Here is a thread to talk about gaming

[Mercutio]

An HX 370 has very credible graphics performance for an APU. Supposedly between mobile 3060 and 4060 performance, but with assignable RAM and power configs.

Mine was $700 with 32 GB RAM and a 1TB SSD. It also has OcuLink and USB4 on it and only really makes meaningful noise if you manage to get it over 80% utilization.

I understand that because of RAM that thing is probably $1200 now as well, but a 24GB version could credibly be offered and would in fact outclass the Steam Machine as well.

Regarding the Mac Mini: Apple games are a complete afterthought on PC gaming platforms. I think Proton will eventually fix that, but everything I could find looked like an Indie dev just happened to compile a Mac binary. Very few AAA titles. The one in my apartment has Baldur's Gate 3 on it and Slay the Spire.

My understanding is that an M4 mini is ALSO somewhere around that 3060/4060 mobile performance range, and if we're talking about Steam specifically, Ahasi Linux (whatever, I ohcan't be bothered to check spelling) just barely boots on a M1 Mac, so it's probably not happening any time soon.

 

[Handruin]

I've never tolerated Valve and I've never understood why anyone else does, either. Valve actively makes PC gaming worse for the essential monoculture it has created for gaming, a space where that never should have happened. GoG is much closer to the ideal everyone should hope wins out, and I don't think it's perfect either.

But getting back to the Steam Box, a custom box full of laptop parts priced at $600 might've been understandable but the minute they crossed that $1000 mark, it's just idiotic. If I can build an ITX rig with a 9060XT for $1000, they should be able to as well. I know there's an argument for a common hardware target, but everything they picked is miserably underpowered, almost like they're trying to make a bad PC on purpose. They should've had a back to the drawing board moment the days they realized RAM and Storage costs were going to screw them over.

As someone who has frequently hosted LAN parties over the past 30 years, I can't agree that valve has made things worse. My LAN party crew even had a pre-steam phrase we used for those who would not patch their games before showing up which made multiplayer games a huge pain in the ass. Steam basically made that issue disappear. In addition to that, having a consistent sdk for game designers to code multiplayer games has made it far easier than it ever was to setup a session. I've also discovered so many great indie titles through steam which gave them a platform to make it viable.

Aside from the issue of whenever steam decides to sell out or lean more into the true billionaire company evil BS, it's tolerated enough because it does work as a platform. Given that you don't use it or tolerate it, I don't know how you can speak for it or claim it's made things worse.

My steam account is 21 years old and I have many thousands of hours of enjoyment from gaming with friends that I didn't miss out on. I focused on gaming with them vs worrying about whatever steam might eventually do. Doesn't mean I love steam or hate them, they exist and work good enough that I can enjoy spending my time gaming with minimal hassle.

Some day that may change and I have no doubt I'll hear you told me so, but decades have already gone by and I have lots of great times to reflect on and glad I didn't miss out

 

[Mercutio]

Given that you don't use it or tolerate it, I don't know how you can speak for it or claim it's made things wors

I have to engage with it as a side effect of supporting other people who play games on PCs. I do get to tell people how wrong they are the entire time, but much like people who buy iOS devices, this is a thing a loathsome thing that is nonetheless regularly set before me.

How is it worse? Well, there are a lot of things I just can't get. I might like to buy them or support them somehow. It's just not an option, because there's simply no non-Steam option to do so. This is what killed most of my interest in PC gaming in and of itself. I can't get excited about a new release until I find out whether it's something I'll be able to buy and play without having Valve inflicted on me. More often than not, the answer is no. The PC is an open platform, No one entity should have control over it. Gamers willingly gave up their control and their ability to challenge publishers when Steam was allowed a functional monopoly on game distribution.

I think it's crucially important that I am allowed access to choose when and where software gets installed and I have stuck to that particular principle. Many Steam users have told me that they believe Steam would drop all its rights management if it were ever put in a position where its operation were threatened. I have less than no reason to think that is the case and in fact, they've recently clarified that they sell access, not ownership of software. Valve is not my friend or your friend. It isn't a friend to software developers or even publishers. It operates in its own interests, and Valve's interests and mine diverged the moment I bought a copy of Half-Life 2 and got a disc with a copy of Steam on it instead.

I've said all along that my acid test for Steam becoming acceptable is having the ability to download the install files for an offline, single-player game and instal lit elsewhere without involving Steam in any way on the second system. GoG lets me do this and that is why I'm OK with GoG.

 

[jtr1962]

Steam inflicted the train simulator world as well:

Train Simulator Classic on Steam

The ultimate railway hobby for more than 15 years! From historic steam locomotives to modern high-speed and heavy freight trains, and routes around the world, Train Simulator Classic is the simulation made by railfans for railfans.

store.steampowered.com

That's why I use Open Rails. Maybe not as much eye candy but much better physics. When I drive a train I want it to feel like driving a train, not something else.

This new sim looks promising also:

 

[Handruin]

It's not wrong to use steam but admirable that you're sticking to your values. That's gotta be worth it.

 

[Chewy509]

On the Steam Machine, how well do you think it'll handle VR once the new VR headset from Valve is released? I wouldn't be surprised if a number of people make the assumption that Valve's own VR headset will work perfectly with the Steam Machine and provide a pleasant experience, as one would expect from buying a PS5 and Sony's VR headset to go with it.

 

[sedrosken]

My guess is that it'll be adequate, but not perfect on up to Half Life Alyx, but anything after, who knows.You have to push two fairly high-res displays at a high enough framerate to not make people sick, after all.

