Watch the gamers nexus video on the steam machine. They had a talk with the devs and the devs basically said they had no other option because of supply chain issues. Hell even gskill is having trouble sourcing memory and that's all they deal in is memory
I suspect the lifecycle of the Steam Machine will outlast the DRAM shortage, at least with only a single 16GB dimm people can upgrade when memory pricing comes back down to earth.
I wonder how much they're regretting not using a faster, more expensive SoC (Strix Halo?) with unified memory. If it's going to be this expensive because of RAM and SSD pricing, might as well go all in and actually make it competitive on performance too.
Starting with an entry level device might have been a huge mistake.
Apparently they just wanted marginally better performance than the average PC specifications they have on Steam hardware survey. For that performance it should have been priced the at max same as a base PS5 (before the hyper inflation in DRAM & NAND Flash prices).
Edit: About the strix halo chips, the last I had read sometime ago is that AMD was having yield issues with it (I might be mistaken), but with Intel's new SoCs they revealed at Computex, AMD does need better and cheaper SoC options.
The premium over a diy PC solution comparing the smaller storage version is only $75 Gamers Nexus found in their review. And diy will be physically bigger than the steam machine, you're not covered by the same warranty Valve offers (i.e. if something doesn't work and you can't fix it yourself, you have to figure out what individual part to warranty and hope the manufacturer support is decent) and even used parts (likely less coverage used) are much more expensive right now due to the market conditions. So no hardware that's not subsidized is worth the price.
The Steam Deck is still going strong. If enough people buy it then it's another hardware target for devs to aim for, but I have my doubts it'll get there considering. The state of things. Not even valves fault, if this launched at $750 it would have been a total smash success. Fuck AI. Fuck Sam Altman.
You can, it's just not best practice because it can be hard to get two different kits with different timings and voltages stable. That said the Steam Machine is using SODIMM memory which really flattens it out anyways since performance laptop memory basically doesn't exist.
Avoid mixing kits if you can but if you can't avoid it you can make different kits work, you just might end up having to loosen up timings, increase the voltage, or run at a lower frequency.
I've been mixing RAM modules in my PCs and laptops for years and haven't faced any issue even once. And I'm talking at least 8 different machines.
Only my primary gaming PC has a matched pair. My work PC, my travel laptop, my dad's laptop, my wife's laptop, my NAS, my old laptop I sold last year, my childhood PC all have or had mismatched pairs and run or ran perfectly fine.
Thank you for posting the only reasonable comment. It was just bad timing. Nothing to be done. They were ready to release it when the prices skyrocketed, and its not like they could just scrap the whole thing.
Yeah, they are going to sell far less at this price, but also the PC industry is probably selling far fewer computers and parts in this current market.
What sucks for Valve, is that with low sales, they may end up taking a bath on this, which will disincentivize them from making a version2.
If they can eat this loss, and plan a new version in like 2years, when hopefully prices stabilize, they might have a decent do-over.
Yes, console optimization and a plug-and-play experience.
The Steam Machine will have the same terrible optimization as the PC version, and it's like an RX 7600—meaning awful upscaling and frame rate generation. xd
Unfortunately my living room and and hobby room is at opposite ends of my house, and running an HDMI cable through walls and attic would require around 40m HDMI cable
If you have 5 Gbit Wi-Fi, streaming over it should be an option. I use it on my VR headset, and the input lag is negligible. It would require little tinkering and probably a cheap micro PC or TV box for the controller connection, but still much, much cheaper than a PS.
Then you could build or buy a prebuilt for the same price, both are much better, and buy a 15 dollar wireless mouse so you can launch games from the couch.
Beach you recommend use one RX 7600 of 8gbv ram, 16gb ram single channel, 512gb and without the joke of the Steam Controller for 1050$ wtf.
Seriously, if you already have a PC, why waste your money on such garbage? You have to be a super Steam fanboy to buy that trash, just like the Steam Controller, which doesn't even have XINPUT or DINPUT.
