Valve confirms Steam Machine will be priced ‘like a PC with the same level of performance’
https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/valve-confirms-steam-machine-will-be-priced-like-a-pc-with-the-same-level-of-performance/Open linkView original on piefed.social699
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I went to PCPartPicker and tried to assemble a similarly spec'd PC, not with the absolute cheapest components, but definitely from the lower end sorted by price, it came out close to $800.
I guess if Valve can price it at that and be smaller it might have a market, but if much more than that people are better off just buying a PC.
P.S. Since Valve is not buying retail I think there is room for lower than that, and it'd definitely be welcome, but I'm not sure Valve will make that decision.
2x8 GB RAM for 130 dollars? What the fuck? I knew theyve gotten more expensive recently but that stings.
PCPartPicker has a general price tracker where you can see how much RAM has spiked in such a short time. It really emphasizes how crazy things have gotten
In the past decade, PC hobbyists have been the victims of the latest group of regards "getting the bag". Crypto 1.0, 2.0 and now AI. It's the biggest fool theory doing its thing. I fucking hate tech bros and crypto bros. They are the huma race's macro analogy for cancer cells.
"more expensive" really is underselling it. It's out of control. Some kits have tripled.
Yep. Everthing has at least doubled in the past ~ two months, because Nvidia's AI bubble must not be allowed to pop.
Brother it's so bad. I've been trying to help a friend do one recently, or at least plan it, and I've watched my previously $85 2x16 sticks of GSkill DDR5 (like the cheapest option I had) shoot up to like $260 in under a month has been insane. It's not even good ram....
I recently (a few months ago) built a new high-end server for my homelab, and bought 512GB of DDR4 ECC RAM for around $510. I just looked it up, and those exact same modules are around $2.5k to $3.5k for the same amount. That's more than I paid for the entire machine.
A friend of mine just dropped $700 on 2x64Gb for his upcoming editing rig. Most expensive part of the build.
That's insanity lol
In the same boat actually. Helping a friend with a build and RAM is ridiculous right now. crappy slower 2x16 kits costing $350 and far beyond. Their desired upper end CPU is less than most RAM kits. I was trying to find a middle ground for them with 2x24 but I can't even find those kits anymore. Doesn't help that these days 32 is recommended for some games, let alone aminimum for productivity software. I got lucky when I built. Prices were bad (~150 for 2x24!!) but shot up not even days after I built last month and my kit hasn't even been in stock since I got it.
This bubble can't burst soon enough...
Yeah, the AI (manufactured) hype has caused RAM prices to skyrocket thanks to them buying out ALL the fucking RAM for those servers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hLiwNViMak
The 2x48GB kit (CMK96GX5M2B6000Z30) I bought in August for $300 is currently going for $1175, and it's likely not getting better any time soon.
That’s almost the Apple fee
My guess is that maybe Valve was able to get a bunch of RAM before the price hikes.
I just checked how much my 4x32gb costs. Guys, I'm focking rich
It would cost me about a grand to make a pc that still not up to par with a ps5 where I live.
"better off just buying a PC".
It is a PC.
Most gamers don't want to get involved with PC building and just want something as convenient as a console to play their Steam games with good performance on a big screen. This can be priced quite above what a nerd would be able to build by himself with PCPartPicker.
I've seen estimates put the materials cost somewhere around the $425 - 500 USD range because of the specific, semi-custom hardware that they're using. It's also good to note that Valve will be able to get a better deal than any of us will because they can get bulk discounts and aren't buying each part at a market rate profit from retail vendors.
Some people seem to be of the mind that it will be somewhere around the $500 - 800 USD range if tariffs and the RAM situation don't screw with the price, and that it will probably price out the Xbox with Microsoft's 30% profit demand and be slightly more expensive than the PS5 while having comparable but not quite as much power.
YouTube channel Moore's law is dead priced it out at $425 including controller. For cost not price.
Smaller makes it more expensive. I hope it'll be under $1000, but I think I wouldn't be surprised if it were $1200.
The top end Steam Deck was like $750 at release. Replace the screen with better CPU and GPU, and there's your baseline for the Machine. Since it's "6x" performance, price will probably be a bit higher. People thinking way less are smoking crack.
How many of you have actually had a Linux PC connected to your living room TV? I built one about 13 years ago (and upgraded the guts occasionally) and it's been awesome. With a regular web browser you can watch YouTube (with uBlock of course), Plex/Jellyfin, or any streaming service, in addition to gaming. Plus I've done stuff like vacation planning with my partner, where we can easily bring up maps and hotel listings from our couch without hunching over a laptop or tablet.
While Linux hardware support is quite good these days, there's still something to be said for buying a machine that you know is fully supported and targeted by game devs.
Same, but I'm much more recent. Got a rpi 5 running Arch. Been happy with it for 2-3 years now
How is ALARM recently?
Did you mean ARM? As in arm cpu support?
Arch Linux ARM is sometimes called ALARM Last time I heard device support was limited
Ah gotcha. It's pretty nice. Got everything to work for a media PC. Took some upfront effort, and the device is still technically not supported but it works!
Just set this up after the whole windows 10 support drop thing, and holy shit!!!! This is awesome! Not only no ads but I can Strawhat everything! Just got a figure out how to do this for my phone now
I'm happily running an Intel NUC as TV computer since 2013, and it's awesome for exactly the reasons you state. I invested in it when I realized how fully crap the "smart" features of my Samsung TV are. The ultimate controller for it is a combo keyboard and touchpad, I have the Logitech K400r.
The NUC is starting to show it's age now with its 4th gen i5, and I'm in the process of replacing it with a mini PC with an Intel N100.
Looks at my setup with Samsung tv, NUC, and wireless touchpad-keyboard combo... Huh? How about that!
It is a killer combo!
The majority of the steam deck SKUs were produced prior to the AI memory crunch.
These steam machines are being produced in a market where memory is 3 or 4 times more expensive.
This box will be more than a steam deck. Probably 1000 bucks or so.
I had a PC connected to my tv for a while, main issue was I didn’t want to use a mouse or keyboard to interact with it. I tried desperately to get more ways of starting via controller or other lite interface devices, but nothing convenient. It was an old machine, so eventually I gave it away.
I use a Logitech K400 to control the PC connected to my TV and I generally find it to be much more convenient and responsive than using the remote on a smart TV or the controller for a console when over at someone else's place. To each their own though.
Typing anything like a website for the apple TV is the most excruciatingly annoying thing ever, it could only be described as torture. I would punch the executives that approved the design.
The shitty iOS input via annoying notification prompts when anyone in the house uses the TV are not a solution either, since they get so annoying you have yo disable them.
I have one that I bought in 2013. Has fallen to the floor countless times, still works like day 1.