 

[sedrosken]

I, um. Actually did buy one of those open-box ROG Ally Xboxes. I got it yesterday. I figured if I sold my Retroid Pocket and some of my hoard of DDR4 it'd just about cover it, and my birthday is next month...

I immediately ripped the battery connector off the board disconnecting it to get the cable out of the way to swap the SSD. I had it in-hand for less than 2 hours.

Thankfully, it is in warranty, and I specified that I was following a guide on their website, and Asus seems fairly gracious in its RMA process. I started one and they immediately sent me a shipping label, and I dropped it off at my local FedEx store today. I suppose I'll have to see what they say. I'm quite embarrassed.

 

[Mercutio]

I've been working on PC stuff since the late 80s and I've never once had an Asus RMA complete successfully.

I still buy its monitors and notebooks but I'm going to be interested to see how this plays out.

 

[Mercutio]

How much of a market does VR have in the first place? I don't think I know anyone still trying to do something with VR in 2026.

 

[sedrosken]

I've been working on PC stuff since the late 80s and I've never once had an Asus RMA complete successfully.

Well, thanks for that nice dose of dread. Now I guess I really do have to hope for a miracle.

 

[Chewy509]

Valve seems to believe there is enough market to release a new VR headset....

 

[sedrosken]

Ally's due to arrive at the ASUS shop today. Bracing for whatever I may end up being told. What I imagine is most likely is being told that they'll fix it, but that I'll have to pay for the motherboard out-of-pocket.

 

[Mercutio]

Valve seems to believe there is enough market to release a new VR headset....Valv

Valve and Meta are IIRC the only two companies selling PC compatible VR hardware. If anything, they either have to keep making gear or cede the market to an even greater evil. The last thing the world needs is to let Facebook have sole control of a technology.

If you're counting, I do think Meta is a greater global evil than Apple. Apple at least USED to occasionally get something right, even if it hasn't done so at any point in the last 20 years. Every single thing Meta has ever done has only made the world worse.

 

[Chewy509]

I will give Apple credit for telling law enforcement that they can't unlock devices (because they can't) and the continued refusal to add any type of back door that most governments around the world keep asking for. They do appear to value their users privacy.
They also just closed down most of the AppStore eco system in Russia, removing a heap of Russian apps from their store, and actively removing those apps from users devices...

 

[sedrosken]

I'm feeling a lot more optimistic today, actually. I've had friends who've apparently managed to get away with low-key kind of scamming new monitors out of them in exchange for some pretty heavily-used ones they bought off ebay one time that apparently still had a scrap, a crumb of warranty time left.

It arrived at the shop today. They say it could take as long as 3 days to diagnose. I know that's boilerplate, but I laughed, considering I'd think it's pretty friggin' obvious what the problem is.

 

[Mercutio]

It's possible Asus has cleaned up its warranty act after getting a crap-ton of bad press for being just the worst about RMAs. I don't know that, but it's possible.

The last thing I had that should've gone back was a 9th gen i7 laptop with an unclearable BIOS password. Asus sets a default password if the BIOS battery is removed while a firmware password is set, and there's a list of 50k possible optons based on the date and time the PC was manufactured. Asus told me it wanted $150 + shipping both ways to clear the password. I went ahead and recycled it instead since they wouldn't, you know, just tell me.

My friend's two younger kids have fallen in love with a game called Trombone Champ that's currently part of a Humble Bundle. It's Guitar Hero, but with Tooting. They make fart noises while they play. Somehow this is better than Minecraft, even though the best way to play it is with a pointing device rather than a gamepad.

I've never bought a game from the Microsoft Store before but we needed third and fourth copies so all the kids could be in the same version and also play with their internet friends, so now I own it twice. Fortunately, I did have $15 in Store Credit on one of my accounts somehow. Playing the Microsoft Store version of Minecraft on Linux is another one of those deals like Fortnite: You have to run a browser instance and play through what amounts to a web page.

 

[Mercutio]

And I just noticed that it's going to be over 90F the rest of the week so hopefully no more kids or games at my place anyway.

 

[Gödel]

Whoa, you don't have AC, Merc? We're in for a 4ᵗʰ of July flag-wave of heat in the great ol' USA:

​

Here in VA, highs around 100 Thu-Mon. Good thing there's no such thing as Global Warming, or things could get really hot soon.

 

[jtr1962]

Asus told me it wanted $150 + shipping both ways to clear the password. I went ahead and recycled it instead since they wouldn't, you know, just tell me.

Seriously???? This is legalized scamming.

 

[Mercutio]

We talk about this every year.
I have an old ass AC unit that I'm not allowed to upgrade or replace because it's identical to the ones in every other apartment in the building. It cools roughly the 8 square feet closest to itself and nothing else. I only run it if the outdoor temperature is over 95F, because the indoor temperature is probably over 100F at that point. There's no movement of air because my windows face the wrong directions vs the prevailing winds. My place is warm in the winter but it's REALLY warm in the summer.

Today is the day I shut down nearly all the PCs in the house. My HX 370 and (maybe) the Mac Mini are suddenly useful again.

Seriously???? This is legalized scamming.

They sent me a PDF with all the possible values and told me I could either type them all in one at a time or else pay them to do it. There's no way they don't know and I did have proof of purchase that even specified the serial number of that specific notebook. They just wanted me to pay again.

I do still think that Asus is a generally good choice for consumer laptops. I'm just not willing to deal with its service organization, but if anyone ever wonders why I don't buy Asus motherboards, there you go.