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[xXRedxSlugXx]

In terms of cost, I'm confused by Valve's brief that this will be priced like a low spec PC and not a console.

The Steam Deck is also a PC, and can be docked, and sold by Valve for as little as £249.

Linus Tech Tips said Valve have to consider that this is a PC, so they can't price it too low as that will attract none gamers who simply want a cheap PC but won't put money in to the Steam store. That doesn't add up to me as the Deck is the exact same thing.

If this thing is £349-£399 it will be a great product. If it's £549-£599 it's just a product with no purpose. Valve's own dockable handheld would be massively undercutting it.

The Steam Deck is a gaming forward handheld device (also a PC), the Steam Machine is just a PC, if its too cheap people could easily buy them for whatever (non-gaming task) and Valve would never see a cent past the initial sale. They can't rely on sales on Steam to recoup losses on hardware like a console can. Also whoever was saying $400 for the Steam Machine is crazy lol. This thing is gonna be $799 minimum, it comes with the controller remember.

 

[BlueManifest]

In terms of cost, I'm confused by Valve's brief that this will be priced like a low spec PC and not a console.

The Steam Deck is also a PC, and can be docked, and sold by Valve for as little as £249.

Linus Tech Tips said Valve have to consider that this is a PC, so they can't price it too low as that will attract none gamers who simply want a cheap PC but won't put money in to the Steam store. That doesn't add up to me as the Deck is the exact same thing.

If this thing is £349-£399 it will be a great product. If it's £549-£599 it's just a product with no purpose. Valve's own dockable handheld would be massively undercutting it.

Based on its performance alone it needs to be the same price as ps5 at most, a little less at minimum

 

[BlueManifest]

The Steam Deck is a gaming forward handheld device (also a PC), the Steam Machine is just a PC, if its too cheap people could easily buy them for whatever (non-gaming task) and Valve would never see a cent past the initial sale. They can't rely on sales on Steam to recoup losses on hardware like a console can. Also whoever was saying $400 for the Steam Machine is crazy lol. This thing is gonna be $799 minimum, it comes with the controller remember.

If controller is included it should be no more than 500

 

[xXRedxSlugXx]

If controller is included it should be no more than 500

Valve has already been quoted saying, its not going to be console priced, its going to entry level PC priced. Insinuating it's MORE expensive, unless they are being cheeky and are somehow undercutting console price.

 

[BlueManifest]

Valve has already been quoted saying, its not going to be console priced, its going to entry level PC priced. Insinuating it's MORE expensive, unless they are being cheeky and are somehow undercutting console price.

I thought the whole point of a company mass producing 1 product was so that people could get cheaper than building it themselves

If it costs more than ps5 then someone can buy a pre built pc online

 

[xXRedxSlugXx]

I thought the whole point of a company mass producing 1 product was so that people could get cheaper than building it themselves

If it costs more than ps5 then someone can buy a pre built pc online

I know this is just one data point but I quickly pulled up a pre-built (Cyberpower) with an AMD 7600cpu 6 core, 16GB or ram, 1TB storage and a RX7600xt and its $899. Feel free to show me the prebuilt for $400 - $500. Maybe you can find one? (I searched some more and quickly found 2 more, both around $1,000 (same specs).

 

[BlueManifest]

I know this is just one data point but I quickly pulled up a pre-built (Cyberpower) with an AMD 7600cpu 6 core, 16GB or ram, 1TB storage and a RX7600xt and its $899. Feel free to show me the prebuilt for $400 - $500. Maybe you can find one? (I search some more and quickly found 2 more, both around $1,000 (same specs).

I said if it was more than that they could

Does this statement include the ps5 pro too? It's 700 so it can't be 700 or it will be priced like a console, and the ps5 pro is much better

 

[phant0m]

I know this is just one data point but I quickly pulled up a pre-built (Cyberpower) with an AMD 7600cpu 6 core, 16GB or ram, 1TB storage and a RX7600xt and its $899. Feel free to show me the prebuilt for $400 - $500. Maybe you can find one? (I searched some more and quickly found 2 more, both around $1,000 (same specs).

