PS4 Vs Steam Machine

Gaming Blend "While Steam Machines will obviously be slightly more expensive than the PS4, the question to many gamers is: is it worth it?

In our article detailing how to build a Steam Machine for only $550, you can get comparable video performance and much higher processing, storage and RAM for just $150 more than the price of a PS4. For many gamers they have to weigh if that's what they want out of a living room solution though. You could still use the Steam Machine for other things like word processing, e-mail, live-streaming, media streaming and emulation.

You still get many of the media options with a PS4 that you would have with a PC, except there's a stark lack of openness for the PS4 that you would otherwise have with a Steam Machine, such as mods, using whatever controller best suits your tastes in gaming, and the ability to upgrade when you feel like it so that your games can look better when you feel they need to look better."

[sigfredod]

Already preordered PS4, just a little more than a month left :)

[ATi_Elite]

Wow PS4 vs. SM when we have not even been given the FULL details on a single SM nevertheless any details on the multiple configurations possible.

I'm sure this article is just more PS4 chest thumping and FLAIMBAIT.

Now if you're actually on the fence between PS4 and SM then your gonna have to wait a bit for more REAL info on the SM. I myself even have a few questions about SM and I'm usually in the know about PC Gaming.

but basically it boils down to:

DO you like the console experience or the PC Gaming experience? Do you wanna play console games ONLY or do you wanna play 90% of the console games and ALL the PC Games?

Heck go buy both nobody is forcing you to have just one.

[ShinMaster]

Why are they even comparing Steam Machines to a console?

[Corpser]

Nobody's forcing you to choose just one console lol, get both

[cyguration]

what if you can't afford both?

[thrust]

Save more or work more, like everyone else?

[BabyTownFrolics]

that's fine but don't talk fanboy smack to the owners of the console you chose not to purchase. Rise above the BS and be civil to your fellow gamer.

[ABizzel1]

@cyguration

If you can afford 1, then you can simply wait a few years before you buy another in which case they'll likely bee less than the launch console you bought.

For those who simply can't afford one you're not buying a console at least for the next 2 - 3 years if not 5 or 6.

Personally I say if you must get a console day 1, get the PS4. It'll have pretty much all the 3rd party support you want, PC developers are using PS4 as their go to platform of choice, and Sony has an incredible pool of 1st party developers to back the console up.

I say wait for the Xbox One, because it will likely be the first of the two console to get a price drop for competition sakes, or possibly a subsidized Xbox One for say $299 - $349 with a $15/month 2 year contract to XBL. While you'll end up paying more it would help people who can't outright pay $500 get an Xbox One instead of waiting years for a $300 price.

A Steambox should be great, but there are many question still up in the air. If Steam works as it does on PC then it'll be great, but being Linux based means there won't be many games available Day 1, and it will take some progress to get a library on Linux similar to PC. Games will be cheaper as they are on Steam, so the $500 - $1000+ price will be hard to swallow for console gamers, especially for those who don't know how to build a PC in which case a Steambox could be several hundred more just to match the PS4. That being said I don't see who the Steambox is for outside of current PC gamers. It's a great idea for trying to get console gamers on board, but I just don't see tens of millions of people jumping on board for Steambox outside of the Steam community who already have a gaming PC.

[guitarded77]

Then pick one and be happy. You should be busy playing awesome games... not worrying about who thinks which is better.

Research them all, and make an informed decision about which is best for you. I can't afford to buy everything right out the gate, so I researched, and took my past experience and decided to pre-order a PS4.

The others have their good points too, but PS4 had more to offer me, so that's where I start. My PC already has Steam on it, so I don't think I'll be missing much, and XBOX One will have to get down to $400 for me to dive in. By then, it will have a bigger catalog of games.

[tee_bag242]

@ cyguration

Then you're sh#t out of luck.
But honestly you are. I remember when I was a young lad at the mercy of my parents wallet too. Stay in school, work hard, get a good job so you can buy them all.

@ BabyTownFrolics

Well said mate

But personally after buying almost all major consoles since NES. I'm probably sitting any early adoption out this gen and sticking with the Free Online option (PC) - Voting with my dollars fellas

[pete007]

go play lego or Playmobil

[nades_all_night]

I meant to agree with you, sorry for the random disagree. I'm sticking with PS4, but if I were to get 2 gaming machines, the SteamBox would for sure be the other.

[Sly-Lupin]

Yeah, I've done that the last two generations. But never again.

I certainly won't ever buy another Microsoft console again, and will wait at least 18 months before buying a Sony console just to be sure there are no glaring hardware defects (and to see how they'll handle backwards compatibility).

The idea of streaming PS1/PS2/PS3/PSN content I already own to a PS4 was enormously unappealing to me to begin with, and now that my ISP is limiting bandwidth it's even less appealing.

[cyguration]

lol @ all the stealth disagress.

