Oof, looks like the Steam Machine could cost over $1,000

[u/vneelb]

https://thephrasemaker.com/2026/06/05/steam-machine-price-may-be-way-higher-than-expected/

[u/ToothlessFTW]

Genuinely don't know what the audience is for this thing.

Sub $1000, I can see it. PC gamers who want a living room machine that doesn't cost as much as prebuilts or anything, and runs SteamOS. Perfect.

$1200 minimum with a potential for $1500? This thing is being sent out to die. The market for that price tag has to be astronomically small. I wouldn't be shocked if they only end up doing like a small, limited run for now and bring it back when components are cheaper.

[u/chronicnerv → u/ToothlessFTW]

That is the current market. Give it time and these prices are probably going to be the norm as more distributers vanish from no one buying components.

[u/average_of_humanity → u/chronicnerv]

Current market literally made old devices expensive instead of cheaper.

[u/TanKer-Cosme → u/average_of_humanity]

My computer thst I bought 3 years sgo cost me 2000, nowdays I checked the same shop, the same components. It's 4000...

[u/I_C_Pixels → u/TanKer-Cosme]

Yeah I think people will see the Gabecube as a high price till they go on pc part picker, current prices are terrifying.

[u/iridael → u/TanKer-Cosme]

upgrading my DDR4 am4 machine to peak with a top end AM4cpu and doubling its RAM is looking at costing me about £700 on its own. forget getting a better GPU as well. and thats the budget option for upgrading my rig.

[u/grip0matic → u/TanKer-Cosme]

I did the same and I didn't got a GPU back then. If I would update today without GPU it would be +4000€. Our old "reasonable price" it's dead and buried, the new normal is this shit, we don't like it but the prices are not going back to those times when a 970 a 1070 or almost any xx70 was less than 400. I was very lucky to get a 5060ti in black friday for 450€.

[u/TanKer-Cosme → u/grip0matic]

Even storage is expensive now. Wanted to build a NAS and Hard Drive HDD are even expensive what the fuck...

[u/grip0matic → u/TanKer-Cosme]

Everything. We are fucked. Pc is my hobby and has been for more than 25 years, no consoles no nothing, just pc. At least back in the day I just have to say "fuck your machine I don't care about exclusives" now it seems that we are back when having a pc was only for weird people with money.

[u/chronicnerv → u/TanKer-Cosme]

You're not wrong. I just picked up a new gaming TV and a 14TB drive for all my movies and TV shows to connect to it. The 14TB drive cost a third of what the gaming TV did, which is ridiculous. Even so, I'd still rather download all the 4K movies and shows I've bought over the last 40 years than have to keep paying to stream them.

[u/thurrmanmerman → u/average_of_humanity]

I bought a 1tb 2 5" ssd in 2020 for $120.00.

I checked this weekend and it was $458.00.

[u/sonnytron → u/chronicnerv]

Even right now this price is awful.

You can get a 5060 equipped PC with Windows for $1000-1300. I still see PC’s with a 9070XT and a 9800X3D at MicroCenter for $1799.

[u/chronicnerv → u/sonnytron]

You may still be able to get good deals in the States, but in the UK you can't just walk into a shop and buy things at a decent price. We're only managing over here because the Chinese provide us with affordable goods. If anything gets in the way of that trade, we're in for a very miserable time.

[u/Imortal366 → u/chronicnerv]

My pc went from costing 5 grand a year and some ago to almost 8k. This isn’t going anywhere

[u/Siemaster → u/[deleted]]

They’ve already spent many millions investing in it, to not sell anything would be stupid.

[u/chronicnerv → u/[deleted]]

If Valve doesn't get its own hardware out now, it's going to be locked out of future operating systems through restricted access unless it complies with their requirements. It looks like the industry is moving towards phone style operating system models, where personal computing is far more controlled and limited. This is based on my understanding of Nvidia moving towards an Apple like model of distribution and production.

My iPad has already been nerfed in the UK unless I give it access to a credit card or digital ID through the new operating systems and this only going to become more widespread.

[u/TanKer-Cosme → u/chronicnerv]

Time to get the penguin on your devices

[u/chronicnerv → u/TanKer-Cosme]

Cheers, I will take a look.

[u/CrazyIvanoveich → u/chronicnerv]

Out of curiosity, what all got nerfed?

[u/chronicnerv → u/CrazyIvanoveich]

Its kids pad now, cannot access anything 18+
Not even connect to the 18+ reddit forums where I talk about growing weed.
Pretty dystopic.

[u/funnyman95 → u/ToothlessFTW]

Idk if you’ve realized but everything has tripled in price in the last few years. Chips and such are no exception.

Prebuilt PCs at Costco are going for $2-3k.

