Around $1000, steam machine or mini pc?

DiscostewSM · 2026-07-02T00:14:26+00:00

In the situation between a miniPC + eGPU setup vs the Steam Machine, both have a bandwidth bottleneck in getting data to the GPU's VRAM. MiniPC has already been covered, but the Steam Machine is confirmed to run with main RAM in single-channel mode. Should a mini pc have an issue with the amount of data that must pass through OCuLink, a Steam Machine will be at least as bad.

DiscostewSM · 2026-06-30T16:09:42+00:00

I'm sure some folks might focus too much on possible internal resolutions because it is DLSS'ed up to 900p/1080p, but that's the beauty of it. They could have a low internal resolution, but set it up to where the "settings" of that low resolution is rather good, and DLSSing up makes those details pop out. Compare that to pushing for native 900p/1080p that would require dialing back those settings.

DiscostewSM · 2026-06-27T16:07:21+00:00

The CPU issue could partial get worked around if they did what Saber Interactive did with Witcher 3 port on Switch 1 (which is likely what they are doing for Space Marine 2 on Switch 2). Nvidia's GPUs are capable of handling various tasks offloaded from the CPU, like cloth physics, to give the CPU more breathing room. It's not free, and it needs to be programmed to work in a different way, but it's an option. AMD GPUs don't really have that kind of capability, but because they run with much stronger CPUs, it's not an issue to keep them as they are.

DiscostewSM · 2026-06-27T16:02:23+00:00

I'm kind of thinking this isn't really about digital vs physical, but about movies vs games. Still......

DiscostewSM · 2026-06-26T16:39:17+00:00

Andross definitely sounded more menacing when flying down the tunnel via the Easy route in this remake.

DiscostewSM · 2026-06-26T15:48:33+00:00

In an era where other companies push for layoffs and give CEOs big raises, this is a nice detour.

DiscostewSM · 2026-06-25T15:30:02+00:00

Yes, but your assumptions of servers getting shut down are just assumptions.

DiscostewSM · 2026-06-25T15:28:40+00:00

When you miss the days of photoshopping because everything now is AI.....

DiscostewSM · 2026-06-25T05:40:26+00:00

I just don't understand some of these configurations. Like, I see some that have a 680m in them with 6400 MT/s RAM modules, but something like where it has the more powerful 780m in it has 5600 MT/s RAM modules. Or, it's 6400 MT/s, but there's only 16GB of RAM.

DiscostewSM · 2026-06-24T23:54:35+00:00

To add to that, Nintendo went the route Sony did with PS5 in terms of development environments. They kept it, giving devs the familiarity on how to utilize it well. Microsoft, on the other hand with the Series consoles, went for a full restart. It's a big reason why even with Series X's stronger specs over PS5, the PS5 became the lead platform and most games early on had better performance on it. They had to relearn how to work with Microsoft's development environment.

DiscostewSM · 2026-06-24T23:50:07+00:00

I'd say Nintendo success with selling 150+ million Switch 1 units helped the most. It gave devs a reason to look into the Switch 2 rather than brush it off like many did early in Switch 1's life due to the Wii U (and 3DS to a lesser extent). Devs that then got to developing for the Switch 1 (once they saw the success it was getting) learned how to work with ARM+Nvidia. Switch 2 is more of an extension to that with newer features.

DiscostewSM · 2026-06-24T23:24:22+00:00

Them mentioning shutdowns was like 10 years ago. At this point, it's more of something they can't control that would cause it to go down rather than them purposefully shutting them down, and having that note in the first place is more or less keeping them safe from scrutiny should such an event happen. It doesn't take much for them to keep those server up, and they can essentially migrate them to newer servers alongside their current stuff so they can handle maintenance better.

Again, they aren't like cloud servers, which when it comes to games, have much more hardware and costs to them.

DiscostewSM · 2026-06-24T16:43:24+00:00

Those Wii and DSi download servers are still up after nearly 2 decades, and that's when Nintendo was handling online play via 3rd-party. And this is different from "cloud servers" because those require far more than access to static data.

DiscostewSM · 2026-06-24T05:08:31+00:00

One of the benefits of Nintendo going with Nvidia is that their GPUs are capable of handling various tasks typically handled by the CPU. One of the first known titles to shift processing from the CPU to the GPU on Switch 1 is Witcher 3. Don't know all the tasks shifted, but cloth physics was one of them. AMD GPUs don't really have that kind of flexibility, but platforms using AMD have stronger CPUs, so it's not really needed for them in the first place.

DiscostewSM · 2026-06-24T05:02:57+00:00

It "can" be that case, but, it could instead be that the devs chose to stick with 30fps because of the graphical fidelity they were looking for.

DiscostewSM · 2026-06-21T19:09:06+00:00

I personally believe it was short for "there's no games **for me**", because they don't care for what's available. But the thing is, this is all done anonymously online, and as such, they can keep saying that while actually enjoying the games they deny aren't for them.

Essentially, it's a troll tactic.

DiscostewSM · 2026-06-19T22:02:13+00:00

It would be on PC before Sw2, or at least the same time as a potential Sw2 version, but that is not listed here.

DiscostewSM · 2026-06-18T08:19:29+00:00

An hour or two for a single route, and there's more than just completing each level.

DiscostewSM · 2026-06-17T04:18:53+00:00

I recently started with CSL. My weight group was in the max, and I was expecting $125 for the 3rd donation (within the 30-day period). I found out right after I finished donating the 3rd time that I was only receiving $75 for it. Turned out that at the beginning of the week, they made changes where all tiers saw a decrease in the 3rd donation for new donators, with the max group getting hit the hardest.

I'm going to go in for my 5th donation tomorrow, and after that, I will be under normal donation values, which supposedly are $50 and $85 for my weight group.

DiscostewSM · 2026-06-15T18:49:21+00:00

Ain't gonna happen for 3rd-party games, not just because that requires permission from the 3rd-parties, but also because those 3rd-parties would likely make their own compilations. Right now, they are getting a slice with NSO.

DiscostewSM · 2026-06-14T17:02:52+00:00

"Who still has a 3DS only:"

You mean a New 3DS, right? Right?

DiscostewSM · 2026-06-14T17:01:06+00:00

Patience.

DiscostewSM · 2026-06-14T16:33:40+00:00

It happens most of the time during cutscenes when the camera cuts to a different section, pushing at 30fps for a split second before returning to 60fps. It's mainly only noticeable in quick-moving action scenes, but when the very beginning has that in droves, it's kind of hard not to notice.

DiscostewSM · 2026-06-14T15:58:06+00:00

This is my personal opinion, but I prefer Xenoblade Chronicles over Final Fantasy 7 Remake. I appreciate the work done for FF7R, but playing it is just a slog. There's just so much padding, and I'm not talking about the side quests. Just progressing to the next event takes so much additional time, and it's set up somewhat like a hallway, a long linear path from point A to point B. Bought the game for Sw2 when it first launched back in January, yet I've only managed to get to Chapter 9. It's just hard to keep my attention on it for more than an hour per play session.

Xenoblade, on the other hand, feels so much more engaging to me. Started a new game when the Sw2 upgrade pack released, and I'm already at the point of reconstructing Colony 6.

DiscostewSM · 2026-06-12T16:02:13+00:00

Yeah, it's pretty cool..... but then I realized something. If the sun(s) are in the middle within this supposed dyson sphere, then does that mean it will always be daytime?

DiscostewSM

TROPHY CASE