I mean, before the AI bullshit picked up, I managed to get a couple of used Samsung 4tb 990 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.

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.

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.

Yes, a completely different setup than I have would allow for other options.

Bless Valve for investing money purely for the goodness of making money

Sure they're doing it for the simple reason of Steam machine owners being guaranteed Steam gaming customers

That isn't even the most important reason, IMO. I think they're doing it mostly to actively push Steam OS and thus normalize Linux for gaming. Not because they care about Free Software in principle, mind you, but as a hedge against the existential threat of Microsoft locking them out of Windows.

All true. If you already have a large library of PC games, it wouldn't make much sense to get a console. But then you probably already have a PC as well, and can ride it out until the AI bubble pops. That's certainly what I'm doing, as now is probably the worst time in history to buy new PC hardware.

Of course, some may say it's only the worst time in history for now...

Except a PS5 Pro is $1100CAD and this is $1500CAD ($2000CAD if you match storage with the PS5 Pro, which is 2TB.) That is a huge jump. This is too underpowered for enthusiasts, and too expensive for console only gamers. Early indication is that it’s also underpowered vs a PS5 Pro, so I think it’s underpowered even for console gamers.

I know why they have the price pressure they do. But I can’t say I’m not wildly disappointed. This had the potential to end the console market entirely and now it’s looking like another also ran.

I was almost definitely going to buy this. At this price vs performance, I don’t think I’ll even put my name on the list. Much of this is out of Valve’s hands, but maybe they should have just scrapped it until pricing is better. This might be worse than nothing.

One thing I will say is I love the form factor. If was looking to build a living room PC this would be a serious contender because the design is great. But it’s just not enough to pay $1500 for a PC that matches the spec of my $800 PS5.

Yeah, but Steam Deck had an extremely attractive and competitive price when it launched.

I'm gonna say that's next to nothing, especially when you consider driver support.

Don't forget all the time you save not having to configure stuff and fight with drivers. I enjoy dealing with that stuff because I like to learn, but others might not.