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[DavidGzz]

The better optimization on Steam machine will actually be:

- Removing Windows

Ehh, nah. Gaining a few frames isn't worth losing the productivity of Windows. I like PC gaming over console because I can be grinding in a game while watching YouTube in another window or monitor. Maybe you can do that with a Steam Machine, but I'm not sure yet. If you can, I agree. It seems Steam OS is better for optimizing games.

 

[acm2000]

its the Series S of the PC world

 

[nkarafo]

Ehh, nah. Gaining a few frames isn't worth losing the productivity of Windows.

Do you even gain any frames at all in Linux?

At least with Nvidia GPUs, games on Linux seem to run a bit worse.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

GabeCube specs more or less follow the most used hardware in the steam survey, so i assume every dev already does that (or whatever concept of optimization they follow)

I mean - games are a fucking mess and unoptimised on consoles, where you have a single config. Now imagine doing this for PC - ok, I guess they can optimize for a very specific config found in Gabecube but I don't think the devs will give a shit.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Ehh, nah. Gaining a few frames isn't worth losing the productivity of Windows.

What productivity? Because unless your company mandates Windows PC (possible) then everything is available on Mac (or it should be).

 

[DevilHunterX0]

 

[DavidGzz]

Do you even gain any frames at all in Linux?

At least with Nvidia GPUs, games on Linux seem to run a bit worse.

I'm not sure it applies to all games and I know Linux can't even run some games, but I just watched a video where a guy put bazzite, I think it's called, on his Xbox RoG Ally and gained 10 frames on a few games. Maybe it depends on the game.

 

[AGRacing]

But when I said the same about Xbox series s, everyone lost their shit, cursed the console and cried how that console was "limiting developers creativity". Curious to see how this will go.

You were wrong and so is the OP.

 

[DavidGzz]

What productivity? Because unless your company mandates Windows PC (possible) then everything is available on Mac (or it should be).

Ok. Nice. I hope that's the case cause I am probably going to get a Steam Machine. So you think I can have a game in windowed mode and also watch twitch or YouTube in another window? Also. Can you still get adblock? I don't know anything about Mac.

 

[SScorpio]

Games optimized to their target platform and secondary platforms got what they got. Consoles are target for most big games, so extensive optimization for PC is a dream.


It's going to get worse
PS4 was a generation when consoles and PCs were most close. In PS5 generation they diverge and ports gor worse quality. In PS6 they will diverge even more with more problems in ports.

That's because you have it backwards. The PS5 and XSX matching PC hardware that was launched within the last year from the console. It was the CPU that was the oldest, but the replacement Zen 3 was launched something like 3 days before the consoles hit shelves. While RDNA2 was PC cards released right around when the consoles did.

The PS4 and XBONE had extremely underpowered CPUs. When they launched my PC was more powerful than either console and it was already several years old at that point. Previously consoles would launch and be more powerful than the average PC, then through the long life of the console the PC would catch up and then overtake the console. By having nerfed hardware from the start, PCs were more than capable of providing a better experience across the entire generation.

With PS4 cross gen, many games continued to run well on PC. It will be even more pronounced with PS5 and PS6 cross gen. If the Sony handheld really is PS5 or slightly below levels of performance, then the Steam Machine should be fine for the entire generation.

a google search shows that the GPU is equivalent to a GeForce 4060, and watching threads around reddit etc people say that the 4060 can outperform PS5 and ps5pro, the latter with help from frame generation etc. I could also imagine it can run better technically because you can tinker it to your liking if you want to.

Time will tell.

It's not really apples to apples. The GPU is a cut down RX 7600. From the previews and spec lists it's very likely the Navi 33 processor. But it's 28CU versus the full 32CU. The max boost is also lower than the 7600's 2655Mhz. And the expected power draw is lower due to this.

It's RDNA 3 versus the RDNA 2 of a PS5 and PS5 Pro. That gives you a roughly 15-20% uplift. But the PS5 is 36CU while the Pro is 60CUs. Both PS5s also have double the bandwidth at 256bit buses versus the 7600's 128bit.

The CPU will be more powerful, but overall gaming performance will be on par if not just below a base PS5. But with how long PS5 and PS6 cross gen is expected to play out. This will be a competant device for a long time.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Ok. Nice. I hope that's the case cause I am probably going to get a Steam Machine. So you think I can have a game in windowed mode and also watch twitch or YouTube in another window? Also. Can you still get adblock? I don't know anything about Mac.

Yes? I have a MacBook Pro, I don't use it like that but it's possible. Plus didn't they show multi screen setup in Steam Machine video?

