Are you ready for a $1,000 Steam Machine? Some analysts think you should be.
7mon 5d ago by lemmy.blackeco.com/u/BlackEco in technology from arstechnica.com
The title is a bit misleading, as the article lists diverging analysts' opinions, ranging from Valve willing to sell at a loss or low margins, to high prices due to RAM and SSD price volatility.
They can't sell this at a loss, or at least it would be incredibly risky. This is (intentionally) "just a PC". It ships with SteamOS but you can of course install whatever you want, including windows. If it is (much) cheaper than a roughly equivalent normal PC, companies might just start buying them in bulk but obviously not generating the supporting sales needed.
If they sell it only through Steam as they do with the Steam Deck, companies wouldn't really be able to buy them in bulk.
I saw in a LTT video that they already claimed they will not be selling this at a loss because they want their hardware division to be self-sustaining.
I heard at one point in time the fastest super computer in the world was a cluster of 900 ps3. It was cheaper then buying a single computer and in the beginning of the ps3 era you could easily format and run Linux on them.
I certainly remember PS2 consoles being used like that. The cell processor was impressive.
They did it with ps3 also although in research to make sure I was no mis-remembering I found out I was wrong. It was 33rd fastest super computer not #1.
I ran ps2 Linux as my "desktop" for 6 months or so back in the day. It wasn't capable of much compared to a general purpose computer at the time. Videos only played at almost full speed if you ran em in fbdev from a vterm with nothing else running. There was so little ram that using kde1 would run you into slow motion computing because of all the swapping. Window maker was ok, but running much of anything inside it would eat through that 32 megs of ram pretty quickly (I spent most of my time in vterms).
I don't think companies would be able to buy them in bulk, at least not directly.
Valve sells direct to consumer, no retail in the middle, they have their own online storefront (duh).
They're not going to do a B2B mass order.
If a business wanted to try and stockpile them, for whatever reason, to turn into their own thing... or, to try to cause a price panic / supply shortage...
... they'd have to use/create basically a scalper network of essentially unaffiliated people.
I’m calling $700 US price. Valve’s the only company that can get into the console space with console prices since the real revenue source is the game store they run.
Edit: I slept on it and decided $750 is a safer bet, at least on the base model
The problem is that it makes less sense for them to sell at a loss than for example Xbox or Sony. It's just a capable PC, corporations could buy hundreds or thousands and they wouldn't make a cent off of game sales.
It's not impossible, however, have you seen what corporations buy for their employees? Saving on upfront cost isn't really part of the equation, it just has to say "dell" and/or "workstation" on it. A large company values long-term support and supply way more than what they'd save by getting a gaming machine.
And besides all that, it's not like the best selling console of all time didn't make money because a (objectively large) minority of owners only used it as a DVD player.
I don’t think most corporations would be interested in buying a computer that doesn’t include a windows license. Unless they intend to use it for like… server stuff, but they’d be way better off buying like… actual server hardware… if only for the operating cost.
Even as a Linux desktop it would mostly just be interesting for devs and people doing relatively lightweight 3D design work (especially because it will take a while before other distros support it), I don't see it competing against regular desktops.
Any company who depend on their employees having a decent GPU will likely want to be able to upgrade/reconfigure new orders at will, and will prefer a tower, and they will prefer the quick repairability of a tower. Those who don't are increasingly ok with using mini PCs.
Valve sells direct to consumer, not via retail.
They're not gonna knowingly do a B2B sale.
A business that wanted to swipe them all would have to create or hire a scalper network of seemingly unafilliated buyers, and I am guessing this would be outside of the capability/risk tolerance level of ... basically everyone right now, as the economy is imploding Hard.
You'd be surprised what a small team at a large corporation will do if it lets them complete a project within budget. The PlayStation 3 originally allowed users to install custom operating systems. A lot of groups, even the US military, bought thousands of them because they were inexpensive computers (sold at a loss) and used them for compute projects. Sony eventually stripped out the functionality in an update, presumably because they wanted to cut out this type of buyer.
I mean, I wouldn't be surprised, I've worked at both functional and dysfunctional large corporations, either themselves tech corps or in the tech wing/department of other large orgs.
The PS3 is yes, a great example of making a versatile product that can appeal to many uh, kinds of markets, market demos.
What I am saying is that Valve is probably the most strategically competent tech company in existence, at least in the US, and that they would not willingly allow themselves to be tricked, at the level of long term, big boy corporate strategy.
They are the people who tend to set traps, not walk into them.
You're talking to an ex-Corpo, lol.
Nonetheless, yes, the PS3 is a great example of what you can do with a product, but I'm trying to analyze the uh, 12D chess or whatever, the actual strategic conditions of the situation that would dictate whether or not it actually makes sense for Valve to do something similar with the Steam Machine.
