Budget gaming: steam deck or build a cheap gaming PC?

Hey all, sorry in advance if this kind of post isn’t welcome in this community. I wasn’t really sure where to post this question and I didn’t see anything in the rules against text posts or questions. If there’s a more appropriate place to post I’ll take this down and repost somewhere else.

With the recent price hikes of game pass, Microsoft’s general inability to publish good games, and a deep loathing for AAA studios obsession with milking me for every dollar I have while delivering uninspired, broken slop, I’ve cancelled my game pass subscription and started considering PC gaming. I’m still on the Xbox one and haven’t bothered to get the one X due to these issues. I’m due for am upgrade and don’t feel particularly thrilled at the idea of spending that much money on a console that has little to offer.

I don’t have a lot of money, but I do have enough to afford a modest build (600-700 USD.). But with all the praise and broad support that the steam deck has been getting, I’m wondering if my money may not be better spent on getting one and using the extra for a dock, some peripherals, and a start to building my library. The steam deck would be living most of its life docked and plugged into a monitor. The fact that it’s a capable portable gaming machine is, for the most part, a bonus to me.

I’m curious to hear everyone’s thoughts on this. Is a steam deck a viable alternative to a budget gaming PC?

Cowbee, (edited )
@Cowbee@lemmy.ml avatar

You are sacrificing power for mobility and playability with the Steam Deck. I own both a Steam Deck and a gaming PC, and I use each for different games. These days, modern AAA gaming often can’t run on Steam Deck well, including some hits like Baldurs Gate 3 (in the 3rd Act, the rest is fine). However, 75% of my overall gaming time is on the Deck these days. The ability to turn it on and just start playing on the couch or in bed is fantastic, and the support for different control schema like gyro and touchpads make it incredibly playable.

A modest PC is going to push better graphics and higher refresh rates, and will also make some games actually playable, but this becomes a decent sacrifice in mobility and convenience.

If mobility is merely a bonus and your deck would be docked the vast majority of the time, I’d go PC, but I suggest seriously considering the convenience of portable play even within your home. The OLED screen is wonderful for years-old AAA games that go for 2 dollars on Sale, indies, and more. I’m absolutely having a blast with Crosscode and intend on moving over to Another Crab’s Treasure and Nine Sols next.

BarrelAgedBoredom,

I honestly haven’t considered using the steam deck in my house outside of the dock. Playing on the couch is definitely an enticing idea. The prospect of poor AAA support isn’t a huge deal. Baldurs gate 3, the new dragon age, the new Warhammer game (if that’s considered AAA), helldivers, and the new god of war games are the only recent titles that have jumped out at me. I’ve really wanted to get more into indie games, theres so many that seem interesting and innovative, and with the pace of steam deck adoption, I feel like I wouldn’t be missing out on much with it. I’m still 50/50 on the decision. Gaming around the house has definitely given me something more to consider though!

Cowbee,
@Cowbee@lemmy.ml avatar

The Steam Deck is how I prefer to play the majority of indies, so if that’s your goal, it’s great. Watch performance videos though of games you are interested in.

TropicalDingdong,

I played through all of BG3 with no issues. It was a pleasure. The only real graphics hiccup I had was when i stacked barrel after barrel of smoke powder in Gortash’s throne room and one shotted him.

Cris_Color,
@Cris_Color@lemmy.world avatar

Personally my inclination would be building a PC. There are just too many small things here that make a PC seem a better fit in my mind

A PC can be upgraded over time. A PC can run Windows, and from what I understand there’s still some willingness to tinker and adjust stuff needed to get stuff working on steamdeck at times (I say this as an exclusively linux user for the past like 10 years, though I don’t have a steam deck and haven’t played with gaming on Linux). And ultimately the main selling point of the deck sounds like it would be pretty secondary for you

I’d love to tell you go with the cheaper option, but I think long term the PC just makes more sense. Even if you just wanna run linux and use a distro that replicates the steam deck’s configuration and setup, the PC will trade the portability you don’t seem particularly interested in for upgradability that I think is really worth it. If you’re looking to save money my gut says you’d be better served by getting used components, a used case, and a good power supply you can upgrade around.

Thats my 2c as someone fairly unqualified to give advice lol. Regardless, I hope you find the right path for you!