I feel like a lot of these pointer devices miss the simplicity of a remote. A simple one will have a tough time entering passwords, but it’s perfect and simple for the most common actions: Turn on without walking across the room, open the most recent application, play the next episode of the series I was watching last, usually just by mashing confirm. (Nothing to tell it to go fullscreen: Because that’s an obvious assumption for everything)
Running it all on a PC just adds more steps, unless you follow a LOT of guides to configure it to get through those things easily.
I’d really like it if web standards were better at allowing a video website to be navigated with an “Up/Down/Left/Right/Confirm/Back” device, so that you didn’t need apps for everything. That would be good for consumer devices like Apple TVs as well as people running home PC setups.
That's kinda why I said to each their own. I personally find a full fledged keyboard with integrated touchpad controlling a PC using a media center UI to be my control/interface preference. The keyboard is small enough and light enough that it sits on the couch or end table with the other remotes or controllers without any issue. Until Logitech decided to be cunts there was actually a great solution more on your end of the spectrum in the form of the Harmony remote, but well, they killed it. Luckily though, there are a couple of open source efforts to create equivalent hardware as well as to dump their database of IR codes.
Something like ten years ago I got into a console vs PC argument on reddit, and everyone unanimously told me that starting up a PC with a controller was such an easy feature to add that it wasn't even a consideration. I stuck with consoles.
That's a tough one. The new Steam Controller will probably let you use the trackpads with an onscreen keyboard (as long as you're running the Steam app), just like the Deck. But personally I can't get used to that.
You generally need some kind of keyboard with a PC. I have a little handheld Rii i4 with a thumb keyboard, maybe that would be better for you?
I've got a Linux machine attached to my TV right now. It's basically a Steam, Kodi and Firefox box.
(Not usually one to dive into speculation, but "priced like a pc" can literally mean anything so we really have no clue other than looking at the specs)
(I had another thought; i think it's probably a blunder from a "get all the customers" perspective to have the machine cost upwards of 1k, but maybe they don't care about that and simply want to set a high standard for linux pcs like they have done with the deck, so yeah i have no clue, based on the specs though, ~600 seems like a good base. The cheaper it is the more customers they stand to gain who have looked at pc gaming and sighed because they didnt know how to get started. Really feels impossible to know their motive rn tho, the machine could simply exist as a "gold standard" to get other oems making this stuff like they have done with the deck as i said above i think)
The new Steam Machine is very compact for a gaming PC of its caliber. That took some real engineering to find the right combination of component size, TDP, thermals and noise for such a small box. There's obviously no screen and battery but otherwise it's similar design work as on the Deck.
Makes sense, I haven't seen dimensions, but the space for pure compute has definitely increased greatly.
It is still very small, but the deck (in comparison) is quite thin which I assume made it much harder to engineer. I'm sure a lot of knowledge has transferred over though and i'm not gonna act like i'd know anyways lol
If you look at a teardown of the Machine, it's almost all heatsink inside. The remaining space isn't really a lot bigger than a Deck. But the components run much higher wattage (not constrained by battery) and put out a lot more heat, hence the need for the sink.
Oh wow, I didn't know they had teardowns yet, that's kinda funny hehe
Had a Windows PC hooked up to my TV in I think 2008, before streaming boxes and mass adoption of Netflix. Then it was dualboot for a while starting in I think 2015, originally with Ubuntu. Now it's full time CachyOS Linux as of 2023.
It's always been great. Wireless keyboard with the built in trackpad, plus originally 360 controllers but now 8BitDo Ultimate controllers. Plus I use it for homelab tinkering.
Did you get streaming services to stream 4k? That was some bullshit I discovered when I bought my first 4k TV, that streaming services artificially limit quality for browser and Linux streaming.
What is you solution for remote controlling? I used one of this mini keyboard+mouse combo in a shape of controller, but mine was really trash. Most of the time I used a good mouse that worked ok on the couch surface and some mouse binds to pop up a virtual keyboard. But I was never completely happy with the solution.
Never tried 4K, sorry. I've only had a 1080p plasma TV (which recently blew a capacitor so I may have to get something else).
For control, I use an old Logitech K830 which has a trackpad right on it. It's a good step up from the K400 series (lithium rechargeable and backlit keys) but sadly appears to be discontinued 😞
I almost bought that keyboard, but never did in the end.
They're letting us discuss this ad nauseam just to understand what prices people consider acceptable for these devices
100%
But that's not a terrible thing, I suppose.
Absolutely. I think 80$ for the full package seems fair.
$60? why do they want $50 for something that's clearly $10?
$70 if you hand deliver it to me. It’s my final offer.
Fair pricing means a reasonable profit on the base cost. Trying to gauge what people are willing to pay means that you want to maximise your profit at all costs, consumers be damned.
I understand that's what Americans consider "fair", but I don't fully agree.
In most cases, yes. But you have to remember, this is Valve and not some ordinary company. They have extremely deep wallets and a lot of responsibility and expectations on their shoulders (importantly, not the stock market!). If they charged what it cost for hardware and what it cost them to do r&d, it would likely not be in consumers favor.
Like even just get off the American-bad thing for one second: pricing it as a standalone pc basically just means "the cost of the parts". They've put a lot of time and effort into this across their core employees and likely outsourced stuff because they couldn't, in-house. Actually listening to people and charging relative to that is actually a great way to be fair and make people happy, guaranteeing positive impact of your product. I guarantee they're paying attention to what people say ALL over the place. Like.... Why do you think "it's done when it's done" is their pace?
They're buying the parts directly from the manufacturers though, so cutting out the retailer middle-man could offset the R&D costs.
Research and development is probably very high when you consider Proton, SteamOS, and the semi-custom CPU and GPU. Something between $50 to $100 million would be typical. Silicone is famously expensive in R&D, Proton has continuous costs (and has for quite a while now) that rack up, and SteamOS is literally an operating system. That's a lot of salaries to pay.
I reckon they're taking advantage of being private and playing the long game. Very, very long game. They're not really in danger as long as Steam is successful, but I can't blame them for wanting a decent gross margin so they can at least cover hardware costs. Especially with memory prices right now, I wouldn't be surprised at 1000€ here in Germany, though I wouldn't be happy about it. I would happily buy at 900€ (≈$1040), and be ecstatic at 800€ (≈$920).
Personally, I wouldn't include Proton in the costs of the Steam Machine. The Deck already is benefiting from it immensely, and I would consider it to be a cost of expanding into Linux gaming in general - especially with the Lenovo handheld and other devices starting to jump on the bandwagon as Microsoft continues to take repeated dumps on their userbase. Its R&D costs are being won back by the market % Steam takes on any games bought and played in Linux, which means that it can benefit from that continued revenue stream rather than the one-off hardware sale.
The hardware has to break even. The software already has.
