[Digital Foundry] Hands-On With Steam Machine: Valve's Beautiful PC/Console - Specs, Impressions And More

The same source you're using is one of the "liars" spreading Linux is now faster than windows mate:



Well his latest benchmark video which I posted, certainly shows otherwise. I like how he tricked you guys with the thumbnail showing you what you want to believe. Time to wake up to reality. You've been gaining nothing from Linux but some imagined fighting the good fight Vs the Microsoft megacorp.
 
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Well his latest benchmark which I posted certainly shows otherwise.
You mean a different benchmark with different games and GPU. Because - like i've been saying all this while - the results are mixed, dependent on games, gpu models and sometimes Linux distro.

I like how he tricked you guys with the thumbnail showing you what you want to believe. Time to wake up to reality.
Now you're just projecting mate.
 
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The single biggest concern I have with the specs is that 8gb pool of VRam, which might be barely enough for current gen, but is assuredly not future-proof.

If they surprise me with the price, I'm still in - most likely as an emulation box... but if not, and it turns out to be as expensive as I expect it to be. I think it'll be rapidly out-matched by mini-PC's.
 
Different games and for CP2077 is withou RT, and Banishers same results as the other video.
Yeah, different games and different GPU, because LIKE I'VE BEEN SAYING, results vary a lot. That is the factual reality. I'm not the one out here desperately trying to prove while carefully weaving pictures and sources to make it seem like a specific OS is better.
 
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Yeah, different games and different GPU, because LIKE I'VE BEEN SAYING, results vary a lot. That is the factual reality. I'm not the one out here desperately trying to prove while carefully weaving pictures and sources to make it seem like a specific OS is better.
Windows still is better until everything works/works better on Linux(s).
 
Yeah, different games and different GPU, because LIKE I'VE BEEN SAYING, results vary a lot. That is the factual reality. I'm not the one out here desperately trying to prove while carefully weaving pictures and sources to make it seem like a specific OS is better.
Exactly. Fact is a lot of games are running perfectly fine on linux...and thats all what counts for me. 10fps more or less...I dont give fuck about.
Windows still is better until everything works/works better on Linux(s).
Windows always has to be better theoretically. Because linux is just "simulating" windows. I usually would always expect some kind of "translation loss".
 
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yeah congrats on a black cube

:messenger_winking:

(I like simple things, so i like it a lot)
 
The 9070 XT has a different architecture than previous models, so the Mesa driver still doesn't take full advantage of the GPU, especially in ray tracing.
Previous generations have demonstrated superior performance.

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Windows always has to be better theoretically. Because linux is just "simulating" windows. I usually would always expect some kind of "translation loss".
For DirectX games yes. Linux can, could and should be better for OpenGL and Vulkan games.
Windows is better if you're using Nvidia and running ray traced games. Linux generally performs better with AMD mid-low end cards. At least that's the general picture i can make out.
Excluding everything that Windows does better, Linux is better, yes.
 
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Any word on pricing folks? I haven't been paying attention and I've been busy, but that's the make or break thing here for me. I want it, but if it's much more than a Quest 3, which I already bought my daughter, then I'm gonna have to sit it out.
 
Any word on pricing folks? I haven't been paying attention and I've been busy, but that's the make or break thing here for me. I want it, but if it's much more than a Quest 3, which I already bought my daughter, then I'm gonna have to sit it out.
There's no pricing information for any of the new hardware. My guess is Valve will wait until the very last moment (I believe the pricing for SD also wasn't known until they announced purchase options but I could be wrong) in which case they have the most amount of time to try to figure out what to price it.

They talked about affordability being important at least when talking about the Steam Machine so here's hoping.
 
There's no pricing information for any of the new hardware. My guess is Valve will wait until the very last moment (I believe the pricing for SD also wasn't known until they announced purchase options but I could be wrong) in which case they have the most amount of time to try to figure out what to price it.

