Hiya Lemmy, I’m stuck on a dilemma.
I have a nice PC but I don’t like being stuck at a desk all day and would like to game from my couch without having to lug the tower back and forth. It’s a whole thing and that bitch is heavy.
So I have some options.
A) getting a looong HDMI cable to somehow run from my PC to the TV.
- this is the cheapest option, for sure. But my controller doesn’t pair well with my PC for whatever reason, so that doesn’t really help a whole lot. I do have a looong usbC cable, but it’s not my favorite option. Especially with cats.
B) build or buy a micro ATX. Something with tiny(relatively) form factor that doesn’t need to be anywhere near top of the line to play what I usually play. So I could probably build something decent for 1200 USD? Maybe 1500. Or buy a pre built and save some heartache.
- it’s the most expensive option, but it will last me forever and it’ll be a portable PC basically. Just not as portable as a steam deck.
C) buy a steam deck. I don’t need the OLED or anything. I don’t usually travel with gaming things, so I’m not worried about all that.
- middle price option. While portability isn’t a huge concern, it could really come in handy. I really liked steam OS and the ability to just boot as a PC. I could see myself using an emulator to play some older games. But my biggest concern with the steam deck is that the other one I borrowed from a friend couldn’t really play rocket league. It just didn’t have the juice to run the game? And I’m pretty sure I turned down all the graphics and everything.
Anyhow. This is a long post of thoughts. Anyone been in this situation? What did you choose? How are you feeling about your choice?
If it helps, there’s also option D: RaspberryPi with Steam Link. Cheap, functional, and flexible.
That’s what I set up at home and it’s working great. If you play with a controller, note that some games work better than others or have weird requirements to get the controller to work (e.g. for Space Marine 2 I have to keep a wired controller plugged into my main tower for the Steam link wireless controller to work).
RaspPi also gives you the opportunity to set up and play old-school emulated games if that’s interesting to you.
I’ve heard good things about https://moonlight-stream.org/ too.
Not sure it’s really relevant to OP, but I’ll vouch for Moonlight. I use it to stream from my beefy desktop to my laptop/Linux tablet that both have weak little integrated GPUs. It’s not perfect, need a strong internet connection, but it’s 100x better than Steam’s integrated version and for remote desktop access too.
A handy tip is that you can fake second monitors without any extra hardware so you don’t have to give up a connected screen either.
That fake second monitor is a fantastic idea, didn’t even know that was a thing!
Just jumping in that if OP has a streaming stick, there’s a chance that all he has to do is download the steam link app and every issue he has is gone! Similar to setting the pi up
Do they still sell steam links? Or is that moreso using the pi to stream via steam?
I had a physical steam link way back and it was pretty great on games where lag didn’t matter.
No, they’re not sold anymore. But the RaspPi acts just like the original hardware once the software is installed and configured. If you like tinkering, it’s a nice afternoon project. And since Pis are so versatile, it opens up a bunch of possibilities for other projects (I recommend a PiHole for example) even if this application doesn’t fit your needs.
The Steam Deck can also act as a Steam Link, if you want something with more versatility over the cheapest option.
There’s a new software project specifically for the pi.
Many android devices like Nvidia shield will run steam link or sunshine perfectly well. My kid and I play some couch games this way