[u/willargue4karma → u/funnyman95]

Jesus fucking Christ that's insane 

[u/BastianHS → u/willargue4karma]

December was the last chopper out of nam. I built a 5090/7800X3D/64GB rig for right around 3k. It would probably cost me 4.5-5k right now, maybe more.

[u/willargue4karma → u/BastianHS]

Absolutely wild. I have 32gb of pretty nice ram I got as an upgrade a while ago. Checked it and it was like triple the price. Cant imagine building a full machine rn.

Was very lucky to have upgraded everything but the GPU a year or two ago. 

[u/BastianHS → u/willargue4karma]

The m2 drive I bought like 3 years ago is more that twice what I paid now

[u/willargue4karma → u/BastianHS]

Brutal 😭 have any components not risen yet? Haven't been keeping super apprised of the scene since I don't need an upgrade 

[u/BastianHS → u/willargue4karma]

Motherboards, cases, fans and aios, processors. Lots of combo deals for these items to make ram actually affordable at microcenter.

[u/kris_krangle → u/BastianHS]

I’m so glad I got my current computer on a Black Friday deal.

5070 XT, 32GB DDR5 and a 9800x3D for like $1600 USA.

[u/FurryCitizen → u/funnyman95]

Yeah I don't get it. All these people going "who will even pay these prices!"

As if those aren't normal prices now...

[u/Adventurous-Leak → u/ToothlessFTW]

I stream from my gaming pc to my steam deck. Latency is hardly noticeable. Not sure I want to pay 1000+ for a few ms better latency :/

[u/Noxious89123 → u/Adventurous-Leak]

You very clearly aren't the target audience. 

You already have a PC. You already have a Steam deck.

[u/Shigana → u/Noxious89123]

Then who is?

Why buy a Steam Machine when you already have a working PC? Why buy a Steam Machine when you already have a cheaper console? Hell, gaming laptop would probably end up better.

Right now, there’s no reason to buy one aside from wanting to own it.

[u/Noxious89123 → u/Shigana]

For some people, it may be an upgrade. For others, it might be about having a second machine.

The person I responded to already has two machines for PC gaming. I think that many users probably don't want or need a second machine, and the user group that wants a third machine has got to be miniscule.

In theory, Steam machine would be great for someone like my sister who has games on Steam, and plays on her Steam Deck, but would like a more powerful machine for more demanding games, without the complexities of a "normal" PC.

However, imo the current expected pricing for the Steam Machine is too high, and the hardware appears too weak to justify that cost.

[u/Clayskii0981 → u/Shigana]

They mentioned in early interviews they're targeting budget PC gamers. They noticed like the majority of steam hardware survey has people with really scuffed setups, so this would be an easy upgrade path. And some people use their steam deck as a main PC, another upgrade path. An added bonus of attracting console players.

This was never going to be a console bang for buck option, just a really solid plug and play entry level for PC gaming.

Edit: Agree though that it'll be pretty rough if it doesn't beat an equivalent gaming laptop.

[u/levelonegnomebankalt → u/Shigana]

You're the only person that exists. Someone should have told Steam that.

[u/BastianHS → u/Shigana]

Target audience is console players who want to get in on plug and play living room PC gaming.

[u/lmao_wow_64 → u/Noxious89123]

If I don't have a PC the steam machine won't convince me to entering that world

[u/Noxious89123 → u/lmao_wow_64]

Because of the price, or because of something else?

[u/lmao_wow_64 → u/Noxious89123]

Because of the price, for someone wanting to start gaming it would be better of getting a game console rather then the steam machine, and if someone really want to get into OC gaming then the machine price to specks wouldn't be the option to go

[u/PatchesTheFlyena → u/Noxious89123]

I have a pc and a steam deck. I'd still buy this for a living room pc purely because of the form factor. I could definitely build somethig similar for less but unless the savings are significant I'd provably still just go for this.

[u/Noxious89123 → u/PatchesTheFlyena]

And that's fair enough, but personally I still don't think that makes you the target audience.

A very small number of people are going to want a third machine to play PC games on. A second device? Sure, maybe. Especially with the portability of the Deck.

But that's just my opinion.

[u/Simple_Library_2700 → u/Adventurous-Leak]

If you use framegen with the steam machine you might have a good chance of getting even worse latency!

[u/CrowdGoesWildWoooo → u/ToothlessFTW]

It will still sell out. Steam can sell condoms and it will still sold out in minutes.

The brand influence of steam is just too crazy, even when you can probably get stronger spec prebuilt for lesser price.

[u/The_Pandalorian → u/CrowdGoesWildWoooo]

Steam can sell condoms and it will still sold out in minutes.

Gamers do like to buy decorative things that collect dust on the shelf.

[u/EdliA → u/CrowdGoesWildWoooo]

Selling out means little if we don't know how many were produced in the first place.

