Before the AI bullshit, no. There was a ton of builds you could do for the cost of the PS5. Not everything needs to be current gen. On top of that most people who build a PC don’t upgrade it for a good 5+ years usually (if not longer), and you’re usually not upgrading everything at once, just the GPU usually. It’s not needed since games literally still run perfectly fine for years and years on older hardware. AM4 systems running ddr4 are now a decade old. I have an AM4 system running a 5800xt (second CPU) and a 6900xt (bought used), and it still handles pretty much everything on high settings @ 1080p, even new stuff that comes out.
No one should be buying a steam deck, even a used one, in 2026 as their main gaming device. That makes the steam machine look like a 5090 powered beast.
People don’t want to buy a PC that already can’t play current gen games.
Right now? Yes.
Before the AI bullshit, no. There was a ton of builds you could do for the cost of the PS5. Not everything needs to be current gen. On top of that most people who build a PC don’t upgrade it for a good 5+ years usually (if not longer), and you’re usually not upgrading everything at once, just the GPU usually. It’s not needed since games literally still run perfectly fine for years and years on older hardware. AM4 systems running ddr4 are now a decade old. I have an AM4 system running a 5800xt (second CPU) and a 6900xt (bought used), and it still handles pretty much everything on high settings @ 1080p, even new stuff that comes out.
That or buy a steam deck for like $300 used lol
Right now, and for the foreseeable future.
No one should be buying a steam deck, even a used one, in 2026 as their main gaming device. That makes the steam machine look like a 5090 powered beast.
People don’t want to buy a PC that already can’t play current gen games.
Yep. The steam deck was basically the equivalent of a budget PC stripped down and shoved into a handheld.
And this was 4 years ago when its new. Which relied heavily on low resolution and resolution scaling to even make due.
Now its even worse, especially with no significant price drop, and double especially with the ridiculous price increase they put on it.
Steam deck is an interesting device, and I’ll give valve credit for it. But its past its time, especially with the lack of price reductions.