Steam reviews / hardware analysis

[coppernaut]

Hi, so I feel like something like this could have already been discussed, but I was browsing some Steam reviews lately and having issues deciding on games where reviewers will give a mixed or negative review based on their PC performance. By now we all know there's so many PC combinations, pre-built, custom, AMD, Intel, Nvidia, not to mention all the manufacturers that support PC hardware.

I think there's room for a better system. Steam already does a minor hardware analysis (I think?) that we don't really use for anything but the Steam beta maybe? How difficult would it be to scan every Steam users hardware, so that everyone has a hardware stamp attached to their profile. That way we can actually see other poeple's PC setup, and we can decide for ourselves if their issues came from their combination of hardware, hardware that's been known to be faulty, good brands, bad brands, etc. I realize this doesn't fix everything, there's software issues that people could have more than anything (something not installed properly). It doesn't have to be for issues either. If I see somebody running a game at max settings with a 1070 at 30-40fps, then I can go from there and adjust accordingly if I want the game now, or wait for a hardware upgrade.

People do upgrade more than others, so maybe Steam would have to "detect" changes and update a person's hardware profile. I think it would be a great addition if done right, and if at all possible. Somehow it would have to be streamlined in user reviews, so that after someone reads a review, they can "back it up" with information, and view that persons hardware setup to decide if this is for them. This could also cut down on Steam refunds possibly. Any other ideas to add to this would be cool if you've got them.

Thanks for listening. Cheers!

[mimizukari]

Um first off, it is used, and it's all publicly available information. http://store.steampowered.com/stats/


a hardware profile wouldn't be bad, a lot of people already write all that information on their page. would have to detect secondary gpu's and what not though for purpose of laptops (which can infact, for example run 1080's at the same power as desktop, since the whole 10XX line is line that for laptops) since the "primary" gpu that displays in dxdiag and what not is usually the cpu integrated one.

[Start_Running]

It's been mentioned before OP and it won't happen. Hardware stamps would mean nothing. Why?
BEcause two machines with identical hardware can post different(sometimes drmatically so) benchmark results.

[Grima The Fell Dragon]

I think it would be nice to at the very least have some kind of marker for graphics card baseline. Like if the person marks that their graphics card ran the game on these settings and got this performance that would let you figure out if that includes your computer.

Or you could have a game to compare it to. Like if a reviewer says if you can Skyrim on medium well you can play this game as well.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Grima The Fell Dragon님이 먼저 게시:

Like if the person marks that their graphics card ran the game on these settings and got this performance that would let you figure out if that includes your computer.

Drivers and brand/model # of card will affect that result as well. Then you also have to figure out how each user handles their GPUs. Do they game 24/7, mine with it or many other things. So this would never be accurate.

[Start_Running]

cSg|mc-Hotsauce님이 먼저 게시:

Grima The Fell Dragon님이 먼저 게시:

Like if the person marks that their graphics card ran the game on these settings and got this performance that would let you figure out if that includes your computer.

Drivers and brand/model # of card will affect that result as well. Then you also have to figure out how each user handles their GPUs. Do they game 24/7, mine with it or many other things. So this would never be accurate.

:qr:

EVen how well you maintain your hardware. Haven't dusted the heat sinks and fans for a while? GGuess what, that means the heat builds up fast, that means the thermal throittling kicks in, that means your performance starts taking hits from the throttling that much sooner.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Even normal upkeep on the whole PC can cause issues. There are too many variables to list.

[Start_Running]

cSg|mc-Hotsauce님이 먼저 게시:

Even normal upkeep on the whole PC can cause issues. There are too many variables to list.

:qr:

BIngo. Then there's the software they happen to be running. You running AVG or Bitdefender, that'sll make a difference, Are you using on access heuristics scaning for all files, or just executables...

The thing is, anyone who knows enough to actually interpret the meanings from this feature, knows that the data is inherently reliable and that's not even accounting for the other main issue. Steasm can be accessed across multiple PC's...the PC that the person write sthe reviuew on may not be the pc they played the game on.

[coppernaut]

These are all very good points. Apparently I didn't put much thought into this ha! From reading all your guys replies I'd say whoever was tasked with such a job might be taking on the impossible indeed. PC's are just too unique and diverse. Thanks for the input!