They talked about affordability being important at least when talking about the Steam Machine so here's hoping.
I don't know how realistic it is, but I'm really hoping that the Machine is 500 or under and that the Frame is under a grand. Does that seem realistic?
 
Watched the video.. weak hardware.. about 4060 level with 8gb but with FSR3... I am not really very thrilled about it. if this is about 200/250US then yeah should be worth it. even at 300$ I feel its ok price. anything above is a big nope for me.

But knowing this is a new device and hype and all. it's not gonna be below 500$ lol
Let me know where you can get a desktop pc with a 4060 and all the rest of the specs for under $500. Unless prices have dropped for gpus. (last I bought was a 3060ti for $450 in 2021). Looks like cheapest 5060 rtx is around 300ish.

These will be great for console peasants who have no pc experience and want to get into it easily.
 
I don't know how realistic it is, but I'm really hoping that the Machine is 500 or under and that the Frame is under a grand. Does that seem realistic?
I think the perfect price point would be $399/449 for the 512GB model but they made a comment about pricing being similar to a comparable PC whatever that means. Spec wise it's roughly a $600-700 PC (not me even attempting to build something but just guessing based off of specs). The Frame I have way less clue pricing wise but the Meta Quest 3 is pretty similar it seems so maybe pricing is in that range? The Frame is a streaming first device but who knows if that will do anything for pricing.

The good thing is that if there is any company that isn't going to try to fleece you it's Valve. They priced the Steam Deck very low and never raised prices despite most of the industry doing so (hell they even replaced the 64gb with the 256gb while keeping the same $399).
 
I think the perfect price point would be $399/449 for the 512GB model but they made a comment about pricing being similar to a comparable PC whatever that means. Spec wise it's roughly a $600-700 PC (not me even attempting to build something but just guessing based off of specs). The Frame I have way less clue pricing wise but the Meta Quest 3 is pretty similar it seems so maybe pricing is in that range? The Frame is a streaming first device but who knows if that will do anything for pricing.

The good thing is that if there is any company that isn't going to try to fleece you it's Valve. They priced the Steam Deck very low and never raised prices despite most of the industry doing so (hell they even replaced the 64gb with the 256gb while keeping the same $399).
Good point man, yeah I'm pretty excited to get pricing details but I'm already hyping myself up by believing that it won't be that bad lol. I'll be throwing a Machine in my game room if the price is right, gonna replace the Switch and the Switch will go to the bedroom or guest room.

I'm pumped man, now if only I was rich..... -_-
 
It's had a day to sink in. The Steam Deck's control options are in my opinion, fantastic so the controller is a given. I'm quite excited by the GabeCube. I'm sick to death of consoles. Paying to play online, limited control options, limited generational library of games, lack of graphic tuning in options etc. But I'm also sick to death of paying bullshit prices for PC components. I don't play the AAA stuff. 99% is trash tier gaming. This appeals to me and I'm quite excited by it.
 
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I have a bad feeling this is going to be $799 for the 512 and $999 for the 2TB. I feel that's overpriced for the specs. They are leaning on the fact that it's a PC to inflate the price. I hope I'm wrong. It really needs to be competitive with the PS5.
 
Watched the video.. weak hardware.. about 4060 level with 8gb but with FSR3... I am not really very thrilled about it. if this is about 200/250US then yeah should be worth it. even at 300$ I feel its ok price. anything above is a big nope for me.

But knowing this is a new device and hype and all. it's not gonna be below 500$ lol
It's better than PS5 (all things considered) and you want it at below Series S price? Wow
 
Let me know where you can get a desktop pc with a 4060 and all the rest of the specs for under $500. Unless prices have dropped for gpus. (last I bought was a 3060ti for $450 in 2021). Looks like cheapest 5060 rtx is around 300ish.

These will be great for console peasants who have no pc experience and want to get into it easily.
Your retail price isn't the same as what a complete in box mainstream device cost. A 4060 GB is discontinued garbage. This isn't even that it's worse with its FSR. If I had to guess it's probably Valve got a really good deal on what is left over stock, repackeged for this product.