Under many circumstances, this is true. However, console makers have historically sold consoles either at or slightly below cost, expecting to make their real profits on game sales, online store sales, etc… In the business world, it’s called a loss leader. Meaning it’s something popular that the company takes a loss on, while expecting it to encourage more sales elsewhere.
The classic grocery store example is a rotisserie chicken. You can go get a whole rotisserie chicken from the grocery store deli for like $3. It’s so cheap because the store is selling it at a loss. It’s a loss leader. Very few people will simply buy the chicken by itself. Instead, they’ll buy a tub of potato salad, some roasted corn, a can of green beans, and a gallon jug of sweet tea to go along with it. By selling that chicken at a slight loss, they were able to get the customer to buy all of those other things at a profit.
That being said, Valve has already stated that they’re not planning on having the Machine be a loss leader. Which is why people expect it to cost as much as a prebuilt with similar specs.
I doubt it. I think they understand that the hardware market is volatile and what might cost $800 now might be $1000 in a few months.
Anything more than $500 and we riot!
Get ready to riot because there's no way it's that cheap. My money is on $800-1000.
This is absolutely where it's going to be.
If it is priced higher than $600 they won't sell enough to justify their existence. It will just be a repeat of last time.
This is perfect for people wanting a new console with a large games library, but Valve seems to be trying to force the square block in the round hole by placing it in the PC market space.
Why? Look at how many people here say they want Steam OS, and Lemmy skews heavy toward Linux users. This is that, but OOTB.
I don't think it'll sell anywhere near as well as the Steam Deck, but it's also a less exciting form factor. I do think it'll sell a fair number of units though.
The cheapest equivalent prebuilt I can find with similar specs (RX 7600 is slightly better than the Steam Machine) is $850, and a DIY build is more like $900 (lots of corners cut), so there's probably not much margin on the prebuilt. Valve is probably saving some cash with their custom CPU, and they're probably shipping it with a Steam Controller, hence the $800 target. If component prices rise significantly before launch, I could see $1k.
It depends on how many Valve have already manufactured. If they were smart they'll be quietly manufacturing these and only just now announced it. You don't announce a product until you've got some units sitting in a warehouse somewhere, or else a competitor might see the opportunity to make things difficult for you.
That's a bad take. Look at PC prices. What equivalent PC could you build for $1000? This is going to be 800+ and still the best value in the PC market. Until they get steam OS on arm and you can put it in a 600 Mac mini.
An equivalent PC would have a full fat non-mobile graphics card. They keep trying to claim it'll do 60 FPS at 4K with AI upscaling. Which is the same as saying it'll do 60 FPS at 1080p.
This would be a compelling product as a console, the PC capable parts are a nice bonus but no one's going to be buying this to be their primary computer unless they are going to replace a potato.
Regardless of what the market is doing if it's anything more than $700 it'll flop. Which would be an incredible shame but it is what it is. No one is going to pay $1,000 for a PC that cannot be upgraded.
I don't think this is accurate. The majority of IRL gamers I know are casual people with crappy Minecraft-level pre-builts (hugely overpriced usually; I know someone who spent 1.1k on a 3060 Ti pre-built) or 10 year-old computers built by their neighbors. A lot of casual gamers exist and the steam machine will be very appealing to them as an easy upgrade.
In a way, you're right. A lot of people will be upgrading potatoes. Or replacing thin air next to their TV's.
Even I, with a custom built with a 7900 XT running openSUSE TW, am considering this for doing stuff in the living room (or similar, I live in a tiny apartment lol) with friends or just casual-TV gaming and media. I don't have that right now, and even 900€ sounds appealing for doing that with a Linux-based computer (and gamescope!!!, which I can't get working on my device) I have full control over, but know will work.
I don't know of something equivalently priced, but it there is something, please tell me. I think they have a market here. I personally, at least, have been waiting years for something like this to recommend to friends and to an extent to myself.
Equivalent doesn't mean much when it's not a standard, upgradable PC. This device competes with consoles, not desktop PCs, and needs to be in that price bracket, as the equivalence is not on the hardware or performance, but just "can it play current-gen games?"
You'll have to deal with a cult that will defend their lord Gabe's every move.
It's a good idea, tout the market before doing anything controversial
I suspect it's because of the uncertainty over tariffs. Ironically making manufacturing in the US less appetising for businesses.
It’s $2,400 – 6 Steam Decks – the end.
SLPT: Drug dealing. You can make a lot of money in a short amount of time
And its recession proof!
That's ULPT, not SLPT, because there is a profit to be madm
You have two kidneys, don't you?
Sell your csgo skins
Fair prices are fair, the existence of billionaires is not. Tax Gabe Newell and the rest of 'em too.
Didn't he buy a massive yacht on the same day steam announced these products? It can't be easy to sneak a superyacht under the publicity radar, but he seems to have pretty much managed it.
https://fortune.com/2025/11/17/gabe-newell-leviathan-superyacht-features-submarine-garage-hospital-spa-gaming-pcs-inkfish-oceanco/
I think he's earned it. I will accept. 😅.
He's one rich guy I feel isn't a piece of shit and has good ideas.
There is no such thing as an ethical billionaire, don't kid yourself.
You only become a billionaire by being a greedy bastard, there's no exceptions.
Facts people forget:
With all of that being said, it seems to me it's very likely it will be around 800 but less than 1000. For people saying you can build one for that price yourself, sure, go ahead, you'll have a huge, power hungry loud box, without the same features and you would have saved only a small fraction of the value by having to assemble everything yourself.
Also people who like to DIY seem to forget that a lot of people want a turn-key solution, I even dare to say that most people prefer a ready made solution. Even a lot of people who work in tech when they get home want a just work solution.
Time for another video of Linus failing to follow basic instructions and going out of his way to break the OS because Linux gaming bad
Jay already tried. It was bigger, didn't have the custom OS, and cost $1700. He could have done better except he was part limited to what rhe Microcenter he was at had on hand. Doing a bunch or research and getting different parts would probably bring down the price.
For 1k you can get a 9600 9060XT 16gb system, which is waaaaaay more powerful, so this is quite an exaggeration.
Sometimes, but evidently not currently. Sources seem to indicate that only Microsoft seems to say they are selling at a loss, though it seems odd since their bill of materials looks like it should be pretty comparable to PS5...
I'll agree with the guess of around $800, but like you say, the supply pressure on RAM and storage as well as the tariff situation all over the place, hard to say.
They could totally make money selling it at a loss. The reason so many people care is that there's an opening in the console market for an affordable option
maybe more with the way ram prices are skyrocketing.. because even though it comes out next year, they are probably being manufactured and stockpiled right now.
No, it won't. $800 will get you a machine that's around 50% faster. Controller included.
Fair enough.
It's literally a laptop CPU with a laptop GPU.