Right now, no, it does not.
Valves whole thing is basically effectively stealing PC and Xbox gaming away from Microsoft.
It would be silly of them to allow their own tactics to be used against them in an unforced error.
Why on earth would corporations buy this? Lol
799 and 999 are my best guesses for the two versions
It's not a console, it's a general purpose PC
Uh the same could be said for Sony, Xbox and to a greater extent Nintendo but they'd rather make oodles of noodles money at every interaction.
It’s likely in everybody’s best interest that this is a wild success. Not only will game developers be incentivized to actually optimize their games for reasonable setups; this will unseat Nvidia’s monopoly over gamers with their ridiculously overpriced graphics cards and also Microsoft’s monopoly of a gamer’s operating system.
Nvidia’s partnership with Palantir is incredibly concerning and any blow to Nvidia is a welcome one. Encourage these developments and hype this all up.
The article i saw a few days ago specifically mentioned that they didn't really talk about the price but when asked if it would cost more than the ps5 pro they didnt really say no and only offered that it will be priced accordingly to the hardware used to make it. To me, that most likely means it's going to cost around $1k. The absolute max is would ever be willing to pay is like $600. I have no doubt it will sell, but at that $1k price, they will severely limit the group of people that will be buying it. Honestly, if that is the cost, they should be shying away from even associating it as a console and just market it as a PC due to how people think.
Yeah, on announcement day people were adamant about it costing less than consoles, but one look at the specs and you'd know there's no way of that happening.
I'd be shocked if it's under $600
They did say that it's a mini PC, not a console
Moore's Law Is Dead thinks that Valve basically got a bargain bin deal from AMD, who had a bunch of chips they thought were going to be used in a MSFT tablet, but that tablet got cancelled.
So, Valve did some scrapyard engineering, and got a discount on these things that were otherwise never going to be used for anything.
He estimates a total cost to produce of $425, estimates MSRP between $450 to $600, depending on just how hard Valve wants to fuck MSFT with their own leftovers.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=sJI3qTb2ze8
If this ends up being remotely accurate, it would be basically a corporate demolition of Shakespearian quality.
Gabe... Gabe was once a MSFT employee, you see.
A disgruntled former MSFT employee, you might say.
Rumors is that the original Zen CPU SoC in the Steam Deck was also the leftovers from another canceled project by "a major OEM", so it's plausible. Sounds like Microsoft planned a handheld Xbox much earlier, which years after the Deck turned into the ROG collaboration, could have been related
I had not heard that before, but uh, extremely funny if true.
Its like MacroHard just keeps punching themself in the face.
MSFT? Microsoft?
Yes.
Sorry, its either/both their stock ticker, a fairly common way they refer to themselves internally.
I too used to work for Microsoft.
Wooo boy, being one of two people trying to make the multi hundred, maybe over a thousand node, call center / support tree node system work correctly, for the 360, during the 'red ring of death' (3RR was the code we used for 'you are absolutely fucked')... yeah that was fun.
That sounds interesting. Would you mind sharing a bit more of your experience, if you're not bound by an NDA?
I have before in other comments in other threads... but I am about to pass out, and being on mobile with a shit tier phone makes searching my own comment history somewhat cumbersome.
Uh... reply to this in 10 hrs and I will probably be awake and find those old comments?
(Also, its been a while since I worked for them, but even if I was bound by an NDA, I wouldn't give a fuck, I didn't do anything that important, really. Just another V Dash amongst many.)
Thank you for taking the time to reply despite your situation. I'll try to remember to ping you tomorrow, but don't feel obligated.
Ok, I found one of my longer comments on 'being an ex corpo from MSFT'.
I think the original post topic was basically about how the Windows kernel is now such a mess that MSFT can't actually understand it.
Stunning 10/10 Glassdoor Review from Happiest Former Tech Worker On Earth
I used to do V Dash contracts for MSFT.
I knew that the Xbox 360 3RR, red ring of death problem... was so bad, that it actually would have been more cost effective for MSFT to give each buyer two 360s, instead of one, at the same price, because of how mismanaged the RMA process was... I knew a whole bunch of such details a almost a decade before the documentary on it came out.
Yay NDAs.
...
I was also there during the Windows 8 rollout.
Shut down basically everything for a month, because MSFT 'dogfoods' all their software: Every MSFT worker is beta/alpha testing all MSFT software all the time.
We spent weeks just, unable to have more than 3 windows open at a time, half the tools we used on a daily basis just not working.
We asked them to let us go back to 7, asked them if therr was some way to return to a 7 like GUI.