Even at 500$ this isn't a good deal and should be lower. Anything above that it's DOA once all the crazy valve lovers buy it.

This is just my opinion anyway and I could be very well wrong. But a ps5 that is more powerful than this is for less. How on earth if should be more expensive
 
I have a bad feeling this is going to be $799 for the 512 and $999 for the 2TB. I feel that's overpriced for the specs. They are leaning on the fact that it's a PC to inflate the price. I hope I'm wrong. It really needs to be competitive with the PS5.
It's not "inflated". It is just the price of the components. And it doesn't need to be competitive with PS5 at all.
 
It's better than PS5 (all things considered) and you want it at below Series S price? Wow

it's not better than a PS5 in real world game performance.
many games will run slightly worse or even significantly worse than on PS5.

raw GPU perfomance is around 10%~15% below PS5 and the 8GB VRAM will mean games like MH Wilds will only run with significantly worse textures than on PS5/Series X.
 
These results are highly dependent on the games being tested.

I've seen many other find the exact opposite.

So, I'm not gonna argue that this is not true for these games, but it's not the whole picture.

Not really lies. Some games performs better on Linux even under Proton. But Windows is still winner overall plus all the games that don't work or work with bugs on Proton.

There are lots of variation in performance from game to game and distro to distro. Generally, the only constant is the AMD cards seem on average to perform better on Linux while Nvidia ones seem to perform better on Windows.



He doesn't seem like an upstart as he has a large amount of subscribers and no one in the comment is calling into question his findings. Sounds like he benchmarks Linux on a regular basis.


Thanks guys
Now you're switching goalposts from "higher resolution" to "with ray tracing", which i clearly stated in the original post still runs better on windows
TBF if you have a 5070 or above you are cranking some ray tracing on or what's the point in cyberpunk with that kind of hardware so I'd say it seems to perform better on windows.
 
it's not better than a PS5 in real world game performance.
many games will run slightly worse or even significantly worse than on PS5.

raw GPU perfomance is around 10%~15% below PS5 and the 8GB VRAM will mean games like MH Wilds will only run with significantly worse textures than on PS5/Series X.
The GPU has a newer architecture and infinite cache which can make up for the difference, not to mention the way WAY better CPU. I still think the VRAM is a mistake, specially since it probably has a 128-bit bus, but I think all in all it will perform similarly, better here, worse there.
 
The GPU has a newer architecture and infinite cache which can make up for the difference, not to mention the way WAY better CPU. I still think the VRAM is a mistake, specially since it probably has a 128-bit bus, but I think all in all it will perform similarly, better here, worse there.

the CPU is great, but the GPU will be the bottleneck.

being RDNA3 is not enough to make up the difference of 3~4 TFLOPS between it and the Series X for example. so that GPU will be the bottleneck ultimately
 
Why is some fucking war getting slowly wound up as Linux Vs windows now. I've not seen it ever before. It's only in the last year or so on here and on other sites.

It's like people have to have war. Now Xbox is gone there's going to be new ones. Valve Vs Xbox. Valve Vs Sony. Linux Vs windows. Xbox pc Vs steam box. Ps5 Vs switch 2.

If you like Linux use Linux. If you like windows use windows.

Just use whatever and it doesn't have to be some e peen of what is better.

Jews flash. Every product out there has some features better than the other and that other will do some things better than the other thing. It ain't that deep.
 
the CPU is great, but the GPU will be the bottleneck.

being RDNA3 is not enough to make up the difference of 3~4 TFLOPS between it and the Series X for example. so that GPU will be the bottleneck ultimately
I said PS5, also, you'll be right no question at 4K, but this is PC is for playing at 1080p and 1440p, where the VRAM won't be an issue, specially compared to console like settings
 
Thanks guys

TBF if you have a 5070 or above you are cranking some ray tracing on or what's the point in cyberpunk with that kind of hardware so I'd say it seems to perform better on windows.
But if you don't and instead have an AMD card (which are usually chosen due to lower pricing), you're better off with Linux. Potato potato
 