Also not true. A 1k prebuilt is around 70% faster. Controller not included, though.
Sure, but that's an argument in favour of it costing less.
Yeah, and the best selling console of the generation is $450 for the digital-only version.
Stop this delusion. If this was an actual possibility, it would already be happening with the Steam Deck. Yes, I know you know someone who did it. I know someone who bought a Surface to put Linux on it. There's dozens of us!
That I see happening. RAM/storage might triple in price tomorrow which would push the price of the whole industry up.
I've been actively mass downvoted on Reddit for being excited for these features. People are really fucking stupid sometimes.
I have a significantly more powerful PC (in a tower case) currently hooked up to my tv surviving the same purpose and I will likely be getting the Steam Machine entirely for these features.
"But just use a dongle" they say. And I do. It works about half the time and I have to do this weird dance involving pulling up Kodi
I hope they release the price soon, the discourse on this has become incredibly tiring.
I doubt they will. The market for NAND and ram is insane at the moment, RAM has gone up 100% in the last 3 months. Announcing a price too early could lead to having embarrassingly increase price shortly before or after launch, or take a loss on the products.
That's not to say I don't share your sentiments. I too hope they announce it sooner rather than later, but understand why they may be apprehensive.
Additionally with how the USD is tanking and the ever looming risk of new tariffs being added on a whim, there is a real risk that even without global price increases the price needs to be increased for the US specifically
I know speculation is fun, but until we know the price officially, all of this is moot. Wait until next year when they announce actual pricing and judge it then for its value.
I, personally, don't think it'll be a successful product if it isn't less than $800. They don't have to have it cost console prices, but it does need to be at least somewhat within spitting distance. If the price is the cost of an Xbox or Playstation plus, say.....a year of their online service subscription, I think that could be marketable.
If it's closer to a grand, it'll be a flop like the first Steam Machines.
Even at 1000$ it will most likely outperform any 1000$ prebuilt you can buy. If they market it like this it can absolutely work at that price point.
Technically i believe that as long as it's less expensive than the top consoles, it'll have it's market share, no?
Then you can stop right there. This is just people having fun talking about announced tech.
No reason to over meta analyze it.
The worst thing about the hardware unveiling is the endless posts about pricing 😮💨
The discourse around this confuses the fuck out of me. Did people actually expect this to be <$500?
I think the problem is Valve lost control of the messaging, which led to bad expectations.
At least in the US, a computer hooked up to a TV to play games means it's a "console" and not a computer. Maybe we can blame Nintendo back in the 80s for going out of their way to avoid calling the NES a computer (despite it's name in Japan being Famicom, Family Computer), but the distinction exists today despite technologically no real difference. You know this, I know this, Valve knows this. So Valve wants to make a computer you hook up to your TV so they can get you to use
their money printing machineSteam in the living room too.If you read Valve's marketing material on the Steam Machine, they don't use the word "console" once. It's always either by name or the terms PC, computer, or system. They likely don't mention the word "console" because to date, video game consoles follow a different business model, one where the model subsidizes the shit out of the hardware and then make money on the back end with game sales/licensing.
Current "console" hardware starts in the <$500 price bracket, and with so much third party media marketing calling the Steam Machine a console, that got people's mind set on pricing expectations of that market.
This confuses me. You can hookup ANY computer to a living room TV to be a "console". How is this different?
My theory and point was that by thinking about that computer as a console, in the average consumer mindset it should be priced like a console. From a pure hardware product perspective there is no difference
Valve is thinking about it as a computer, and has stated they intend to price it like one and not like a traditional console
As someone who has hooked up computers to TVs all his life, I can tell you. Just turning on with a controller directly into game mode is a massive game changer as it is a pain to get it working today. Look for guides about it and see the batshit hacks people have come up with.
That and the overabundance of Bluetooth antennas. Oh, and it also comes with super fast WiFi 7 special connection for the frame inside the box. Also, heat and sound management. Gaming PCs are little space heaters, very efficient during cold weather and a pain in the ass in hot climates. Keeping them cool takes an assortment of turbines and makes the living room sound like an airport. If this thing is as power efficient, quiet and cool as advertised, it will be the gaming enthusiast's dream.
When you turn it on it boots to a controller friendly UI that shows you all your steam games. No setup, no hunting for drivers, no bloat.
A console is typically locked down; they can sell them at cost or a loss and make up the money selling games. A computer is typically not locked down, you can install games from wherever on it, so they can't assume you'll buy your games from them (even though you will)
Doesn't matter at all. Its clearly meant to operate in the position of one. They could have very well avoided that term to avoid implying the lock down that consoles come with.
A computer hooked up to a TV is considered a media center PC, or an HTPC, not a console
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_theater_PC
I think both of you are right but also wrong. It's called "whatever you want" and there is no universal name for the practice. If you're not using your PC for media, it certainly isn't an HTPC.
You're right, though games are also "media" 😋
Fair!
Sure, if it's not as modular as actual PC.
Otherwise they're just selling a "default spec" PC that developers can target for benchmarks.
No, but the price points of the current consoles are hilariously optimistic.
Idk, $699 USD for the PS5 pro seems a bit closer to "PC pricing" than I would expect from Sony if they're subsidizing the cost with future game sales.
I'd kind of expect them to be making consoles at break-even/no-profit, more than at a loss right now.
They can set the asking price to whatever they like but a lot of us cannot justify those amounts for what amounts to a toy. By this stage in a console generation I would expect a lot more games and a lot cheaper hardware. The reasons that haven't happened aren't of interest to me as a consumer (they're of interest to me as a nerd!).
The reason is simple. Inflation.
The NES originally sold for $180 USD in 1985, which is worth $530 today. The SNES, circa 1991, was $199 USD or $459 today.
Fast forward a bunch...
The switch 2 is currently priced at $449 USD.
The literal price has gone up, but the cost is going down. Slightly, but still.
I'm sure I could repeat the same experiment for PlayStation, Xbox, or Sega's consoles and see similar results.
I think it's a little more complex than that.
Why do you think that?
Because corporate greed > all?
Because hardware, software, culture, incomes, demand, supply, and many, many other factors have all changed since the 1980s. It's not a straight comparison. Inflation is a factor but it is not the only factor.
That's the confusing part for me because statements from the design team said they had the very optimistic goal of running most games at 4k 60fps, which is more like $1000 entry level imo.
"…with FSR."
That there is a huge difference.
$1,000 is not entry level.
If you go on any website and look at entry level PCs they're all around $600 to $800.
The lowest amount to run most modern titles AT 4K 60 FPS is around $1000, and thats only because graphics card prices have come down.
If 30FPS on 1080p is good enough I could build it for $400.
It's not a 4K capable graphics card though it's a 1080p capable graphics card that they're saying is 4K because of the existence of AI upscaling which I think is a cheat. So you're already overestimating the cards capability.