For weeks they said nope, impossible, Win 8 is an entirely new GUI, totally new OS, the Win 7 GUI isn't there.
Oh then uh, weeks later, yeah, yeah it actually is there, you just have to follow this arcane override proceduren to see and use it.
... And then they just relented, put the non tablet UI fully back in, and called that Windows 8.1.
...
Windows is now layers upon layers upon decades of insane spaghetti code.
Even in Win 10, which was the last version I ever used... there are like 3 or 4 different eras of UI, for various settings menus, which people sometimes need to actually use... but they are considered legacy and thus not important.
Sometimes some newer era UI menus will have some of the options from some of the more buried stuff, but not all of them.
It is a gigantic fucking mess.
I guess I should clarify that I did sign an NDA, and back then, contemporaneous, when I was still trying to work at MSFT, I obviously gave a shit abiut it.
Now, now its like a decade later, I don't like, still have a copy of it, and I also don't fucking care.
I worked in the tech industry, now I despise almost all of it with a burning passion, left it entirely some years back.
Sorry but the people getting excited thinking this steam pc is going to do big numbers and hurt MS are delusional. The specs on this thing are worse than the current gen consoles, the base PS5 and the Series X. It is only RDNA 3 so it doesn’t get FSR4 either.
The PS5 and Series X render most games at sub-1080p and then upscale to 4K. This thing is going to have to render at sub 720p and then upscale.
I'm not in the market for the GabeCube but if I were, I'd find a price point of $500-$600 attractive, given it's mostly just laptop tier hardware. I would prefer it over the current gen of consoles, although I don't know if there's gonna be the same level of optimisations for games on this as there is on consoles (most likely not really). It'll be a ripper emulation box, though.
Upgradability would've been nice, too. Soldered in RAM is ok for a hand-held device but for this? Nah mate....
I think the RAM just uses laptop sticks, so it is upgradable edit: https://www.digitalfoundry.net/features/hands-on-with-steam-machine-valves-new-pcconsole-hybrid
Oh that's cool, didn't see that. I have no idea why Valve didn't mention that in their reveal, that's a huge advantage over consoles.
RAM being upgradeable is basically irrelevant for a fixed-GPU device.
There's plenty of games today that use more than 16GB of system RAM on their highest settings and that's only gonna become more common in the future... Besides, with this being literally a Linux PC, there's more ways it could make use of the extra RAM than just games.
I don't know what you're on about, mate.
I don’t know what you’re on about, mate
I’m pointing out that a game that needs 12GB of VRAM on its GPU doesn’t care if you have 128GB or 512GB of system RAM, because the GPU can’t use that RAM. You’re not going to have games that require 128GB of system memory that also work on an 8GB GPU.
This isn’t controversial or hard to understand.
Yeah, that's kinda obvious. I just don't think that's gonna be a huge problem for people who are in the market for this thing, Valve specifically choose the specifications to be an upgrade for most steam users.
Some upgradability is still better than none.
Speaking of upgradability, I wonder if an egpu could be connected to that usbc port.
no way this thing costs more than 800
Get ready to be horribly dissapointed...
maybe lol
At $1,000 that'd be a hard pass for me even though I love Valve, I could easily build something better for less. I seriously doubt that'll be the price too, it'll probably around $600-800.
Could you really build something better for less? Not to mention all that plus OS install and stuff is already done so most people will prefer that I think.
I've priced it out for myself, and I couldn't get a build that's as good at that price, not on new hardware at least. Not sure how they worked out their numbers
Less than $1,000? Yes, why not? We'll see what the price actually is, but I doubt it'll be anywhere near that high. Valve was pretty smart about sourcing their parts for low cost and decent performance. I wouldn't be surprised if it were closer to $500 even.
Why not? That answer is easy. Because maybe you can't. That's why I asked 😂
Yeah, but you can though. Go spec your own gaming rig if you don't believe me.
Also, again, there's pretty much no way it'll be $1,000.
@cyberpunk007 @_haha_oh_wow_ can it produce steam? (And cook a coffee???)
That would probably require some modifications...
No
How constructive
For me it’s either this or Framework Desktop, I’ve got the money, just waiting for the email from Valve telling the final price.
Steam Machine is better for gaming, which is nice
But Framework can do Mac levels of AI work, which is also nice, it’s also not completely useless for games.
Higher RAM price is irrelevant as it acts on the whole market, it's not a disadvantage specific to the Steam Machine
It may act on the whole market, but it doesn't have the same impact on every OEM.
It's a bigger issue for Valve than the console competition, who have established supply chains potentially with fixed prices for certain terms or at least more significant volume discounts, and proprietary compatibility hurdles binding their customers, so they can sell hardware at a loss if they want to.
