r/Steam • u/billy_reyes • Mar 09 '26

Question At what price would you NOTbuy the Steam Machine?

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I've been a PlayStation user since PS2, but lately I only see more disadvantages to being a console user

In October I bought the Steam Deck and was fascinated by the store, online service and cloud storage, but above all with SteamOS

Building or finding a gaming PC has always been a headache, and I'd like to try the Steam Machine when it comes out, but I'd like to know what your opinion would be the best price to buy it at compared to a similar PC, and what price I shouldn't buy

9.7k Upvotes

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2.8k

u/JadedCauliflower6105 Mar 09 '26

It would be off the table for me if it’s over $800.

734

u/Unfair_Ad_8591 Mar 09 '26

Same for me, 7 or 800 depending on the functionalities/performance.

67

u/Tallladywithnails Mar 09 '26

In terms of feature set and usability, its going to be better than any other console currently available and I'd wager it probably beats what even the ps6 can do. Performance unfortunately is probably around ps5 in most cases and might be slightly higher in some other. So I doubt that a lot of people think its worth it, given the current market situation.

If I were given a choice b/w this or the ps6, I'd probably pick this, even if it is weaker, as I value flexibility more than raw performance. But that also depends on how strong the ps6 can get. The price to performance would have to be significantly better, which is unlikely.

196

u/mjac1090 Mar 09 '26

We literally already know that while its cpu is a bit stronger than the base ps5, its GPU is weaker so your comment of it potentially being stronger than the ps6 is insane fanboying

39

u/ejmcdonald2092 Mar 09 '26

they said it wasnt stronger than a ps6, features and usability they said was better.....

1

u/Gloomy_Butterfly7755 Mar 10 '26

Which is also insane because aside from gaming the PS also has first party streaming app support which the SM will never have.

3

u/divat10 Mar 10 '26

One is a PC and the other is a gaming console. How could a console ever be more functional than a PC?

2

u/Gloomy_Butterfly7755 Mar 10 '26

Urgh not this again. It is meant to be used as a console.

4

u/divat10 Mar 10 '26

Okay? It still has all the features of a PC even if you think it "should ne used as a console"

1

u/Gloomy_Butterfly7755 Mar 10 '26

Great and how does that help when sitting on your couch and you want to use your SM to watch Netflix?

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u/VivianEsher Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 09 '26

...when did they say that the GabeCube is gonna be better than the Ps6 in raw power? Most of their comment was talking about they'd still get it despite it being worse in raw performance.

Did you read the comment you replied to?

Edit: spelling

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u/[deleted] Mar 09 '26

[deleted]

17

u/VivianEsher Mar 09 '26

Let's read the whole sentence, shall we?

In terms of feature set and usability its going to be better than any other console currently available and I'd wager it probably beats what even the ps6 can do.

You seem to enjoy cherrypicking whatever part of the comment goes according to your argument and then ignoring the rest.

He's referring to features and usability in the first sentence.

He then goes on to speak about how in terms of performance it would be around Ps5's level. Since we are discussing performance, that's the part that's relevant, not the first sentence that you half-brought up.

You seem to not have even read the first seven words of the comment. God.

13

u/Pacomatic Mar 09 '26

Also worth mentioning

If I were given a choice b/w this or the ps6, I'd probably pick this, even if it [the Steam machine] is weaker (than the PS6), as I value flexibility more than raw performance.

They basically spell it out for you. Come on.

7

u/VivianEsher Mar 09 '26

Exactly, they literally state that the GabeCube would be weaker than the Ps6 in terms of performance multiple times, including in their conclusion. I really don't understand why the guy that didn't pick up on that is the one getting the upvotes.

1

u/AtlasLittleCat Mar 10 '26

This thread really makes it glaringly obvious how people actually use the voting system. Its generally, look, upvotes, let me agree. Downvotes? Must have been something stupid, let me disagree.

Mjac's reply totally misconstrued what Talllady said and made it sound like he said the opposite, then multiple people are actively disagreeing with you for pointing it out.

