• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Steam Machines for 50% off on Black Friday -- are these worth buying at the price?

B

border

Member
Gamestop is running a sale for Black Friday:

$225 - Alienware i3 - Intel Core i3 - 4130T Dual Core - nVidia GeForce GTX GPU w/2GB GDDR5 - 4GB DDR3

$375 - Alienware i7 - Intel Core i7 - 4765T Quad Core - nVidia GeForce GTX GPU w/2GB GDDR5 - 8GB DDR3

I have a couple friends who want to buy PCs for gaming on Black Friday, and these look like the most interesting deals around. These are non-enthusiasts who don't really want to build their own system and don't really want to do much more than play DOTA, HotS, WoW, and console ports at a decent clip. It's not necessary that they buy powerhouse machines, but I am curious how the Alienware Steam Machines stack up in terms of value and build quality. Is there any huge reason to prefer the more expensive i7 machine? How will these boxes compare to an Xbox One or PS4?

My understanding is that these do not come with Windows installed. How easy or difficult will it be to just wipe the hard drive and set up a Windows installation? Am I better off getting the Alienware Alpha, that actually comes with Windows 10? The i3 model should be going for $300 from Dell.com on or around Black Friday.

UPDATE EDIT:
http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnline...=9175&fid=111074&fid=111177&fid=111171&~ck=mn

The Dell Outlet is having a 20% off sale on Alienware Alphas.....and all Alienware refurbished desktops for that matter.

You can get one of these running Windows for $259 right now.....i3 / 4GB RAM / GTX 860M.
 
S

selfnoise

Member
Given the underpowered GPUs, the i7 is not worth paying a premium for.

Installing Windows 10 shouldn't be an issue but you would have to buy that so perhaps just buying the Windows Alienware would make more sense.
 
A

AEdouard

Member
I think the 2 gb Vram GPUs will be too much of a headache for the experience to be pleasant. Modern games eat up a lot of vram because of the ample amount available on ps4/Xbox One.
 
A

AEdouard

Member
About the comparison to consoles. I think the experience would be better on consoles, because of the vram issue, but also because even if the cpu and gpu are better than the ps4, 30 fps, the console target, often feels like crap on PC because of the bad frame rate limiters in pc games and the resulting bad frame times. PC games are better played at 60 fps, and besides older games, these machines won't do it.
 
T

True Fire

Member
I would just go with the PS4 Pro tbh if you don't want to commit to a high end PC. Steam Machines filled a niche that no longer exists because of the PS4 Pro
 
A

AEdouard

Member
A

AEdouard

Member
True Fire said:
I would just go with the PS4 Pro tbh if you don't want to commit to a high end PC. Steam Machines filled a niche that no longer exists because of the PS4 Pro
Click to expand...

Did they ever though? There was always the huge problem of lower performance with steam OS.
 
1

120v

Member
border said:
These are non-enthusiasts who don't really want to build their own system and don't really want to do much more than play DOTA, HotS, WoW
Click to expand...

well steamboxes are really meant for the living room. nothing wrong with using it otherwise, and those are some alright deals, but if i were them i'd just factor gaming into the next "conventional" PC/laptop purchase
 
R

rtcn63

Member
AEdouard said:
Sure, a 960 with 4gb can still get you some decent gaming. But that's if they do want to play mostly the games you mentionned and indies. For recent AAA titles,I'd get a ps4 or ps4 pro for around that kind of money. They'll be more optimized.
Click to expand...

960 is similar in performance to a 670. My 2GB 670 always ran games at better than PS4 settings.
 
A

AEdouard

Member
rtcn63 said:
960 is similar in performance to a 670. My 2GB 670 always ran games at better than PS4 settings.
Click to expand...

Not at 60 fps though. And 30 fps on PC often feels sluggish for the reasons I mentionned above. Plus there's the issue of current console titles, that don't have to come out on ps3/360 and eat up a ton of vram for decent texture quality. AK, Rise of the Tomb Raider, etc.
 