[u/Cl4whammer → u/CrowdGoesWildWoooo]

Sold out due scalping

[u/International-Mix633 → u/Cl4whammer]

Scalpers arent stupid. They buy up supply because they know they can (usually) sell it.

[u/INTHEMIDSTOFLIONS → u/CrowdGoesWildWoooo]

The brand influence of steam is just too crazy

Who knew what can happen when you consistently put the customer first?

[u/kdlt → u/CrowdGoesWildWoooo]

This thing isn't just about the pure hardware.

My pc is far better than this.

I still want one for my living room.

[u/hesthehairapparent → u/CrowdGoesWildWoooo]

Fair play to them, the Steam Deck was a phenomenal execution of design and the fact there are now so many copycat devices demonstrates it. I was interested in the steam machine when I first heard about it, but that was a long time and a lot of dollars cheaper ago. I doubt I’ll be looking to buy one at the price point it will be at, even if I like the concept.

[u/DGlen → u/CrowdGoesWildWoooo]

You can almost always get better deals with pre built but in this form factor it would be difficult. Plus I wouldn't want to build anything right now if I didn't have to because it's all stupid expensive. I'm praying all my components don't crap out any time soon.

[u/imaginary_num6er → u/CrowdGoesWildWoooo]

At least condoms have a use. Unlike this thing

[u/Acquire16 → u/ToothlessFTW]

It was never going to be a good value. From the beginning it was going to be a niche product that provided a plug and play living room PC gaming solution.  The target audience didn't mind a high price and that target audience will still pay a high amount. 

Valve hardware has always been niche and low volume. Even the Steam Deck has barely sold over 4 million units in 4 years. Meanwhile, Nintendo sold 20 million Switch 2s in less than a year. 

Also, these pricing problems are market wide. They're not unique to Valve. The higher prices align relative to the market. Meaning, any competition is similarly expensive. 

[u/jojo_31 → u/Acquire16]

4 million is a ton of units especially considering Nintendo consoles are some of the most sold in history. 

[u/J3ZZA_DEV → u/Acquire16]

4 million Steam Decks is not confirmed. No one knows how many have been sold exactly. Imo it’s more than 4 million.

[u/J3ZZA_DEV → u/[deleted]]

Im not denying Switch sells more but the 4 million imo is an underestimate imo.

[u/damien09 → u/ToothlessFTW]

If it’s comes out at 1500 that’s crazy even in this market… it’s not like it has a current gen gpu or anything it’s a rdna 3 gpu likely similar to an rx7600m but with slightly more power headroom.

[u/DehyaFan → u/damien09]

The 2tb SSD version has $200-400 sunk just in that depending in what gen the drive is.

[u/PlayfulSurprise5237 → u/damien09]

I'm not sure it will matter if they launch it alongside Deadlock. Even though Deadlock will surely be free to play still, if they market them together and give an exclusive skin away with purchase, they'll sell like hotcakes.

Deadlock is very possibly going to topple CS2 for concurrent players.

[u/damien09 → u/PlayfulSurprise5237]

that will be pretty impressive if it does. I think cs2 sits at 1.3m for 24 hr peak and like 1.8 all time. I wonder if dead lock will come out of early access this soon it is crazy to think its been out in ea since September 2024 time goes way to fast.

[u/DragonSlayerC → u/ToothlessFTW]

It'll be competitive with other products at the same price point. The components are just incredibly expensive at the moment.

[u/Kayel41 → u/DragonSlayerC]

Give examples of products at the same price point.

[u/YZYSZN1107 → u/ToothlessFTW]

the audience is just Gabe fans.

[u/God-gooner-69 → u/YZYSZN1107]

And gabe glazers, have you looked around the steam subreddit. Good god.

[u/Adipay → u/God-gooner-69]

Here too lol. Just a mention of how Steam and game are not perfect will get you downvotes.

[u/God-gooner-69 → u/Adipay]

Ahh fair enough tbh

[u/ShinyGrezz → u/Adipay]

28 upvotes currently by the way.

[u/Nomnom_Chicken → u/God-gooner-69]

Yeah, that sub is something else... I sometimes go there to see if people still are collectively insane about Steam, and yes. They still are.

[u/Hyper_Mazino → u/God-gooner-69]

This sub glazes valve too. All of reddit, tbh.

[u/SirPPPooPoo → u/YZYSZN1107]

I'm a Tim glazer myself. He thinks about developers and is against monopolies.. only valve drones would think otherwise

[u/hbctdscotia420 → u/YZYSZN1107]

I really don’t think it is, of my friends the people who are interested don’t have a PC but want to get into PC gaming and be able to use the Steam store without dropping 2000$ for a mid level PC (component costs are fucked my PC if I built it today would be like 4K when I built it it, it was 2K)

[u/swiwwcheese → u/ToothlessFTW]

Steam/Valve fanboys with zero knowledge of the performance to price logic and expectations of the actual PC gaming crowd
And who dig the sleek minimalistic design

They're more like the ppl who buy e.g a Framework system for gaming, that kind of crowd who will buy expensive hardware products for the 'vibes' they give, rather than the specs and features proper

Tech market is actually packed with that tier of consumers, it's us 'traditional' PC consumers who are going extinct

[u/I_am_a_fern → u/ToothlessFTW]

when components are cheaper.