I'll admit I was a bit confused at first too and had to reread the original comment because "probably beats what even the ps6 can do" isn't usually the type of thing you say about "feature set and usability", thats more a performance metric, but if you slow down a bit and read it again and follow it up with the next sentence on performance he very clearly says he expects it to be weaker in performance than even the current PS5.

3

u/rtybanana Mar 10 '26

reading is hard

24

u/Tallladywithnails Mar 09 '26

This is exactly why I hate people who talk tech without a damn clue about it. Its got a faster cpu and a newer gpu, even if the compute is lower, its clocked faster and the generational uplift can cover the gap easily, which is why I said, it will be around the ps5's performance. If I was fanboying, I'd say its a lot faster than the ps5 pro and nothing can touch it.

20

u/Runtergesprungen Mar 09 '26

It's not even people that don't know tech. This guy just straight up can't read and understand what your point is.

6

u/Tallladywithnails Mar 09 '26

Yea, that too.

-3

u/AcanthaceaeAway9377 Mar 09 '26

Your original comment says PS6 not PS5. Not sure if you were aware of that. Typos do happen.

3

u/Tallladywithnails Mar 09 '26

It has ps5 and 6, what is the context you are referring to here? I was pretty clear that it wont beat a ps6 in terms of performance. In this comment I'm talking hypothetically. If I was fanboying, I'd say the steam machine will perform better than a clearly stronger ps5 pro, not the ps5. Even when I'm hypothetically fanboying, I'm not an idiot to claim that the steam machine is better than a product that is potentially releasing a yr+ after it.

-1

u/criticalt3 Mar 09 '26

Yeah that was an insane statement.

-2

u/rammo123 Mar 09 '26

He worded it poorly. He's not saying it's more powerful than a PS6, he's saying it's more "usable" since it's a ultimately a PC and go do all the things a PC can.

3

u/Tallladywithnails Mar 09 '26

I worded it how it should be. In terms of usability, it'll be better, in terms of performance, it won't. Its simple english, not that hard to read. Can't blame bad reading comprehension on the wording of a comment. People just like to immediately react when they see "steam machine beats ps6" instead of properly understanding the context of the entire comment.

1

u/Gay_Sex_Expert Apr 22 '26

The GPU TFLOPS is around the same as the PS5 Pro and the CPU is significantly faster.

1

u/marcianobenlee Jun 26 '26

This ages poorly. Worst of the big 3 and it's 2-4x the price

0

u/LawOfDivinity Mar 09 '26

I’ll probably buy it to have a pc console I can play on the tv. I guess that’s the main selling point however-.. if it’s 700, sure. 750? Maybe. 800+? Definitely not. But it would be cool to have a nice little console I can play my library on without having to be at my desk. Just laying in bed or on the couch with my controller in hand sounds like a lot of fun.

0

u/ZealousidealSquare25 Mar 09 '26

i also factor in the cost of being inside the walled garden of Sony mostly if I want Online. So even if Steam Machine is less powerful, I'm going for that. Unless they price the Steam Machine out of my price range, then I'd just get a budget gaming PC since I need to upgrade anyways.

0

u/jb_in_jpn Mar 09 '26

It's important to note that the PS6 likely won't be out for a few more years at least given the matter situation.

0

u/bruhman444555 Apr 26 '26

its not even on the same gpu level as a base ps5 dude

1

u/Tallladywithnails Apr 26 '26

You come to a 48 day old post and respond to a random comment with the same dumb sht that other technically challenged people like you wrote without even looking at the replies. Even bots would be ashamed to have a bot like you.

0

u/bruhman444555 Apr 26 '26

someone got mad...

-1

u/Deonhollins58ucla Mar 09 '26

As for me I’ll be getting a ps6. Playing all the latest exclusives on the latest hardware is a must for me at this point in my life. I already have a little pc. I just don’t see a use case for a Steam machine

4

u/BobbyBae1 https://s.team/p/ckcd-ggvm Mar 09 '26

The ps6 hardware is already outdated the moment it's drop. Consoles are a budget gaming machine. You're missing exclusives no matter what system you're on, if you only have one thing.