 

[SScorpio]

Ok. Nice. I hope that's the case cause I am probably going to get a Steam Machine. So you think I can have a game in windowed mode and also watch twitch or YouTube in another window? Also. Can you still get adblock? I don't know anything about Mac.

Yes, Steam OS can function like a regular desktop PC and support multiple monitors. The 8GB of VRAM will be felt more, so don't try running an extremely heavy game while watching a video. That might have issues.

 

[pudel]

Ok. Nice. I hope that's the case cause I am probably going to get a Steam Machine. So you think I can have a game in windowed mode and also watch twitch or YouTube in another window? Also. Can you still get adblock? I don't know anything about Mac.

We have to actually see how SteamOS works. I am pretty sure it comes also with a desktop mode....which should let you game on one monitor and looking vids on another. But big point of SteamOS will be the BigPicture mode for the couch people.

 

[rodrigolfp]

Ehh, nah. Gaining a few frames isn't worth losing the productivity of Windows. I like PC gaming over console because I can be grinding in a game while watching YouTube in another window or monitor. Maybe you can do that with a Steam Machine, but I'm not sure yet. If you can, I agree. It seems Steam OS is better for optimizing games.

You can outside the Big Picture mode.

 

[DavidGzz]

Yes? I have a MacBook Pro, I don't use it like that but it's possible. Plus didn't they show multi screen setup in Steam Machine video?

I guess I missed that part. I haven't watched everything yet.

Thanks, guys.

 

[asdasdasdbb]

I figure the Steam Machine is mainly for Valve's GAAS games, and not for the latest AAA console ports.

 

[MidGenRefresh]

We have to actually see how SteamOS works. I am pretty sure it comes also with a desktop mode....which should let you game on one monitor and looking vids on another. But big point of SteamOS will be the BigPicture mode for the couch people.

We've known how SteamOS works for years now. It's the same OS that powers the Deck.

 

[simpatico]

The specs were hand crafted to suit Half Life 3. The biggest coup HL3 will start in the industry is optimization. How did Valve do that with such little processing power?

 

[Magic Carpet]

They say that Steam OS has fixed stutter struggle. So it's got that going for it. I don't notice it as much on the steam deck.

 

[nkarafo]

The specs were hand crafted to suit Half Life 3. The biggest coup HL3 will start in the industry is optimization. How did Valve do that with such little processing power?

 

[MidGenRefresh]

I figure the Steam Machine is mainly for Valve's GAAS games, and not for the latest AAA console ports.

Top played games on Steam Deck in the last year:

Steam Charts

Top selling and top played games across Steam

store.steampowered.com

You can play on it pretty much whatever you like. Same will apply to the desktop.

 

[pudel]

We've known how SteamOS works for years now. It's the same OS that powers the Deck.

Yeah, but SteamOS was only ever recommended for handhelds. This now their first real "desktop" SteamOS. Maybe some things changed. I dont know...i am curious.

 

[Hector Hall]

The most used gpu on steam is a 3060 8gig. Most gamers play in 1080p.

In console only Nintendo Switch 2 gamers play in 1080p.

In any case, this standard is standard today, IDK how they pretend it will hold up in some years.

 

[CentralScrutinizer]

In console only Nintendo Switch 2 gamers play in 1080p.

In any case, this standard is standard today, IDK how they pretend it will hold up in some years.

How many modern AAA games are actually "4K" on PS5 and XSX? The answer is very few because most modern games have absolute dogshit image quality on consoles.

 

[Hector Hall]

It's pretty obvious PC games nowadays are more bloated than ever.

But what if the STEAM machine actually becomes a huge success? Then developers will absolutely have to optimize their their PC ports instead of letting the hardware brute force their job for them. They won't afford their games to run like shit on the successful STEAM machine, will they?

And i don't think this will regress visuals or anything. It will only mean that games will have better performance at lower specs without needing a PC that's 2X more powerful than a current console to run games at console settings. You will still be able to enable path tracing on your fancy 5090 or run games at 4K/120fps on it.

People must really accept that direct sales machines that don't have commercial presence in stores or general online shopping (Amazon etc) won't do great numbers.

A million or 1.5 each year, 9-10 lifetime in a best case scenario.

 

[SScorpio]

Yeah, but SteamOS was only ever recommended for handhelds. This now their first real "desktop" SteamOS. Maybe some things changed. I dont know...i am curious.

Steam OS launched on the original Steam Machines that were desktops. Steam OS 3 focused on a completely controller driven interface which works well in handheld mode, but also great on a large display like a TV.