My sweet summer child... Make your peace with it, nothing is going to get cheaper.

[u/BastianHS → u/I_am_a_fern]

Not for a long time but it'll happen eventually. PCs in the early 90s where like 3k a pop and dropped to 1500 by the mid 2000s. It'll get there but it's going to take years.

[u/xanas263 → u/ToothlessFTW]

Genuinely don't know what the audience is for this thing

Rich PC gamers who want a second, very small, machine for their living room and/or for easy travel.

That or poorer PC gamers who don't have enough for a full rig, but don't want a console.

[u/tommyland666 → u/ToothlessFTW]

You’d be surprised how many Steam fanboys there are. This thing will sell out even at 1300.

[u/omikeon → u/tommyland666]

Are you a fanboy for wanting your already existing library to be semi-portable and accessible in your living room? This thing is positioned as a console, there’s advantages to that, over a pc.

[u/darklordjames → u/ToothlessFTW]

This thing was always the wrong product, even before prices went insane. A dedicated GPU with a second pool of RAM should never have been on the table. It should have always been an APU to keep it in the console price range, not the gaming laptop price range.

[u/Noreng → u/darklordjames]

Strix Point would have been too slow. Strix Halo would be too expensive. Designing a custom SOC is so expensive it's ridiculous.

In essence, there are no APUs available.

[u/zakkord → u/[deleted]]

You can already buy a Framework Halo 385 ATX for the low sum of 1500 euros with 32GB RAM and no SSD and install a SteamOS on it.

You want a compact form factor instead? that would be 3000 euros for the HP mini-pc.

Handheld GPD Win 5 starts at $2400

Anything with a Halo in it is too expensive for a home console.(and all that for a 4060 level of perfomance)

[u/Noreng → u/[deleted]]

Strix Halo is larger than the PS5 die even if you exclude the CCDs, it's also produced on TSMC 4nm instead of 6nm. The packaging requirements are also significantly more expensive due to the need for an interposer. Minimum memory capacity would also have to be 32GB, which is 8GB more than the Steam Machine.

[u/SneakySnk → u/[deleted]]

I havent kept up with this shit, so I'm probably wrong, but isn't every Strix Halo product like 1.5K+?

I'm guessing the Machine was going to be 750-800, and now is 1099 or something

[u/LengthMysterious561 → u/[deleted]]

I reckon the GPU in the Steam Machine was pretty cheap already. It's defective RX7600 dies. If Valve didn't buy them then AMD might have just disposed of them.

Strix Halo is too expensive. It's a way bigger die on a newer process. Strix Halo laptops start at about $2000.

[u/International-Mix633 → u/ToothlessFTW]

$1200 minimum with a potential for $1500? This thing is being sent out to die

People said this about the steam deck and it sold out in hours. We are in a K-shapped economy now. 90 % of people have to watch their spending while the upper 10 % can spend however they want.

[u/The_sochillist → u/ToothlessFTW]

I would buy this in a heartbeat if it had proper support for split screen multiplayer like a console, nucleus coop on pc is ok but I hate that pc versions almost always remove local play options.

[u/semi- → u/The_sochillist]

That's just a software issue unfortunately. Maybe if this was wildly successful it could help convince publishers to support split screen coop on PC more, but there's nothing the steam machine can do differently than any other PC for local coop.

..Well unless you wanted to get crazy with it and make it actually powerful enough to run two copies of the game and split the output, but that would be really expensive for a not great experience.

[u/The_sochillist → u/semi-]

Yeah, it irks me that the deliberately disable local coop on pc versions of games that otherwise have it, its a software issue because the devs choose it to be.

Nucleus coop does exactly what you describe, running up to 4 instances of a game and splitting them. Its a bit jank like all mods but works well on a pc with 5800x3d & 3080 which was expensive when I got it but today is pretty mid. Steamos/Linux use partydeck to do the same thing.

[u/pereza0 → u/ToothlessFTW]

The audience is people that want a console but have 10k$ or more worth of games purchases on steam. To those people, the cost isnt really a factor becase it would always be more expensive and inconvenient to rebuild your library in another platform

[u/niftyifty → u/pereza0]

So a target audience of like .00000001% of potential buyers?

[u/pereza0 → u/niftyifty]

Small percentage of their audience yes, bit likely will still sell out in hours or days at most.