If Valve sells the computers at a loss they run the risk of people buying them for other uses, without generating corresponding Steam profits.
As long as it doesn't run Win11
I'm sure it will be able to, but it will come pre-installed with steamOS (arch btw).
If you install windows don't you lose FEX? You'd probably have to run it as a virtual machine so you were still getting x86 instruction code translation. But it'll be able to run Windows applications via wine anyway so there isn't a great deal of point.
I think you got a bit confused.... FEX is used in the steam frame (VR headset) because it uses an ARM processor to save battery. The steam machine uses a normal x64 CPU and appears to be using some relatively standard pc hardware, so no compatibility layers are needed for windows (only drivers are needed) I doubt you'll be able to install windows on the steam frame though, for the reason you say (arm compatibility is a mess).
I thought the steam machine was the one that used the arm chip
It definitely doesn’t.
FYI The Windows License is more like $20-$40. The OEM Version costs $40 retail and MSI has probably a better deal. That's how Microsoft got Windows on nearly every prebuilt PC since the mid 90ies.
I guess they are including the screen, the keyboard and the trackpad with the Windows license in those $200 estimates.
Oh, yeah that would make sense. Thx
No way in hell. For $1,000 I'll just build one myself.
Which is why all these analyses are stupid. We don't need to do anything anywhere near as complicated as looking to market interactions and equivalent cost pricing. Because it's obvious that at $1,000 it'll flop and presumably valve know that.
I like the theory that they got the CPU and GPU at bargain basement prices because it was left over from some previously scrapped project of Microsoft or something. That would explain why it's such a weird architecture.
If that rumour were true it would mean that there will only be limited amounts of this machine since they stopped making the chips long ago. The rumour makes no sense.
Not as in physically leftover chips. The rumour is that Microsoft or some other company but probably Microsoft we're looking at making a gaming phone or something so they needed a powerful APU that was power efficient and didn't generate a lot of heat. So AMD went through the whole designing process with them only for Microsoft to decide at the last minute to pull out.
Very few chips wherever actually made, but AMD still had to eat to the cost of the design process, so they were casting around looking for someone who wanted the chips so they could make their money back. Somehow Valve found out about this said to AMD that if they turned it into a CPU (because they wanted a laptop GPU not a mobile GPU) and made some other tweaks, they'd put in an order for tens of thousands. So that's what AMD did. It's unclear if they got a deal on the GPUs or not, whether or not they did will have a big impact on pricing.
This would explain why it's a mobile CPU, as there's very little reason you would go that route unless that was your primary constraint. So the theory is that they had a CPU and they had to build a computer around that. Which would mean that the Steam Machine was probably never actually going to exist, and we would have just had the VR headset and the controller.
If this is true then this would have all happened around 2021 so the run will be basically complete now, but valve can still putting orders for more if pre-orders exceed expected values.
It’s not an ARM cpu though…..
I'm ready, but Amd is not. I want 4k 120hz on my TV via Amd videocard. But this stupid hdmi forum is blocking this.
Displayport to HDMI 2.1 adapter?
Regardless, fuck HDMI
I tried.. it didn't work..
I have one working from cablematters. It's slightly finicky (maybe driver issues) but supports HDR, vrr, and 4k@120hz.
Could you sent me the exact product?
And on Amazon; don't think it's widely available anywhere else, unfortunately.
Ignore any commentary about Windows support, because unless something has changed recently, it has poor support on Windows and is missing most features. I have heard mixed things about whether it only supports Freesync on Linux rather than Freesync or VRR. Since my TV supports both and there doesn't appear to be a way to reliably differentiate between the two, I can't confirm either way.
I found it here as well in a local Amazon store luckily: https://www.amazon.nl/Cable-Matters-Unidirectionele-8K-kabeladapter-ondersteuning/dp/B08XFSLWQF
Thanks! I ordered it right away and will test it soon on my TV. I will also first check for firmware updates, since people saying to do first a firmware update.
since people saying to do first a firmware update.
I'd probably test it out first as it may already have newer firmware, and it gives you a baseline if anything gets better (or worse) after the update. I'll add that Plasma 6 had the best support last time I checked, so test that if you have issues.
Was this an active or passive adapter?
The product description doesn't mention anything about active or passive. Which makes its very confusing for me now.
It has display port as well, for the picky
Nope. Not my TV. Only hdmi
Dunno who down voted you for this objectively correct take. But that's exactly what I was saying.
I got you back to positive tho.
Sure, but most TVs don't, which is the main issue with wanting to connect any Linux AMD build to a TV
And your TV has HDMI, no?
Which doesn't work with HDMI 2.1 if you use an AMD GPU on Linux. You know, the thing the first comment in this thread was complaining about.