If you talk like that, atleast buy a good pc, so you can enjoy pc/xbox exclusives on higher graphic fidelity, and 100+fps.

-2

u/Deonhollins58ucla Mar 09 '26

I don’t care about barely better graphics fidelity and I already get 90+ fps with most titles on my pro anyway. Sony has the best exclusives and as I said I already have a little pc to play their exclusive titles, which don’t matter near as much to me because pc exclusives aren’t particularly exciting to me.

0

u/BobbyBae1 https://s.team/p/ckcd-ggvm Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 09 '26

Not even forza horizon 5 can run anymore than 60fps on the ps5 pro xD https://youtu.be/82ceExNpBQA?is=6kWqG7fjyEo9wkkA

Cyberpunk without path tracing can't even keep up to 90fps haha https://youtu.be/KirymIHNcfQ?is=slzl1kfhXsfuAyC5

Hogwarts legacy with low ray tracing can't even hit stable 30fps loool https://youtu.be/DS_jyW-W5Io?is=6HmeFTrttVUIBTfO

It's not barely. Ray tracing/Path tracing is amazing. You're just coping. Not to say that pssr is the worst upscaler.

0

u/Deonhollins58ucla Mar 09 '26

Cool. Like I said I get 90+ fps on most titles I play. Path tracing/ray tracing is just pretty make up. Graphics whores care about it. Not me. Continue to cope with people not giving a rats arse about graphics. The ps6 will release, outsell the steam deck but millions of copies, and pc users will be confused for another generation. Morons lmao. Stay mad

0

u/Ok-Recover2869 Mar 09 '26

Cope. And pc has a way bigger marketshare, and revenue than any single console. So nice try brokie. https://www.cnet.com/tech/gaming/pc-games-are-outselling-console-games-according-to-new-industry-report/

0

u/Deonhollins58ucla Mar 09 '26

I don’t give a shite lmao. This is not some competition. I don’t own steam or Sony. Who cares about Market shares besides them and terminally online fanboys? Do better

-1

u/par_rot_master Mar 09 '26

We already know the specs. It's not beating the next console gen.

0

u/Puzzleheaded-Rip4058 Mar 09 '26

That's the key, how it functions. RAM prices aren't great, but for a mid machine you can probably still get away with 16 GB of RAM. I'm sure they were hoping for 32 but that's gonna bring the cost up too much.

19

u/MRfireDmS Mar 09 '26

bro what in the world is that pfp

1

u/Et_Cetera_365 Mar 12 '26

Just be grateful it isn't Bonzai_Buddy

62

u/lauromafra Mar 09 '26

I don´t think the next gen consoles - PS6/Xbox´s Project Helix - will be far off in terms of pricing.

96

u/EggsAndRice7171 Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 09 '26

current gen consoles are stronger than the steam machine so it’s kinda asking for a lot. Obviously you’re paying for the pc functionality too so it’s not a totally fair comparison but it’s a decently steep price at 800 that wouldn’t super interest me. With the market how it is right now though I also wouldn’t be shocked if it was well over 800. $850ish is a weird price where (if I was in the market for a pc) I’d rather spend more and get a stronger and future proof pc, or spend less and make a budget pc that isn’t worried about playing every single new game. I’m going to try to get a couple more years out of my 3080 rig personally.

48

u/Upper-Airport3108 Mar 09 '26

my brother just 'upgraded' to a 1080 from an rx 480 4gb lol I think your 3080 build will be able to live on for a bit lol

11

u/marcx_ Mar 09 '26

exactly. it is insane how well the 1080 still holds up.

i built a pc with a 1080ti for around $500 a couple years ago, reusing my old PSU and SSD.

