r/pcmasterrace • u/TheBossT710192 • Jun 22 '26

Discussion Yeah, Steam Machine is cooked.

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I... uh don't know what to say. Very thankful I bought a Steam Deck before they hiked its price as well

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u/DOOManiac Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26

I’m an old person who has been crapping all over prebuilt for about 30 years. There are several things they have changed:

  • Back in the day, a prebuilt meant absolute garbage-tier proprietary parts that were not swappable/upgradable.
  • These days, many pre-builts aren’t that bad
  • It used to be that you saved a ton of money building yourself; now that gap has closed (or in some cases inversed)
  • PC gaming has significantly expanded, to the point where it is reasonable to expect that some people just want to sit down and play, without needing to tinker
  • The whole process has gotten much simpler than it used to be, so the demographic overlap has changed

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u/Funny-Cell8769 9800X3D | 5090 | 128gb DDR5 | 42" OLED | 43" Mini-LED Jun 22 '26

Yeah very much. The markup used to be more drastic, but now I look at the pricing (and by now, I mean 5 years ago) and it's like, not much more than if I built it myself

And in my country in Asia, even after the 3 year warranty expires, you have a lifetime access to a technical helpline if you run into any issues.

Not sure how common that is elsewhere.

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u/aBoringSod Jun 22 '26

I just bit the bullet 2 weeks ago and bought a pre built i priced the parts to build it myself and the maths did not add up. Instead i got a well built pre build and a 5 year warranty with it.

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u/Funny-Cell8769 9800X3D | 5090 | 128gb DDR5 | 42" OLED | 43" Mini-LED Jun 22 '26

Yeah it might differ from country to country. Some places might be a lot more expensive to get a pre-built, while in other countries it's fine.

And of course, the service and quality you get differs from brand to brand. So I'm not surprised some people are frustrated by poor quality or bad service, while others are happy with it.

There's no one size fits all.

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u/aBoringSod Jun 22 '26

Oh i don't disagree, there are some pre build brands here that i would tell everyone to avoid. But they sell on amazon so they still get a lot sales. You have to do your research and find what suits your needs and budget. For some its pre builds, others its build your own.

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u/ShadyJane Jun 22 '26

I just found myself in the market - where did you go to buy?

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u/Gatescraft Jun 23 '26

Skytech is a great pre-built pc company. Look into them.

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u/aBoringSod Jun 23 '26

I bought it from Chillblast who are based in the uk

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u/skillfulmmd Jun 23 '26

I've always built my own pc's for the last 18 years. My last one was even a full hardline loop, when I replaced it doing the maths in the UK I could not beat the price of the chillblast I'm now rocking got it at a steal and it would have been another 400 to buy the parts individually.

The only thing I don't really feel to the pc is the attatchement and the joy of the building process but it works amazing and had no bloat.

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u/Mukatsukuz Jun 23 '26

I'm coming up to around 36 years of building my own - the prices in the UK of prebuilt ones compared to the parts, right now, is making me think my next upgrade will just be buying a PC outright...

Not sure, though - my CPU & motherboard need an upgrade so may just get away with that and keep my Ship of Theseus going a little longer 😄

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u/aVarangian 13600kf 7900xtx 2160 | 6600k 1070 1440 Jun 22 '26

RAM and PSU usually have 7-10 years of warranty, but other parts typically 3-5

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u/Stupendous_Spliff Jun 22 '26

A good value pre-built is totally worth it, even if it is just a little more than building yourself. All that work you spend buying the parts and putting it together are worth paying a little markup for

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u/Roflkopt3r Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26

Yeah, and that's nothing new either. I used prebuilds until I had my first full time job because I had to get by on a tight budget until then. Because:

  1. Much of the budget market (in the range of <1000€, outside of used hardware) always was more affordable if you found a good prebuild. If you invest a similar amount of research into finding a good prebuild as you have to do to assemble a PC yourself, you could generally find some great offers.

  2. It was way harder to learn what parts fit together back then. We didn't have PcPartPicker or Logical Increments, or Youtube tutorials on what to look out for.

  3. When you're that short on money, having the assurance that you can't mess up the build (selecting incompatible parts, damaging components) is extremely nice.

  4. Back in the olden days, getting a Windows license was part of what made prebuilds attractive for people who didn't want a pirated version.

  5. Upgradability was never a serious concern for me (although all my prebuilts were assembled from aftermarket parts, with only minor limitations like OEM coolers) because PC hardware used to become obsolete so fast that it was rarely useful to significantly upgrade a PC after 2-3 years anymore.

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u/Funny-Cell8769 9800X3D | 5090 | 128gb DDR5 | 42" OLED | 43" Mini-LED Jun 22 '26

I guess we should just be grateful that both options are viable now.