Oh, my bad homie.
Is it an HDMI issue or an AMD issue? Given Nvidia have no issues, I’d call it an AMD issue.
Its HDMI forum issue. Because AMD want to implement in their Linux drivers (which are open-source). But HDMI forum do not want them to become open source, see related issue: https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/drm/amd/-/issues/1417
In fact, AMD already invested several months in fully testing and developing 4k 120Hz. Its possible, but the HDMI forum people are blocking this, because the HDMI forum has the latest saying.. Its all about money this world. And the HDMI forum is evil.
So it’s…….an AMD issue.
You know. Never mind.
It has a midrange graphics card, it can't cost more than 5 or 6 hundred
If this post is intended as discussion material; No, not as long that I have my stationary computer that fills my gaming needs.
I guess if you have a stationary computer that fills your gaming needs you really aren't the target group regardless of the price.
I have two consoles for the family and casual gaming I'd LOVE to replace.
This ain't it.
Who is?
There is zero market for an underpowered "PC" console with less VRAM than literally every other current console including switch 2 that is gimped from half of PC games by Linux.
This thing just does not make any sense
Unless they reveal a huge list of exclusives, this is dead in the water.
Who is?
My ex wife for one, who would like to play Steam games but is not experienced enough to build and fiddle with a gaming PC, much less Linux, and just wants a box she can just plug in and turn on without calling all the IT folks in her family.
Don't forget about our nerd bias. Most people here have a different perspective than 95% of normies. Remember how clueless the average person is about the inner workings of modern tech.
Half the posts I see on lemmy about this are incredibly out of touch with mainstream gamers and consumers and I’m getting second hand embarrassment from it.
Most people do not want to tinker with their shit at all, and the proportion of people that care about display port vs hdmi is probably about the same they want exactly what you said, ease of a console with the nimble power of a PC. This is exactly that
There is zero market for an underpowered "PC" console with less VRAM than literally every other current console including switch 2
The Switch 2 only has 12 GB of LPDDR5X shared memory between CPU/GPU. 3 GB are reserved for the system, that leaves you with about 9 GB shared between CPU and GPU.
The Steam Machine uses GDDR6 and has 8 GB of dedicated VRAM.
This steam machine is woefully underpowered compared to the PS5 and series X, and they’re going to be replaced in the next 2-3 years max.
Of course there is. I would much rather have this than a gaming console. Don't have to re buy any game and all the benefits of the PC library of games. Perfect for couch gaming and possibly doubling as a media device.
The list of exclusives you refer to is literally PC games, a library massively larger than any console on the market.
8GB VRAM is enough for upscaled FHD games.
Dude the switch 2 is $500. Having a general purpose computer that hooks just as easily to your TV as a gaming console for double that price is perfectly fine IMO.
Yes, I'm ready. I'm interested in buying all three new products. Whether I do depends on price. I'm fine with not buying them if I deem them not worth the cost for me.
I kinda doubt Valve would produce and sell a Machine with a 1k USD target price. When watching the announcement video, I was wondering how affordable it would be, whether it would be something like 300 € (not having seen any specs), although the “runs even the big titles” puts that into question to a degree.
There's no real use in speculating. It's better to just wait. I didn't look for or into third party information either. I'm waiting for official information, waiting for the next announcements and/with product page launches.
Well, they already told the press that it will be pricier than normal consoles, because in the end it is a PC and they cannot make good losses with games like Sony and Microsoft do, because it is an open market.
The LTT video on the steam machine is a good watch on this I think
300€ ??? My guy, if you think it will be anything even slightly near that price, I want to know what you're smoking and how I can get some lol!
The announcement first talked about "streaming to your TV". Receiving streaming and handling a controller don't need much power.
No need to get this "expressive".
I will only consider buying it if it's half that price. Also I'm in a specific intersect of necessary mobility & content with what I have.
Even if it won't be that high, it's definitely gonna cost more than Steam Deck.
You ain't getting one then lol.
Whatever the price, I most likely will buy it.
A new Steam Deck OLED is $650 right now. Y'all are absolutely delusional if you think Valve is gunna sell the new Steam Machine with 6x the power of a Deck for $600.
Personally, I think $800 is the absolute lowest these things will go for, and that is a stretch. Unless they are planning on cutting the price on Decks by 20-30% which would be ludicrous considering they are already selling them at a loss and making up the difference on the game sales.
Valve has already said they are pricing the Steam Machines as entry level gaming PCs. And Idk what world some people are living in, but this ain't 2010 anymore. Entry level PCs are $750+ nowadays, unless you are buying some parts used.