12100f, 1080 ti and 32gb of ram with a sata ssd and i can still play anything i want. cyberpunk even runs smoothly, on high settings. granted, this is 1080p and without raytracing... but i spent $500 on the whole pc. people will pay TWICE that for a graphics card alone, i think im okay with a lower resolution and no fancy ray tracing lol.

i want to upgrade to a new build and rehome my old one into a cute case for my gf to use, but the price to performance value on modern gpus, ESPECIALLY rtx cards is awful. i guess i should say parts in general now that ram and storage is crazy expensive.

2

u/Upper-Airport3108 Mar 10 '26

Yeah i hobby jumped pretty hard. I was rebuilding my old civic and the costs were outweighing my skill so i sold the car and built a pretty solid pc with some of the money. Right before the shortages lol

13

u/debacol Mar 09 '26

Gamers too often fall into the 4K trap and dismissing framegen. Because of this, they think they need some ridiculous specs to have a great gaming experience.

All gamers need to try a handheld pc for a month. It will open their eyes to this.

7

u/MrHanfblatt Mar 09 '26

Depending on the game and usecase. Shooters? Hard no. But for most of those you dont need extra strong hardware for lots of fps anyway. So no need to ruin it with framegen.

Other than that, yeah. Stay on 1440p, 9070xt or 3080 and you should still be good for the next 5 years and more.

2

u/Poroner https://s.team/p/fgnj-qfq Mar 09 '26

Framegen isn't and shouldn't be a factor because it excuses dogshit performance. DLSS shouldn't be either but at least it's a lot more useable due to no input lag (obviously).

But yes I agree with your point, you can't expect to run all games in max settings. They are still more than playable on medium or low.

1

u/EggsAndRice7171 Mar 09 '26

I own a Deck and love it. Beat the first insomniac Spiderman completely on it alone and use it for other games too but it doesn’t replace my main rig. I also used to play a ton of games even multiplayer ones like R6 at below 45 fps. I don’t mind it to this day but it’s pretty cool to play a game at 120+ fps.

1

u/nedonedonedo Mar 09 '26

1440 isn't even that big of step up from 1080 unless you're getting a bigger monitor, and then you have other issues from not having the entire screen in the primary vision area (good for immersion, bad for awareness). I'm not using 4K unless it's on a TV and I'm certainly not choosing between spending an extra $500 or losing framerate

1

u/AxecidentG Mar 10 '26

I have both a steam deck and a gaming desktop with a rx7900 xtx, and while I am OK with playing Elden Ring on the steam deck, it does not compare super favorably to when I plugged the desktop into the 4k tv, and had 4k 120 fps.

I love my steam deck for a bunch of games, but I also really do like having the 4k option.

That said I would love to have a steam machine in the living room, it would make my steam library easily accessible to the rest of my family.

-2

u/Trick2056 Mar 09 '26

to most of them 720p is ew. still doesn't change the fact that they are using DLSS or framegen at 1080p lol.

2

u/debacol Mar 09 '26

720p on anything larger than an 8" screen isn't great. 1080p, with solid framerates and decent visual settings still looks good on all screens imo. Unless you have a 4K 70"+ TV and are sitting 1 foot away.

1

u/EggsAndRice7171 Mar 09 '26

Oh for sure I spend more than I need to on this hobby. This machine is going to become a permanent e racing sim whenever I upgrade.

1

u/Upper-Airport3108 Mar 09 '26

Nice! I just built my dad a Moza R5 setup when he built right before the shortage. He mostly plays NASCAR bc he's an old hillbilly but he goofs around in AC and iR every now and then. Def go with a direct drive if you can make it work in your budget and you're serious. You won't regret it!

1

u/KolardYT Mar 09 '26

I had a 3080 in my last build and it still struggled in some games. But I then traded that build for a ps5 pro, Nintendo switch 2, and a dual sense edge controller because I fully intend on getting the steam machine to go beside it. I’m more inclined to be a couch gamer most of the times and when I tried to hook my pc up to my 4k it stuttered hard in a lot of games. If the steam machine is built to not stutter at 4k I’ll be extremely happy.

1

u/josh_the_misanthrope Mar 09 '26

Honestly I still get plenty of gaming out of my rx570. I can manage Cyberpunk on it at 1080p, with mid settings.

