Is a PC worth it if I already have a Steam Deck?

[Marshall]

I bought my Steam Deck a while ago and I think it’s great, no complaints about it but now I’m considering trying to build my own PC. It’s obviously an expense so I’m not 100% sure if it is worth it while I already have a steam deck but building a PC also just seemed quite fun. Just looking for some advice, thanks.

[TheKrapfcat]

depends on your preference, if playing the deck you felt that the framerate wasn't enough or the resolution low, maybe it's worth, but keep in mind that a half decent rig is going to cost you over 2000$ and consume bare minimum 20-40X the power of a Deck

[WarnerCK]

I have a desktop PC and I have a Deck. Most of my gaming is done on the Deck. The games that get run on the desktop are games that require more performance than the Deck can give (streamed to the Deck) or need a bigger screen than the Deck has (played directly on the desktop) - management games, mostly.

Building a PC is fun. Building a PC is also very expensive.

[yokoshlomo]

PC gaming is fun but quite expensive.


We got 2 PCs in a room and while its cosy in winter, summer sucks :D Newer hardware tends to heat up quite a lot.

[ReBoot]

The Deck is a veritable PC on its own. So if you're happy with your Deck's performance, get a dock, a monitor & KBM and viola, a PC workspace!

[SHUT IT DOWN]

do i need a screwdriver if i own a hammer?

Originally posted by yokoshlomo:

PC gaming is fun but quite expensive.
We got 2 PCs in a room and while its cosy in winter, summer sucks :D Newer hardware tends to heat up quite a lot.

developed world HVAC solves this beautifully

[-OrLoK- Слава Україн]

I cant use my PC as its quite powerful and pumps out too much hot air.

i have to wait until the hot weather goes.

but I use my "big" PC for VR flight sims which I can't do with a steam deck.

so, for me, a "proper" PC is key.

[agegj]

a pc does what the steamdeck does + a whole bunch of other stuff

[Falkentyne]

It depends on what you need the PC for.
For some people, a PC is MUCH MUCH more useful and powerful than a deck--and this also includes high end laptops in the PC catagory.

I for one, am a chess player and I need to open giant databases and use Stockfish, and my steam deck is very painful for getting this work done. The portrait display doesn't help, as even with the flipped GUI, Chessabase was not designed for these resolutions whatsoever, 16 GB of shared memory can literally cause the entire client to lock up when opening VERY large databases, and Stockfish's calculation (hash) rate is SLOWER than my old year 2017 Kaby Lake laptop! And the screen is simply too small.

I'm talking about studying chess at chess tournaments or in hotel rooms at tournaments here.

A decent laptop (something better than my old MSIbook) would be FAR, FAR faster and more productive in this regard.

And then, if you're a gamer who plays high end AAA games, having a decent PC can make your life far more enjoyable, and then you can use your Deck for indies, and older lightweight games, especially those which work best with a controller.

Note: I have a 14900K and a RTX 3090, and at home, I do all of my gaming on my PC--if I need a controller, I use an xbox controller. Sometimes I use my deck when I'm in bed.

The deck needs a much more powerful APU, and a *Landscape* screen (possibly slightly bigger and higher resolution, although 1080p is a bit much for any current APU, even 8850U's) in order to truly make this more compelling than what I already have, in *my* use case.