How much faster? I have 10G, and in my experience you will very quickly get disk IO limited that it doesn't matter. You can optimize for that, but be honest - how much time you're actually going to save in lifetime.
Only place I saw 2.5G actually be beneficial is Wi-Fi 6E/7 for the APs.
I did some math, supposedly the complete install of the latest Call of Duty game is a 200GB download[0]. At 1gbps we're talking 26 minutes of downloading. At 2.5gbps we're talking 10 minutes of downloading. I'm honestly surprised game downloads have become so massive but are those 16 extra minutes really going to change anything?
Personally, I'm rarely "surprised" by a need to play a specific game that I don't already have downloaded/installed so I can just tell Steam to download the game in advance. But if I were to be in such a surprise scenario, we're talking the difference between popping on one youtube video while I wait or popping on two youtube videos while I wait. In both scenarios, I am waiting for a small but not insignificant amount of time... now if we could get 10gbps that'd be a game changer. I wouldn't even context switch for a 2.6 minute wait.
If given the option I would trade the LED strip to not wait any longer than absolutely necessary. That's approximately the difference we're talking in BoM cost.
Now, I don't want to overstate it: it's simple disappointment. I'm still interested in the machine, as is.
I use this feature to reduce Valve's egress bill, but local transfers do seem slower than downloading from the internet. I'm not sure why. I have one device hardwired to my network switch. Maybe Steam is bottlenecked on poorly optimized disk IO code?
This is it, basically. It's a little annoying having to plan installations or wait [for ~$5 reduction in BoM]. 2.5GbE is very accessible; my LAN is 10 and WAN is 2.
With the 'Game File Transfer over Local Network' feature in Steam, you don't need a fast internet connection; 'just' another system on the LAN that can serve the files.
Fairly common for those with full-powered gaming desktops and Steam Decks, and soon, Steam Machines.
Telemach, 2Gbps symmetrical - 34,90 EUR, Croatia. Flat rate, also includes flat rate landline to in-country mobile and other phones, but haven't bothered to even install that.
The UK isn't exactly cheap, but the >1gbit packages tend to be in the 70 USD per month range, maybe uptowards $100 a month by the time you get to 5Gbit on the more traditional providers (sky for example)
I bet at least 90% of people buying this connect it to WiFi and never think about connection speed again!
Personally... my internet is only 300 Mbps. My WiFi connection is roughly on par with 1GbE. I have a very small pool of 2.5GbE capable devices, but overall I'm just not fussed about making the switch.
Probably :) However, as I mentioned elsewhere, one doesn't need fast internet to benefit. The 'Game File Transfer over Local Network' feature in Steam has been a boon, personally, even with 2G Fiber.
We use that feature, and it's faster than our 300 Mbps internet even though both gaming laptops are on WiFi. shrug but yeah I don't know that it's a "killer feature" when we're talking about a device that omitted features and is still $1050. If this made it $1100 and lost 10% of sales to increase sales by 1%, it's a loss for the company ;)
Interested in hear the justification why you would need more than 1GbE in a machine built specificly for gaming.
It's a bit niche, but Steam can download games from another PC running Steam on your local network. 2.5GbE on both PCs makes that a lot faster.
How much faster? I have 10G, and in my experience you will very quickly get disk IO limited that it doesn't matter. You can optimize for that, but be honest - how much time you're actually going to save in lifetime.
Only place I saw 2.5G actually be beneficial is Wi-Fi 6E/7 for the APs.
I did some math, supposedly the complete install of the latest Call of Duty game is a 200GB download[0]. At 1gbps we're talking 26 minutes of downloading. At 2.5gbps we're talking 10 minutes of downloading. I'm honestly surprised game downloads have become so massive but are those 16 extra minutes really going to change anything?
Personally, I'm rarely "surprised" by a need to play a specific game that I don't already have downloaded/installed so I can just tell Steam to download the game in advance. But if I were to be in such a surprise scenario, we're talking the difference between popping on one youtube video while I wait or popping on two youtube videos while I wait. In both scenarios, I am waiting for a small but not insignificant amount of time... now if we could get 10gbps that'd be a game changer. I wouldn't even context switch for a 2.6 minute wait.
[0] https://gameboost.com/blog/call-of-duty-bo7-download-size
If given the option I would trade the LED strip to not wait any longer than absolutely necessary. That's approximately the difference we're talking in BoM cost.
Now, I don't want to overstate it: it's simple disappointment. I'm still interested in the machine, as is.
Oh absolutely, I'm with you there. LED strips are so unnecessary. I'd much rather the money go towards something functional.
> At 1gbps we're talking 26 minutes of downloading. At 2.5gbps we're talking 10 minutes of downloading
Now I envy you living in a country where an internet uplink speed of > 1GbE exists for typical private households.
I use this feature to reduce Valve's egress bill, but local transfers do seem slower than downloading from the internet. I'm not sure why. I have one device hardwired to my network switch. Maybe Steam is bottlenecked on poorly optimized disk IO code?
This is it, basically. It's a little annoying having to plan installations or wait [for ~$5 reduction in BoM]. 2.5GbE is very accessible; my LAN is 10 and WAN is 2.
$5 here and there adds up... and this thing is already $250 over the target price due to component prices increases.
I would trade the LED strip! Kidding, I understand SKUs have a cost too.
It's a living room pc - using it to stream from a media NAS is one application that comes to mind
You could stream 5 bluray videos and hold a zoom call at the same time with 1 gbps.
Downloading those giant game installs and updates
Where do you live and how much do you pay for that Internet uplink that is > 1GbE?
With the 'Game File Transfer over Local Network' feature in Steam, you don't need a fast internet connection; 'just' another system on the LAN that can serve the files.
Fairly common for those with full-powered gaming desktops and Steam Decks, and soon, Steam Machines.
Telemach, 2Gbps symmetrical - 34,90 EUR, Croatia. Flat rate, also includes flat rate landline to in-country mobile and other phones, but haven't bothered to even install that.
The UK isn't exactly cheap, but the >1gbit packages tend to be in the 70 USD per month range, maybe uptowards $100 a month by the time you get to 5Gbit on the more traditional providers (sky for example)
I bet at least 90% of people buying this connect it to WiFi and never think about connection speed again!
Personally... my internet is only 300 Mbps. My WiFi connection is roughly on par with 1GbE. I have a very small pool of 2.5GbE capable devices, but overall I'm just not fussed about making the switch.
Probably :) However, as I mentioned elsewhere, one doesn't need fast internet to benefit. The 'Game File Transfer over Local Network' feature in Steam has been a boon, personally, even with 2G Fiber.
We use that feature, and it's faster than our 300 Mbps internet even though both gaming laptops are on WiFi. shrug but yeah I don't know that it's a "killer feature" when we're talking about a device that omitted features and is still $1050. If this made it $1100 and lost 10% of sales to increase sales by 1%, it's a loss for the company ;)