I'm not happy about this. I remember back in highschool building some nice entry level gaming rigs for $500, but those days are long past. I probs won't be getting a Steam Machine, but that's because I am a tinkerer and I'll just jank one together for my own use, but for somebody who wants a solid entry-level gaming PC that has a really great ecosystem around it and is no muss no fuss, the Steam Machine is a pretty good option.
My prediction: 512GB Steam Machine will be $800-$900, the 2TB one will be $1,000-$1,200.
Why is the two terabyte model $300 more expensive than the 512 GB, a 2 terabyte storage module definitely does not cost $300. Also the steam deck is quite old now, so for the same price as what they paid for the steam deck chips they could get a more powerful chip, so there's no reason to necessarily believe that they are paying considerably more for the chips in the steam machine than they paid for the chips in the steam deck. Also if you look at pricing for equivalently capable hardware you can do it for about $450 retail, and obviously Valve are not paying retail.
I really would like to upgrade to a steam cube as my current PC is about 15 years old just with upgraded RAM, storage, and graphics but i also only play games that came out over a decade ago too
There are two red flags on the new Steam Machine — the fact that it still includes USB-A ports and the 8GB of VRAM. Anything under 12GB is a major problem in 2025. While there are adapters for USB, I hope they offer a version that includes 12GB or 16GB VRAM.
I was pricing out an entry level gaming PC for one of the grandkids for Christmas and the price of parts has gone mad. It’s even worse if you want to make a smaller ITX build. How does less material and complexity translate to higher costs? And storage and memory are ridiculous. With a few small upgrades, even at $1,000 these would be a steal. It’s a shame they won’t ship before the holidays.
So right now, we’re discussing Steam Decks with some third party docks and accessories so they can be used like a PC. I can’t find anything better.
the fact that it still includes USB-A ports
Why complain about this? This is a good thing. Most people have USB-A peripherals and the majority of new keyboards and mice even in 2025 still rely on it. Game controllers too: Switch 2 Pro, Xbox Elite 2, 8bitdo wireless controllers, and many others all include a USB A to C cable (cables with USB-C on both ends can be used too but need to be bought separately) for charging and optional wired play, and all modern wired-only controllers use a USB-A cable. Far better for the device to offer USB-A ports than force most users to buy USB-A adapters.
This system does have one USB-C port on the back, though it would be better if it had one on the front too in addition to the USB-A ones.
the fact that it still includes USB-A ports
Majority of peripherals still use USB-A.
Anything under 12GB is a major problem in 2025.
That's hilarious considering the GabeCube's config is based off of the most common hardware config according to Steam data. If I remember right, it's slightly better than that common config.
It's not a device for 4k/144Hz gaming.
It’s even worse if you want to make a smaller ITX build. How does less material and complexity translate to higher costs?
More difficult manufacturing process, and lower overall sales (which means higher per-unit production costs).
So right now, we’re discussing Steam Decks with some third party docks and accessories so they can be used like a PC. I can’t find anything better.
Unless you're full-on anti-Windows, look into the ROG Ally. A friend of mine got one and is super happy with it.
It’s not a device for 4K/144Hz gaming
Someone should tell Valve that then, cause they’re advertising it as 4K60, which it has no hope of hitting.
Umm.... Do you not understand the difference between "144" and "60"?
Do you not understand what I said?
They’re calling it a 4K60 machine and it has no hope of doing that either.
We'll see what the benchmarks show.
I guess, but that’s like saying we have to wait for the benchmarks before we can tell if the 6060 can do 4K120hz with path tracing. We know it can’t, but if you want to get your hopes up then be my guest, you’ll just be very disappointed.
I can’t guess at what the price will be or what makes sense for Valve, but I’m not interested at $1000. I can do a Linux box on my own for much less, or for about the same amount, a Windows box that can run all games without tinkering.
I have a desktop, but would buy it for the bespoke compact hardware to fit in the TV console. The dedicated antennas are a clear sell as well.
Right now I Steam Link via Shield, but I need wired or a better router to do any low latency play.
My biggest complaint about the Steam Deck is that it's too underpowered, so yes, I would in fact love a $1000 Steam Machine. Can we have a $3000 one too, please? I want a luggable PC that can handle games with RT in 4K 120Hz.
Sounds like the next gen Xbox’s are right up your alley.
I don't want a console. I need to be able to hack, mod, and pirate my games as I see fit.
The next gen Xbox is a pc. It will run all your steam games, all your mods, all your hacks, and all your pirated games. It’ll give you the option to do $1000 or $3000 builds to play games at 4K120 with path tracing (well MS likely won’t go that far, but that’s the idea behind them - other OEMs can release their own Xbox PC).
Becsuse they said the Frame was gonna be less than a Index complete kit ($1200) I kinda wondered if the GabeCube would be $1200.
