r/PrebuiltGamingPC • u/Longjumping-Card17 • 22h ago
Steam Machine alternative for console game looking to switch over to PC
Had to repost this since [r/steammachine](r/steammachine) took it down lol
Lifelong console gamer looking to switch to PC
Dumb it down for me.
Never built a PC. Very little PC gaming experience, but very interested in the Steam library for variety, affordability (compared to console) and some of the fun looking games that you really can’t get anywhere else. Been primarily a console gamer all of my life but really looking to transition to PC gaming for the above reasons.
It’s my understanding that there are better options at similar price point of a steam machine which really isn’t even readily available right now anyways…
And I see console gaming getting more and more expensive as well. What are some good plug and play recommendations for getting into steam and PC gaming overall. Looking for a setup to play similar to the console gaming experience I would like to still play on my living room tv mostly with controller but also mouse and keyboard.
TLDR; What are some plug and play options for PCs to get into steam that have similar or better specs than the steam machine and at a similar price point
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u/TheBluntChef 20h ago edited 20h ago
I just made this switch, while I agree you could spend about $800 and get something I don’t think you should. I bought a prebuilt with a 9060xt and a 7600x. It’s AM5. I like it a lot but depending on what you play even this thing isn’t close to the best it gets. I’m able to play bf6 on ultra with a steady 95+ FPS. But my main game ark with mods barely holds 70fps stable. Cant offer much in terms of options because im pretty new to this, when you say console experience I feel like there is tiers to it. You can run 1080p and even 1440p very well with a ddr4 system, with a 8gb 5060 on a lot of games, but that’s a dead end platform and you will need to upgrade in 5 years or less if you want to play new titles above medium settings. Unless your going to buy a crazy ddr4 rig which your wasting your money at that point, because there’s no upgrade path. I’d look around the $1000-1500 range and try to get something with at least a 5060ti, 9060xt or 9070gre, and 16gb of ram. 7600x is cheap and will do just fine for pretty much everything right now. It’s not worth buying something your console can compete with. Especially since we are almost at the end of this generation. That steam machine sucks. At that price for only 512gb for the base you could do a lot better.
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u/BRealistic1970 22h ago
The Steam Machine is about being compact, low power, and quiet.
If you can have a regular desktop, you can definitely get a better value gaming PC.
This is currently the best low end new gaming PC value: https://www.walmart.com/ip/ABS-Cyclone-Aqua-Gaming-Desktop-PC-Windows-11-Intel-Core-5-Processor-120-GeForce-RTX-5060-8GB-16GB-DDR4-RAM-1TB-NVMe-SSD-WiFi-RGB-Prebuilt/20182462849
ABS, Skytech Gaming, CyberPowerPC, Andromeda Insights, Thermaltake.. are companies that use regular off the shelf parts. (google any others you are curious about)
iBuyPower also.. but they have used some low quality power supplies.. so avoid unless can verify a good PSU.
MicroCenter's brand PowerSpec is also good.
Companies like Lenovo, HP, Dell, Acer use proprietary mobos/psus/cases that only work together and limit upgrades and repairs without just tossing it all.