It's weird how people think everyone will buy every console released. Maybe some people don't like owning every console?

[badboy776]

Just leave the Xbox One out of the conversation lol.

[wynams]

well if you are going to make direct comparisons, don't be lazy about it article author.

Things not even mentioned:

Remote play
Ability to sell/trade physical media
PS+ freebies and discounts vs Steam store sales
lack of Blu-Ray on Steam Machine
fragmentation caused by various Steam Machine configurations
... sure there are plenty more but these are pretty basic considerations tbh

[Sly-Lupin]

Steam sales are terrible.
Steam in general is terrible.

If I were to stop buying games off steam today, and play games for three times as much time as I do on average today, it would take me 200 years to complete my collection.

[darx]

Used all 3 systems services Steam trounces all! At least you can earn yourself some cash while gaming on Steam.

[Dante81]

Self-control, bro.

[Sly-Lupin]

I guess I should have expected that the vast majority of N4G users wouldn't understand so simple, obvious a joke. But still.

Goddamn, people.

[ExCest]

I thought it was obvious when I got past your first two lines. Apparently, people don't like to read more than nine words.

[edqe]

Steam Machines:
- Some will have Blu-Ray and some not - it's up to manufacturer
- Valve doesn't prevent sell/trade physical media
- Steam Machines are most open gaming system ever made
- Use SteamOS also from external HD, USB stick, over network, etc. like all other Linux systems
- Non-PC game support: DOS games (dosbox), Gamecube/Wii (Dolphin), Amiga (UAE), etc.
- VoIP: WebRTC clients, Google Talk, Skype, IRC, etc.
- Web browsing: Chrome, Firefox, Opera, etc.
- ...

[firelogic]

I fail to see why the two are even compared. There a lot of PS4 games that you won't see on Steam and vice versa. Including 3rd party games. The price doesn't really matter because if you can only afford one, you'll buy the one that has the most games that you want to play.

I preordered a PS4 because of all the 3rd party games, but primarily because of Sony's stable of first party devs. I don't game on PC so even if the cheapest steambox was $200, I still wouldn't get it.

[Ulf]

$550 will not get you a comparable Steambox. That is pure, and very poor, speculation.

PC equivalent of the PS4:
Cheap motherboard (~$70)
high-end i5 (~$220)
HD 7850 with GDDR5 (~$170, and 2 GB might be limiting, compared to the PS4's available memory)
500 GB HDD (~$60)
BD drive (~$50)
8GB well-overclockable DDR3 RAM (~$50)
~650W PSU (~$50)
Well-ventilated case (~$50 + $25 for some fans)
Operating system (~$70 for an upgrade, which is technically cheating on price)
KB (~$15)
Mouse (~$15)
Controller (~$15)

...looking at about $860, and that's with low-grade components. Still, even $750, if you pirate the OS, and re-use KB and mouse.

But $550? No way, unless you recycle some components from a previous system. Thank god for Steam sales, because you're gonna need it to make up the $400 difference.

These kinds of lame price comparison articles love to forget that the PS4/XB1 come WITH controllers, a PSU, a case, AND an OS, or that the GPU is the high-end, lots-of-memory variety, as opposed to the cheap 1 GB discount variety. They also use used (the $550 machine uses eBay prices) components? Can't buy a PS4 used for $400, can you?

[Amigaengine]

Never heard anyone say the Jaguar CPU is "high end" its a amped up Tablet CPU.

[Sony_Defence_Farce]

Why are you comparing a custom built PC to a Steambox? Valves machine will come with everything in one purchase just like a console....that's kind of the idea...hence all those parts will be cheaper than if bought separately.

[Mastadope42]

Slightly is a fucking understatement

[strickers]

Apples and oranges.

[Skynetone]

ps4 wins, simply due to price, sony make 25 bucks on a ps4 sold, can you see dell/hp happy to make 25 bucks on a computer sold, and sony can sell it at a loss if needed, no way are dell/hp going to sell at a loss, unless of course they have some deal with valve to split profits

[assdan]

There's no way to compare considering we don't even know what the steam box is yet.

[Xristo]

Lets compare a car with a helicopter next. They both transport people, so they MUST be comparable. Apples and Oranges.

[ExCest]

Well, they're both fruits. That's one.

[kidhero99]

l9eeh6ycn6

[JasonXS12]

It's like comparing the performance of an iPhone to Android. iPhone will always have the same OS and controlled specs whilst Android is different on platforms and each different phone has different specs, you can't really compare.

[TechMech2]

Steam machine ends the power debate between game systems. If you want more power, but a PC. If you want specific games, buy that game system

[solar]

stop with the comparisons. the PS4 is set in stone the Steam Machines we dont know enough about to even write an article comparing the two.

[Max-Zorin]

All these comparisons are just as stupid as the constant comparison between kobe and Jordan.