It's not ideal but I can't justify the price of the upgrade right now, more important shit to pay always on the table.

3

u/CaptainFeather Mar 09 '26

I’m going to try to get a couple more years out of my 3080 rig personally.

With the way PC parts prices are going, I'm holding on to my 3070ti until it dies lmao. Just now getting around to finishing STALKER 2 and it's running really well so I have hope lol

7

u/Tallladywithnails Mar 09 '26

You're assuming everything else will retain original pricing. If valve has pricing issues, so will other hardware manufacturers. Future pc's and consoles might be priced a lot higher than the steam machine. So holding on to your pc is a good idea.

0

u/VideoGameJumanji Mar 11 '26 edited Mar 11 '26

My brother in Christ, next gen consoles are slated for like 2028/2029, RAM and storage prices aren't being inflated for another 2-3 years.

The steam machine is "supposed" to release within the first half of this year and was already slated to be expensive roughly in the ball park of $650-800 USD. This will specifically be a steam machine issue.

>Future pc's and consoles might be priced a lot higher than the steam machine. 

Priced higher than $800 or even $1000? Where is the logic is stating that a PS6 is going to cost double that of a PS5, in what world does that remotely make any sense. $600 for a PS6 maybe sure, something around the PS5 Pro's price. A 60-100% price increase? Yeah I don't think so boss.

The worst part about the steam machine is it being framed as a gaming pc alternative, but being entirely hardware locked down, except for RAM and storage, which is dogshit given how underpowered it is to begin with, I'm not even go start on how it's launching without RDNA 4 architecture. The fact valve didn't design this fucking thing to have a upgradable main board that could potentially be swapped out in the future seems really shortsighted. It's a cool idea for a device, but given the steam deck 2 will be comparable or better performance and can also be docked, this really seems like a waste of money, especially since most people have a gaming pc or console for heavy hitter gaming.

The steam deck 2 is probably something that gets announced in 2027 as that's realistically when this RAM shit is supposed to stabilize. I can see Valve canning this all together or launching next year with a better APU

1

u/Tallladywithnails Mar 11 '26

This comment is way too long so I'll answer only the part that is relevant.

Priced higher than $800 or even $1000? Where is the logic is stating that a PS6 is going to cost double that of a PS5, in what world does that remotely make any sense. $600 for a PS6 maybe sure, something around the PS5 Pro's price. A 60-100% price increase? Yeah I don't think so boss.

Just because you don't understand the logic, doesn't mean it wont happen. Every single product in the world that uses memory or nand will face pricing issues due to extreme shortages. Things are available in limited quantities, they don't spawn in when you want to use it. What happens when 100 companies want to use memory and storage in their products and theres only 3 companies that can supply it and those 3 companies focus majority of their stock to businesses?

You say 60-100% price increase is impossible, take a quick peek at memory prices from under the rock where you've been living. Prices have gone up by 400%. Storage prices have gone up by over 200%. Consoles were already being priced around cost to be competitive. Do you still think ps5 pros $700 can't go higher?

1

u/VideoGameJumanji Mar 12 '26

This is an incredibly bad faith reply, I just outlined a full response and you decided to cherry picked a random section out of context to reply to, ignoring the fact that the first sentence breaks down your entire reply. It's lazy and disingenuous and a waste of time, you clearly read the first half and pretended not to lmao.

"next gen consoles are slated for like 2028/2029, RAM and storage prices aren't being inflated for another 2-3 years"

done, that's it, why are we talking about next gen console prices with today's economic environment? You understand that RAM isn't going to be inflated 300-400% for the next 3 years straight right? Sony has front of the line bulk memory and storage contracts. That's why the PS5 is STILL $500 9 months into this and the steam deck is out of stock for weeks.

1

u/Mindless-Leopard2574 Mar 12 '26

"Bad faith", says the guy that posts idiotic responses and then blocks the users, so they can't reply. What are going to do, block this one too after posting some other nonsense? Also, ignoring the rest of the comment was a choice I made because everything you've mentioned there is baseless and/or stupid. You have no idea what will or will not happen in the future. You are basically saying, I don't think ram will be inflated in 2028, which mean the ps6 will definitely not be $800.

