $800 for 2 TB was still a bit overoptimistic, but I suppose we’ll never really know.
Addv4@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I mean, before the AI bullshit picked up, I managed to get a couple of used Samsung 4tb 970 ssds for $250 a piece. $800 for a nice console/PC with that much storage wasn’t much of a reach then, given consoles usually are sold at cost to get you invested in the ecosystem.
SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Not a fair comparison. You found a very special deal for those drives which were half the price of a decently performant one at half the capacity at normal sale prices.
Addv4@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
But what I am implying is that if AI hadn’t jumped prices soo much, they probably could have gotten last gen 2tb drives for much less than $200, which would make them pretty price competitive. I got mine as the next Samsung pro line was launching (I believe I saw a few new ones for $300 at the time), and while they were a good deal at the time, they were not a unicorn. And given I’m pretty sure the steam machine only supports pcie4 drives, though I might be wrong about that (besides, almost no one needs pcie5 drives outside of very specific use cases), so again, if the AI madness hadn’t occurred, a $800 steam machine with 2tb of storage would have been a possibility. Which is yet another reason to say fuck AI.
ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 3 weeks ago
Not by the outlook at how cheap a 2tb drive would have cost by now if AI data centers didn’t fuck it up. A 2TB nvme drive 3 years ago was ander $110.
SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Versus around $300 now, so that would theoretically only represent a $200 price difference.
ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 2 weeks ago
We’re getting down to a workable $800 pricepoint. You forgot to deduct the ram and other components that have also been vastly inflated, or taken into account that by all typical logic before the ai shit storm was that if a 2tb drive was $120 three years ago, by now it should have been about $75. Same for the ram having a price decline.
UnspecificGravity@piefed.social 3 weeks ago
You could probably build a comparable machine for $800 or so today, but from that perspective you are paying a couple hundred bucks for the form factor and the convenience of not having to source all the parts.