It's not an RX7600 XT though, it's an RX 7400 non-XT. Big difference

The Steam Deck is a gaming forward handheld device (also a PC), the Steam Machine is just a PC, if its too cheap people could easily buy them for whatever (non-gaming task) and Valve would never see a cent past the initial sale. They can't rely on sales on Steam to recoup losses on hardware like a console can. Also whoever was saying $400 for the Steam Machine is crazy lol. This thing is gonna be $799 minimum, it comes with the controller remember.

At $799 it would be incredibly poor value. The PS5 Pro runs circles around it from a performance perspective.

 

[Brisal73]

Valve should look to price it around $500-$600, lose some money on the cost of the SM and make up the price lost on the eventual steam game purchases.

 

[Banjo64]

The Steam Deck is a gaming forward handheld device (also a PC), the Steam Machine is just a PC, if its too cheap people could easily buy them for whatever (non-gaming task) and Valve would never see a cent past the initial sale. They can't rely on sales on Steam to recoup losses on hardware like a console can.

Yes, but you can also just buy a Deck from Valve for £249 and the official dock for £69 and use it exactly like a Steam Machine or other PC. So why's Valve making a distinction here?

 

[xXRedxSlugXx]

It's not an RX7600 XT though, it's an RX 7400 non-XT. Big difference



At $799 it would be incredibly poor value. The PS5 Pro runs circles around it from a performance perspective.

I agree but they already stated its not console priced, what else could that mean?

Yes, but you can also just buy a Deck from Valve for £249 and the official dock for £69 and use it exactly like a Steam Machine or other PC. So why's Valve making a distinction here?

I think the reasoning is they don't want someone just buying up a bunch of PC's in mass for a business and them getting a good deal on hardware with no intention of using steam. Steam Deck is less powerful and definitely clunkier to have setup like that. At least that's how I see it.

 

[TwiztidElf]

Seriously, this is the best news all year.

Not only is this completely awesome for gaming, but it is completely awesome for personal computing generally.

Valve are having their Sony 2013 moment. Just absolutely kicking the living shit out of Microsoft.
You love to see it.

 

[phant0m]

I agree but they already stated its not console priced, what else could that mean?

Cheaper!

very doubtful, but if they dropped this at $399 it would be a real disruptor

 

[Banjo64]

I agree but they already stated its not console priced, what else could that mean?


I think the reasoning is they don't want someone just buying up a bunch of PC's in mass for a business and them getting a good deal on hardware with no intention of using steam. Steam Deck is less powerful and definitely clunkier to have setup like that. At least that's how I see it.

Really good point. I remember the PS3 super computers that companies were building (the US Navy may have had one too) - I didn't even think about that.

 

[xXRedxSlugXx]

Honestly, I just wish I had a reason to buy one lol. I'm already running a significantly faster PC and dual booting CachyOS (Linux) and Windows 11 (In my living room). I also use a Quest 3 for VR so this announcement has been incredibly exciting and sad at the same time. At least I can still be hyped for the controller!

On a side note I was messing around with the Steam VR theatre view stuff in my Quest 3 and went down a crazy rabbit hole. I was running my actual N64 (through a retrotink 4k and into my 4k capture card) streamed to my Quest 3 inside of the models of the levels of Mario 64. What a time to be alive lol.

 

[BlueManifest]

Cheaper!

very doubtful, but if they dropped this at $399 it would be a real disruptor

400 without controller 500 with

500 without controller 600 with should be the max but the first choice would really get them noticed

 

[Robot Carnival]

just thought of something and this might have already been answered somewhere, but since the Steam Machine is running on SteamOS, does that mean some of the games with anti-cheat won't be able to run on it? for example, Destiny 2 is still not playable on the Steam Deck even right now. would that be an issue? I suppose you can still install Windows on it and go through that, but that seems counterintuitive.

