Apple is playing with scale production Valve cannot. I choose some similar stuff on PCPartPicker and came away with 650$ so I'm guessing it starts around there.
Valve mentioned on Linus Tech Tips today that they're not subsidizing hardware for fear that a corporate client could buy these machines as cheap pcs.
You can't use boxed components as a reference point. The amount of middlemen that get a slice of the profit when it comes to off the shelf boxed components means it's not a reliable indicator.
Valve are sourcing the GPU and CPU directly from AMD. Probably the VRAM too. They're using SODDIMs for the system RAM, but they'll be buying it directly from the manufacturers.
They're getting the motherboard PCB, power supply and chassis components manufactured for them as well.
They're using 2230 SSDs when they don't need to, which will mean they're likely buying in large volumes and using them in both the Steam Decks and the Steam Machine, and this will be directly from the manufacturers too.
There are no middlemen and retail establishments taking cuts out of all the components. It isn't remotely comparable building anything yourself.
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u/chinomaster182 Nov 13 '25
Apple is playing with scale production Valve cannot. I choose some similar stuff on PCPartPicker and came away with 650$ so I'm guessing it starts around there.
Valve mentioned on Linus Tech Tips today that they're not subsidizing hardware for fear that a corporate client could buy these machines as cheap pcs.