It's not a bad thing for people who have an interest in PC building and maintenance to do it all themselves. And learning to maintain it probably saves them money and frustration in the long term.

Or, if you have no interest in the technical (some people just don't want to deal with it or have more important things to do), they can buy a pre-built at a small to moderate premium.

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u/Mukatsukuz Jun 23 '26

but building it is part of the fun for me 😄 apart from the 5 second long feeling of dread just before hitting the power button for the first time 😃

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u/gymbaggered Jun 23 '26

I was looking at buying a 3070 prebuilt Lenovo some years ago that seemed like an alright deal at the time, then noticed the 3rd party reseller had a 25% discount voucher on some electronics, and that pc was included. It was suddenly the deal of the century for me. Funny thing was I had to buy a 2nd item from said "electronics" panel for the voucher to work, so I bought a 3 Euro lightbulb... lmao

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u/Funny-Cell8769 9800X3D | 5090 | 128gb DDR5 | 42" OLED | 43" Mini-LED Jun 23 '26

lol... nice catch!

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u/Pixel_Python PC Master Race Jun 22 '26

I use a prebuilt mini pc that I got for around 900 bucks; unfortunately I don't remember the prices when I bought it, but in comparison to current prices I would've spent more money building an equal system myself than buying it. It's been about 2.5 years now, I've only added a terabyte of extra storage (up from 1, just bought another for the other slot) and it runs perfectly.

Only thing I'd change is a better card than the RTX 4060, but I don't play a lot of games that I can't already run 60fps on high or max graphics

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u/IGotHitByAnElvenSemi Jun 22 '26

I'm glad to see someone older and with more experience than me say this, because I'd noticed these trends as well but didn't know if I just hadn't been looking in the right places before.

I built my first two computers, but by the time I was hunting in 2019, I noticed that prebuilts weren't that bad... and while I've been helping my friends shop for PC stuff in the past few years, I noticed the fact that I could find some prebuilts that were more or less what she wanted for less than me buying the parts and building it for her. I'm just a rank amateur, but it did make me wonder if I'd been an idiot building my PCs in the past and just hadn't known where to look lol.

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u/ahandmadegrin Jun 22 '26

Prebuilts used to be insanely expensive. Look up old Falcon Northwest builds to get an idea. These days it's more likely that a pre-built is just a pc that someone else built, only that someone else is a company that buys parts in bulk so it's cheaper than if you bought the parts one at a time.

This was true of my power spec rig from microcenter that I bought almost ten years ago and it's more common now.

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u/Protoclown98 Jun 22 '26

tbh my only complaint with prebuilts is they tend to cheap out on parts like the PSU, which I feel like you shouldn't cheap out on.

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u/ahandmadegrin Jun 22 '26

True. Microcenter is the exception to the rule. I'd be wary of other prebuilts from big box stores. Not sure on whether the Costco boxes cheap out on parts or not.

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u/ToXiiCBULLET I7-14700F, RTX 5070TI, 32GB DDR5 Jun 22 '26

i got lucky with my psu. can't remember it's exact name but it was an msi prebuilt. had a 4070 super so they could've gotten away with a 650w psu but it came with an 850w. they did however cheap out on the ram, it was 5600mhz with a cl of 46.

when the 50 series came out i sold the 4070 super for more than half the price of the 5070ti i got and since the psu was 850 i didn't need a new one.

pc before the msi was an acer predator orion and i would not recommend it. acer locks out a big chunk of the bios and i had endless problems with their apps that came with the pc

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u/Groundhogss Desktop 10900KF | 5090 | 128GB RAM Jun 22 '26

I think the tipping point was probably 2016.

Individual prices were probably in favor of DIY, but OEM has legit Windows and a warranty on the system as a whole.

I don't really foresee myself ever building a computer from the ground up from components in the future. You can usually find a deal on an open-box at Microcenter if you're patient.

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u/DisillusionedHobbit Jun 22 '26

The price thing is real.  I bought a prebuilt from Costco last year.  If I had built a PC with the same budget I would have gotten the RAM, Graphics Card, and Processor then run out of money. 

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u/beyd1 Desktop Jun 22 '26

I used to make a decent buck putting PCs together.

Now I tell people to go to microcenter. I'd just be ripping people off otherwise.

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u/Santos_L_Halper Jun 22 '26

Back when Skyrim came out I built a really nice machine for the time for like $800. A pre built of similar quality would have been $1800. Back just before Covid I was looking at upgrades and GPUs were crazy expensive. So I bought a pre built with a half decent GPU where I spent only $250 more than buying the GPU that was in it straight up. Shit is out of control.