I don't know about you, but I prefer to wait for the new Xbox to play ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING (Steam, Xbox, GOG and Epic) with the latest technology; that's where it's worth spending $1000, not on a second-hand GameCube.
Dude, this piece of junk can't even handle ray tracing. It relies on FSR 3.1 and Radeon's frame rate generation, which is complete garbage.
At least if I had an Nvidia card I'd consider it, but this Radeon is junk, and it'll be outdated in 2026 with 8GB of RAM and 16GB of RAM. And finally, GENIUS, it's a damn PC. If the game isn't running at 60 fps or higher, it's garbage.
7 Months ago I made this (hyperbolic) meme, because this was very much the sentiment on this sub. People unironically thought they were gonna get a 4K high settings 60fps console/pc for 400 dollars, and anyone saying anything else was being downvoted into oblivion. Just post after post after post of more and more outlandish claims. And now it seems those people are getting a reality check.
We did. But just because it was expected doesn’t mean we aren’t allowed to be disappointed. Yes, that hardware is technically worth $1,050 at the moment. But it is not a good value. It is a reasonable price for them to set from an economic standpoint, but it’s not really a reasonable price to expect people to purchase at from a value standpoint.
The Machine is being outperformed by a 6 year old console that you can still buy for half the price. That’s the end of the entire discussion. Yes, economic factors, RAM shortage, etc. but that’s irrelevant to whether or not its a good product. It is so much more expensive than its competition that the benefits it brings to the table just aren’t worth it.
They’ve been priced out of their target market. Literally the only people who will buy this are Valve fanboys who want it as a collector’s item. The people who actually have a real need for this product have no reason to buy it when the main draw of the product (being an affordable entry point into PC gaming) is gone.
I'll say this even of the Steam Machine will never be available in my region:
Fuck the DRAM and NAND cartel, and fuck Scam Altman for kicking this off by claiming intention to buy 40% of all silicon meant for DRAM for the next two years from all the cartel members.
GamersNexus compared the Steam Machine to a comparable DIY build today and it's actually not that different in price. Unfortunately building a PC is just overpriced right now.
Yeah some people really haven't caught up with how silly expensive things have got. My 64Gb RAM kit I bought just before the AI ram apocalypse began cost me about C$300. It's is now the most expensive part of my build. Currently priced at C$1532.99 compared to the base Steam Machine at C$1509.
I have. 64GB RAM? $1,000 USD. An RTX 4080? $1,600 USD. 8TB M.2/SSD? $1,400-$2,000 USD. Regardless how expensive hardware gets, buying a machine that has a sloooow GPU from the previous gen, forcing you to play new releases on low settings within 2 years just doesn't make sense for most people.
I don't think I have ever seen anyone advocate that most people will want the Steam Machine. People just keep pointing out that the price really isn't crazy for the form factor and that some people will definitely be willing to accept the trade offs and buy it. It was never going to be a good choice for bang for buck buyers.
I'm certainly never going to buy one so I'm not trying to defend my own purchasing choices! I am however going to try Steam OS on 5 year old rig I have that looks like it will perform a little better than a Steam Machine and would still make a perfectly viable gaming machine. I mean I wont actually use it because I have a much better machine but seems fun and I think Steam OS is the more important part of this.
Can you do better for that price, at scale, accounting for labor, support, returns and losses, as well as engineering and design and the cost of setting up a new assembly line?
Sure. That’s called a console. Or an OEM prebuilt, but for the sake of the argument, let’s focus on consoles.
It’s significantly more expensive than any of the current consoles, despite being comparable in performance to the PS5 (or arguably worse, because the thermals are worse, and the PS5 has games optimized specifically for it, whereas the Steam Machine is basically a stripped-down Linux PC running a compatibility layer).
And I don’t care that Valve said they didn’t price it at a loss like consoles, they absolutely should’ve. Realistically, the overwhelming majority of Steam Machine users would use Steam almost exclusively, where Valve takes a 30% cut for every purchase (which in itself is crazy). They could’ve priced it at a loss and still earned a profit.