 

[Banjo64]

just thought of something and this might have already been answered somewhere, but since the Steam Machine is running on SteamOS, does that mean some of the games with anti-cheat won't be able to run on it? for example, Destiny 2 is still not playable on the Steam Deck even right now. would that be an issue? I suppose you can still install Windows on it and go through that, but that seems counterintuitive.

Yeah - won't run.

 

[lastmessiah]

I thought the whole point of a company mass producing 1 product was so that people could get cheaper than building it themselves

If it costs more than ps5 then someone can buy a pre built pc online

Why do people keep trying to compare this to PS5? People who play on Steam don't give a shit about PlayStation.

 

[BlueManifest]

Why do people keep trying to compare this to PS5? People who play on Steam don't give a shit about PlayStation.

Performance comparison don't want to pay more for something that's the same performance wise esp when that thing is 5 years old

 

[lastmessiah]

Performance comparison don't want to pay more for something that's the same performance wise

It's not the same. PS5 doesn't have Steam. It is irrelevant.

 

[BlueManifest]

It's not the same. PS5 doesn't have Steam. It is irrelevant.

And Steam doesn't have PSN and PSN didn't have Xbox live, I'm only looking at performance

 

[lastmessiah]

And Steam doesn't have PSN and PSN didn't have Xbox live, I'm only looking at performance

The Steam Machine has not been released yet and there are no benchmarks available. There is no "performance" to "look at".

 

[BlueManifest]

The Steam Machine has not been released yet and there are no benchmarks available. There is no "performance" to "look at".

It's easy to make good guess on what they showed

 

[lastmessiah]

It's easy to make good guess on what they showed

And it would still be irrelevant because the platform is what is being sold. This is a Steam Machine for playing games on Steam OS.

 

[Haint]

Not "marketing points" — I extensively quoted the actual DigitalFoundry take on it — which is

- choice of OLED/LCD is not about price, so much as it is technical trade offs
- Valve targets unusually low persistence, heavy focus on this for motion clarify and comfort
- to get these levels of microsecond persistence, OLED tech just "isn't there yet"
- why? Because of its inherent hold-based rendering, and you can't fix that with extremely fast backlight toggle as you can on LCD;
- instead with OLED you'd have to insert a lot of black frames — not even every other but more like 20 per frame to get to this level
- doing that reduces the effective light dramatically, so with that and pancake lenses, you just can't can't reach the level needed with current OLED tech
- indeed this means worse contrast and black levels, but it's a distinct choice and perfectly in line with Valve's longstanding emphasis on motion clarity over other factors

Their analysis of it is perfectly accurate, and you just can't accept the idea that OLED isn't actually a silver bullet, and that its lovely advantages in contrast are not totalizing.

I think it's totally reasonable to disagree with Valve's choice and where they drew the line on different aspects. But to claim it can only be LCD due to their cheapness, or that OLED is better in all aspects, is factually wrong.

You are conflating mOLED and standard AMOLED, they're not the same thing and do not share the same limitations. I can see how this would be confusing if DF are just generically referencing "OLED". AMOLED is indeed not usable with pancake optics, they require fresnels due to light constraints. All frenel AMOLED headsets already (and always have) used low persistence strobing that displays black for the vast majority of the frame. The best example of an AMOLED is ironically enough still the OG Vive, which aside from the low resolution and primitive first-gen optics, still has the best "display image quality" of any non-mOLED headset. It reached about 200 nits, the early binned displays had basically no mura, and the "raised blacks" and "black smear" were non-issues that didnt even qualify as minor annoyances. PSVR2 on the other hand is the worst example, lots of mura from poor QC and Sony's required rock bottom pricing, lots of persistence and smear from being overdriven to HDR-like brightness levels. For all it's shortcomings though, it's still vastly preferable to these low end global lit IPS panels in Q3 and Frame.

