I remain in the camp that the Steam Machine is a very cool idea but it is ever so slightly lacking in specs. If it had been a newer GPU with FSR 4 support and ~12-16 GB VRAM I think it would have been an excellent deal. 8 GB VRAM in 2026 is just not feasible for a device promising 4K output (even upscaled). Hell, I have a 12 GB GPU today, and it's juuuuust enough for some games.
As it stands now, and with the RAM/SSD prices it's just kind of a cool idea on paper but doesn't seem quite what I want in reality. I still really like the form factor and all the ideas around it. I hope Valve continues developing it in the future and that the prices can drop to reasonable levels.
I'm imagining some Capcom developer opening up the first Digital Foundry article and going "wait, that's not the resolution we meant, woops" and sneaking it into the next update.
This is by far my favorite Assassin's Creed game through the years, so this definitely has me intrigued. The PC settings don't actually seem that unreasonable (unless you're cranking it to the supermax) - I hope the consoles can follow along on that same note.
I'm so thankful that I finally splurged on a new PC build back in June 2025. The 7600X/32 GB RAM/2 TB SSD/5070 build I went for back then cost me around €1500 then and the exact same build is now well north of €2000.
As much as I grumble about Nvidia, this kind of stuff is actually genuinely cool. Super Resolution upgrades being "upgradeable" through a variety of generations of their GPUs (at varying performance costs) is genuinely an awesome feature. I really wish that Sony would have implemented something like this with the PS5 Pro/PSSR, letting games simply use a newer version without game intervention.
I feel like I really dodged a bullet with the RAM-a-geddon. I built a new PC (many years overdue!) back in the summer and the 32 GB DDR5 kit I picked up was around €95. That same exact kit now costs €450! >
I'm pretty curious if there are any resolution differences between the modes with unlocked frame rates. We know from before the game was running at roughly ~1080p-1440p in RT Pro 60 for example, does enabling unlocked frame rate move the needle more towards 1080p more often in favor of higher FPS? Also curious what the graphics settings/resolution differences are for the Balanced modes.
Comments 7
Re: Update Hints Steam Machine Will Arrive in 512GB and 2TB Versions, Despite AI-led SSD Pricing Surge
I remain in the camp that the Steam Machine is a very cool idea but it is ever so slightly lacking in specs. If it had been a newer GPU with FSR 4 support and ~12-16 GB VRAM I think it would have been an excellent deal. 8 GB VRAM in 2026 is just not feasible for a device promising 4K output (even upscaled). Hell, I have a 12 GB GPU today, and it's juuuuust enough for some games.
As it stands now, and with the RAM/SSD prices it's just kind of a cool idea on paper but doesn't seem quite what I want in reality.
I still really like the form factor and all the ideas around it. I hope Valve continues developing it in the future and that the prices can drop to reasonable levels.
Re: Pragmata Gets PS5 Pro Resolution Bump: Version 1.21 Comes With an Undocumented Upgrade
I'm imagining some Capcom developer opening up the first Digital Foundry article and going "wait, that's not the resolution we meant, woops" and sneaking it into the next update.
Re: Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced: A Top-To-Bottom Remake With Graphics and Gameplay Upgrades
This is by far my favorite Assassin's Creed game through the years, so this definitely has me intrigued. The PC settings don't actually seem that unreasonable (unless you're cranking it to the supermax) - I hope the consoles can follow along on that same note.
Re: The Best Time to Build a Gaming PC Was a Year Ago, but the Second-Best Time Is Now
I'm so thankful that I finally splurged on a new PC build back in June 2025. The 7600X/32 GB RAM/2 TB SSD/5070 build I went for back then cost me around €1500 then and the exact same build is now well north of €2000.
Re: Nvidia Announces DLSS 4.5 - New Transformer Model Already Live
As much as I grumble about Nvidia, this kind of stuff is actually genuinely cool. Super Resolution upgrades being "upgradeable" through a variety of generations of their GPUs (at varying performance costs) is genuinely an awesome feature.
I really wish that Sony would have implemented something like this with the PS5 Pro/PSSR, letting games simply use a newer version without game intervention.
Re: The AI Tech Crunch: Are We Looking At A "Dark Age" For Gaming Hardware?
I feel like I really dodged a bullet with the RAM-a-geddon. I built a new PC (many years overdue!) back in the summer and the 32 GB DDR5 kit I picked up was around €95. That same exact kit now costs €450! >
Re: Ghost of Yōtei's 1.1 Update: Frame-Rate Unlocks, Impressive Results
I'm pretty curious if there are any resolution differences between the modes with unlocked frame rates. We know from before the game was running at roughly ~1080p-1440p in RT Pro 60 for example, does enabling unlocked frame rate move the needle more towards 1080p more often in favor of higher FPS?
Also curious what the graphics settings/resolution differences are for the Balanced modes.