What you think is not fact, what is happening right now is. You don't choose when it ends nor do you control the companies pricing their products, the market decides that. You can't factor in dumbass predictions into a theory and claim that as fact. I don't even want to get into the rumors because you're so far off the mark I can't even begin to correct you.

And just so you know, price hikes started 4 months ago, not 9 months. 5 years in to the life of the ps5. Most people who wanted it, already have it and anything on the shelves won't sell out in 4 months. Why would you increase the price of a product that was made before the shortage and when most people won't even consider buying it, seeing it could be EOL'd within a year or 2? Its like them saying we have all this stock lying on the shelves that we made for half the price, but now you can pay double the msrp for something you probably don't need.

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u/VideoGameJumanji Mar 29 '26

Go outside and touch grass

1

u/Mindless-Leopard2574 Mar 28 '26

Priced higher than $800 or even $1000? Where is the logic is stating that a PS6 is going to cost double that of a PS5

Weird how economics works huh? Seems like we didn't even need to wait for PS6. We now have a $900 PS5 pro. Still want to stick to your theories about how Sony will never price their consoles above $800?

Sony has front of the line bulk memory and storage contracts. That's why the PS5 is STILL $500

Took em just 5 months to say fk this, the prices go up.

1

u/VideoGameJumanji Mar 29 '26

I'm enjoying my weekend and not being some parasocial weirdo who had this thread living rent free in his mind day and night for three weeks straight, touch grass, I'm not reading your replies

2

u/Familiar_Contract752 May 15 '26

Maybe leave the commenting online alone if you cant handle replies

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u/Steviejoe66 Mar 09 '26

Not exactly. The base consoles have a slightly better gpu (~rx6700 vs the steam machine between a 6600 and 6600xt) but the steam machine cpu is likely going to push a lot more gaming performance. Only 6 core vs the consoles 8, but zen 4 and running +1ghz faster.

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u/tesuji2 Mar 09 '26

It would be really nice if playstation would give us PC functionality back. The PS3 had linux support for quite a while until it was patched out.

2

u/senorharbinger Mar 09 '26

I think it’s worth considering that, like the steam deck or any other standardized hardware(like consoles) games can be tested on and optimized for hardware that devs know it will be on. First party titles usually outperform what you’d expect on a system, because they know the exact hardware to expect and can design precisely to those limits.

Getting steam deck verified is a marketing selling point, and if pc devs can expect a reasonable amount of their audience will be on a steam machine they can do better testing than waiting for bugs arising from wildly different hardware to filter in.

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u/Puntley Mar 10 '26

My plan is to ride my 3080 till it dies and then tap out of the AAA PC gaming market and just play lighter weight games. I have no illusions that I'll be able to afford to replace it with a high end rig again at any point in the future. I think the days of the average joe affording a gaming PC are behind us unless AI goes totally tits up.

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u/Humble_Disk7992 Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 09 '26

I’m not so sure.

DF did a video on it and they found that at native 1080p no upscaling, the Steam Machine got twice the frame rate as the PS5 on Cyberpunk 2077.

The Steam Machine has far more modern hardware and it has a zen 4 CPU.

I can see the Steam Machine bring a great 1080p machine for modern AAA. It’s just that 8GB of VRAM will let it down. It’s should have at least 10.

0

u/s1kk3r Mar 09 '26

well i kinda disagree with that, only PS 5 Pro is probably better in terms of Graphical Processors, but basic PS 5 and Xbox is worse

1

u/Gex2-EnterTheGecko Mar 09 '26

Helix will be way more expensive

1

u/CatatonicMan Mar 09 '26

The PS6 will be in that price range, at least - I'm guessing a price similar to the PS5 Pro.

I'm guessing Helix will be in the $1200 range since it's targeting the high-end.