I said PS5, also, you'll be right no question at 4K, but this is PC is for playing at 1080p and 1440p, where the VRAM won't be an issue, specially compared to console like settings

I play on 8GB at 1440p target... in Doom TDA DLSS Quality mode (internal 960p), Console equivalent settings + RT reflections, lowest texture pool settings, I am at 7~7.2 GB VRAM

it's getting extremely close on 8GB, and my PC was meant for current gen consoles and is almost 5 yeads old.

this thing releases a year before the rumoured next gen Xbox
 
The GPU has a newer architecture and infinite cache which can make up for the difference, not to mention the way WAY better CPU. I still think the VRAM is a mistake, specially since it probably has a 128-bit bus, but I think all in all it will perform similarly, better here, worse there.

Way better CPU to do what exactly?

It's clear you will be GPU limited way before the CPU becomes a bottleneck unless you want to play 360p/240 fps
 
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I play on 8GB at 1440p target... in Doom TDA DLSS Quality mode (internal 960p), Console equivalent settings + RT reflections, lowest texture pool settings, I am at 7~7.2 GB VRAM

it's getting extremely close on 8GB, and my PC was meant for current gen consoles and is almost 5 yeads old.

this thing releases a year before the rumoured next gen Xbox
Just worth mentioning a game filling up the vram doesn't mean it's somehow nearing it's limits. Well optimized games (which is the case for DOOM DA) will generally try to use up as much VRAM as they can.
 
That's just Mister Wolf Mister Wolf going autistic over windows for some reason. Most others have just said "it depends", he's the one so far who clearly has a bone to pick here.

The "it depends" is just a bunch of caveats and excuses. "Don't use raytracing, dont use Nvidia, dont use resolutions over 1080p, dont use the latest GPUs, yada yada yada." I honestly didnt care until I had to keep reading about you guys shitting on Windows acting like Linux is so much better now that you aren't bogged down by Windows background tasks. Come to find out it's just a bunch of bullshit. If you like Linux cool. Just dont lie.
 
Way better CPU to do what exactly?

It's clear you will be GPU limited way before the CPU becomes a bottleneck unless you want to play 360p/240 fps
I think you're reeeeally underestimate how important the CPU is for gaming. A mid CPU paired with the most excellent of GPUs results in a super stuttery experience, it's generally preferable to have a slightly worse GPU with a much better CPU.
 
That's just Mister Wolf Mister Wolf going autistic over windows for some reason. Most others have just said "it depends", he's the one so far who clearly has a bone to pick here.
The "it depends" is just a bunch of caveats and excuses. "Don't use raytracing, dont use Nvidia, dont use resolutions over 1080p, dont use the latest GPUs, yada yada yada." I honestly didnt care until I had to keep reading about you guys shitting on Windows acting like Linux is so much better now that you aren't bogged down by Windows background tasks. Come to find out it's just a bunch of bullshit. If you like Linux cool. Just dont lie.
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The "it depends" is just a bunch of caveats and excuses. "Don't use raytracing, dont use Nvidia, dont use resolutions over 1080p, dont use the latest GPUs, yada yada yada." I honestly didnt care until I had to keep reading about you guys shitting on Windows acting like Linux is so much better now that you aren't bogged down by Windows background tasks. Come to find out it's just a bunch of bullshit. If you like Linux cool. Just dont lie.
Sorry i offended your boyfriend Phill Spencer, you two can go kiss and make up now
 
It's had a day to sink in. The Steam Deck's control options are in my opinion, fantastic so the controller is a given. I'm quite excited by the GabeCube. I'm sick to death of consoles. Paying to play online, limited control options, limited generational library of games, lack of graphic tuning in options etc. But I'm also sick to death of paying bullshit prices for PC components. I don't play the AAA stuff. 99% is trash tier gaming. This appeals to me and I'm quite excited by it.
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