R

rtcn63

Member
AEdouard said:
Not at 60 fps though. And 30 fps on PC often feels sluggish for the reasons I mentionned above. Plus there's the issue of current console titles, that don't have to come out on ps3/360 and eat up a ton of vram for decent texture quality. AK, Rise of the Tomb Raider, etc.
Click to expand...

The same games the 670 won't play at 60fps will be the same ones the original PS4 won't. I've done 30fps for years even with the frame pacing/time issues. (Although on Windows, RTSS is a thing that works more often than not)

And we're talking about an i7 and 4GB of vram right?

EDIT: For what Dell is asking, I'd build my own.
 
M

Malakai

Member
the gpu is GTX 860M. I have the i3 model. I upgraded the ram to 8 GB and upgraded the hard drive to a 2 TB drive.
 
dickroach

dickroach

Member
yes. yes. yes. yes.
I got the i7 Alienware Alpha in January for like $700 and I absolutely love it. first gaming PC. it's a steal for that price
 
A

AEdouard

Member
rtcn63 said:
The same games the 670 won't play at 60fps will be the same ones the original PS4 won't. I've done 30fps for years even with the frame pacing/time issues. (Although on Windows, RTSS is a thing that works more often than not)

And the 960 has 4GB of ram.
Click to expand...

Do you have a good track record with RTSS and half refresh rates? Genuinly curious, when I tried it always felt less smooth than it should.
 
R

rtcn63

Member
AEdouard said:
Do you have a good track record with RTSS and half refresh rates? Genuinly curious, when ai tried it always felts less smooth than it should.
Click to expand...

Yes, although frame pacing issues don't bother me as much as other people. I played Bloodborne on PS4 twice. (RTSS did help noticeably in Rise of the Tomb Raider over the in-game vsync)

But yeah, I looked at the price of the Alienware and I'd probably pass.
 
B

border

Member
AEdouard said:
A 960 sure is plenty to run those games really well.
Click to expand...

It looks like Gamestop is offering a different SKU entirely that is no longer offered on Dell's website. Gamestop's models don't go higher than a 4765T processor, whereas Dell has 6400T/6700T.......so I have to assume they're selling an older model that possibly/probably does have a 2GB GTX.
 
M

morningbus

Serious Sam is a wicked gahbidge series for chowdaheads.
Regardless of their game performance, these would make excellent home theater PCs.
 
C

CrashPrime

Member
The i3 at the price they are asking is awesome. The i7 is just not a good pair with the gpu (think 750 ti performance level).

Wonderful emulation box and not bad with most 2015 and earlier games.
 
B

border

Member
I think the only remotely modern games I've seen my sister play are Bioshock Infinite and Alice: Madness Returns. Those should be fine on either of these setups, right?
 
dickroach

dickroach

Member
CrashPrime said:
The i3 at the price they are asking is awesome. The i7 is just not a good pair with the gpu (think 750 ti performance level).

Wonderful emulation box and not bad with most 2015 and earlier games.
Click to expand...

I don't think there was a single 2015> game that I threw at it that it couldn't run at ultra high. Project Cars, The Evil Within, Mirror's Edge, NBA 2k16, Xenoverse, Dark Souls (off the top of my head) all looked great.
 
A

alr1ght

bish gets all the credit :)
dickroach said:
I don't think there was a single 2015> game that I threw at it that it couldn't run at ultra high. Project Cars, The Evil Within, Mirror's Edge, NBA 2k16, Xenoverse, Dark Souls (off the top of my head) all looked great.
Click to expand...
What res were you running at?
 
H

Have a Nice Day

Member
border said:
How will these boxes compare to an Xbox One or PS4?
Click to expand...



Even though running the games that you mentioned isn't going to be a huge task on any modern machine, I would still need to know what kind of graphics card it has installed in it, a "GTX GPU w/2GB GDDR5" doesn't fully describe the GPU.
 