Multiple monitors and desktop mode never went away. Once you switch into desktop mode, Steam functions just like a normal desktop application and gives you the same experience as running it normally on Windows.

 

[Brakum]

I find that hilarious! I remember PC players shitting on Console for "holding PC back" but now this thing which is weaker that base PS5 is going help PC now….how times change.

To me consoles making games worse was never about the specs inside the box. It's the controller. The accommodation of controllers is what's making PC games worse.

Like i tried some MMO's that also exist on console and immediately decided i will never play an MMO that isn't PC exclusive, or at least mouse and keyboard exclusive.

Imagine only having like 12 spells, that controllers could handle more technically, but the learning curve would be too high, or at least they think so so they limit it.
Imagine not being able to keybind every fucking thing i want and instead i get like 2-4 slots where i can put consumables.
Imagine having to stop playing the game for literally everything because floating menus dont work well on controllers. Got a new item, what is it? Well let me go hide behind this tree because i need to open a full screen menu to open my bags. Got a new skill point, let me hide behind this rock to open a full screen menu with the skill tree. Need to read the quest beyond the goal that's in my hud? Let me hide behind this tree because i need to open a full screen menu to read it. Need to check my map, let me hide behind this rock to open a full screen menu to check the map. Friend came online and i want to whisper him, let me hide behind this tree to open a full screen social menu to do it. It is absurd. Even if some of those are floating menus, they usually dont let you walk while you have it open because controllers cant do that well, they either control your menu or your character.

Every little task you have to do the game makes you stop playing the game in order to do it. You know when i equip gear, invest talent points, read quests, sort my bags, check my map and all that stuff? while playing the game. Either while going from A to B or even while fighting mobs. The full screen menus alone make the inferior so much inferior, for everyone because no one can be bothered to do the best experience for both, that the game isn't worth playing on a PC.

And im not a controller hater, in fact, most games i play on a controller. But if you cant be bothered to give PC players an experience worthy of mouse and keyboard, then you dont deserve my money.

 

[pudel]

Steam OS launched on the original Steam Machines that were desktops. Steam OS 3 focused on a completely controller driven interface which works well in handheld mode, but also great on a large display like a TV.

Multiple monitors and desktop mode never went away. Once you switch into desktop mode, Steam functions just like a normal desktop application and gives you the same experience as running it normally on Windows.

Sounds great to me.

 

[RoboFu]

In console only Nintendo Switch 2 gamers play in 1080p.

In any case, this standard is standard today, IDK how they pretend it will hold up in some years.

its not a guess. and no most switch 2 games are not in 1080 you weirdo fanboy.

Steam Hardware & Software Survey

 

[Felessan]

That's because you have it backwards. The PS5 and XSX matching PC hardware that was launched within the last year from the console. It was the CPU that was the oldest, but the replacement Zen 3 was launched something like 3 days before the consoles hit shelves. While RDNA2 was PC cards released right around when the consoles did.

The PS4 and XBONE had extremely underpowered CPUs. When they launched my PC was more powerful than either console and it was already several years old at that point. Previously consoles would launch and be more powerful than the average PC, then through the long life of the console the PC would catch up and then overtake the console. By having nerfed hardware from the start, PCs were more than capable of providing a better experience across the entire generation.

With PS4 cross gen, many games continued to run well on PC. It will be even more pronounced with PS5 and PS6 cross gen. If the Sony handheld really is PS5 or slightly below levels of performance, then the Steam Machine should be fine for the entire generation.

We saw a streak of bad ports recently, even from Sony who hired a specialized PC team for this, and it bound to get worse
You and many other illiterate PC bros naively thinks that CPU and GPU name is all that matters. Architecture is more than that.
PS5 gen have 12-13Gb of unified fast memory (more than average on PC) and standardized IO stack to fast SSD (still not common on PC side). PC architecture still build around HDD as a core of IO and as it was problem for consoles last gen, it is ongoing problem for PC this gen (traversal stutters are IO bottleneck) - no one will build 3 version of game for PC - for HDD, for ssd and for nvme, so it's least common denominator for IO stack, causing problems.
Next gen both RT and ML expected to use tailormade efficient and most important - standartized solutions for consoles and PC again will be trapped in the zoo of configurations some of them from generation ago and "latest feature set" on par of consoles is a very small minority (thus largely ignored during porting).

 

[SEGAvangelist]

I said this about the Series S a long time ago and feel the same way here. This is a good thing as hardware cost are just so stupidly high. I'd rather publishers to continue to support the current hardware instead of looking forward way too soon.

