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[Horseganador]

To say it has weak specifications is an understatement; launching a PC in 2026 with a power level between a Series S and a PS5 (closer to the latter according to DF) is falling far short. At least I hope it's cheap.

 

[viveks86]

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

Why wait till 26 when we know it's 42

 

[SScorpio]

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

The one that is supposed to be just under a base PS5? Yes, that's why I don't see why people are saying this is under powered. People are wanking off about the Switch 2 which has less CPU performance than the Steam Deck. And the Steam Machine will have a much more powerful GPU than the Switch 2 which does "so" well at 4K when docked. Why couldn't the Steam Machine work? The specs say with FSR, not FSR3, FSR. AMD is pushing out FSR4 which is comparable to DLSS to RDNA3. And it's not like the PS5 isn't upscaling most games from 1080p or 1440p (if we're lucky).

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...

Devs don't need to support the Steam Machine though. As long as they aren't putting in some anticheat or crazy DRM that requires WIndows only, the games will just run. Go check required specs on the latest games. Many are a GTX 1060, with some starting to need an RTX 2070 which are lower than a base PS5. The Steam Machine will run any of those without problem.

 

[kevboard]

would be nice... but for that to happen it would need to sell a good chunk of units so that it's worth it for devs fo optimise for it.

 

[SScorpio]

would be nice... but for that to happen it would need to sell a good chunk of units so that it's worth it for devs fo optimise for it.

Estimates for the Steam Deck early 2025 was around 6 million units. That was enough for devs to optimize for it.

To say it has weak specifications is an understatement; launching a PC in 2026 with a power level between a Series S and a PS5 (closer to the latter according to DF) is falling far short. At least I hope it's cheap.

At what price point? If it's $500 then it's much better than other retail systems in that price range that just have an APU.

 

[Sethbacca]

The one that is supposed to be just under a base PS5? Yes, that's why I don't see why people are saying this is under powered.

I think this thing will give us a good indication of what to expect from PS6 lite and the PSP/Vita2 or whatever the hell they end up calling it.

It should be a perfectly serviceable box for the people who can't tell the difference between PS5/PS5 Pro games. I.E the majority of the market.

 

[PeteBull]

The one that is supposed to be just under a base PS5? Yes, that's why I don't see why people are saying this is under powered. People are wanking off about the Switch 2 which has less CPU performance than the Steam Deck. And the Steam Machine will have a much more powerful GPU than the Switch 2 which does "so" well at 4K when docked. Why couldn't the Steam Machine work? The specs say with FSR, not FSR3, FSR. AMD is pushing out FSR4 which is comparable to DLSS to RDNA3. And it's not like the PS5 isn't upscaling most games from 1080p or 1440p (if we're lucky).


Devs don't need to support the Steam Machine though. As long as they aren't putting in some anticheat or crazy DRM that requires WIndows only, the games will just run. Go check required specs on the latest games. Many are a GTX 1060, with some starting to need an RTX 2070 which are lower than a base PS5. The Steam Machine will run any of those without problem.

How about it runs something demanding, examples being mgs delta, ff16, cp2077 with pt or wukong with rt, all of them if not maxed then at least on very high and solid stable 60fps minimum(not avg with drops to 40, i want stable 60

 

[kevboard]

Estimates for the Steam Deck early 2025 was around 6 million units. That was enough for devs to optimize for it.

a few indy games did, and like 2 larger titles, but most games are far from optimised for the Deck.

also optimising for the Deck also means optimising for handheld PCs in general, not just 1 of them.
the Steam Machine is just exactly the spec of an average Steam user's PC. so I don't think it will make much on an impract on optimisation.

 

[damidu]

To say it has weak specifications is an understatement; launching a PC in 2026 with a power level between a Series S and a PS5 (closer to the latter according to DF) is falling far short. At least I hope it's cheap.

they already say it wont be priced like console but entry level pc, get ready for $700+
first faceoffs of this anemic potato will be glorious. if its on paper below base ps5, cant imagine on practice. as pc ports are almost never optimized for low-end.

 

[rodrigolfp]

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.

The big difference is that no dev is "obligated" to support this, unlike some current gen consoles.

 

[SScorpio]

a few indy games did, and like 2 larger titles, but most games are far from optimised for the Deck.

also optimising for the Deck also means optimising for handheld PCs in general, not just 1 of them.
the Steam Machine is just exactly the spec of an average Steam user's PC. so I don't think it will make much on an impract on optimisation.