No, but there's some unhinged people arguing it's gonna be $800 or even $1k.
Remember, an Xbox series X now costs $600 for digital edition ($800 for 2tb + disk drive)
...and those are just flying off the shelves!
Is PC
Shock and awe when told it MAY cost similar to a PC
Not a number. Not interesting.
If they subsidized it, wouldn't that risk businesses buying it as a cheap-for-its-specs option for their office computers? It's not locked to being a gaming machine like consoles. You can just install windows on it.
That's a tradition with gaming systems, see the Navy's playstation supercomputer!
That's a bit different IIRC, they purchased them directly from Sony and they didn't have any of the OtherOS hardware lockouts like retail consoles did.
At launch and for a good while PS3 came with a boot to Linux enabled by default, some universities around the globe bought some "from the shelf" to make some server farm and such.
Retail units couldn't access most of the RSX in OtherOS for Sony reasons, Geohot fixing that was why they killed OtherOS.
Apparently the DOD units never had any lockouts on the GPU.
It was not most resources. It was just one SPE that was locket behind for the firmware.
Yeah, but in relatively small volumes and mostly as a 'gimmick'.
The Cell processors were 'neat' but enough of a PITA is to largely not be worth it, combined with a overall package that wasn't really intended to be headless managed in a datacenter and a sub-par networking that sufficed for internet gaming, but not as a cluster interconnect.
IBM did have higher end cell processors, at predictable IBM level pricing in more appropriate packaging and management, but it was pretty much a commercial flop since again, the Cell processor just wasn't worth the trouble to program for.
I'm not entirely sure on the difference here, valve is selling them directly and by all the reporting we've seen, there aren't going to be hardware restrictions on any of the models.
That's the feel good warm marketing Sony spun for the thing. The PS3 sold around 88 million units. It flopped at first because it didn't have any games for it. The Linux thing was a quirky fun but ultimately useless feature. You had to code custom software for the thing, it had no commercial software for Linux on a PS3. Its sales ballooned after it became the cheapest bluray on the market, and it was after the removal of otherOS support.
Less than 10 thousand were used for distributed computation clusters. The famous navy supercomputer only had 1.7 thousand units or so. Against the global sales numbers it was barely a rounding error.
I'm sorry, I'm not sure what your point is - yes it was a broadly impractical thing to do, that's not in dispute.
I think it's a response to the sentiment that Sony somehow got bit by selling PS3 at a loss because it triggered some huge supercomputing purchases of the systems that Sony wouldn't have liked, and that if Valve got too close to that then suddenly a lot of businesses would tank it by buying too much and never buying any games.
Sony loved the exposure and used it as marketing fodder that their game consoles were "supercomputer" class. Just like they talked up folding@home on them...
That's the feel good warm marketing Sony spun for the thing. The PS3 sold around 88 million units. It flopped at first because it didn't have any games for it. The Linux thing was a quirky fun but ultimately useless feature. You had to code custom software for the thing, it had no commercial software for Linux on a PS3. Its sales ballooned after it became the cheapest bluray on the market, and it was after the removal of otherOS support.
Less than 10 thousand were used for distributed computation clusters. The famous navy supercomputer only had 1.7 thousand units or so. Against the global sales numbers it was barely a rounding error.
Edit: replied to the wrong comment but I think it is still relevant. The risk of companies snatching steam machines in bulk is null, stop listening to LTT.
Unlikely.
Businesses generally aren't that stoked about anything other than laptops or servers.
To the extent they have desktop grade equipment, it's either:
On servers, the steam machine isn't that attractive since it's not designed to either be slapped in a closet and ignored on slotted in a datacenter.
Putting all this aside, businesses love simplicity in their procurement. They aren't big on adding a vendor for a specific niche when they can use an existing vendor, even if in theory they could shave a few dollars in cost. The logistical burden of adding Steam Machine would likely offset any imagined savings. Especially if they had to own re-imaging and licensing when they are accustomed to product keys embedded in the firmware when they do vendor preloads today.
Maybe you could worry a bit more about the consumer market, where you have people micro-managing costs and will be more willing to invest their own time, but even then the market for non-laptop home systems that don't think they need nVidia but still need something better than integrated GPUs is so small that it shouldn't be a worry either.
Fairly easy fix, there, given this is Valve who own the marketplace:
Think about it this way, people. Yes, it may be more expensive than a PlayStation. However, Steam offers numerous deals several times a year, so it will be worth the investment. In the long run, owning a Steam Machine or PC will pay for itself.
Unfortunately, due to the craze of AI server farms, PC parts are becoming more expensive. For example, the price of RAM has doubled, and analysts say that SSDs will suffer the same fate.
And you also don't have to pay monthly for multiplayer!
That too!
I'm honestly amazed console gamers have accepted paying for multiplayer (though, I do note, PC gaming has expanded over time, I wonder why....). I had a PS2; I remember being excited about buying a PS4. It has a blu-ray player! The graphics are so much nicer! The previous gen even had free multiplayer!
I never bought a PS4, it had paid multiplayer. Fuck that.
Edit: I did briefly own a 360, the paid multiplayer was the reason I sold it fairly quickly. It felt like it was trying to milk me, and I would rather just be rid of it.
I think this geared toward the crowd that plays games, but doesn't have the latest and greatest hardware nor likes to tinker. This will be an upgrade for a lot of people and the ability to just set it up and play your already existing backlog with ease is the main selling point over power.
It's an awesome device which will help drive the Linux gaming ecosystem forward, but it's not for me personally as it doesn't hold a candle to my PC.
s/backlog/library/g
The real question is if Valve plans to swallow the jumps in price. They must have designed the machine before the price hikes, so I wonder if they already had a price in mind and whether they're gonna stick to it.
A PS5 Pro, which is more powerful, is $750. If it's not below that it's too damn much.
Cheaper games at a higher upfront cost + no monthly online subscription for multiplayer
99% of people won't care though they just want to be able to play stardew valley on their big TV.
No adobe unfortunately
Also once you buy it they've locked you to their platform and make their Monday back on games.
Not really, you can install any other Linux like on any other AMD PC, as happened with the Steam Deck
They were referring to the PS5
![email protected] implied the steam machine
I'm referring to PlayStation, Xbox, etc.
Yeah, since thr Gabecube is just a PC then a company could just buy the valve subsidized machine, wipe it, and use it for business stuff and never buy a game. Valve can't risk that.
This is what I'm saying
Valve isn't publicly traded so profits aren't a big issue.
A PS5 Pro is locked to the PlayStation store, I can't install my Steam, GOG, Epic, etc games on it.
The games are all more expensive too and you have to rebuy them to get resolution upgrades with newer hardware.
Why would anyone want it then? Just install Steam on your machine and use it...