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

The hardware would have to sell gangbusters, which it won't because it's running linux natively

 

[James0007]

People complaining about specs like indie games that run on a potato haven't been giving AAA the run around for years now. Get the price right and I'm jumping right in to go alongside my steam deck.

It's got enough grunt to run decent looking software - imho once we hit PS4 onwards we've had more than enough graphical fidelity as we press further into diminishing returns. The fact that games like borderlands 4 will hit below 30fps on a 5090 tell you that more grunt does not make better looking (or more importantly, better playing) games.

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

Why?

There are already plenty of under powered machines on the market and none of them have pushed this optimization "Come to Gaben" moment.

You will get a "runs on steam machine" category in Steam much like we have for the Steam deck.

 

[Magic Carpet]

People must really accept that direct sales machines that don't have commercial presence in stores or general online shopping (Amazon etc) won't do great numbers.

A million or 1.5 each year, 9-10 lifetime in a best case scenario.

I wonder about this, This year for the first time ever I bought my new iPhone 17 online and had it shipped to me. Usually that's something I get in a store and I didn't even bother.
Retail is nice to be able to go into a store and grab a box off the shelf, but lately nothing is ever on the shelf.

 

[Zacfoldor]

In console only Nintendo Switch 2 gamers play in 1080p.

In any case, this standard is standard today, IDK how they pretend it will hold up in some years.

Actually I game in 4k on my Switch 2.

Most PC gamers haven't until recently due to not having 4k HDR local dimming monitors. For nearly a decade 1440p or ultrawide was recommended for PC gaming because 4k wasn't worth the squeeze and half decent 4k monitors were ultra expensive. 4K HDR on console has been the standard since PS4 Pro released due to TV adoption of those two technologies. Most PC gamers don't have real HDR on their monitors right now, since most PC gamers are casuals on potatoes and nice affordable 4k HDR monitors are only now becoming the norm for steam users. I'm still running ultrawide and my rig is elite. People running that BenQ fake hdr and thinking they are seeing the game as intended, they are not.

 

[SHAKEZ]

Incompetent devs can't be forced to git gud.

 

[mckmas8808]

GabeCube specs more or less follow the most used hardware in the steam survey, so i assume every dev already does that (or whatever concept of optimization they follow)

Exactly! The only bad thing about the GabeCube is that it's not really future proof. But......if priced right ($500 for the 512 GB version), then it will be a great thing.

 

[Sethbacca]

Wouldn't the specs on this thing be pretty close to the rumored Canis PS6 Lite box?

 

[IAmRei]

switch was selling like crazy, it only slowed down after 150m+ units xD

yeah, because exclusive kills as well as long as done right.
but steam machine is different with nintendo switch series, so the answer IMO is still 50:50 for their success, but if the big AAA studios will do some downgrade for SM, i'm not sure it change their mind for that. beside as we know, devs mostly doesnt have much time to test lot of hardware or such, or maybe they are just lazy or something else.

 

[CrimsonTide]

The usual RTX 3060 is 12GB, one of NVIDIA's greatest mistakes along with the GTX 1080 Ti.

My PC still rocking a 1080ti and it's a 1080p BEAST in 2025. Paired with a delicious 4770k i7

 

[MisterXDTV]

My PC still rocking a 1080ti and it's a 1080p BEAST in 2025. Paired with a delicious 4770k i7

1080ti is still faster than the 7600M in this Steam Machine

 

[PeteBull]

yeah, because exclusive kills as well as long as done right.
but steam machine is different with nintendo switch series, so the answer IMO is still 50:50 for their success, but if the big AAA studios will do some downgrade for SM, i'm not sure it change their mind for that. beside as we know, devs mostly doesnt have much time to test lot of hardware or such, or maybe they are just lazy or something else.

Every1 on the internet agrees wiiu was utter failure and it sold over 13m units, will gabecube sell that many and after how many years it could reach that amount? Hell we know xbox series was failure too and it sold around 30m units by now, and devs still sometimes skip xbox series versions or only do that version long months after ps5/pc.

Devs made/making downports(heavily downgraded versions of games) for og switch and now switch2 but those consoles got record breaking sales numbers, even brand new switch2 already broke 10m units and thats not data from today but from end of sept so 2 months earlier, probably by the end of 2025 it will be at/above 15m units...

 

[CrimsonTide]

1080ti is still faster than the 7600M in this Steam Machine

NVIDIA showed us the secret sauce to decade long lasting cards and got scared to death about a good quality card and people not having to upgrade yearly

 

[Nvzman]

I'm very baffled by people calling the Steam Machine hardware "weak".