Ya, those small indies like, Baldur's Gate 3, Cyberpunk 2077, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Hogwarts Legacy, should I go on?

It still sets a baseline for devs to target with specific hardware. There will be less excuses when a new game comes out that doesn't run well. If you release a game that runs well on the Steam Machine, then a large number of PC gamers will also have a great experience.

How about it runs something demanding, examples being mgs delta, ff16, cp2077 with pt or wukong with rt, all of them if not maxed then at least on very high and solid stable 60fps minimum(not avg with drops to 40, i want stable 60

No problem, just load up the official Steam OS GeForce Now app that gets you 5080 performance for $20/month. Valve isn't trying to compete with $1,800-2,000 PCs.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

8 gigas of VRam For the Win Forever

 

[hinch7]

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.


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.

Another thing to throw a spanner into the works the PS6 portable is going to be weaker than a base PS5, which is something that game developers may/will have to factor in. And that PS5 is going to still be relevant for many, many years even after PS6's launch; which is estimated to be in and around 2027.

Also I think some of you guys really underestimate how many people are running lower end PC's to play games. Granted I don't expect this to run the latest and upcoming AAA games at high settings. It will suffice for most. The more important aspect is how this is priced. If its like $800+ then that's a non starter tbh. Considering you can probably get even 5060 laptops next year for not that much more, that are way more performant and DiY PC's ofc; that you can probably get better bang for your buck if you're more tech savvy.

While I don't expect this to sell by the truckload I think it will be a nice complementary games device for people already invested in Steam ecosystem and will make for a decent secondary PC, to play some games for the living room including VR. And to play with the least amount of friction and faff when it comes to gaming on PC (even when compared ones with Bazzite installed). Or even as a budget/starter PC for adults buying for themselves and/or spouses, instead of a PlayStation as an affordable PC-like console that pretty much acts as you'd expect from a regular console. Its the QoL that will sell this thing as a whole package. Its like akin to buying a Pixel phone from Google.. You know it will get the most support and updates from the manufacturer. And guys, its Valve. For anyone that has a Steam Deck you kind of get a picture of that they're going for.

 

[rodrigolfp]

Ya, those small indies like, Baldur's Gate 3, Cyberpunk 2077, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Hogwarts Legacy, should I go on?

CP2077 was not optimized for the Deck. They just included a Steam Deck preset post launch and called it a day. And I am pretty sure all those other games did basically the same.

 

[PhillMeCream]

They should have gone 16 gb instead of a measly 8gb

 

[PeteBull]

Ya, those small indies like, Baldur's Gate 3, Cyberpunk 2077, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Hogwarts Legacy, should I go on?

It still sets a baseline for devs to target with specific hardware. There will be less excuses when a new game comes out that doesn't run well. If you release a game that runs well on the Steam Machine, then a large number of PC gamers will also have a great experience.



No problem, just load up the official Steam OS GeForce Now app that gets you 5080 performance for $20/month. Valve isn't trying to compete with $1,800-2,000 PCs.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/hXC2h7

So under 1k usd even with crazy ram prices hike that happened recently(last 2-3 months or so).
And games on it look and run like that:

Obviously cant run everything in 1080p native maxed out in stable 60 but on high/very high its possible since those specs are above ps5pr0(especially if u include rt and ai upscaling, nvidia is at least 1 gen infront), its not possible with gabecube specs(that has lappy rdna3 gpu so basically 2 gens behind that 1k usd pc).

 

[Bojanglez]

A GabeCube as a cheap gaming PC might make sense for budget PC gamers who already own a 1080p/1440p monitor. But this thing is also meant to compete with consoles. Price wise it will likely have to compete with the PS5 and Xbox Series X that are primarily used with 4K HDTV. It's not a good look if the Steam Machine sells for roughly the same price as Sony's and MS' offerings but can't compete visually with them. This thing will not be future proof.

Let's wait and see the final results. If the machine can play games at 4K/60 (by whatever means) and they look serviceable then that maybe enough to some people.

Again, the point isn't just this box, it's the SteamOS platform as a whole, this will be the baseline for that for as a big screen experience. People will be able to build WTF they want for whatever price they want long term.

 

[SScorpio]

CP2077 was not optimized for the Deck. They just included a Steam Deck preset post launch and called it a day. And I am pretty sure all those other games did basically the same.