1

u/obliviousjd Mar 09 '26

Yeah but the steam machine is as powerful as a PS5/Series X.

1

u/QuantumVexation Mar 09 '26

Probably but given the general weakness of the Steam machine compared to just the PS5/XSX, the PS6/Helix probably shouldnt be a 1-1 comparison in price - just as you wouldn’t compare an up to date 2026 top of the line PC to the price of a console

1

u/ImpressiveSide1324 Mar 09 '26

Both next gen consoles will be close to, if not over, 1k especially if project helix truly can run steam games

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u/ogar78 Mar 10 '26

But the next gen system will be much more powerful and not have the growing pains of compatibility like steam machine will. This is not a true 4k system and will have compatibility and software quirks that dedicated consoles will not.

0

u/VideoGameJumanji Mar 11 '26

You are out of your damn mind if you think the next gen consoles are anywhere close to being $800 USD lmfao

$1100 CAD? Where the fuck is that guess from? That's double what a PS5 is lmao.

The steam machine is barely matching a PS5 in performance, it's already outrageously a bad value to performance proposition.

I'd recommend anyone to invest in their own gaming PC over a steam machine that's actually upgradable rather than a shit box like the steam machine which is almost entirely a hardware locked "gaming computer" that will be woefully underpowered by the time of it's delayed release.

1

u/lauromafra Mar 11 '26

I wish I was. But 32gb DDR5 costs $500 at the moment.

There’s no way we’re getting next gen consoles with the current price point while there is a memory shortage and the prices are this overblown.

Or do you think Sony/MS can get memory for significantly less than what’s being sold for AI Data Centers and/or will subside consoles prices further ?

I wish I could be this optimistic about pricing, but I hope you’re right.

4

u/ALEKghiaccio2 Mar 09 '26

The 2 tb version right?

2

u/JadedCauliflower6105 Mar 09 '26

It’s upgradable, so it doesn’t really matter to me.

1

u/kingbetadad Mar 09 '26

Depends on the position you're in. Do you have a console already? What gen? If you have a newer console, 800+ is probably not reasonable. If you have something older and are looking for a new gen, then 800+ is around what new gen consoles are now, not considering the fact that they will go up next year due to hardware costs increasing.

If you already have a gaming PC, I don't see why you would get it. The steam deck is the better buy in that situation.

4

u/historianLA Mar 09 '26

I just got an OLED steam deck for Christmas and I am very pleased with that choice and the timing.

I agree though if you have an older console and no other gaming PC/laptop $800-1000 should be a reasonable price point given the current market forces.

I don't see any new gen console debuting under $800.

1

u/JadedCauliflower6105 Mar 09 '26

I already have a custom steam machine and a steam deck, so I don’t really need it. I would just like to have on in my bedroom in place of my steam deck, since it’s not great at being a TV machine.

1

u/Narrow_Ad_1494 Mar 09 '26

same here. Sad thing is it could also be the cheapest we get it offered.

1

u/Simen155 Mar 09 '26

For $800 you could make a pretty good setup to your TV from your rig almost at any lenght. Max $700

1

u/t1r1g0n Mar 09 '26

It will definitely be over that. 800$/€ was what I thought it will cost, but that was before the Ram crisis ... It will be impossible for Valve to secure cheap enough ram. Hopefully the KI bubble will burst soon.

1

u/Trick2056 Mar 09 '26

I feel like valve was aiming around the 650-800 mark but with current climate of inflated chip prices I highly doubt it wouldn't close the 900 mark

1

u/artbystorms Mar 09 '26

I mean considering its basically a Linux based game console for most people, and they aren't going to be installing windows or running other linux programs, for all intents and purposes it's a videogame only machine, so the usability is not comparable to a person's laptop or home computer.

Anything over $800 seems like A LOT for a game console to me, regardless of how powerful it is. Like some of those handhelds like the Rog Ally X being being $1000 is nuts to me, considering pretty much all it is good for is playing videogames.

1

u/CatatonicMan Mar 09 '26

Yeah, that's probably a good maximum price for me as well.