Which, since I haven't built a PC since just before COVID lockdowns but keep hesring about soaring costs, I'm not sure if that is actually a decent price, a low price, or a high price.
Low
From everything we have heard... I would be shocked if it wasn't pretty damned close.
Gamers Nexus touched on the pricing info they were given. Go watch the video to confirm but off the top of my head:
- The Steam Machine will be priced competitively with an entry level computer
- The Steam Frame will be below the price of an Index
So what that translates to is
- The Steam Machine will likely be in the 800-1500 USD range
- The Steam Frame will be up to 1000 USD
Which... sounds about right. The Steam Frame is going to use a comparatively cheap Snapdragon processor but it still needs all the HMD tech. The Facebook Quest 3 is around 500 USD and considering economy of scale... that is probably the price floor for the Steam Frame.
And the Steam Machine? That is rocking a proper Zen 4 with 16 gigs of DDR5 and 8 gigs of DDR6. Considering how expensive RAM already is and how that probably ain't going down until late 2026 at the earliest... And it is worth noting that people lost their shit over the ROG XBOX ALLY X S 45 WHATEVER being 1k but... spec wise that lines up with similar laptops. The display is a decent chunk of that, which the Steam Machine won't have, but.. yeah.
Computers is expensive. Especially in a Post Liberation Day world. It will be a miracle if the base console price (because you can bet the PS6 is gonna do the same stupid bullshit MS did with the Series S...) is below 900 USD with the "real" price being well over 1k. And the Steam Machine is going to be priced along those lines because Valve (presumably) doesn't have a bunch of warehouses full of parts from five years ago.
The good news is that if you already have a gaming PC, and don't need the Valve branding, you can get a pretty solid AMD NUC for 300-600 USD that will run Bazzite perfectly and play a lot of your games locally with the rest streaming over Moonlight or Steam Link. GMKtec pretty much have this market on lock and I personally love my K11 (overkill but also really nice to not have to walk upstairs to wake my desktop for every single game).
You'll have the same nonsense with HDMI 2.1 as the Steam Machine will (so VRR) and AMD but there are workarounds for that (basically you flash a displayport dongle to be REAL sketchy). And you'll be able to take advantage of most of the software improvements Valve are pushing for SteamVR, SteamOS, and Steam Link that are going to be coming rapidly for the launch. MUCH less oomph but... people who are expecting proper 4k experiences out of a Steam Machine are lying to themselves.
I bought a fancy desktop PC recently so I'm not in the market. Otherwise I would consider it, but only if the desktop environment was usable for general computing. I believe it is, but I'm not sure if its version of Linux would be best for like software development.
It's got KDE
Best? Depending on what you do, probably not. That being said I have a friend with whom I code from time to time, and he uses the desktop mode for that. He uses nix packages to setup his development environments and seems happy with it.
This is more work than I'd personally like (I am lazy) but it does not sound so bad.
I would pay 700 for the 2TB bundled with the new controller.
I'd pay that much as I need a non-windows PC for the grandkids to play when they are over.
Get ready to pay $200-$300 more than that.
That would just mean I'm not getting it then.
Personally, I would be interested in a different type of Steam Machine: A shrouded motherboard as a sort of LEGO base, into which you place modular blocks or cartridges that contain the PSU, CPU, USB, RAM, Wi-Fi, audio, drives, and graphics. Each block can have rails, to provide connections for power and signals, so that users don't need to futz around with wires. Just plonk a brick down onto the rails below it, and you are good for that part.
Would it actually work from an engineering perspective? No idea. All I know is that I would replace parts of my PC more often, if I didn't have to worry about screwing up in some fashion.
Look at the price of Xbox series X SSD expansion vs PS5 and see if that’s what you really want. $150 for 1TB with Xbox or 2TB for the same price or less for PS5? 1TB NVMe is well under $100 right now.
This. Components would be overpriced and proprietary. Nobody wants that.
Building and upgrading a computer really isn't that difficult. All the parts only fit in one spot. Getting compatible parts can be tricky if you don't know what you're looking for...but this problem could strike this idea, too, because there would certainly need to be different generation mainboards whenever CPU sockets or chipsets or memory speed or really anything else on the mainboard comes around.
So such a solution would likely lead to less choice and more proprietary vendor-locked garbage. Just now solely on the hardware side.
But wait...what games are compatible with this system? What games will run well?
This is something Valve has done really well...they built a benchmark system. This is the problem that's been plagueing PC, imo. AAA games get built for bleeding edge tech, necessitating upgrades...while the steamdeck sets a bar that developers have to be playable on in order to tap that entire market. Could the game run better on better systems? Sure, probably. But it needs to be at least playable on steamdeck.
