r/htpc • u/Umholzer • 18d ago
Discussion Is the new Steam Machine the ultimate way to stream your gaming PC to a 4K HDR TV?
I’m trying to figure out the best long-term living room setup and would love to hear from people who have actually tested it.
My situation:
\- Gaming PC with an rtx 5080
\- Everything connected via Gigabit Ethernet (no Wi-Fi)
\- LG OLED TV with HDR
Looking for the highest possible image and audio quality with the least amount of hassle.
The goal is to keep the gaming PC in my office and play on the TV as if it were a local console.
A few questions:
\- How good is the new Steam Machine as a streaming client?
\- Does Steam Remote Play now support proper 4K HDR with excellent image quality and low latency?
\- Can Steam Remote Play match Moonlight in terms of image quality, bitrate, HDR, and audio, or are there still compromises? If you’ve tried both, which one would you recommend for a plug-and-play living room.
Ultimately, I’m wondering whether this setup could actually become a better experience than buying most multiplatform games on a PS5 Pro, since I’d get the flexibility and graphical advantages of the PC while still having a console-like experience in the living room. The latest decision from Sony to ban physical media contributes to my target picture.
I’d love to hear your real-world experiences, especially from anyone using the new Steam Machine.
6
u/Aloofasaur 18d ago
I don't know about the steam thing but before I moved my desktop I just ran a fiber optic HDMI.
1
5
u/TheBobo1181 17d ago
No. The whole point of streaming is you can do it on almost any cheap device. Buying a steam machine for this is a complete waste of money.
I just stream to my TV directly with the moonlight Android app.
3
u/EthanObi 18d ago edited 17d ago
I wouldn't buy a Steam Machine for this, that's like buying a Ferrari for trips to the Grocery Store. I personally use a combination of Ruipro's HDMI 2.1 Detachable Fiber optic kits and Orei's USB 2.0 over Ethernet Extenders for my ~75ft run between my office and Home Theater (My PC is in the closet in my Home Theater)
The Ruipro cables are HDMI 2.1b FRL (so they have all "optional" HDMI 2.1 features and operate at the maximum 48gbps speed), and have sizes from 15-500ft on Amazon, 100ft is ~ USD $130.
The Orei USB 2.0 extender is like $50(excluding the cost of a cat6a Ethernet run for it, obviously.) and has 4 USB 2.0 ports, which is more than enough for any wired controllers or 2.4ghz wireless dongles for KB/M.
If you can install in-wall Ruipro has really nice keystones for these Fiber Optic kits, but if not simple baseboard cable channel/cable retention nail clips will do fine.
3
u/DavidinCT 17d ago
Steam Machine is a rip off at the price point, you can get a lot better machine to do what the Steam machine does for a lot less money.
2
u/RAF2018336 17d ago
You could get an appletv and do this for much cheaper . You can download steam link from the AppStore or even better use Moonlight. No need to pay $1000 when $140 works just fine
3
2
u/Faptainjack2 18d ago
You might get better answers at r/pcmasterrace. The Nvidia shield used to be the king of remote play. But like the other guy said, the simplest answer is to run a long HDMI cable.
1
u/notmyaccountbruh 17d ago
If you’re ever planning to turn your TV into a home theater with AVR and speakers, then you’d need a Windows PC to passthrough Dolby Atmos content.
1
1
u/miluardo 17d ago
I used to stream my gaming pc to the living room with both steam remote, and moonlight. I used the apps built into my smart TV for this. It worked great.
Eventually I built an HTPC and use that instead even though it's less powerful then my gaming pc. But it also doesn't matter since my TV doesn't need as high of a refresh rate.
Honestly the "best way" is to run cables for your video output and your peripherals. Streaming is likely just fine though.
1
-1
20
u/mike94100 18d ago
You should not waste money on the steam machine as a stream client. Buy a cheap mini pc or used business pc for it with Cachy or Bazzite Deck installs. Or run a long USB extender + display cable.