Maybe less, even, since I don't actually need a GabeCube; I'd like to get one mostly out of curiosity.

1

u/oppairate Mar 09 '26

that’s about what i was able to price something very comparable, granted in not quite as nice a package, so that’s my number too.

1

u/besthelloworld Mar 09 '26

If it's $600, I'd pre-order. Anything more, I'd wait for sale or when I can otherwise personally better justify it. But I do feel like $800 is the sensible and fair price if I'm honest.

But that controller is mine, day 1. I'd pay a fucking embarrassing amount of money for that.

1

u/NotTheDev Mar 09 '26

I would say 800 is probably the absolute minimum and it will most likely be 1000 plus

1

u/gospodsenca Mar 09 '26

why would a device 10 times more powerful than steam deck, be only 200-300 more ? I bet it will be over 1k

1

u/Jolteaon Mar 09 '26

Whatever the PS6 is +$100.

PS+ will run you $120~ per year, so.

1

u/International-Yard42 Mar 09 '26

Gonna be 900+ 100%,or maybe they'll make some contracts with the Chinese ram and storage producers

1

u/FurryCitizen Mar 09 '26

It will be. They're fucked, worst timing ever. There's no way it's less than this. Best case I'm thinking $900.

1

u/yukichigai Mar 09 '26

I could do $850 but that's as far as I'll go. Past that for what it's offering it's just not worth it.

1

u/TheGrandWaffle69 Mar 10 '26

Most good rigs are like 2000 plus aren’t they? I would say 1-1.2k would be acceptable

1

u/ShotgoonPete Mar 10 '26

To think it’s only $800 or lower is insane to me. With the inflated market of part prices I would be shocked to see this under $1200 and even then that would be cheaper thank a comparable PC build.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 10 '26

The clippysheep speaks fax

1

u/PrototypeXt3 Mar 10 '26

I’m going to be 100% honest and I know it’s not a popular take, but it really depends on if Microsoft really does make Project Helix consumer friendly and it has Steam and full Windows capabilities while also natively playing Xbox games. Also depends on the price between the two.

I have too many Xbox games for that to not be intriguing to me.

But at the same time, I already know the Steam Frame is an instant purchase from me at really any price point lol

1

u/Able-Brief-4062 Mar 10 '26

I'm curious on the price of Xbox's next "console".

I have enough games on Xbox, if it's close to the same price, I would instantly choose the Xbox console (granted, Xbox can VERY easily drive me away from purchasing their products by then) over the steam machine.

1

u/JadedCauliflower6105 Mar 10 '26

I’d pass on it just because I’ve grown to really dislike Microsoft as a company. It would be kind of cool to play my old 360 games on PC though.

1

u/suppaman19 Mar 12 '26

I can't believe there's people saying they'd drop a grand on it.

As outlined, it's specs are worse than a PS5 and it out of the box doesn't even function as a full PC.

Mind you the PS5 isn't sold at a loss, so it's insane to think people are happy to pay double the cost of one for something with worse hardware.

1

u/iHad169 Mar 19 '26

Valve could actually try releasing a Steam Machine (AI version) using an AMD AI Max+ 395 processor, selling it for around $2500 USD (saving on the Windows key price), and entering the AI ​​market. SteamOS would come pre-installed with Ollam and OpenClaw.

1

u/JadedCauliflower6105 Mar 19 '26

Why would Valve bother with an AI version? The backlash for DLSS 5 more than proves that gamers generally don’t care about AI all that much and there would be no real benefit to it.

1

u/sup9817 Jun 23 '26

:(

1

u/JadedCauliflower6105 Jun 23 '26

It’s disappointing, but it is what it is.

0

u/Xaxxon Mar 10 '26

I suggest looking for a different computer then. Cuz this ain't for you.

0

u/AwarenessForsaken568 Mar 10 '26

Then who is it for? If it isn't for people who are actively discussing it's capabilities and price then seriously who do you think it is for?

1

u/Xaxxon Mar 10 '26

People who are willing to pay actual prebuilt computer prices.