But I think the big consideration is whether to trade portability for upgradability, or vice versa.

BarrelAgedBoredom,

Outside of windows, you’ve essentially described my radionale for building a PC. I was planning to build a Linux machine to 1. Save on not having to buy windows and 2. Simply because I like Linux, and (besides competitive games) gaming on Linux seems to be a pretty solid option nowadays. I wanted to buy second hand as much as I could and upgrade piecemeal to keep up with hardware demands and improve my experience.

The convenience of the steam deck is attractive because I’ve never built a machine before and graphics aren’t all that important to me. But I do like the prospect of having something that will last and be able to be iteratively improved for years to come

Cris_Color,
@Cris_Color@lemmy.world avatar

Yeah, that makes sense. If you have a friend that’s built a PC before that’d help a lot with it being intimidating. I think building a PC and picking used last gen parts that roughly match the performance of the deck would be my choice in your position.

I can absolutely understand it being appealing to buy something complete out of the box though. Maybe it’s worth seeing if anyone is selling complete working PCs they’re ready to replace?

Azzu,

Isn’t the PC the cheaper option? You act as if the only benefit you get is the upgradeability, but since a desktop doesn’t have to be as small, the components are much cheaper individually, which makes a PC cheaper than a Steam Deck simply looking at performance.

It’s not a necessity to upgrade the PC, and if you never upgrade it, then it also never costs more than the Steam Deck.

In essence upgradeability should be almost not a decision factor, since you probably can “upgrade” the Steam Deck in the future as well: you buy a new Steam Deck handheld once Steam releases a more powerful version. Yeah, you’re not swapping out components, but there’ll very likely be a way to copy over your setup/data, and then the only difference is that the upgrade is more expensive, same as the initial purchase is right now.

Cris_Color,
@Cris_Color@lemmy.world avatar

Price to performance and just outright price aren’t really the same thing. And isn’t a base deck like $300? I could be wrong, I sort of assumed building a PC and buying your peripherals was more expensive 🤷‍♂️. I mentioned to OP it might be a lot more comparable if you just aim for roughly the same specs as the deck using used last-gen parts, since super impressive specs didn’t seem important to them.

And yes, I just mean that it’s cheaper to replace just one component when you need to than buy the whole thing over again. Its also way less e-waste. To me, upgrading not being necessary seems like a very odd point to make- if you never upgrade at a certain you won’t be able to play anything newer. Which maybe doesn’t matter to op, but that seems like an odd assumption to make. Even if you just use a computer for less demanding productivity tasks, its specs will eventually start to struggle…

It just seems like most of the benefits of the deck seem like things that either aren’t as important to them (handheld functionality) or are short term benefits (no need to build anything, potentially cheaper upfront), where the PC seems like it makes more sense longer term, given they don’t especially care about having a handheld specially.

Protoknuckles,

I play pretty much everything on my steamdeck. For price vs usability, it’s incredible. It’s also nice that you can get an idea of how games work on it before you buy them, so you don’t get stuck with a game that won’t run on your computer.

Carnelian,

It’s also nice that you can get an idea of how games work on it before you buy them

Oh interesting, you mean like the “verified on deck” thing? Or are performance stats accessible easily? I don’t have one so I’m not exactly sure, but this does sound nice. I feel a lot of stress sometimes if I need to spend a long time playing with graphics options during the 2 hour refund window

Protoknuckles,

So, you have deck verified vs playable vs unsupported and you have protondb scores to let you know how playable the game should be. Beyond that, developers try to hit steamdeck playable as a development goal. They won’t try to optimize for your computer, since they don’t know what you’re running, but they have the specs for the steamdeck, so they try to make it run on that!