As it says in the article, it'll be smaller and quieter, so less offensive for most people's living rooms than a full-size desktop. It's not meant to replace your existing PC if you have one, unless it was getting old and you were about to replace it anyway. If you don't have a PC, or don't have one in the living room, then it might be a better option than anyone else's prebuilt.
And, as with any standardized hardware, it's a lot easier to ensure games and services (like Proton) perform reliably.
Time will tell if this sells enough, but it could become the new standard for industry benchmarking/testing.
Exactly. We are already seeing game companies specifically mention the Steam Deck in patch notes. This will give them a standard item to validate compatibility against. Any game company that wants to make sure their game works well will have a Steam Machine on-hand to QA with.
And I fully agree with you on benchmarking. It will be a very standardized system to point to in game reviews.
The biggest advantages it has over other PCs is CEC and Wake on USB(controller) enabled out of the box. Those are the two features I miss the most on my HTPC.
Other major advantages are the form factor and standardized design making it smaller and most likely more reliable than a comparable PC.
Standardized design, sure. I would argue you could get something more powerful at a comparable size for not too much more. My HTPC is about the size of a shoe box yet has a R7 7700X and a RX 6900 XT.
Ok
There are people who exist between "I build, format and otherwise manage my own gaming rig," and "I don't need a PC for games."
My partner is a perfect example. She has my old PC shell, with some $500 of GPU, internal memory, and accessories, hooked up to the TV. She uses it daily, almost exclusively for Steam games and streaming services that she finds more comfortable to navigate with a keyboard and mouse. A smaller, quieter, streamlined, "this more or less will do the things you want to do straight out of the box" product would have saved both her (and I, because that thing has had some troubleshooting) a lot of headache, while looking far more presentable to boot.
Maybe she's the odd one out and the target audience is more niche than my bias' recognize, but I guess we'll see for sure when this thing releases.
"on your machine" requires you to have a machine. This isn't for people with computers already. This is for people who are already looking for a new machine, and this becomes the "ready out of the box" option.
I mean, it's fine to do so, as long as you have PC hardware that meets your needs. Valve would be fine with it too. As long as it can run Steam, all good. For Valve, I expect that the Steam Machine is to provide an easy-to-set-up option a la consoles that let them move into the living room for people who have an issue with that. If you can already use/configure a PC and have one, then that option is gonna work too.
People without gaming rigs that don’t wanna spend almost as much for a console
I don't understand. Why pay the same for the same power just to get a less maintainable machine that is barely usable outside gaming?
How is it barely usable outside gaming? Its a fully functional Linux desktop computer
I used Linux for regular desktop stuff before I installed Steam on it. Steam got me back into gaming.
Almost same, I use Linux on my laptop for regular stuff and just have a console.
Now suddenly valve has made steam and almost all gaming Linux native! I definitely want one lol
Why is it barely usable outside of gaming?
That's a lot for someone who doesn't understand computers beyond Windows and MacOS. People also don't realise that since the PS4 and the Xbox One every console is just a X86-64 machine. So, I think it's a good move from Valve. Also it will be easier to manage and optimise for Valve if all their hardware is the same, a bit like Apple.
If its a decent price I'll want it. I love the freedom PC gaming allows but sometimes I do miss the convenience of a console. It would be great for my kid as well. No fidling with the display, having the PC not wake properly from sleep, controllers not connecting, etc. It would just work. Our current setup inevitably something doesnt work right first try.
People do occasionally buy new computers, and this one looks likely to be a better choice than most of what's on the market.
At least for me, a Steam Machine would be the ideal use case for my brother, since the literal ONLY game he plays is CS2. He used to play Fortnite, but he hasn't done that in years... and even then if he wanted we could just swap places between my current real computer and the Steam Machine. It's also really small so it wouldn't occupy much space on the other room of the house.
Prediction:
$999.99
If you go to CyberPower (nothing special about them, it's just the first system integrator that popped into my head). You can find a prebuilt with a RX6700 (which is anywhere from 50 to 70 percent faster than the "custom" GPU on the Steam Machine*) for $1049. It would be monumentally stupid to price the cube anywhere near $1000.
*I'm using an RX7600M to estimate the performance for the Steam Machine since it has exactly the same specs.
Plus those Cyberpower PC's have to factor in a Windows license into the cost.
Honestly, the Steam Machine needs to be less than $800 to be viable.
I just threw together a PC with an 8500g and a 7600 (not the mobile version) and it came to about $780 while being about 30% faster. I think $750 is the most the market would bear but, honestly, it should just be $650.
Edit: Oh shit, I forgot the US doesn't include tax on their prices. Those $780 are converted from local currency and after taxes. Sales tax in Mexico is 16% so the real price would be around $673. I changed my mind, Valve would be delusional if they price this a cent above $650.
While I agree it is cheaper to build your own it also wont be as small as the Steam Machine.
It's just that Valve has made a point that it will be priced like a PC, if it is priced like a PC then $650 is far too close to current console pricing. I want to be wrong here, I want it to be cheap and really push Linux into the mainstream. I'm just far too cynical and I expect it to be the most pointless product until proven otherwise.
I don't think it is, though. $650 is 44% over the $450 MSRP of the PS5. If we look at "PC prices" (whatever they meant by that) the desktop I specced outperforms it by 30% to 50%. That puts the size tax for the Steam Machine at up to 45%, which would be hard to justify when laptops with 4050s are regularly on sale. Pricing it above $650 means you can go to BestBuy right now and get an HP Victus for $550 and have a spare $100 for a controller. Then you'll have a PC that is faster, smaller and cheaper than a Steam Machine. This has to be under $700 to succeed. Although... Valve has been fostering a sort of Nintendo effect where they could price it at $5k and send you a dildo along with the PC so you can go fuck yourself and people would still buy it.
Fun fact: I was looking for laptops with a 7600M to get a more direct price to performance comparison but I wasn't able to find a single one. Guess now we know what they mean by "semi-custom GPU".
The Xbox Series X is $650 and the PS5 is $500.
The digital PS5 is $450 and the Xbox Series X has about 15% of the marketshare, proving people won't stand for ridiculous prices.
I can build a mini PC for a lot less. Even with the joke retail RAM prices. I expect $650-800.
Also they buy parts in huge quantities, it's not the price you pay for single part, with packaging and all.
I don't think it'd be that high, retail prices on similar hardware to the specs is ~USD$700, including a (crappy) case and a (decent) PSU.
I think Valve could get it to $649 without subsidy.
Just due to not having pay as much for the parts, they'd be getting the cpu+gpu directly from AMD as 'semi-custom' parts, so there is no Distributor, wholesaler or retailer profits to bundle in, the GPU is on the main board too, so no extra AIB profits to worry about on the GPU.
DRAM will be a 'fun' one due to price fluctuations though.