B

border

Member
Have a Nice Day said:
Even though running the games that you mentioned isn't going to be a huge task on any modern machine, I would still need to know what kind of graphics card it has installed in it, a "GTX GPU w/2GB GDDR5" doesn't fully describe the GPU.
Click to expand...
Looks like it was the 860M in early Alienware Steam Machines. That's roughly equivalent to PS4 and XB1, correct?
 
dickroach

dickroach

Member
border said:
Looks like it was the 860M in early Alienware Steam Machines. That's roughly equivalent to PS4 and XB1, correct?
Click to expand...

I've played Rocket League and The Evil Within on both the i7 Alpha and the PS4, and they both look considerably better on the Alpha
 
S

sixteen-bit

Member
Have a Nice Day said:
Even though running the games that you mentioned isn't going to be a huge task on any modern machine, I would still need to know what kind of graphics card it has installed in it, a "GTX GPU w/2GB GDDR5" doesn't fully describe the GPU.
Click to expand...

It's an 860M which is equivalent to a GTX 750 Ti. It's a dated, budget card.
 
G

gfxtwin

Member
I owned the i7 Alpha for a year and liked it, but eventually felt enticed by the PC screenshot thread and upgraded to a maingear steam machine. The 2gb vram in the alpha bottlenecks its potential. I could play some current gen AAA games like The Witcher 3, Arkham Knight, etc, but generally you peak at 900p, 30 fps and with medium/high settings. And I couldn't even run Assassin's Creed Unity beyond lowest possible settings, and it still ran like garbage.

Some current gen games, like MGS5 performed extremely well and any PS3/360 era games ran exceptionally well too. And Rise of the Tomb Raider needed to run at high/medium settings at lower than 900p in the open environments like Geothermal Valley to maintain a consistent framerate. It's great for pre-2014 games, but you gotta turn things down a notch with many current gen titles. If you plan to spend a lot of time on older and/or indie games more than current gen AAA graphical showcase titles, you might get a lot of enjoyment out of it.

But, personally, I was looking forward to playing Quantum Break, Assassin's Creed Unity, Ark: Survival Evolved, Deus Ex:MD, Star Citizen, etc, and those titles are pretty demanding. Overall, if you just want to set foot in the world of PC gaming at a reasonable price and can live with playing some recent AAA games at medium, sometimes low settings, you might dig the i5 or i7 alpha! But you're at the mercy of how well the games are optimized, so keep that in mind. And if you get a steam machine, to save you time and possibly money I'd recommend NOT buying one set-up to run Linux-based, steam OS. Get one that just has windows 10 installed if you can so you can have instant access to every steam game, streaming entertainment services, itunes, etc.
 
S

Shy

Member
Sorry to be dumb.

But just to confirm. Those two boxes are the Steam OS version. And not windows correct. ?
 
H

Have a Nice Day

Member
Shy said:
Sorry to be dumb.

But just to confirm. Those two boxes are the Steam OS version. And not windows correct. ?
Click to expand...

My assumption that all machines marketed as Steam boxes has Steam OS preinstalled. You can install your own copy of Windows on any of these machine.
 
B

border

Member
Shy said:
Sorry to be dumb.

But just to confirm. Those two boxes are the Steam OS version. And not windows correct. ?
Click to expand...

Yeah, Windows is not included with this purchase. I'm not sure how difficult it will be to install Windows.
 
C

CrashPrime

Member
I think its so funny that people aren't freaking for only $225. What a deal when you think about what this will do for you vs. an Xbox One S or PS4 Slim.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War PC Trailer
Trailer
0
794
Grand Theft Scratchy replied
i7 Alienware Alpha $374 at gamestop
2
75
12K
Unknown Soldier replied
Monster Hunter: World Arrives August 9th on Steam (System Requiremets Inside)
13
1K
Agent_4Seven replied
GameStop Black Friday deals
2 3
138
22K
NurseRedHeart replied
PSA USAGAF: Alienware Alpha for $329.99 w/rebate
2
57
8K
Trouble replied
Top Bottom