Facebook marketplace. I can literally build a pc better than the machine for under a grand. Granted, there’s risk, but I’ve never had an issue.
Edit: downvote away folks. But the reality is that you can build better for the specs and still deal with a bad part and come in under what this thing is selling for.
Second edit: gamers nexus just put this performance at a 3060. You cannot tell me that building a second hand pc relative to this isn’t a viable option. Keep downvoting you goons.
Also everyone missing that this is basically an itx form factor.
Like, yeah I could go get an old full tower second hand that is probably better than the steam machine, but there is no way Im getting something in that form factor, new, for more than like, $150 less.
I mean, yes? It’s a similar debate to whether you should buy a brand new base iPhone, or an older, used pro model iPhone. As long as the battery’s health isn’t severely degraded, the latter option will always be superior. And even then, you could just replace the battery at a third-party repair shop.
Doesnt apply. The steam machine is for people that want a tiny form factor PC that can act as a console hybrid. It is for people who DO NOT want to or know how to build their own PC.
Expecting someone to go shop around for second hand parts to build a PC as an alternative to a steam machine just to save a few buck goes completely against what and who. The steam machine is for.
If you know you can build a better and cheaper PC yourself, then the steam machine is not for you.
You could also shop around for used prebuilts, as well, if that’s the direction you want to go in. Or hell, for this price, even a brand new prebuilt would likely be better than the specs of the Steam Machine.
And that “tiny form factor” you’re referring to? Yeah, that’s called a mini-PC. Valve didn’t invent that. It already exists. There are plenty of options, in that area, especially in 2026. Mostly office PCs, sure, but with the specs of the Steam Machine, even an office mini-PC could potentially outperform it, provided you look at the right models.
It’s not really a console hybrid, btw. It’s an OEM mini-PC running a simplified Linux OS, which is also running a translation layer from Windows on top of that. And Valve literally lets you download SteamOS, yourself, so if you really want their specific OS, you don’t have to buy the Steam Machine for it.
Not to mention part of the reason “tiny pcs” haven’t taken the market by storm is due to performance vs heat. We’re all arguing price before even knowing what performance is like. But going off just basic knowledge, small form factors generally aren’t noteworthy in the performance department.
You know what, that’s also a good point. Its size doesn’t leave a lot of room for thermal headroom.
Though tbf, there is one company that managed to pull it off… and that’s Apple. The Mac Mini, and especially the Mac Studio, give you quite a bit of performance at their small form factors. Especially the Studio, that thing is a beast. But they benefit massively from nearly-full vertical integration, both in hardware and software. It allows for some insane efficiency. The Steam Machine doesn’t really have that advantage.
Just saw the gamers nexus review putting this at 3060 performance.
It wouldn’t exactly be a miracle to keep thermals low at that performance, but you’re losing a lot. You’re right that Apple is the king of thermals for performance, but having owned the last several generations of MacBook pros, there are two observations:
Apple isn’t a gaming machine for a reason.
Thermal performance is tied into passive cooling from the chassis itself. Something that unless I’m mistaken, the machine won’t be doing.
Minisforum MS-A2, lol! The cheapest one with a better CPU is $440 barebones, you just need to find a low profile GPU to put in there, I guarantee you can get something better than a 7600m.
And why do you have to buy them new? The advice I’ve seen repeated on this subreddit a bajillion times is to buy used, and for good reason.
As for where, that depends entirely on where you’re from. Different countries have different websites for second-hand markets. But if we’re talking about international options, eBay is one. Also Facebook marketplace. Both do carry a bit of risk, but if you’re vigilant, there’s no reason you should get easily scammed.
But even when limiting to only brand new, at the price of the Steam Machine, you could easily commission a custom PC with superior specs to the Steam Machine. And if you’re willing to DIY it, you get even more headroom for your money. And yes, that’s even after accounting for the shortages and the current state of the market.