Really depends on how much profit they want to make.
Quick question, can you buy a pc and run the same OS and version of steam that this pc they built uses? Im assuming its the same as steam deck. Just wondering if you could build it exactly the same outside just installing steam.
Sure.
I have a cheap $250 AMD APU based mini pc I bought off Amazon running SteamOS. I just used the Steam Deck restore USB image to install it. I imagine you could use the Steam Machine image the same way when its available.
What kind of performance are you getting with that? Wondering if I can pick up something like that to play some 2d platformers, maybe some low poly 3D stuff (think Overcooked or Moving Out). Been doing more of that stuff in my living room with my kids.
I haven't had any issues yet with performance. Though I've been running it at 1080p and heaviest I've ran on it so far is Cats Quest 3.
You can, technically, but there are some caveats.
SteamOS is not a general purpose OS. It is optimized to run on the Steam Deck (plus the Frame and Gabecube I guess). Its software components are tested on a limited range of hardware (specifically AMD silicon), and it might not have certain optimizations and compatibility fixes that are required by other consumer hardware. It also probably has some proprietary bits, especially the firmware.
The best option is Bazzite. It's not based on SteamOS, but it is built with a robust gaming experience in focus. You can even get it to boot directly into Steam Big Picture. Watch this loud Aussie man do it!
The other option is HoloISO, which is an independent reimplementation of SteamOS. Their intention is to get as close to the real SteamOS as possible. Hardware support is limited (especially nvidia).
Popping in to champion bazzite, it's my daily use os and I've never found an os that's as easy and clean to run. So far the only issue I've had is that it doesn't support some laptop wifi cards out of the box.
No.
They haven't released the current version of SteamOS to be installed on any machine and imaging the actual Deck's OS won't work on all hardware. You could do the old steam machine OS; but it is not anywhere the same as what the Deck and this new Steam Machine use other than being based on Linux.
There is Bazzite, though, which is not the same OS, but strives to offer the same experience.
They have released the recovery image for the deck, which can be installed on any computer and if you have AMD built pc, it should work just fine. Ofc ymmv.
You can do this now. But it'll probably be more effort than using something like Bazzite. The image is available publicly. It just assumes a certain set of hardware (AMD GPU, for example). It might be enough to install the GPU drivers you need. Worst case, you might have to recompile the kernel. But all the user space configuration should be fine.
https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/65B4-2AA3-5F37-4227
Ofcourse it will. Anyone expecting any less are just optimists
This is going to come off as shilling for Valve, but it isn't my intention.
I could entirely see Valve pricing the Steam Machine relatively affordably and this statement is ultimately a dig at how overpriced pre-built PCs and consoles can be.
"The Steam Machine outperforms 70% of current user PCs...we neglected to say that the majority of user PCs are overpriced for what they deliver."
Maybe we will all benefit if the 14 year old kids gets a steam machine, instead of some cheap pos with loads of errors, slowness etc = extra rage in games.
I find it amusing how much discussion there is around the price of this when it only ships to like 1/4th of the world. If it would be available in stores like nintendo, I doubt people there would be much issue regarding high price.
The price really seems way too high if they are this scared to put out a number
Thanks all the same Valve. For 900 or more, you can keep it. We're good. 👍
$500 or bust
Won't happen. It's a general purpose computer. You can use it for e.g. work computers.
Exactly, so now $400 or bust
Why should valve fund the new office computers for 1000 Walmart employees?
That’s their business not mine
If they comply with your request then that's a real possibility.
No, it's not. No company is buying a bunch of Linux PCs with zero enterprise support for their workers.
You can just install windows.
$299.99 feels like it should be the ceiling for a console.
I'd like it to cost $1.50 but it won't. The minimum reasonable price this comes in at is around $500 you would have to be really unaware to expect it to be less than that
I don’t know why you get downvoted for this lol. I’ll do you one better. $250 or bust
Fuck it. $199.98.
Hot damn! Shut up and take my money!
Over, under
$500 USD?
Definitely over 500$. Considering the statement it sounds like it will be at least 800 dollars.
Yeah, I've been guessing $800-1000. That's a decent deal on a prebuilt with this performance.
IIRC from an earlier article, they're still looking at factors and don't yet know for sure (I suspect that it might be that Trump tariffs and whether they will stand is an input).
I think if it is over $600 most people aren't even going to consider it as an option.
That's the thing I find amusing in this thread. Consoles are a known quantity and it needs to either compete or undercut them. I have a Steam Deck that I paid £320 for (brought up to £400 by the SSD I added). I would most definitely not pay more than £450 for a Steam Box. It may well cost more than that but it is a luxury and I would seriously struggle to justify more than that.
I'm curious to see how the price will be affected as consumer PCs get stronger every year. Will they update the Steam Machine every couple of years, or will they decrease the price? I have to assume they are targeting a neutral price because their primary goal is to assemble a linux box with as little margin as possible and put it in front of you for an actual fair price, but "fair price" is a moving target.
Personally, I'm all for getting what I pay for. People who sell to you at a loss are up to something.
So what's a PC with the same level of performance?
https://store.steampowered.com/sale/steammachine
CPU
Semi-custom AMD Zen 4 6C / 12T
up to 4.8 GHz, 30W TDP
GPU
Semi-Custom AMD RDNA3 28CUs
2.45GHz max sustained clock, 110W TDP
16GB DDR5 + 8GB GDDR6 VRAM
512GB NVMe SSD OR
2TB NVMe SSD
$1,000?
https://www.microcenter.com/product/698874/powerspec-g527-gaming-pc
Spec wise I can get there around $688 on pc part picker. I would imagine valve could hit a lower price point with selling en masse. That being said if you take in the price point of how small it is that could add some extra cost.
With the same form factor, noise level, CEC, wake on USB, optimized sleep/resume? Just having a set of component with similar performance on paper is not having the same device.
It's a bad comparison to make.
Its not a bad comparison to make at all when comparing price.
Small form factor is not a huge challenge for a computer using this little power.
As for the other features, no one is pretending its precisely the same device. Thats why its a comparison.
I really not agree here. The final experience have to take into account all of that.
If it's a device I just want to plug toy tv and enjoy all those features may hold higher value than more ram.
It's like comparing two cars looking only at the engine. Discarding of one has AC and the others don't.
Maybe for a thinkerer that could be a sensible comparison but for a non thinkerer like myself now (I used to be) those features holds a lot of value.
Sure it does, but that doesnt mean that you can't make a comparison.
The VRAM may actually be a deal breaker if you look at the trend of current games and how many games have problems with even modest settings especially at higher resolutions like they've said this will support.
Not at all. Its comparing the engines understanding that they are obviously different, but selectively talking about one aspect. You can bring up the other aspects but its not unfair to make the comparison.