These tradeoffs do not apply to high end mOLEDs that aren't being over driven. High end panels are capable of obscene light output levels, and are perfectly capable of making up for the light lost to pancakes and low persistence strobing. Again, we're talking about 5000+ nit panels only needing to deliver 100 nits to the eye. They do not have meaningful issues with persistence, raised blacks, or smearing at 100 nits. The reason Valve isn't using them is absolutely cost and availability, they're expensive and right now Sony's really the only one capable of making them, though I think Samsung and maybe BOE may have just started or are close to starting.

 

[BlueManifest]

Think if Sony released the ps6 6 years after ps5 and it had roughly the same power as ps5 but it cost more than ps5

From a performance stand point this is what steam machine will feel like if it costs more than ps5, or if it cost more than ps5 pro even worse

 

[Axelon]

Prices I'm guessing.
Steam Machine: $499
Steam Controller: $79.99
Steam Frame: $799

Steam Machine must keep the price down. It's slightly weaker than a PS5, doesn't have a disc drive and uses some off the shelf PC parts.

Steam Controller will be priced around the Dual Sense. If it's priced too high, no one will give it a chance. Dual Sense MSRP is $74.99 in comparison.

Steam Frame is a more advanced Quest 3 basically. The controllers and base stations were part of what drove up the Index prices, they weren't cheap. I think they'll go for a more customer friendly price this time around. Quest 3 MSRP is $499 for the 128gb model. Eye tracking, wifi router dongle, current times and what not will drive the price up.

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

Steam Frame: $799

yeah I estimate roughly this too, maybe up to $850

 

[BlueManifest]

Prices I'm guessing.
Steam Machine: $499
Steam Controller: $79.99
Steam Frame: $799

Steam Machine must keep the price down. It's slightly weaker than a PS5, doesn't have a disc drive and uses some off the shelf PC parts.

Steam Controller will be priced around the Dual Sense. If it's priced too high, no one will give it a chance. Dual Sense MSRP is $74.99 in comparison.

Steam Frame is a more advanced Quest 3 basically. The controllers and base stations were part of what drove up the Index prices, they weren't cheap. I think they'll go for a more customer friendly price this time around. Quest 3 MSRP is $499 for the 128gb model. Eye tracking, wifi router dongle, current times and what not will drive the price up.

And maybe get them all in 1 package for maybe a 100-200 discount

 

[StreetsofBeige]

How do specs compare to SX/PS5/PS5 Pro?

 

[dcx4610]

I saw one video where Valve said the Frame price should be in line with the current Index. I'm guessing $999. Anything less than that will be nice. I have a feeling the SKUs on the Steam Machine are going to be a mess. I also heard them say "If you choose to buy the bundle with the controller". I mean I guess it's nice just to be able to buy the system on its own but multiple SKUs rarely work in a retail setting. You can do that directly through Steam but hopefully they'll have a retail model too.

 

[awwr999999]

Valve should've pumped all of this money into turning Debian into a better gaming OS.
Moving users off of Windows will drop the cost of gaming by allowing users to get better performance from 'old' HW.
Between laptops and desktops there's no shortage of affordable devices that Steam can run on.

 

[ResilientBanana]

The VR headset is significantly worse than the worst expectations, it's basically a Quest 3 two years late with the smallest IPD range of any consumer headset to date. 2K bargain bin global backlit LCD's and black and white AR/XR in 2026 is comically and offensively bad. I expected LCD's, but figured they'd at least step up to 2.5K - 3K displays. Dogshit all around, thing better be like $299, otherwise there's no reason for this to exist with the now aged Quest 3 and Quest 3S on market.

It's not tied to meta

 

[DeltaPolarBear]

I think this is perfect for me.

I have been wanting to buy a new PC for VR for some time, but price had been going crazy. I also didn't want to overpay.

If Valve can basically guarantee that Steam Machine and Steam Frame will work together, then I will be happy to buy them for the convenience. Sure, i could spend more for higher quality, but I just need "good enough".

Eye tracking and other details means they can get more out of the hardware for VR than one thinks. And if this means my first step outside of Windows, even better.

Now, the issue is the "Australian Tax..."

 

[Melchiah]

Even Valve knows symmetrical pad layout is superior.