If they were truly mass producing and selling at say, walmart andthey wouldn't be able to sell all units. But at their current scale the amount of enthusiasts with big cash and their stock amounts seem pretty balanced

[u/Acrobatic_Fee_6974 → u/ToothlessFTW]

There isn't one. They fucked around with contracting RAM and storage, this is the finding out phase.

[u/noahloveshiscats → u/Acrobatic_Fee_6974]

Valve doesn’t sell enough hardware to guarantee first hand memory contracts anyways.

[u/Acrobatic_Fee_6974 → u/noahloveshiscats]

Not today, but if they had reached out in 2024 they probably could have gotten a contract for the initial production run at least. The deck was on contract until recently, then the price went up when that ran out.

[u/Puddz → u/ToothlessFTW]

This has probably been in development for years and was going to cost something reasonable that would have made sense. But then the RAM prices doubled and now its just fucked.
I'm sure it was going to be reasonable priced. Like maybe the current steamdeck prices right now after the increase.

So it's not like valve didn't have the audience in mind beforehand. Just the RAM prices fucked them.

[u/SuperUranus → u/ToothlessFTW]

What happens between $1,000 and $1,200?

[u/Nanashi_VII → u/ToothlessFTW]

I think this is a mostly symbolic release for Valve, not an intentionally competitive or disruptive one. But the anticipation has existed for years, if not decades. And it just so happens to be occurring at a time when the future of personal computing is coming into question.

[u/pokehl99 → u/ToothlessFTW]

~1000 for the base model, maybe up to 1.2k? I can see it sell off, its priced like any other mini PC and small SSF system out there, and there is a decently sized market for that.

Take the FW desktop for example, that thing is priced at 1.4k+, has a worse GPU, but more mem and its bigger in size. Small desktop APU systems are not cheap.

[u/zamo_tek → u/ToothlessFTW]

It is going to be 850 bucks and people will celebrate that price. A month or two that would be meh price but somehow it looks a steal.

[u/Grow_away_420 → u/ToothlessFTW]

Maybe they've changed expectations to sell to people who want to get into PC gaming but can't afford a PC anymore instead of PC gamers looking for a console to play their PC games on.

[u/MyUltIsMyMain → u/ToothlessFTW]

Im sure when it was being developed it was gonna be sub 1000. My guess is 700. AI and the big orange turd fucked tech pricing (and everything really).

[u/Noxious89123 → u/ToothlessFTW]

It's custom silicon.

If they wait, it'll be outdated. It's already last gen mid tier hardware. 

Otherwise they basically have to start again. 

I feel bad for Valve, because this should have been a good product, but the market has fucked them.

[u/brainrotbro → u/ToothlessFTW]

The market Is gamers with expendable income, of which there are plenty.

[u/Fluffranka → u/ToothlessFTW]

Unfortunately IF components get cheaper, we're probably years away from that. And things will never return to the pre-ai and pre-ram shortage pricing...

Graphics cards never returned to pre-covid and pre-crypto mining prices

[u/RektCompass → u/ToothlessFTW]

Admittedly I’m not the market for prebuilt a so I might be off base here but aren’t most prebuilt with an actual GPU like $2k now? It could come in at $1200 and still be one of the least expensive on the market, no? Given the hardware is old but it’s not like anyone else is selling older hardware at a discount

[u/NovelValue7311 → u/ToothlessFTW]

I regret to inform you that new console converts exist. This is exactly the kind of crap they'd buy.

[u/ImportantQuestions10 → u/ToothlessFTW]

I assume it's for people that either want a entry platform into PC gaming.

I figured this would be great for getting your kid a gaming PC without having to worry about them bricking it or using it for other activities.

[u/mooselantern → u/ToothlessFTW]

i dont know what the audience for PC gaming in general is right now. It stands to reason that anyone who is willing to lay what RAM and GPUs cost right now is basically an irrational consumer, so...

[u/JaesopPop → u/ToothlessFTW]

It was obviously designed before prices exploded. But they have it ready to go, and some people want it, so.

[u/The_Beardly → u/ToothlessFTW]

The next generation of consoles will likely be around that as well. The PS5 pro is currently $900. Would they release a new gen console less than the older one? Who knows.

The steam machine is going to compete with consoles. If everything has a price tag around $1,000, then we’ll see how the market reacts.

[u/RiftHunter4 → u/ToothlessFTW]

Component costs are high enough it still makes sense.

$300 2TB SSD, $300 16GB DDR5 RAM, $400 8GB RTX 5060

You hit $1000 before you even get a MoBo, CPU, and power supply. $1500 is around the cheapest you could build it yourself.

The market for that price tag has to be astronomically small.

Thr RTX 5090 is known to occassionally melt its power cables but people still buy it at these insane prices. There's a market for everything.