BarrelAgedBoredom,

That’s definitely an added bonus. Having been a console player for the majority of my life, learning and researching parts and compatibility has been a bit confusing for me. Especially since I was planning to build a Linux machine. I like that building a PC offers versatility and an opportunity to upgrade parts down the line for a better experience/ longer lifespan, but there’s something to be said for the convenience of knowing that something will just work out of the box

Dudewitbow,

whether you go handheld or desktop PC depends on what you plan to play and how often you play “handheld” and “sitting at home”

can I throw in an odd alternative 3rd option. Not the steam deck specifically, but many of the windows gaming handhelds have USB 4 support. with that, they enable the user to use an external GPU if they wanted. So if you wanted a better “docked experience” you can get one later down the line and treat it like some middle ground from having a “desktop” pc and handheld pc on demand. down the line you can choose to upgrade one experience or the other when the time is right if you would like a middle of a choice option.

this option is not very setting friendly though, as youd constnatly have to switch back and forth if you choose this path

BarrelAgedBoredom,

Whichever way I went, I was planning to use Linux for my OS, so I haven’t really considered a windows handheld until now. I might have to look into those a bit more. I’m not opposed to windows per se, but I do like how light most Linux distros are. It would free up more resources for gaming, and considering my budget, I could definitely use the extra wiggle room haha

iAmTheTot,

I have both a steam deck and a desktop. I like both. If someone asked me what I’d keep if I had to keep only one, I’d chose the desktop.

BarrelAgedBoredom,

Any particular reasons?

Azzu,

Probably because they don’t move around that much and enjoy the much better performance they can get from a desktop. At least that would be my reasons.

redisdead,

I move around a lot but the truth is when I’m not home I am usually doing something else than gaming. I’ve stopped packing my steam deck when traveling. The truth is if I need to keep myself entertained for a couple hours when I am not home, my phone has all kinds of games and apps on it.

Still love my deck though. I occasionally flop on my couch to play Hades, TUNIC, etc. on it.

iAmTheTot,

I do far too many other things with my desktop that I don’t care to even try to do with my steam deck. I know the deck can dock and stuff but it’s just a 15w chip… I am not going to be doing much on that. I often multitask on my pc, watch yt, write, be in Discord call, work in Photoshop, I play ttrpgs online, I could go on. Steam deck just cannot do all that I need it to do if I absolutely had to pick one.

BarrelAgedBoredom,

Fair enough! In my instance the PC would be almost entirely dedicated to gaming. My day-to-day computer stuff is either done on my phone or my laptop. I don’t really do anything that can’t be handled by either of these

iAmTheTot,

Even if it was 100% purely for gaming, I’d still pick the desktop. I have a fairly powerful desktop now and that didn’t all happen at once. You can upgrade a desktop, every single aspect of it. You can barely upgrade a steam deck at all, and it already feels dated in some games, and other games cannot run on the deck at all.

theunknownmuncher,

Steam deck is definitely a viable alternative, but I’d still go with building a desktop if that is an option to you and if you do not need the portability of steam deck. $600-$700 will get you a pretty decent system (especially if you already have a monitor, mouse, and keyboard) that you can continue to upgrade in the future.

BarrelAgedBoredom,

Yeah the 600-700 figure is just for the PC, I made a little room for a monitor, keyboard and headset/speakers as I would wind up needing those whichever way I went

theunknownmuncher, (edited )

Given that you also need to build a library of PC games, this could swing the needle towards the steam deck depending on what games you want and how patient you are to buy them. But because you can build that library over time, and PC games tend to be cheaper than console games and have much better sales, I still lean toward suggesting you build a desktop.

BarrelAgedBoredom,

I’m not in a rush by any means. Between working full time and being in college, I don’t have a lot of time to play games. I have a handful of AAA titles I’m interested in, but indie gaming has been a pretty large draw for me towards PC gaming in general. There’s so many interesting and innovative titles out there that I simply haven’t had an opportunity to play on my Xbox

theunknownmuncher,

I think a desktop will pay off in the future when it’s time to upgrade again because you can at least reuse the peripherals, case, PSU, fans, hard drives, typically the CPU cooler, maybe GPU unless that is being upgraded, and maybe even the mobo+RAM depending on the upgrade path. I think the AMD AM4 platform is currently the best bang for the buck, but will almost certainly require replacing mobo+RAM on your next future upgrade.

TropicalDingdong,

I play more than I ever had time to with a PC on my deck. Also, I can play in the yard, on the couch, or if I’m feeling fancy, with a monitor, mouse and keyboard. Its great on a plane,

Also, it was a serviceable backup for the week where my work laptop died. I’ve felt priced out of a “fun machine” since the 30 series.

Its graphics are so so. I am in no rush to buy triple A’s, although I did play through BG3 a couple times on it. Witcher3 was great.