This has nothing to do with tinkering and everything to do with if this can deliver a good value for money for any sizeable target market.
If it only applies to a small niche, it can't be a successful product and wont do what they want it to do.
If it can't adequately pass the baseline, its out of steam before the starter gun fires.
That PC at microcenter is much faster than the Steam Machine.
Here's some benchmarks for the 7600M, which has the exact same specs as the GPU in the Steam Machine:
https://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-RX-7600M-GPU-Benchmarks-and-Specs.679303.0.html
Here's some benchmarks for a 9060XT which is the GPU on your link:
https://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-RX-9060-XT-16GB-Benchmarks-and-Specs.1029097.0.html
And here's some benchmarks for a desktop 7600 which is another card people are comparing the Steam Machine to:
https://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-RX-7600-Benchmarks-and-Specs.806213.0.html
In case anyone doesn't wanna wade through the terrible way notebookcheck presents information, I'll post the numbers for CyberPunk High Preset at 1080P to give you an idea of the performance difference. Nothing particular about why I chose that game, it's just the first I found that was on all 3 links:
If we set the 7600M as 100%, then the 7600 and 9060XT are 144.6% and 204.1% respectively.
I think people believe the Steam Machine will be way faster and that's why they're coming up with these outrageous prices.
As long as I can buy it with one Troy ounce of pure gold and not more, it's a good price.
No its gonna be 0.5674392 Troy ounces of pure Gold
Acceptable price
That's a rip off, it'll be more like 1/4 troy ounce, if that
If olot really Is going to be priced like that then why? Like you Can Build a PC and Its even fun. You cant make a Powerfull PC that small easly but like...idk
I'm guessing the same reason people don't always reroof their own house, or replace their own home electrical, or build their own bike. Sometimes it's worth spending money to avoid doing a thing you either don't want to or don't know how to do. As I've gotten older and more financially secure that's definitely been the case with me at least
Plus, they may be able to come in slightly cheaper on volume discounts on components.
I've always built my on PCs, but there are times when the whims of the market have made pre-builts cheaper.
People out there replacing their homes electrical?
It's weird being on this site sometimes. Not everyone speaks computer, but it turns out that doesn't make them dumb, they're just good at different things. Personally I have no issues doing electrical work but know I would get incredibly frustrated trying to work a Linux machine. I have no interest in learning all that noise because it straight up is not interesting to me and is not worth my time. I had my fill of that nonsense in school. I'd def be a potential customer of something like this that 'works out of the box' - honestly that's the real path to getting people off windows.
Yeah there Is also that. Its more convenient sometimes to not do the "Sorry" job
Eh, I don't particularly enjoy building PCs, but I do it because it's cheaper, esp. for upgrades. I'm really not the target market for this.
That said, this is the right product for a lot of people. Many don't want to mess with their gaming system, they want it to just work. That's why consoles are popular, and the Steam Machine being a bit more expensive than a console and get access to Steam's catalog is very attractive to a lot of people, especially if it otherwise works like a console.
Yeah It works like the pc-console with steamOS ita Just i found that for me and some other people its a Little redundant, but not that people shouldnt buy it
If you want a smaller form factor it actually costs you more than a normal tower. This is not a bad way to get a small form factor computer (if it's priced like a normal sized PC)
Especially with the fucked up RAM prices recently.
Yeah fi you want a small pc its very good since its hard to find Powerfull small PCs
There were some pieces mentioned on waveform about its set up being out of box ready to be turned on by tv remote and those few console like bits that people like me wouldnt know how to do if we built.
That sucks. I hoped Valve would price it competitively to boost the sales and adoption. But why would I buy this "crippled" PC for the same price I can buy retail? The main gripe for me is Gabecube has no room for upgrade, not even second drive, nothing. Which obviously is not the case with self built PC.
Don't get me wrong I still like the idea, but the price just must make sense.
I mean crippled like it is "as is", no space to expand, tinker, swap parts. I've also seen a rumor it'll have locked BIOS, but I hope that's just a rumor.
I doubt all of those concerns. The Deck can be expanded just fine.
How? I've seen photo of machine's inside, there's nothing. You can replace m.2 or add microSD and that's it. Compare that to "regular PC".
RAM on the Steam Deck is not expandable.
Well, it technically is if you remove the current RAM chips, solder on new double density RAM chips, and flash the BIOS. But compared to a regular PC of just plugging the RAM sticks into the Motherboard slots they belong in, trying to expand RAM on the Steam Deck might as well be considered not possible. Even if you do expand the RAM, there is no noticeable performance gain.
You can double the ram if you wanted to. A quick simple search brings up multiple articles about it
Yeah, I said that in the second part of my comment. It requires desoldering the RAM chips and soldering on new ones, a step most people aren't going to do.
Nah, just download more RAM and be good... /s
This is for general public. So add 1 million dollars for tech support
Is this anounced to boost the sales of a yet-to-be-revealed steam link 2 ?
Steam Link 2 is just a Google TV or similar device with the Steam Link app installed. They never stopped the project, just shifted focus.
D O A
O
A
My gaming PC from 2019 might be technically barely faster than this (2070S in it) but I'm still inclined to buy one.
What's convinced me is my steam deck. I couldn't be happier with a piece of hardware as this. And if this is just a more powerful non-handheld variant that does all the same shit, I'd be open to it for sure.
Do I want to spend my money for a billionaire floating around in a massive yacht? We'll see and yes, I'm a Steam user.
A PC of similar performance is about $550 so I don't get what they're saying about it not been priced like a console. That's about exactly what a Series S would cost.
where did you get that? With the price increases of pc components in recent months, it's more like $750+.
Used market prices, probably. An 8GB VRAM video card and an appropriate CPU that wouldn't bottleneck performance could easily fit under $500. I guess nowadays the RAM would be the hangup lol.
I don't know why people keep insisting that the current prices are relevant. These products have been manufactured for months now, so we need to be looking at old prices not current market value.
I didn't use prices from last week I used prices from last year because that's when Steam would have actually made their devices. Manufacturing of the steam machine and the steam frame is rumoured to have occurred around 2023-2024, should the Trump shenanigans shouldn't have affected things too much.
That's not to say that somehow much the devices will cost it's just how much it would have cost to build. How much profit they're going to try and make on them is an unknown. With the steam deck they aim for $100 profit margin, but who knows with this device. The steam frame is also an unknown because it's a weird configuration.
Could have saved this comment too, but here we both are
You need to realize that you're not always going to be the target audience.
ewww win 11
Because it has desktop hardware in it, and it just works off the shelf like a console.
Just because you can't find a use case that fits your needs doesn't mean it won't fit anyone's needs.
It's not a console though. It's basically an ssf rebuilt using linux.
You're comparing an $800 apple vs an $800 orange
thats cool. still don't care though.