Is the Steam Link still worth it?

[Peter Matt]

Hey everyone.

I always wanted to purchase a Steam link, and when I finally decided to buy it a while back, it was discontinued. I found a Steam Link/Steam controller combo for sale online in my country for a fairly decent price (around 100 Euro, with hardly no use, and looks brand new and perfectly functional) and I am thinking of buying it.

I will be installing it in my downstairs living room, connected directly to the router with ethernet cable,(my PC is also connected to the net with cable) and my question is this for those of you that use it/used it, how is the lag if I want to play MK11 or any other fighting game for example, not online mind you, single player, and with other type of controller friendly games?

Do you think the price I said above for the link and Steam controller is fair? All comes with respective boxes and instructions and like I mentioned, it´s in immaculate condition.

Thank you, and all input is appreciated.

[roughnecks]

They're way too expensive. Before discontinuing them, Steam sold them for 5 bucks each and even when I bought my Link a few years ago, I paid it like 25€ with shipping.

Also, the hardware Link only supports 1080p, so it'll be old soon enough.
If you have a recent TV maybe you have the Steam Link app on its store.

[Xjph]

Using a Steam Link will add some extra latency, which can be especially noticeable in fighting games. It's still quite playable, I've played Street Fighter using mine several times, but it's probably the type of game you are mostly likely to notice the difference in.

[Peter Matt]

İlk olarak roughnecks tarafından gönderildi:

They're way too expensive. Before discontinuing them, Steam sold them for 5 bucks each and even when I bought my Link a few years ago, I paid it like 25€ with shipping.

Also, the hardware Link only supports 1080p, so it'll be old soon enough.
If you have a recent TV maybe you have the Steam Link app on its store.

I understand what you mean, however they are getting increasingly expensive on amazon for example. The price Steam was selling them to clear inventory, the price you mention, is not really comparable to now when there are no new units available. I think you know what I mean.

1080p isn´t an issue at all, If I want to play higher resolutions than that, I can easily do it on my PC, not over the TV with the link. The reason I want it is to be able to play a few games with my friends and family when they come over, a few fun gaming sessions, controller friendly on a more "console" like setting.

[Peter Matt]

İlk olarak Xjph tarafından gönderildi:

Using a Steam Link will add some extra latency, which can be especially noticeable in fighting games. It's still quite playable, I've played Street Fighter using mine several times, but it's probably the type of game you are mostly likely to notice the difference in.

Thank you for your reply. I was expecting a degree of latency, but as long as it´s not too bad on single player/local multiplayer, I´m sure the experience will still be good. I plan to only use it with controller friendly games, as an extension of my gaming PC.

If you don´t mind me asking, and pardon my ignorance, but when I launch a game via the link, the PC also launches the game in order to stream it correct?

[Got Kevlar™]

İlk olarak Peter Matt tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak Xjph tarafından gönderildi:

Using a Steam Link will add some extra latency, which can be especially noticeable in fighting games. It's still quite playable, I've played Street Fighter using mine several times, but it's probably the type of game you are mostly likely to notice the difference in.

Thank you for your reply. I was expecting a degree of latency, but as long as it´s not too bad on single player/local multiplayer, I´m sure the experience will still be good. I plan to only use it with controller friendly games, as an extension of my gaming PC.

If you don´t mind me asking, and pardon my ignorance, but when I launch a game via the link, the PC also launches the game in order to stream it correct?

correct.

[Dr. Sloth]

If I had to buy it today, I would probably just do it with a Raspberry Pi (There are plenty of tutorials on how to do that).

[Peter Matt]

İlk olarak McDonalds Unhappy Meal tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak Peter Matt tarafından gönderildi:

Thank you for your reply. I was expecting a degree of latency, but as long as it´s not too bad on single player/local multiplayer, I´m sure the experience will still be good. I plan to only use it with controller friendly games, as an extension of my gaming PC.

If you don´t mind me asking, and pardon my ignorance, but when I launch a game via the link, the PC also launches the game in order to stream it correct?

correct.

Thank you, seemed logical that would be the case.
Will have to just go ahead and buy it.

[Peter Matt]

İlk olarak Dr. Sloth tarafından gönderildi:

If I had to buy it today, I would probably just do it with a Raspberry Pi (There are plenty of tutorials on how to do that).

I´m sure there are, but the Link seems like the perfect solution for me. And having a Steam controller is also appealing to me, never had one and I have heard good things about it. If I can´t adapt to it, I will use my Xbox controller and play that way. Seems that it´s just easier to get this for what I´m going for.

[Xjph]

İlk olarak Peter Matt tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak Dr. Sloth tarafından gönderildi:

If I had to buy it today, I would probably just do it with a Raspberry Pi (There are plenty of tutorials on how to do that).

I´m sure there are, but the Link seems like the perfect solution for me. And having a Steam controller is also appealing to me, never had one and I have heard good things about it. If I can´t adapt to it, I will use my Xbox controller and play that way. Seems that it´s just easier to get this for what I´m going for.

What he means is that there is official Steam Link software for the Raspberry Pi, which can likely be obtained more easily and cheaply than the original Steam Link hardware.

There are also Steam Link apps for iOS. Android, and some Samsun Tizen-based Smart TVs. Additionally using a normal desktop PC or laptop with Steam Remote Play is an option if you have a laptop or HTPC.

As for the Steam Controller, I have one and like it, but it's definitely not well suited to fighting games.

[Peter Matt]

İlk olarak Xjph tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak Peter Matt tarafından gönderildi:

I´m sure there are, but the Link seems like the perfect solution for me. And having a Steam controller is also appealing to me, never had one and I have heard good things about it. If I can´t adapt to it, I will use my Xbox controller and play that way. Seems that it´s just easier to get this for what I´m going for.

What he means is that there is official Steam Link software for the Raspberry Pi, which can likely be obtained more easily and cheaply than the original Steam Link hardware.

There are also Steam Link apps for iOS. Android, and some Samsun Tizen-based Smart TVs. Additionally using a normal desktop PC or laptop with Steam Remote Play is an option if you have a laptop or HTPC.

As for the Steam Controller, I have one and like it, but it's definitely not well suited to fighting games.

I found out there is a Steam link app for those devices, and Samsung Smart TV´s in specific, I do have a Smart TV 3D from Samsung, but it´s a model from late 2015, and the link app is only on the Smart Hub to download from TV´s from 2016 onwards, when they started using a different Tizen version, unfortunately for me.

I appreciate all of your suggestions and input on this matter. I will have to carefully measure pros and cons and inform myself a little better on some of the options that were listed above. The Steam controller would possibly be a good fit for some more low paced games, racing games, etc, I tend to only use the Xbox controller for fighting games since I´ve been using one for years and it´s almost second nature for me.

Thank you for your replies.

[PIZZA]

If you're gonna wire your setup and you have a good way to encode the video on your PC, it's alright. I would recommend using a built-in TV app or Raspberry Pi 4 though

[_I_]

the link does better at sending the chord button and media keys to the host
most tvs, android, apple devices capture volume, and chord to their menus

but its also limited to 1080p60 no hdr