It depends on how seriously you are with yourself about always being docked. A $700 PC, if you can get a used Vcard, a PC is going to be an improvement. But have you ever been exposed to the mobility a deck offers? You can play in bed. At the breakfast table. In the back of a car. What the steam deck offers is bigger than just graphics. You may not think “I’ll do those things” because right now, its not even an option. But once it is… suddenly gaming on the porch with a beer becomes a mighty fine way do do things.

BarrelAgedBoredom,

Fair point! Another user mentioned gaming around the house and the option never occured to me haha. I’ve been so locked in on the dock and having a dedicated space that I didn’t think about using the steam deck anywhere but there or outside the house. Graphics aren’t a huge deal for me but I do like the idea of longevity and upgradeability that a PC offers. I’m not sure how the steam deck is planning to address these issues. If I went with the steam deck I would essentially be trading out one console for another. A more adaptable one, but a console nonetheless

TropicalDingdong,

Heres the thing. If you get a deck, you know that at least steam won’t be gaslighting you to buy another one for a hot minute.

I liked my deck enough that I bought the OLED when it came out to give my old one to my partner. Now we play in bed together side by side. She hadn’t played in years because well, life and being busy.

A deck can (somewhat) replace a PC. A PC could not replace a deck. Its a fundamentally different thing. I am going to buy a banger gaming PC. My deck allows me to play and have fun until I can buy the rig I want instead of the one I can afford.

BarrelAgedBoredom,

the rig I want instead of the one I can afford

Definitely hits home, I’m in school and working toward a better career at the moment. I have a decent laptop that fufills my “computer” needs, and the PC/deck was purely oriented towards gaming. I think a deck might be the better option for the moment. My current budget and ideas for a build had some compromises, with the knowledge that I’d need to replace/upgrade a lot of stuff down the line. I’m not 100% sold on the steam deck, but it does seem like a more viable and pragmatic choice now

Azzu,

You haven’t talked about how much you care about portability and ease of assembly.

The only reasons to buy a Steam Deck is because you can use it on the go, and maybe because it already comes pre-built and pre-configured with an OS. So it would be interesting to know how important those two things are to you.

If they are not/not very important, then a Steam Deck makes no sense, as you can get the same power of hardware for much cheaper in a desktop.

BarrelAgedBoredom,

My rationale for the steam deck was mostly the convenience and broad support. Prior to this thread, portability was more of a bonus than a main draw for me. However, a few people have mentioned how much they like the steam deck for use around the house over their PC and I hadn’t really considered that before. I will say that this prospect does shift me a little more towards the steam deck than before.

I was mostly drawn to building a PC for upgradability and longevity. As I understand it 600-700 for a PC (buying secondhand) is on the line of acceptable and decent. The last time I gamed on a PC was in the days of halo CE on a hand-me-down windows XP machine so my personal experience on the matter is extremely out of date, but I’m willing (and interested).to learn

Boinkage,

Another vote for a PC. I own both, but the deck is a fun extra thing, not my main gaming system. A built PC can be upgraded as the years go by very economically, whereas someday the steam deck will just be outdated. If you’re tired of the console ecosystem then switching to the deck is just a console made by a better company, but it’s still a bunch of hardware hardwired together. A gaming PC can be upgraded whenever your need and budget want.

chunkystyles,

I’m going to give you a slightly different take than what I’ve seen so far. I have a Deck and a PC. I game mostly on the PC, but I love the Deck.

The 256gb LCD model is $400. You can buy that, save whatever is leftover, and save up for a nicer PC build down the line. The Deck will be great for you while you save.

Like people said, you might not be playing the newest AAA games, but those are expensive anyway. There are thousands of indie and older games that will run amazingly and will be cheap that you wouldn’t have had access to on the Xbox.

proceduralnightshade,

Yes, a Steam Deck is a viable alternative to a budget gaming PC. But if you would want to buy a dock and peripherals and keep it docked most of the time I’d say go with the PC.

For me personally, the biggest plus of a Steam Deck was that I didn’t have to get peripherals (because my living situation is a bit complicated at the moment). And they’re dirt cheap, got a used LCD512 GB one for 320€.

edit: I own a laptop too. If I didn’t, I would’ve gotten a new one

taiyang,

Interesting, I was just discussing this for my teenage cousin - we ultimately went with Deck but only because he needs to travel back to Germany.

