Can’t decide between a steam machine or upgrading my pc
I currently have a pc with a AMD 7600 graphics card and every other component is 7-13 years old so in the upgrade only the graphics card and my ssd will be staying. The upgrade looks like it’ll cost at least £600, maybe a bit less if I’m really frugal. The…
I currently have a pc with a AMD 7600 graphics card and every other component is 7-13 years old so in the upgrade only the graphics card and my ssd will be staying. The upgrade looks like it’ll cost at least £600, maybe a bit less if I’m really frugal. The steam machine is currently £879 so I’m really stuck trying to decide what to do, if I get the steam machine I’ll be selling my graphics card. I am so unsure of what to do, both have pros and cons. Just looking to hear some opinions from people more knowledgeable than I am.
Collected discussion
Steam Machine is entry level performance (slower than consoles or your RX 7600) with mid-range pricing and no CPU/GPU upgrade options. https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/GBcPzv That is a £700 mid-range PC (minus GPU) using DDR4. £600 is easily possible if you find a used RAM kit + case.
if he has win10, its digital license. he can deactivate it on old computer and activate it on new.
I had to do it when upgrading my rig, third activation. I had to call windows customer support, they reactivated my license but told me it was the last time I could do it with this key. :/
Ty I’ll take a look at this! No upgrade options with the steam machine is a real issue isn’t it
I'm not entirely sure, but I think you will need a new windows license if you change everything apart from your GPU, SSD. so you might want to take that into account too. can you give like a list of components you are planning to buy (+est price).
I don't think that's right? My license is years, decade+ old? It's gone through multiple complete hardware upgrades. Keep the old serial if you have it, or move the old hard drive into the new computer and activate again? I'm not sure if you can use serial in W11!or if it's just linked to MS account, but I haven't needed to buy any Windows when upgrading everything.
I'm running my current computer on an old Windows 7 license that was upgraded to 8 then to 10 and now 11.
I don’t currently have a full list, I think the budget would be no more than £650, any more wouldn’t be worth it I don’t think, sorry I can’t be more specific
Do you value a very small form factor and a super quiet PC? If you do then the steam machine is probably the best you can get for that price and is a good choice. If on the other hand you don’t particularly care about size/noise and just want the best you can afford then it’s definitely not worth it. It will perform worse than your 7600 and it doesn’t have an upgrade path for anything other than ram and storage.