What the fuck would be the purpose of the Steam Machine if it was some crazy ass mini-pc? If it was a $1200+ device with a 9070xt and a 9800x3D it'd be effectively a niche pre-built made by Valve. The current semi-custom specs it has now (some sort of customized RX 7400/7600M + Ryzen 7600) was clearly done to deliver an affordable entry-level device for SteamOS without being as paltry for docked play as the Steam Deck is.

If its a sub-$500 device its completely acceptable for the power its delivering, the CPU alone is far stronger than the PS5 and Series X (the IPC gains from Zen2 to Zen4 are massive) and the GPU is not designed around 4K and thats fine; SteamOS has great built-in scaling options, I think a 7600M could easily deliver 1080p/60fps in a lot of newer titles, which from a living room environment is fine.

 

[IAmRei]

Every1 on the internet agrees wiiu was utter failure and it sold over 13m units, will gabecube sell that many and after how many years it could reach that amount? Hell we know xbox series was failure too and it sold around 30m units by now, and devs still sometimes skip xbox series versions or only do that version long months after ps5/pc.

Devs made/making downports(heavily downgraded versions of games) for og switch and now switch2 but those consoles got record breaking sales numbers, even brand new switch2 already broke 10m units and thats not data from today but from end of sept so 2 months earlier, probably by the end of 2025 it will be at/above 15m units...

what i mean with 50:50 is not NSW btw, i mean SM, as You know I'm nintendo guy : ))

 

[SScorpio]

its not a guess. and no most switch 2 games are not in 1080 you weirdo fanboy.

So the games aren't running at 1080p in handheld mode on it's 1080p screen? That was the original argument.

We saw a streak of bad ports recently, even from Sony who hired a specialized PC team for this, and it bound to get worse
You and many other illiterate PC bros naively thinks that CPU and GPU name is all that matters. Architecture is more than that.
PS5 gen have 12-13Gb of unified fast memory (more than average on PC) and standardized IO stack to fast SSD (still not common on PC side). PC architecture still build around HDD as a core of IO and as it was problem for consoles last gen, it is ongoing problem for PC this gen (traversal stutters are IO bottleneck) - no one will build 3 version of game for PC - for HDD, for ssd and for nvme, so it's least common denominator for IO stack, causing problems.
Next gen both RT and ML expected to use tailormade efficient and most important - standartized solutions for consoles and PC again will be trapped in the zoo of configurations some of them from generation ago and "latest feature set" on par of consoles is a very small minority (thus largely ignored during porting).

PS5 is 16GB of GDDR6, while the Pro has 16GB of GDDR6, and 2GB of DDR5 which is used by to offload OS things from the GDDR6 pool.

GDDR6 has extremely high bandwidth and is what the 8GB of video memory on the Steam Machine is. But while GDDR has high bandwidth, it has higher latency than regular DDR which is why PCs don't use it for system memory.

Using solid state storage was standard in PC long before the PS5 came out. And the Steam Machine has NVME which is direct PCIe connected storage, exactly how the PS5 works with it's dedicated PCIe lanes for storage to the Zen CPU. The secret sauce of the PS5 is a custom module that's dedicated to hardware decompression. The extreme bandwidth of NVME is lost in most games. There's a lot of overhead involved with parsing through the games files to load levels. Sony has been optimizing this which is why there's the instant loading. The way the PS5 can access storage memory exists on PCs as well. It's just not a commonly used feature.

The Steam Machine is RDNA 3 which has raytracing hardware. But it doesn't handle pathtracing well. But the base PS5 doesn't even have raytracing support that performs at the level of the Steam Machine will. So again cross gen which will be most of the PS6's life span will let games play just fine. Tech Illiterate console users who think they know everything don't understand just how flexible gaming can be. Hardware generations are dead, the Steam Machine isn't targetting being a top end system, I'd be very surprised is anything released during the PS6's life cycle wasn't playable on the Steam Machine, it won't look as pretty, but it will run. It will be in about a decade when the PS7 comes out that the Steam Machine would need to be upgraded.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

It's not weak though. It's within 8% of base PS5's performance more or less, or are you saying the PS5 is weak too?

I at least agree that, like Steam Deck, Steam Machine should be able to help with standardizing game software optimizations for more modest spec configs. Which in turn could encourage better coding habits and less sloppiness on the part of some programmers who just expect hardware overhead to be present for brute-forcing past bad code.

And at the very least, it gets further consideration of Linux support in the mix, which is always great.

 

[StueyDuck]

I cant wait for steam machine to finally solve the meaning of life.

 

[pudel]

And at the very least, it gets further consideration of Linux support in the mix, which is always great.

This is nearly the best thing of this whole story.