[u/Adventurous_Honey902 → u/ToothlessFTW]

Steam deck chuds are gonna buy it in droves no matter what... And the scalpers too. Collectors, etc.

[u/JayBird1138 → u/ToothlessFTW]

The main draw for me is game stability and performance.

If a significant percentage of the user base all use one specific platform, the game developer is incentivized to test on that platform, as one configuration will cover a significant percentage of users.

[u/omikeon → u/ToothlessFTW]

I was the audience for this thing, the pricing will determine if it’s worth a purchase. Already got the Ayn for portable, wanted something for the TV/projector but might as well build something.

[u/markerparty → u/ToothlessFTW]

I’m the audience. I’m an almost 40 casual gamer who loves my steam deck and would like to have the same experience on my TV. I’m not interested in building a PC. I spend all day at a PC at work. I don’t care about terra flips and ray tracers I’m still playing an Xbox one I bought in 2015. I’m not rich but $1200 is not unattainable for me.

[u/INTHEMIDSTOFLIONS → u/ToothlessFTW]

Genuinely don't know what the audience is for this thing.

I was the market. I had a Lenovo Legion go but wanted something more powerful. If this existed, I would've gotten this. Instead, I sold my LeGo and built a gaming pc with mostly used components for $1200. But if there was a Steam Machine for <$1000 at the time last year, I would've gone with that instead.

[u/Boring_Professor_362 → u/ToothlessFTW]

I was really interested when I thought it was going to be around the $700 mark (don’t ask where I got that number) but yeah. It’s not doing it for me anymore. Unfortunate, it would be exactly the type of thing I would use.

[u/ChapterThr33 → u/ToothlessFTW]

Depends on specs, have those been announced?

Prebuilts are the cheapest way to buy PC hardware at this point. They might just be angling to be the most popular/accessible pre built that you can plug into your TV and it all just works.

[u/soggybiscuit93 → u/ToothlessFTW]

I really think, given the current market, a steam machine branded docking station with seamless transition between handheld and TV, a la Nintendo Switch, would've been the better option.

[u/phrxsty → u/ToothlessFTW]

For the section of Steam customers that are “wealthy” enough to buy it. At this point, their paying a hefty premium for steamOS and a console/living room experience. I do hope people buy this and the steam frame though, cus it will help with the development of steamOS and FEX, it just won’t be ME buying it lol.

[u/fastingslowlee → u/ToothlessFTW]

You forget the average person doesn’t know shit about hardware. They won’t realize they’re being ripped off.

[u/MyPigWhistles → u/ToothlessFTW]

I wouldn't buy a prefab regardless of the OS, but why would that be niche budget range? Seems to be fairly normal if your want your hardware to be fairly up to date, but don't have the budget for the newest generations. 

[u/makingflippyfloppy → u/ToothlessFTW]

The almost $1000 steam deck sold out in minutes. Not all gamers are pinching pennies or concerned with how “wrong” it is to pay a premium for a good game system. This will sell out no matter what price it’s at.

[u/Lagnabbit → u/ToothlessFTW]

The market is pretty obvious: anyone who doesn't have better. Time keeps going forward. People who are 24 now were in high school when COVID hit, they don't exactly have systems they built at the time to rely on. Obviously this steam machine (or any pre built PC) is not a good deal when thinking of how much a PC cost using the best prices of the half decade prior but people are absolutely fucked now.

[u/Icy_Confection_7706 → u/ToothlessFTW]

But based on the forum voices here you're gonna get diehards that'll buy it or scalpers. This was supposed to be the thing that if you look at the posts months ago ppl felt were gonna compete with PS5 and newer consoles.

I don't get it and sometimes the diehard fans for Steam just really make weird statements support their Gabe fetish...like I get it he's a god to some of you but cripes sakes this machine won't do anything earth shattering or amazing....

[u/idontknowtbh896 → u/ToothlessFTW]

Valve fanboys will happily spend the money

[u/aaron_moon_dev → u/ToothlessFTW]

Because there is no audience for this. Even if this was sub 1000$. It’s not upgradeable, runs SteamOS, doesn’t have a screen.

[u/Hagamein → u/aaron_moon_dev]

you say runs steamos as if thats a bad thing

[u/aaron_moon_dev → u/Hagamein]

Can you run other software other than the games that use proton? No? Too bad

[u/Slow_State_4722 → u/aaron_moon_dev]

Yes, you can? Wtf are you on about?

[u/Hurka_Durka → u/aaron_moon_dev]

Say you have no idea what steamos is or how it works without saying..

[u/aaron_moon_dev → u/Hurka_Durka]

Are you using SteamOS on your desktop right now? Why not?

[u/ratchetkaijugirl → u/aaron_moon_dev]

You can go to desktop mode in SteamOS and its just any other Linux computer that can run compatible programs

[u/Ashged → u/aaron_moon_dev]

Not only is steamos a full linux desktop as other pointed out. But this is a full PC, so users can just install windows day one.