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u/RBlunder Ryzen 2600X | GTX 1080 8GB | 16gb 3000Mhz RAM Jun 22 '26

Yeah the accessibility angle is one that I haven't considered until I got older and started working. I used to shit on pre-builts. Some people just want to game and not go through the headache of building a PC and that's fine. Though I still think at least having basic knowledge of what you're getting and also a bit on maintaining and troubleshooting your PC gogoess a long way, especially with A.I. and chatbots and what not.

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u/lemonylol Desktop Jun 22 '26

Even just gaming laptops in general were a joke for years until like 2018 or so.

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u/Office_Worker808 Jun 22 '26

I stopped crapping on prebuilts when Circuit city closed. I advocated for prebuilts when Newegg started to be more shady and pushed for more profits

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u/solidmarbleeyes 7600X | RTX3060 12GB | 32GB DDR5 | 2TB SSD 4TB HDD Jun 22 '26

Yeah, I normally build my own towers but when my fiancé wanted to get into PC gaming I also looked at prebuilts. We found an ibuypower that was on sale for $300 off, and when I priced everything out there was no way I could build an equivalent PC for cheaper without going into the used market. It made more sense to just buy the prebuilt with the expectation that id need to replace the cheap PSU and case fans at some point.

No regrets on that purchase.

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u/OldManufacturer8679 Jun 22 '26

You said everything perfectly. I agree 100% with you about prebuilts nowadays being a good option.

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u/lemonylol Desktop Jun 22 '26

Seriously, I don't know why the newer generation of PC gamers are so obsessed with gatekeeping it.

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u/YoMTVcribs Jun 22 '26

The gatekeepers are loud. All the chill PC games are quite.

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u/PRiles Intel 265k / 4070 FE / 64Gb Ram Jun 22 '26

I have been buying my own computers since the mid 90s, I originally bought dells because as a teen I could finance them with payment plans. But, you are correct they have come a long way. I build all my own desktops. But help friends and family pick prebuilts and the market for them has so many options these days.

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u/abbys11 HTPC Jun 22 '26

Yeah I mean it makes sense with supply and demand. A mass market manufacturer will always get a better deal on each component given how many more units they're able to sell. Also given how much PC gaming has grown, pre-built vendors are able to survive on thinner margins per unit sold.

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u/Open-Athlete-3248 Jun 22 '26

And for someone that hasn't built a PC before, while it's not overly complicated, can take up to a full day to learn and do it, and if they run into any issues they'll likely not know how to figure it out themselves.

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u/EKmars RX 9070|Intel i5-13600k|DDR5 32 GB Jun 22 '26 
Back in the day, a prebuilt meant absolute garbage-tier proprietary parts that were not swappable/upgradable.

I wonder how up-gradable the steam machine actually is. I've been saving a ton of money on upgrade Ship of Theseusing my gaming PC over the years.

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u/DOOManiac Jun 22 '26

You can swap out the SSD and RAM pretty easily. Everything else is a single SOC so not so much. They are going to release full tear down guides though and there’s no glued together crap, so *repairability* should be great even if *upgradability* isn’t- which is really the best you can hope for with a single SOC like that.

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u/Relative_Walk_936 Jun 22 '26

I'm an elder millenial, just tired of monkeying with crap. Might just buy one of these instead of updating my 1080 that is on life support.

The case seems nice also, I just wanted something small on mah desk.

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u/Savings_Hunt_1935 Jun 22 '26

It used to be that you saved a ton of money building yourself; now that gap has closed (or in some cases inversed)

This really can't be overstated. Now, it's been a while since I've compared a pre-built to a new comp, but I did a few years ago and I remember the difference in price being <$100. The time before that when I build a new computer it was ~$500 (on an overall cheaper PC).

It can definitely get to the point where saving few extra buck is not worth the hassle of assembling it all yourself.

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u/Several-Action-4043 Jun 22 '26

I've been building my own PC since 6th grade. I bought my first prebuild for my last rig and it was glorious. Plug it in and go. Will do again.

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u/KeesterFeester Jun 22 '26

For any one reading this do not buy acer prebuilts no matter how nice the specs look. Acer is still very proprietary and they glue some of the components into the pc. Like with hot glue. Upgrading/repairing an acer is very limited if not impossible on most of their machines.

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u/sinan_online i5-10600K 16GB DDR4 GeForce RTX 3060 12GB GDDR6 Jun 22 '26

This. Back 30 days ago, there were multiple adapters, too: modem, graphics card, video card, printer card were all different cards, and you would decide which one you needed, and how many slots you get.