 

[MrAlwaysRight]

This thing is DOA compared to PS5 unless it's £350/$400 (and that's overpriced) seriously underpowered piece of hardware, 8gb vram in 2026 with claims of 4k 60, lol.

 

[Gubaldo]

 

[DeltaPolarBear]

This thing is DOA compared to PS5 unless it's £350/$400 (and that's overpriced) seriously underpowered piece of hardware, 8gb vram in 2026 with claims of 4k 60, lol.

Power doesn't mean anything when it is locked down and has limited functionality. The value proposition is not the same.

 

[scydrex]

$399 seems expensive.

What about Series S 512gb?
It's weaker. Launched at $300 now it's $400.
What do you think about that?

 

[Lupin3]

I'd probably buy two of this one. Love it!

 

[Jakk]

The Steam Machine has not been released yet and there are no benchmarks available. There is no "performance" to "look at".

The specs are known, so I'm not sure what are you getting at. It's pretty easy to make a guess where it ends up performance-wise.

As my PS5 is mostly collecting dust lately, I would actually like a plug and play box that can play my Steam library on TV, but this thing is obviously going to struggle with newer games at 4K even with upscaling. I might get it anyway, if the price is reasonable.

 

[Wolzard]

It's not an RX7600 XT though, it's an RX 7400 non-XT. Big difference



At $799 it would be incredibly poor value. The PS5 Pro runs circles around it from a performance perspective.

Valve engineers said it's similar to the RX 7600, but with some adjustments that will be made via the SteamOS to achieve slightly better performance. I think this is mentioned in the Digital Foundry or Gamer Nexus videos.

 

[phant0m]

It's a Navi 33 (RX7600) cut down from 32 CUs to 28. Exact core count as an RX 7400, which just launched as an OEM part back in August. Clocked higher? Since they haven't shared the rest yet, probably won't know until it's out

RDNA 3 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[MidGenRefresh]

I hope they will make this happen. The design looks like something straight out of the consoles of yesteryear.

 

[hinch7]

It's a Navi 33 (RX7600) cut down from 32 CUs to 28. Exact core count as an RX 7400, which just launched as an OEM part back in August. Clocked higher? Since they haven't shared the rest yet, probably won't know until it's out

RDNA 3 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

More like an OC'd 7600M with higher TDP with 110W vs 90W. And assuming we get more performance from Linux on SteamOS with Proton over Windows.. I can see this approaching desktop 7600 performance.

 

[phant0m]

More like an OC'd 7600M with higher TDP with 110W vs 90W.

Ahh you're prob right on that. I didn't even look at the mobile skus since this is supposed to be a 'desktop'

Still think they reallllly should've gotten/waited for a 9060M / RDNA4 chip

 

[genesisblock]

The stick spacing on that controller looks terrible. The shape - everything. It looks like a thousand hand-cramps compressed into thirty minutes of gameplay... like instant carpal-tunnel.

And the D-Pad on those VR controllers? Like... that makes so little sense.

I hope these are fake.

I also thought something similar with the original Steam Controller which turned out to be surprisingly comfortable, like the pad is neatly hugged with your hands. It's the face button placement that felt very awkward then I simply cannot get used to. This new design simply switched the positions. And I feel the track pads are just fine where they are without getting in the way.

 

[Bry0]

Ahh you're prob right on that. I didn't even look at the mobile skus since this is supposed to be a 'desktop'

Still think they reallllly should've gotten/waited for a 9060M / RDNA4 chip

They're all Navi 33, but this definitely came from the parts bin of unsold mobile GPUs at AMD. The thing is, they can probably get aggressive with cost on this in a way they simply couldn't using a rdna4 chip.

 

[Humdinger]

I haven't been excited about a game or hardware announcement in years. This is doing it for me. I think I'm the target market -- a long-time console gamer tired of the major players, curious about PC gaming but averse to the hassles. This will be a easy entry point. The specs don't worry me, nor does the price. Bring on the Gabecube.