To me, at this point it makes no sense to go with 512gb model, if you pay already that much money. The limitations of 512 is too extreme in my opinion.
You can always replace the storage yourself. A 2TB NVMe doesnt even cost $300 (most are around $250), and if you swapped it yourself, you’d have a 512 GB one to stick into an enclosure and use as a portable hard drive.
And you don’t even have to do that immediately. 512 GB is plenty to start. Especially since not everyone plays enormous AAA games with hundreds of mods. You can upgrade at any time.
It’s worth remembering that most discussions like this are dominated by enthusiasts (including both of us) whereas most people in general are not enthusiasts.
In my experience, most people don’t actively play more than 512GB worth of games at once, and you can add to this with spare microSD cards or other PCs on the network. Steam makes transferring game installs to the main SSD from elsewhere rather painless.
Even as a bit of a data hoarder myself, I only really go beyond 512GB to: 1) keep pace with multiple friend groups that like entirely different game genres I need to all keep available at a moment’s notice, and 2) maintain games modded outside the Steam workshop that I may not play that often but still want to not have to set up more than necessary.
Steam Machine 512GB: $1,049 USD / 1,509 CAD / 1,039 EUR / 879 GBP / 1,609 AUD / 4,389 PLN
Bundle: Steam Machine 512GB + Steam Controller: $1,128 USD / 1,628 CAD / 1,108 EUR / 938 GBP / 1,728 AUD / 4,698 PLN
Steam Machine 2TB: $1,349 USD / 1,919 CAD / 1,359 EUR / 1,149 GBP / 2,109 AUD / 5,739 PLN
Bundle: Steam Machine 2TB + Steam Controller: $1,428 USD / 2,038 CAD / 1,428 EUR / 1,208 GBP / 2,228 AUD / 6,048 PLN
Both the Steam Machine 2TB and 2TB bundle options come with two additional faceplates: red fabric, and solid walnut.
To me, at this point it makes no sense to go with 512gb model, if you pay already that much money. The limitations of 512 is too extreme in my opinion.
You can always replace the storage yourself. A 2TB NVMe doesnt even cost $300 (most are around $250), and if you swapped it yourself, you’d have a 512 GB one to stick into an enclosure and use as a portable hard drive.
And you don’t even have to do that immediately. 512 GB is plenty to start. Especially since not everyone plays enormous AAA games with hundreds of mods. You can upgrade at any time.
It’s worth remembering that most discussions like this are dominated by enthusiasts (including both of us) whereas most people in general are not enthusiasts.
In my experience, most people don’t actively play more than 512GB worth of games at once, and you can add to this with spare microSD cards or other PCs on the network. Steam makes transferring game installs to the main SSD from elsewhere rather painless.
Even as a bit of a data hoarder myself, I only really go beyond 512GB to: 1) keep pace with multiple friend groups that like entirely different game genres I need to all keep available at a moment’s notice, and 2) maintain games modded outside the Steam workshop that I may not play that often but still want to not have to set up more than necessary.
And at the price that the 2TB model is, you’d be an idiot to buy it.
And if you get the controller bundle, you save $20 over buying it separately.
You also save 9 months of waiting on the pre-order list but neither is a good selling point.
My guess is part of the reason for the controller shortages is they reserved a bunch to do these bundles.
💯