I think your use case is different. Yes, the deck can play docked but much it is magic happens because the resolution is so tiny. Not saying you’ll be able to manage a great GPU, but you’ll likely get a little more out of a budget card at a standard 1080p. Also, with a budget PC, you can always upgrade parts if you’re strategic on parts like PSU.

As for building a library, you can always sail the high seas-- although there are so many budget friendly entertainment in the PC realm. Just refer to IsThereAnyDeal to ensure you’re getting the most bang for your buck.

anamethatisnt,

Even when trying to limit myself a Ryzen 5 7600, RX 7600 build with 1tb m.2 storage and 16gb ram, a non modular bronze 750w psu and a cheap case ends up outside your budget. (about $950 to buy over here). You could lower that by going for older AM4 components but then you lose most of the upgradability benefits.
Personally I would save more before buying and increase the budget. You mention having a decent laptop, so use that one for some indie gaming while saving up.

apotheotic,

A steam deck is my recommendation. I have a £2000+ gaming PC that is now practically collecting dust because of my steam deck. Being able to just game anywhere in my house, from my bed, from my couch, from a chair in a sunny spot in my garden, has been a game changer in a way I didn’t expect. I’ve owned handheld consoles before but none of them have hooked me in the same way.

The fact that I have my entire backlog of PC games available to me and don’t have to buy into a new ecosystem (like the switch or previous handhelds) is a huge bonus, but the absolute winner here is the variety of input options and the degree of customizability, as well as the fact that its a PC, so I can fuck with the refresh rate and the clock speeds and all that - extending the battery life!

The portability also has me being a bit more social with the other occupants in my home. I can play some low-focus game on the couch while they watch TV, for example, and we can chat and so on, as opposed to being isolated to the room where my PC is.

If you think there’s any chance you’ll get a kick out of being able to just grab your deck and go loaf somewhere comfortable to game, its a no-brainer to me.

gnygnygny,

ROG Ally is a better choice than a steam deck.

Cowbee,
@Cowbee@lemmy.ml avatar

In what manner?

gnygnygny,

Lighter weight, better autonomy, better ergonomy, better form factory, cheaper, WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, and the heat control is better. Win11 is a plus for desktop usage and Xbox market.

Cowbee,
@Cowbee@lemmy.ml avatar

What do you mean by “better autonomy?” And how is Windows 11 a plus for what is going to be a gaming handheld? Linux in general is more convenient than Win11, plus you don’t have Microsoft spying on you the entire time.

The Steam Deck OLED has better battery life from what I’ve seen, a better screen, works out of the box, and has better controls due to trackpads for more games.

gnygnygny,

OLED screens consume more power than an IPS screen, unless you display only black pixels on the screen. Explain to me by what miracle the autonomy would be greater?

I find the desktop useful, more software means more possibilities and more drivers for external devices. In any case, it covers my needs better.

Privacy is not a strong argument. And I am very concerned about this issue. You can disable the telemetry with a little bit of tuning in Windows and you can block the traffic with an FW. Privacy is systemic and not just Windows. Look at your phone, bank, connected objects, TV, insurance companies, … Do you think steam is not spying you ? Have you read their subscriber agreement ?

Cowbee,
@Cowbee@lemmy.ml avatar

OLED can consume more battery, but the screen is a small factor in overall consumption in a gaming handheld.

Secondly, Linux has better privacy, more useful software features for gaming (like gaming mode on SteamOS), and more.

gnygnygny,

Repeating something wrong doesn’t make a valid argument.

Linux privacy is better yes, until you use Steam on it to rent your games.

Cowbee,
@Cowbee@lemmy.ml avatar

And your solution is to use Windows with Steam? Repeating something wrong doesn’t make a valid argument.

gnygnygny,

I avoid to use steam as much as I can. I prefer GOG or to buy my games instead to rent it. But as steam got 80% of the market share sometimes there is no choice. People should understand that a monopole is not good.

Cowbee,
@Cowbee@lemmy.ml avatar

You can run GOG games on the Steam Deck. Again, why use Windows when Microsoft is worse?

gnygnygny,

I know you can run gog on it.

I am not either a pro Microsoft. I just prefer the ROG for the reason I previously gave.

Now if you prefer to go full steam it is your choice.

MellowYellow13,

it runs windows lmao

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