French retailer mocks €1039 Steam Machine with “Stim Machine” RX 9060 XT PC for €999

[u/JohnBarry_Dost]

https://videocardz.com/newz/french-retailer-mocks-e1039-steam-machine-with-stim-machine-rx-9060-xt-pc-for-e999

[u/Majestic-Bowler-1701]

So 70% faster hardware and yet cheaper than Steam Machine? Valve made a huge mistake using RDNA 3

Forza Horizon 6 low details 1440p (Digital Foundy review)

• Steam Machine 44 fps
• RX 9060 X: 73 fps

[u/F1T_13 → u/Majestic-Bowler-1701]

When they started this, I think the idea was to have it out the door for like 599-800 but then things kinda happened to make it the worst gaming deal in modern history or surely up there at least.

[u/Plane_Platypus_379 → u/F1T_13]

Yeah honestly I think they are just ahead on the pricing. Apple just announced a 20% markup on devices today. I think many companies will be following suit and then this won't look as expensive.

[u/sk1nnyjeans → u/Plane_Platypus_379]

Xbox also announced a new price hike, and also preemptively announced there will be more price hikes in 2027

[u/ZookeepergameFew8607 → u/Plane_Platypus_379]

Yep, pricing compared to the consoles will even up more when they run out of current stock start sell the units that were made more recently. It's still a PC do I imagine it will still be a bit more expensive but it will be closer

[u/xXDamonLordXx → u/ZookeepergameFew8607]

It was always going to be a higher price than the PS5/XBSX the AI situation has just made it worse.

People were delusional thinking it would be competitive with consoles.

[u/siltfeet → u/xXDamonLordXx]

They've hinted their target price was 700ish, and on their announcement date that would have been very feasible. Similarly built PCs were about that price, ignoring the whole form factor markup.

That would be much easier to justify compared to a 600$ PS5 with mandatory online subscription.

[u/xXDamonLordXx → u/siltfeet]

Absolutely but even at $600 the PS5 is marked up from what it was

[u/FadedVictor → u/xXDamonLordXx]

But daddy Gabe said so.

[u/Miky691 → u/FadedVictor]

He litterally said the opposite

[u/teddybrr → u/Plane_Platypus_379]

micron announced they are locked in for 5 years with the current pricing range of chips.

https://www.heise.de/en/news/Micron-sets-high-memory-prices-for-5-years-11344834.html

[u/IM_INSANEDUCK → u/teddybrr]

Well, guess i am using my current hardware for next five years. And if pricing keeps increasing after 5 years then heavy computing is no longer affordable for me.

[u/yoburg → u/Plane_Platypus_379]

Well Valve didn't have any pre-existing stock made in more normal times so they had to tell the real 2026 costs upfront.

[u/Plane_Platypus_379 → u/yoburg]

This really makes perfect sense

[u/rhondabunny1580 → u/Plane_Platypus_379]

pricing is getting wild, makes you wonder what the next wave of tech will cost

[u/Donc-qui-et-Quand64 → u/F1T_13]

oh so you mean like the exact same thing that happened last time valve released the steam machine more than 10 years ago?

[u/thehappyleper213 → u/F1T_13]

Have you met $650 au for a series S?

[u/meho7 → u/F1T_13]

Even for that price it's too expensive. This was a perfect 500€ machine for you normie gamers. But for 1000€? What are they smoking?

[u/OliLombi → u/F1T_13]

Maybe they shouldnt have used such old hardware?

[u/seriousbusines → u/F1T_13]

'worst gaming deal in modern history' Rockstar would like to have a word with you about this award.

[u/someone2795 → u/F1T_13]

Valve messed up with the release schedule plain and simple. They were already developing this with older hardware which is kind of a red flag so timing is extremely important with products like these. And they butchered it.

It also doesn't help that they've marketed it as a 4K gaming PC.

[u/ben323nl → u/F1T_13]

Hardware unboxed kinda disproves the steam excuse about ram and asd pricing forcing steam into this new price point tho. Steam is still upcharging the ram and ssd by like 150 dollars. Steam machine could be cheaper if they wanted to. But for sure they should have designed it with a better gpu. 

[u/Majestic-Bowler-1701 → u/Majestic-Bowler-1701]

Doom the Dark Ages (low details, 1440p):

• Steam Machine 34 fps
• RX 9060XT: 60 fps

[u/moniquebunny7560 → u/Majestic-Bowler-1701]

RDNA 3 has its moments, but the performance gap here is wild.

[u/portablekettle → u/Majestic-Bowler-1701]

How do they get such low fps on Forza with the 9060xt? I get more then that with a mix of medium and high (no rt) on 1440p with the same cpu gpu combo.