It's still figuring out the combination that provides the best experience through out the whole game. And even going in an optimizing where performance fell and that benefits all PCs. Baldur's Gate 3's final act had horrible performance on the Deck, there was a lot of rework to make it play well. Hogwarts had major issues when it first came out, now it runs great on Steam Machine level hardware.

They should have gone 16 gb instead of a measly 8gb

Add another $100-150 to the price then. All the armchair quarterbacks know far more than Valve's engineers when it comes to hitting price and performance targets.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/hXC2h7

So under 1k usd even with crazy ram prices hike that happened recently(last 2-3 months or so).
And games on it look and run like that:

Obviously cant run everything in 1080p native maxed out in stable 60 but on high/very high its possible since those specs are above ps5pr0(especially if u include rt and ai upscaling, nvidia is at least 1 gen infront), its not possible with gabecube specs(that has lappy rdna3 gpu so basically 2 gens behind that 1k usd pc).

I helped a coworker build that system over the summer for $940 only that had a 7600 Zen4 versus the 5600 Zen3 in your listing. It's a great rig that rips through games at 3440x1440 21:9 ultra wide.

But you might want to watch your video a little more. Cyberpunk and Doom The Dark Ages both have Pathtracing disabled, and you did ask for it to be on.

 

[Guardian Monkey]

The advantage is just like the deck valve can step in. Also remember it's an out of a box solution for compiles. Unlike normal pc without having to go through other 3rd party sources. I like the idea of a low threshold supported system like this. It benefits higher end systems. The series S proved that.

 

[cireza]

The issue here is having the developers making the same kind of optimizations they can make on consoles, that sell tenths of millions units, and make the effort worth it.

Will this thing sell enough to warrant the effort ?

 

[Dr. Kitty Muffins]

I'm going to expand the RAM in mine.

 

[rodrigolfp]

It's still figuring out the combination that provides the best experience through out the whole game. And even going in an optimizing where performance fell and that benefits all PCs. Baldur's Gate 3's final act had horrible performance on the Deck, there was a lot of rework to make it play well. Hogwarts had major issues when it first came out, now it runs great on Steam Machine level hardware.

I am pretty sure BG3 was performing bad in every platform in the final act and they fixed for all. Same as Hogwarts.

 

[SABRE220]

Devs are barely optimizing their games on consoles, most just throw these games out running on ue with every setting slider on with a 60fps target with little actual granular optimization with drs and basically go fk it. You think devs are going to optimize their games for a pc spec which will be lucky to sell 10m units?

 

[Bojanglez]

The issue here is having the developers making the same kind of optimizations they can make on consoles, that sell tenths of millions units, and make the effort worth it.

Will this thing sell enough to warrant the effort ?

Nobody is forcing them to, but the logic here is that optimizing their game to this (PC hardware spec) is also optimising it for every other similar PC hardware it benefits a wider base of players than just those that buy a Steam Machine.

 

[AtomicStarving]

Want to know how this will flop trying to pass itself off as a console? Sony owns all the rights to the Champions League in Europe, both women's and men's, FIFA/PS5 is heavily involved there... that says it all. you dont need anything else imo

 

[evanft]

LMAO it won't.

 

[Aressa]

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

?? What?? It's never been a better time to be a PC gamer. Games I play on Steam pretty much default optimize so I don't even open settings anymore.

 

[nial]

We are surely not the target audience. You can personalize it with the face plates. Etsy will be full of this stuff, and women will love it. Parents will give the Steam machine to their children as their first PC. For some, it will be their ticket to finally learn Linux. For others, it'll be a nice toy to play around with hardware modding, overclocking etc. For many, it'll be an affordable way into PC gaming.

No normal parent is ever buying this. Maybe some crazy NeoGAF/ResetERA PC gamer forcing their kids to get into Steam instead of just getting them a normal PC that would be of use for actual important thing.

 

[PeteBull]

It's still figuring out the combination that provides the best experience through out the whole game. And even going in an optimizing where performance fell and that benefits all PCs. Baldur's Gate 3's final act had horrible performance on the Deck, there was a lot of rework to make it play well. Hogwarts had major issues when it first came out, now it runs great on Steam Machine level hardware.


Add another $100-150 to the price then. All the armchair quarterbacks know far more than Valve's engineers when it comes to hitting price and performance targets.