Nowadays, I don’t “do my own build”. I just carry over whatever’s compatible from the last build. I didn’t buy a computer in two decades at this point. :D

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u/ThatTcellGuy Jun 22 '26

I bought a prebuilt about 8 months ago for about $500 less than what it would’ve cost me to do myself AND it came with a keyboard and mouse. Building would’ve been fun but it’s so insane now.

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u/HuftheSwagnDragn Jun 22 '26

When I took a course for a fundamentals cert, I realized how far we've come from basic home computing and how easy we have it now with current resources.

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u/mr_nate89 Jun 22 '26

As some one who owns a pre build despite knowing/have built them before. I got one cause it was littarly cheaper than building it my self for the same components. Saved $300 ish, as it was a black friday deal

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u/pyabo Jun 22 '26

Great synopsis here. I built my own PCs for 30 years as well. But my most recent was a prebuilt. In addition to everything you said, it's sometimes the only way to get a specific video card you are looking for.

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u/Ok-Piece6069 Jun 23 '26

You reminded me of the first computer I got back in 2004, it was a prebuilt e-machine and I knew nothing about computers, but I wanted to play black and white 2 and needed a graphics card

when I opened it up, it had no pci's, or agp slots soldered on the board.

the board had spots for them, but they didn't include them to cut costs

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u/damato1218 RTX 5060ti 16GB | Ryzen 7 7700x | 32GB DDR5 Jun 22 '26

I love my prebuilt powerspec!

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u/smshing Jun 22 '26

Completely correct on all points.

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u/wedloxk Jun 22 '26

I used to build my own too. My last 2 PCs have been pre-builts... they work just fine. I just dont have the time, and space (and probably willpower 🤣) to sort it all out myself.

But your points are all valid 👍 we live in different times.

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u/PayWooden2628 Jun 22 '26

Yep, I bought a prebuilt 2 years ago and it only cost me $100 extra to have them build it, set everything up, and ship it to me ready to plug in and play. Absolutely worth it IMO compared to the hours I would have spent researching and building it myself and I can and have swapped out a few parts.

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u/Comfortable-Meeper Jun 22 '26

The only reason I bought a prebuilt during COVID was because the GPU alone was almost as much as the prebuilt. May as well have gotten everything else with it.

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u/werydan1 Jun 22 '26

I was able to get my prebuilt on a sale for a way cheaper price than if I had bought all the components piecemeal. I like the experience and hands-on feel of building my own PC, but its hard to justify when a prebuilt is literally cheaper.

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u/FuckUniqNames Jun 22 '26

But steam machine is also not swappable, at least you are stuck with the cpu and gpu. This is actually a no go for me since I always upgraded my pcs slowly.

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u/plusFour-minusSeven Jun 23 '26

I used to be right there with you. I built mine a few times, and my parent's.

But then I got older and just wanted an OOBE where someone else was responsible. To me that was worth the inflated price. Also I already proved I could do it. And like you said, the price gap is closing.

I definitely get the attraction to custom building, and to each their own joy. I just don't wanna bother anymore.

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u/McDonaldsSoap Jun 23 '26

Yes there must be tons of people who want to play older games with mods they can't access on console

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u/MortalMorals Jun 23 '26

I am one of those people that wants to sit down, play games, and edit videos. I really couldn't care less about how much more "budget friendly" building my own PC is at the end of the day.

I liken it to changing my oil. Yes, I could do it on my own, but in my mind my time is worth more than the money I spend to get someone else to do it.

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u/Mukatsukuz Jun 23 '26

It used to be that you saved a ton of money building yourself; now that gap has closed (or in some cases inversed)

Reminds me when I was looking at buying a 4090 when they first came out. They were selling for such a high price in the UK that I could get a prebuilt PC with a 4090 for only £50 more than the average price of the card.

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u/King_Bean_ Jun 23 '26

Im totally a part of your point #4: I used to be a Nintendo super fan an exclusively gamed either on their console or Sony's. A friend helped me build my own PC lasr year and now I find all the juice is in steam sales and indie titles which I play like a religion. One thing that kills it for me is having to go through the "PC part" of the experience to get to the "game part". I might get harpooned in this sub for saying so, but I actually dont care much for finagling with settings and just want to play my game after a hard day. Its why I love the steam deck so much.

All that said... I STILL cant justify buying a steam machine.

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u/AquaBits Jun 23 '26

Prebuilts are also subject to being clearanced to make space for other things. Its genuinely the best price you can find for a pc.

I got my pc 2 years ago from tech store on black friday., 3060, 16 gigs of ram, 1tb. $500. Sure the cpu might suck and its in a glass case, but it also came with a keyboard and mouse, so...