What I’m trying to say is we should all just standardize on PlayStation. Cheers.
Monopolies are good for innovation /s
(Bell Labs being probably the only notable exception)
Not going to happen
For $1000 I prefer to buy a real PC with a x64 processor
I get the sentiment, but the steam machine will have an x64 processor...
The VR headset won't, but the PC will...
They got fucked over the past few years while developing it and rising costs. But this thing is shittier then a 5 year old console.
They should have just accepted it and sold a decent box at $800.
And advertising it as 4k60? Straight up deceitful. Might as well call it 4k240 cause it runs cs1.6.
AND IT COMES OUT NEXT YEAR 🤣
Blame the hdmi forum..
Oh come on. If they sell an 8gb of ram machine that is gimped from playing like a 3rd of games because of Linux for $1000 they are out of their fucking minds.
You can get a refurbished 4070 laptop for that amount of money, which would be a drastically more practical purchase.
For a little more you could get a 4070 desktop with 12gb of vram
If this thing isn't cheaper than a PS5, then I don't understand who the hell it's for.
The more I read about this, the more blatantly clear it is that it's going to face plant.
I just cannot believe steam, the PC game company, is releasing a non portable console that has less VRAM than the fucking switch 2
A third of games? What are you smoking?
Over 95% of games in my experience work on Linux, and perform better than windows.
What kind of people are still using Windows, anyway? That supports one of the most terrible companies on the planet, invades your privacy, worms into your brain, and takes over your hardware...all for your 1 or 2 games you want to play?
This Steam Machine is going to be a blowout success. Linux gaming is superior in nearly every way. It's cheaper, it's more ethical, and it gives you back control.
What kind of people are still using Windows, anyway?
Like 94% of steam users.
This Steam Machine is going to be a blowout success.
Haha. No it's not. At $500 it might do alright. North of that it will fall flat. People into PC gaming will build something better. This is an attempt to get into console gaming. If it costs more than a PS5 or XSX, being able to run Steam games won't save it.
I suspect it will be moderately successful but less so than the Steam Deck.
It will open PC gaming to people who couldn't access it before. It isn't for people who know how to build their own PCs, although even people who are tech experts would still want this sort of device.
This makes it easy for tech and tech adjacent people to recommend PC gaming to people with no tech ability.
That's why it will be a blowout success. The Steam ecosystem is superior to every console gaming platform. Now we will have hardware that competes and exceeds current gen consoles with no maintenance or tech-nerd complications.
The steam deck was great but its specs made it a difficult sell when recommending it to people. You have to tweak a lot of settings and mess with stuff that most people don't want to do.
This will change all of that.
Remind yourself in two years, and let's see where it goes. I should still be here. Let's touch base in 2 years.
Who couldn't access PC gaming before? Best Buy has always had a few "gamer PCs" on the shelf, with a lot of LED lighting and flashy parts for people who don't know any better. My brother in law is a car guy, does gaming on an Xbox. Got a little extra cash, so he bought one of these. Wondered why he wasn't getting good performance. He had his HDMI cord plugged into the motherboard — he wasn't using the 5060 it came with at all! I moved the cable down and his performance shot up. He said he's since replaced it with a 5080. He gets 120FPS in Cyberpunk at 1440p with high settings and ray tracing on high.
He reached out to a friend of mine who does custom PC building and my friend helped him upgrade a few things. He's got 64GB of RAM, which he definitely doesn't need, but it's nice he's future proofing. I think his CPU is a 9800XD or XP or something like that. It's AMD. Nothing at all wrong with his setup. I'm just saying, a gearhead can get into PC gaming pretty easily with a prebuilt rig. Valve isn't inventing shit with the Steam cube thing. They might be making PC gaming a little more accessible to console gamers, but I think the limitations, the tweaking, will put people off.
You answered your own question.
People into PC gaming will build something better.
By that logic all prebuild company will die. Are they?
being able to run Steam games won't save it.
Not steam, any. Can create link to random exe in steam hub.
No because most prebuilt computers are sold by companies like Dell, HP, and Lenovo. Their bread and butter is corporate machines. They sell just enough enthusiast PCs to justify doing so, and they're typically either sold for more than they'd cost to build, or right about the same, subsidized by cheaper, mass produced parts that "may or may not" be as good as the parts you buy a la carte from Amazon (e.g. Corsair et al).
And of course it can run GOG and pirated games, but Valve doesn't make any money from GOG sales (or your pirated games) so they aren't going to care about that.
less VRAM than the fucking switch 2
It's 9 GB reserved for games, shared between CPU and GPU. That's not more than 8GB dedicated video memory.
And gaming laptops suck so hard, one of the advertised features of the Machine is that it's almost silent.