I helped a coworker build that system over the summer for $940 only that had a 7600 Zen4 versus the 5600 Zen3 in your listing. It's a great rig that rips through games at 3440x1440 21:9 ultra wide.

But you might want to watch your video a little more. Cyberpunk and Doom The Dark Ages both have Pathtracing disabled, and you did ask for it to be on.

Ofc, u would have to go for compromises if u wanna enable pt, its crazy heavy, likely instead of native 1080p maxed u would have to do 720p with balanced dlss maybe even framegen, still this mashine is above ps5pr0 in performance while gabecube is below base ps5, so clear difference in power already.

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

No normal parent is ever buying this. Maybe some crazy NeoGAF/ResetERA PC gamer forcing their kids to get into Steam instead of just getting them a normal PC that would be of use for actual important thing.

Sure, not some troglodyte that doesn't understand how to quickly disable the boot into full screen BPM.
People who aren't trologytes these days also know that a "normal PC" comes with a shitty trojan horse spy software disguised as an operating system and doesn't want his child anywhere near this offensive and disgusting piece of shit. You get a nice Arch based desktop and teach your child some programming and bash scripting. Windows is for the unwashed masses for which all hope is lost.

 

[Fess]

The issue here is having the developers making the same kind of optimizations they can make on consoles, that sell tenths of millions units, and make the effort worth it.

Will this thing sell enough to warrant the effort ?

Yeah, I have serious doubts that there will be any specific optimization done here besides an ini file with preset "Steam Machine Verified" gfx settings.

 

[Dorfdad]

If it's made for casuals how are they going to sell it to people who play Fortnite and other multiplayer games which rely on anticheat!?

 

[The Mad Draklor]

That's only going to happen if it surprisingly sells a whole lot of units, like 20+ million a lot. The main mission of the GabeCube is to expand the Steam ecosystem.

 

[pudel]

If it's made for casuals how are they going to sell it to people who play Fortnite and other multiplayer games which rely on anticheat!?

There are enough multiplayer games. If you specifically needs Fortnite, than you need to switch to windows...at least currently. Maybe this will change. But Sweeny and Gabe are not the biggest buddies....so I wouldnt bet on it.

 

[lastmessiah]

If it's made for casuals how are they going to sell it to people who play Fortnite and other multiplayer games which rely on anticheat!?

Casuals don't play competitive multiplayer…

 

[kevboard]

Casuals don't play competitive multiplayer…

Fortnite is hardly only a competitive multiplayer game anymore.
it started as a coop tower defense game, then became a BR, and now it's everything from a Lego survival game, to a racing game... and even a fucking Guitar Hero clone.

You can play Fortnite without ever playing against another player in a competitive mode.

and if you wanna have casual PvP stuff, they literally integrated Fallguys into Fortnite now too, so you can just go on a Fallguys server and fuck around in there.

Fortnite had almost 3 million concurrent players when the new Simpsons themed season started, despite insane server issues... it's probably among the most popular games among casuals out there.

 

[lastmessiah]

Fortnite is hardly only a competitive multiplayer game anymore.
it started as a coop tower defense game, then became a BR, and now it's everything from a Lego survival game, to a racing game... and even a fucking Guitar Hero clone.

You can play Fortnite without ever playing against another player in a competitive mode.

and if you wanna have casual PvP stuff, they literally integrated Fallguys into Fortnite now too, so you can just go on a Fallguys server and fuck around in there.

Fortnite had almost 3 million concurrent players when the new Simpsons themed season started, despite insane server issues... it's probably among the most popular games among casuals out there.

How is it "casual" though. People put hours and hours into Fortnite.

"Casual" would be someone who only plays sp games that are programmed to let you win.

 

[Wildebeest]

We have seen that "AAA" are too self important and would simply rather blame the hardware for not being big enough for their epic games. We can pretty much name the full list of big developers who were prepared to optimize for Steam Deck on one hand. Valve (naturally), CD Projekt Red (why valve would name Cyberpunk on announcement), and Larian (belatedly and because of one guy's passion project).

 

[kevboard]

How is it "casual" though. People put hours and hours into Fortnite.

"Casual" would be someone who only plays sp games that are programmed to let you win.

casual players also play multiplayer games where they can just fuck around and chat with friends.

