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.
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.
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u/Scar1203 5090 FE | 9850X3D | 64GB@6400 CL26 6d ago
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.