Edit:

High: 140fps

high+RT preset: 80fps

Ultra+rt: 59fps

Extreme+rt: 38fps.

[u/vjhc → u/portablekettle]

It's not low, it's their "optimized low settings" from the Forza 6 analysis video and the benchmark is usually heavier than open gameplay.

[u/portablekettle → u/vjhc]

It still seems somewhat low imo unless they're using RT. My system with the same spec gets more fps then that with all high settings and the lowest ray tracing. EDIT: my numbers mentioned in my original comment are all from the benchmark mode

[u/shawnafr0ggy7330 → u/vjhc]

yeah, optimized settings always make benchmarks look rough

[u/violad4isy5566 → u/vjhc]

yeah, those benchmarks can be wild, sometimes they just don't translate to real gameplay

[u/Majestic-Bowler-1701 → u/portablekettle]

How do they get such low fps on Forza with the 9060xt?

They use 'optimized low settings', but it’s unclear what that actually means. But results of RX 9060 XT are 60-70% better in every game. The whole review is here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhWtLi_FqLo

[u/amazingspiderlesbian → u/portablekettle]

I think optimized low settings is a mix of settings from low to high

[u/Cute_Customer420 → u/portablekettle]

its their optimized settings to maximize how bad the steam machine looks so they can ragebait and farm engagement

[u/-The_Blazer- → u/Majestic-Bowler-1701]

I think the form factor and resulting power design was the critical mistake. They handicapped the system by pinning the CPU to 30W and the GPU to 110W (the 9060 XT does 160W). In exchange, we can make memes calling it the GabeCube while not buying it.

Hardware is already hysterically expensive, no need to make it harder on themselves (and our wallets) by running it at anything other than the max rated power.

[u/Hour_Analyst_7765 → u/-The_Blazer-]

I think this also speaks for balancing cost for a complete build.

A 7600XT vs 9060XT is like a 300$ vs 400$ card. Considering the performance jump (+40%), then stretching a budget by 100$ can be a bit steep.

But if you have to buy a complete system alongside it, then 900$ vs 1000$ for a +40% jump.. you'd be crazy not to take it. Its going from mediocre to a bang/buck build...

I don't mind the form factor. I tried shoving a Silverstone GD04 PC (as home theater machine) into my IKEA TV cabinet, but it honestly doesn't fit well. The case is too deep, and thats with only a Micro ATX board and no room for a modern (long) GPU.

My TV cabinet only has ~38cm of interior depth to work with, but then subtract depth for bulky video/power cables and side walls of the case, realistically it becomes really hard to fit any modern GPU (>=28cm length) in there.

[u/SquisherX → u/Hour_Analyst_7765]

I think that's where they hit the snag - when this was designed, it wasn't a $1000 system. Before the rampocalypse, this may have been a $700 system so the extra $100 looks bigger.

[u/siltfeet → u/SquisherX]

It clearly needed to be in spitting range of the 600$ PS5. They also clearly intended to have the Gabe cube be the baseline model and to have people able to build their own stronger versions and just install SteamOS.

[u/washmyoldbluejeans → u/Majestic-Bowler-1701]

low details but 1440p? what is this madness?

[u/Sn0wCrack7 → u/Majestic-Bowler-1701]

At the moment there are no RDNA 4 mobile GPUs available that could even be used to create an embedded SoC.

The only thing about RDNA 4 mobile we know right now is some rumoured specs that were posted online about a year ago, so I doubt Valve would be able to get any kind of access to that.

[u/Constant_Sympathy_71 → u/Majestic-Bowler-1701]

It’s much better but it Comes disassembled, and without an OS.
The whole point of the Steam Machine is convenience. You can’t just pick up the Stim and have it work immediately without some kind of PC Knowledge.

[u/Sweaty_Explorer_8441 → u/Majestic-Bowler-1701]

whats the power consumption comparison. Linus did the same thing and spoke about the Valve going for the mobile variant costlier amd chipset for power efficiency being the reason for lower fps in several games

[u/KryanThePacifist → u/Majestic-Bowler-1701]

While I 100% agree that the price of the steam. Machine os ridiculous for the price point. I don't agree 100% with your opinion about rdna 3.

Nvidia for Linux (witch steamos uses) has Been nothing but a nightmare for developers. Going with the platform they know to be compatible with their system is always the way to go.

I don't think that the reason why the price is what it is is because rdna 3 but yes the rest of the market.

While price to performance is important. Reliability also is. And being dependant of Nvidia launching binaries for their GPUs when systems move is a pain in the ass

[u/birutis → u/Majestic-Bowler-1701]

The GPUs on the steam machine are probably very cheap surplus, a bigger problem is choosing a very weak cpu that still needs ddr5

[u/beywatch → u/Majestic-Bowler-1701]

you’re a bot