Lego Fortnite is great for that, as is Fallguys, or even just the main BR mode. the game has an insanely aggressive engagement based matchmaking system that will literally let you win for free after a few rounds, by populating your match mainly with bots (actual bots not bad players) and a handful of really shitty players.

so it is extremely casual friendly

 

[Signalis]

Best we can do is 30fps 648p upscaled to 1080p with fsr3 .

Get with the times mate. It's 2025, we're upscaling from 320p now. Upscaling from 648p is so 2024

 

[Dorfdad]

Casuals don't play competitive multiplayer…

uhhh Fortnite... Hello probably the biggest casual game ever besides Minecraft...

 

[tr1p1ex]

it's just a mini-pc. Nothing changes.

 

[SScorpio]

Ofc, u would have to go for compromises if u wanna enable pt, its crazy heavy, likely instead of native 1080p maxed u would have to do 720p with balanced dlss maybe even framegen, still this mashine is above ps5pr0 in performance while gabecube is below base ps5, so clear difference in power already.

The machine you linked still has a $430 MSRP GPU while the Steam Machine has an estimated BOM of $425. That's the thing about PC gaming, there's options any many price points. If you have an spare $100-200 you can increase the GPU you're looking at for a lot more performance. That's why the cost of the Steam Machine matters so much. If it hits $500-550 people saying how a $950-1,000 PC gets you more performance. Well duh, that's been the case of PC versus consoles forever.

Did you watch any of the Steam Machine performance videos? They were playing Cyberpunk, and turned on PT and got in the 30s.

 

[rodrigolfp]

uhhh Fortnite... Hello probably the biggest casual game ever besides Minecraft...

It's the gamer that can be casual or not, not the game.

 

[SScorpio]

it's just a mini-pc. Nothing changes.

You must have missed the ability to be woken by a controller and having functional HDMI-CEC so your TV and audio turn on with it automatically and are on the right input. And that's out of the box without special configuration. It should also not have HDMI audio drop out issues that even the high end NVIDIA cards suffer from.

Functionally it will have a lot of the console quality of life features you can't get in a PC.

 

[Gamer79]

Agreed some games do not look better than games 10 years ago but require double the specs. My main gaming has been VR lately and it's a resource hog and in many cases just due to poor optimization. Looking at you BeamNG VR poor performance

 

[Kacho]

You must have missed the ability to be woken by a controller and having functional HDMI-CEC so your TV and audio turn on with it automatically and are on the right input. And that's out of the box without special configuration. It should also not have HDMI audio drop out issues that even the high end NVIDIA cards suffer from.

Functionally it will have a lot of the console quality of life features you can't get in a PC.

Plus background downloads/updates and APIs for developers to set recommended settings. The Steam Machine will be frictionless in most cases and things will only improve.

 

[ReasonBeing]

I am constantly reminded how history has the propensity to repeat itself. While I generally agree with the idea that low power hardware forces devs to optimize to a higher degree, this was the same argument that was made around the release of Series S, Steam Deck, and the Quest VR platform.

 

[PeteBull]

The machine you linked still has a $430 MSRP GPU while the Steam Machine has an estimated BOM of $425. That's the thing about PC gaming, there's options any many price points. If you have an spare $100-200 you can increase the GPU you're looking at for a lot more performance. That's why the cost of the Steam Machine matters so much. If it hits $500-550 people saying how a $950-1,000 PC gets you more performance. Well duh, that's been the case of PC versus consoles forever.

Did you watch any of the Steam Machine performance videos? They were playing Cyberpunk, and turned on PT and got in the 30s.

Thats major flaw of gabecube vs proper desktop pc, u cant upgrade it, u are stuck with low outdated specs.
Hence my prediction its gonna fail miserably just like its predecesor back in 2015, hell if it sells 10x as many units it will still not be enough to not be considered failure, but lets wait and see how it goes, i think in a year we will be able to tell how its performing.

 

[hinch7]

Plus background downloads/updates and APIs for developers to set recommended settings. The Steam Machine will be frictionless in most cases and things will only improve.

Quick resume as well. Basically PC gaming with a console like experience and (somewhat) expectations. Just pick up and play.

I'm personally not in the market for one of these until the tech gets much better but the I like the direction Valve is going with this with their own ecosystem. And looking forward to SteamOS evolving and improving to what's already a very good OS. If they can sort out the anti-cheat situation for Linux and SteamOS that would make it a much more viable OS for a primary PC platform for gaming.