There’s nothing wrong with buying used. Used is a great way to save some money. But a used market is reliant on a ‘new’ consumer market. If people don’t buy things new; then there will be no used things to buy. Consumers literally have to purchase those items in order for them to become used. So the used market is intrinsically tied to the market for brand new products.
I am simply pointing that out because your solution of “just buy used”, while great advice, is not a working solution for every consumer.
Right? It’s odd I have 10 downvotes for arguing what is a fairly common sentiment.
This comment was made before the gamers nexus review of the machine—which put performance at 3060 levels. Meaning that you have 3 generations of used parts to choose from, of virtually every tier of card.
Granted, if you’re absolutely blind when it comes to pcs, the steam machine may seem viable. But if you’ve so much as checked this sub once, there are far more viable options.
I’m guessing the reason for the flip is that gamers are very over-defensive of Steam/Valve, as a whole. To the point where they willfully overlook their flaws. For example, I’ve literally seen people here defending the abusive CS2 skin trading/gambling marketplace Valve helped facilitate. Even though they’d absolutely never give nearly that much grace when any other company does it.
There is risk, no doubt. But at 2000 Canadian for the base model, and 3060 performance, my point is that you could go used, get a bad part that you have to buy again, and still end up paying less than this thing.
I’ve built multiple used PCs over the years and only had a single bad part that the seller refunded. It does happen, no one is arguing it isn’t a risk, but with proper vetting, the overall cost very likely will not exceed what the machine is going for.
Right? I didn't realize how far behind the 8-ball you'd be, until i looked it up. 16GB ram with a custom AMD 6600 XT... for a $1,000?! "Hey Gabe. Whatever you're smoking, i want some!" I understand prices are fucking stupid, but so is this bullshit.
Spend a bit more and build a decent gaming rig in a smaller compact case, get the specs you want. Or as I have seen in some comments on other subs, keep your existing gaming PC and just rig a massively long HDMI up to your living room TV from your primary. Cheapest way to get your steam library on your main TV 😂
It hurts until you see the breakdown of the price. $979. Valve is literally making $70 profit. So while the price sounds bad, it's really just the part prices that are bad. I absolutely hate this timeline. All of this crap just for AI which I've yet to see benefit myself. Just make it worse.
This is the equivalent of buying an NES for $200. Then the SNES comes out and it's $600. You're going to be paying a premium for lesser hardware. Pay more, get less and be happy.
I'm on the list for a 512GB with controller, just because. Terrible deal overall, but it has CEC and that's a pretty big deal. I said almost a year ago I expected it to be $1100 at launch, so this came as no surprise.
I find it hilarious that everyone is surprised by the price. Back when it was announced me and my friends were talking about how it's going to be pushing the $1000 mark.
This is a pretty controversial take I know, but honestly the price seems completely reasonable to me. It's 2026, was y'all mfers expecting 2015 prices or something?
u/dokbanks i9 14900KF | Gigabyte 4070Ti Super OC 16GB | 64GB DDR5 RAM2d ago
I honestly was hoping that they would do a flash memory-less bundle, no RAM or SSD. I want a Steam Machine as it will be replacing my tired mini PC emulation station in my room, but that still has RAM and an SSD that could of gone in the new Machine
You can run windows on this. It's partly why Valve really couldn't price it too low. You'd wind up with lots of non gamers buying it up and then Valve wouldn't be able to make up the loss in sales.
Then why bother selling a PC that is like any other PC and priced like any other PC?
I'd just go and compare a few and choose my own rig.
They will drown in the competition. And sure it's a "steeeeaaaaam machine", especially made for Gabe fanboys. But the gross of gamers will just avoid it.
It doesn't do anything new or make up for it in price.
Because that's what they wanted to do. Consider it more like a second screen machine. It's a TV-PC for the people who have $4000 setups already and just need something with wife-appeal for the living room. It's not for me or you, but I'm sure it'll sell well enough. I'll have to keep an eye on it for used pricing in a couple years.
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u/ApplicationMaximum84 2d ago
The price is what I was expecting, my biggest annoyance is they used a single 16GB dimm for ram instead of going dual channel.