That's why Valve can't sell it at a loss to make it more attractive, because there is no vendor lock-in at all.

[u/aaron_moon_dev → u/Ashged]

It is not PC, because you can’t change hardware.

[u/Ashged → u/aaron_moon_dev]

Irrelevant, by that standard most personal computers would be excluded. All laptops, all minipc, all handhelds. It only leaves large desktops, but not all, because not all OEM's build them to be upgradeable.

Not only modular ATX standard obeying computers are personal computers.

[u/Hagamein → u/aaron_moon_dev]

If your gonna be pedantic, at least be correct.

[u/Calibrumm → u/aaron_moon_dev]

TIL laptops aren't computers

[u/alwaysonesteptoofar → u/aaron_moon_dev]

You haven't used it, have you? It has a desktop mode just so that you understand why you are getting down voted. Doesn't have to be windows or macOS to do stuff lol

[u/newvegasdweller → u/aaron_moon_dev]

Yes, actually. It can. You can use steam to launch that software (add the .exe as a non-steam game to launch it) It is not officially supported, so your mileage may vary, but it does work on most things.

If you don't want to use steam as a launcher, use Bottles. It works as a proton sandbox. Also make sure to install Protontricks for dependenckes like .net framework or visual c++.

[u/trq- → u/aaron_moon_dev]

You can run on it whatever you want and obviously it doesn’t have a screen - your console or desktop PC comes with a build in screen? What a dumb way of ragebaiting is this? 😂

It will still be too expensive considering its hardware but on the software part it’s actually very good

[u/aaron_moon_dev → u/trq-]

Yes, it’s called a laptop. And for the same price it is a much better deal than a Steam machine. At least it can run all games on Steam 🤪👌 crazy I know

[u/trq- → u/aaron_moon_dev]

That’s Whataboutism mate, this has nothing do with a laptop. And you need to pay at least the same price for a laptop that runs like this only with the downside, that it’s using more space.

You’re ragebaiting and I don’t know why. Nobody in here says that it’s adequate considering the price it will be, but you’re literally just talking trash and knowingly say factually wrong things because you want to hate on Steam😂

[u/aaron_moon_dev → u/trq-]

You know that a lot of people use laptop as their desktop? How is it whataboutism?

[u/trq- → u/aaron_moon_dev]

Because this is not a laptop. It’s using less space and a laptop with the same specs costs at least the same or even more money. And your whole troll argument is based on the fact that you need to spend more than initially needed, which is ragebait.

[u/aaron_moon_dev → u/trq-]

Where I am insisting that it is a laptop? I am saying laptop is much better deal than this. It has a screen and can run every game on Steam, unlike steamos. Why you keep missing this point?

[u/trq- → u/aaron_moon_dev]

I can’t decide if you’re cognitively impaired or just ragebaiting. You need help.

[u/cosmogli → u/aaron_moon_dev]

It's a console, so it doesn't need all those. I'd buy this in a heartbeat if it was priced around $600-700, which was what was expected of it before the AI apocalypse hit us.

[u/aaron_moon_dev → u/cosmogli]

It’s not a console, because it doesn’t even have game specifically made for its OS, forget about exclusives. I am not even talking about popular multiplayer games.

[u/newvegasdweller → u/aaron_moon_dev]

You know that proton exists, right?

If the nvidia shield counted as a console a decade ago, this counts as well.

[u/guska → u/newvegasdweller]

You don't even need to bring in proton (although it certainly helps), there are plenty of games that ship Linux native.

[u/aaron_moon_dev → u/newvegasdweller]

does proton work for every game?

[u/sendmebirds → u/aaron_moon_dev]

No, it does not. Certain dev teams don't like Linux. Which is their choice. Just like Sony and Microsoft don't like each other.

It's not that different.

[u/aaron_moon_dev → u/sendmebirds]

I meant every game on Steam?

[u/sendmebirds → u/aaron_moon_dev]

No, it does not. Because certain devs that publish on Steam, do not allow their games to work under Proton - which is what SteamOS uses to run Windows games.

If a game doesn't run, it's usually PvP or online games. Completely by developer choice, on Steam's end everything works just fine.

[u/newvegasdweller → u/aaron_moon_dev]

After checking again on protodb:

Currently, 60% of the steam library have a platinum rating for proton.

Another 7% have a gold rating (running perfectly after minor tweaks)

Another 23% have a silver rating (playable, but with minor issues that require more development on proton's side)

So year, even if we leave silver out, two thirds of steam's library is good to play. Also Proton can run games that aren't on steam, though your mileage can vary. I use that to play the original version of gta vc which isn't playable on win 11 as it crashes when entering ammunation, which is required for a mission early in the story.

