I know many people prefer controllers. I have been using keyboard/mouse for so long (about 24 years) that I just don't get on with controllers. Did play Forza with controller and that was OK but even then I could only play for about an hour before I started getting RSI.

Think its horses for courses Ian and each to there own,if you find using a PC set up better for you than a controller then why not.

I just think its way easier say playing a platform game with a controller than using a keyboard .

I still play the odd PC game and near enough always plug my Xbox controller in!!

now days the need to upgrade a cpu is infrequent.

the cpu is still modular, just on the intel side of things cpu's tend to be tied to a certian chipset.

and replacing a psu to upgrade the gpu is still better than replacing a steam machine, but you forget newer gpu's are now reducing power consumption anyway, the gtx 970 is twice as powerful as a 760 but uses less power.

when I switched from i5 750 to haswell 4670k i did change the mortherboard but all other components stayed the same including the ram. so was new cpu, ram and cpu fan. This haswell will probably last me at least 5 years.

you can do either.

I play DA:I on my pc using a 360 controller. Modern games will detect it and give the same controls as consoles.

a new video for you

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsCIdqIqbgM

note on one game he got above 70fps and another he was down to low 30s so game to game is variance.

The titan X was also overclocked, but based on that he said it was equal to two overclocked 780s I would say the card is about 3-3.5x as powerful as a single 970m.

no surprise shadow of mordor was worse as third person view games tend to be more demanding.

Well I played grid autosport a driving game, and it is indeed light on the GPU compared to other games, with everything on ultra at 1050p "and" 4x msaa the card was about 40% used at 60fps cap and uncapped manages about 125 fps.

1440p an extra 70% pixels over 1080p, I would say I would still be at 60fps, at 4k probably above 30fps but below 60fps, however without msaa possibly 60fps. On a single 970 (overclocked).

Not my Quote Just a header.

Im still unsure what they actually do and what they deliver,i don't want some fancy looking mini PC box down by the side of my television that basically streams Steam games to it.

Price structure is a joke,to many companies making the equipment and the basic models cost more than a Xbox One and a Playstation 4.

Im thinking best part of a grand here for a decent one,if it had mind blowing games with amazing effects a graphics and wasn't just some Steam add on i might be interested.

Call me ignorant but I'm a tad confused by all of these steam machines,I'm looking at this as some sort of PC by your television unless somebody wants to explain it in simple terms. What exactly the consumer is buying into here.

some sort of PC by your television

That's exactly what you're buying, except instead of Windows you will be running on a Steam Ecosystem. Just like you do the PSN or Xbox Live. Hopefully with much improved graphics and a wider range of games.

I keep telling you, don't get hung up on that streaming thing. It's like the vita TV box thingy that Sony came up with. That didn't force you to stream anything to your PS4 did it? It's just an extra option.

The recommended requirements certainly don't appear too taxing for the £600 - 700 Steam Boxes.

The 8350 I originally thought about if building my own PC is even in there, although I understand people prefer i7's. NVIDIA's drivers also seem to be performing better than AMD's at the moment, if some of the current build testers are to be be believed.