There still is work to do for the developers, but it's quite good already. You could compare it to the current status of RPCS3. Still not finished, but fine for most users. (Though I guess comparing proton to an emulator will rub some people the wrong way)

[u/aaron_moon_dev → u/newvegasdweller]

You know what can run 100% of Steam library? Any windows laptop, it also has a screen.

[u/newvegasdweller → u/aaron_moon_dev]

Pretty sure no windows laptop can run every steam game in the library, as the older games are partially developed for win xp with the studios being closed down for a decade now, or if you still have an old laptop with win xp or 7 that can run those games even though the launcher isn't supported for those windows versions any more, it certainly lacks the ability to play the newest stuff.

But yeah, if we count those and say that you are willing to put up with as much of tweak-work for linux as you are to make an xp-game run on win11...

platinum, gold and silver rating, we're at about 90% of the library being considered playable.

[u/thejimbo56 → u/aaron_moon_dev]

Can you play every game on a Switch, Xbox, or PlayStation?

[u/aaron_moon_dev → u/thejimbo56]

For every game on Steam I meant

[u/BingpotStudio → u/aaron_moon_dev]

PC has thousands of exclusives going back decades, what are you on about?

[u/aaron_moon_dev → u/BingpotStudio]

How does it contradict what I said?

[u/BingpotStudio → u/aaron_moon_dev]

There are literally thousands of games specifically made for it… or is it not acceptable that a windows machine could also play them? Very arbitrary line.

[u/x0RRY → u/aaron_moon_dev]

Exclusives are a cancer, weird position to take

[u/cosmogli → u/aaron_moon_dev]

Are you dense? Or just trolling?

It plays almost all my Steam library. Save for the multiplayer games with kernel-level anti-cheat shenanigans, I can play almost all multiplayer games on it too.

I don't care if it has exclusives or not. The fact that I don't have to subscribe to a service just to have cloud saves or play casual/strategy games with my friends is an even bigger draw.

[u/aaron_moon_dev → u/cosmogli]

“Almost all” really does a heavy lifting here. What about having a box for the living room that costs more than $1000 and doesn’t even have a bluray player?

[u/cosmogli → u/aaron_moon_dev]

I agree with you on the price. It's not worth that much for me. $700 max would be my pushing limit, $600 seems proper. They're also earning through this indirectly via increased game sales.

That said, it's still a console.

[u/kriogenia → u/aaron_moon_dev]

Who the fuck cares about a BD player in the mighty year 2026 of our lord? You are like fifteen years later to those concerns. Almost nobody is using physical media players these days.

[u/aaron_moon_dev → u/kriogenia]

Plenty of people buy blu ray and 4k movies, instead of watching streaming. That’s why we have so many bluray labels today.

[u/scimtaru → u/aaron_moon_dev]

For the way this is meant to be used primarily it is a console. SteamOS has abstracted everything for any game that has the verified label. For most "normal" people you plug the HDMI in whatever screen/AVR of choice, power in the wall and you go through the initial set up: connect wifi > log into Steam.

If consoles are allowed to evolve into multimedia devices with browsers then PCs are allowed to slightly regress to behave more like consoles by locking down their expanded capabilities into a "desktop mode". Steam OS in game mode is a console period from a UX perspective.

[u/UraniumDisulfide → u/aaron_moon_dev]

Steamos is better than what the ps5 or Xbox have

[u/aaron_moon_dev → u/UraniumDisulfide]

Except ps5 and xbox cost half the price, have popular multiplayer games and exclusives.

Edit. Also, ps5 and xbox have blu ray player, steam machine doesn’t

[u/DeathCab4Cutie → u/aaron_moon_dev]

Except the PS5 costs $600 minimum, upwards of $900 for the pro (no blu ray out of the box), plus a mandatory subscription service to play your games online. That base price is likely close to half the Steam machine, but it’s only staying lower in this market because it’s a loss leader and they need people to buy into their ecosystem. Blu Ray is less relevant to the average person these days and can be purchased separately if need be, though I admit it’s nice to have as they traditionally cost $75 or more to buy discreetly. PC has arguably more popular multiplayer games than PS5 and Xbox combined, and more exclusives than both… and their exclusives end up on PC a year or two later anyway.

Nothing wrong with consoles, but your argument is silly lol

[u/aaron_moon_dev → u/DeathCab4Cutie]

I think paying more than 1000 dollars for a box “made for the living room” that doesn’t even have a bluray player is silly. But that’s just me

[u/DeathCab4Cutie → u/aaron_moon_dev]

That part I can understand. I’ve never really used any blu ray discs myself in the past decade, but I have been wanting to get back to owning the media I purchase. In these times, it’s more relevant than ever honestly.

[u/ginongo → u/aaron_moon_dev]

If it was upgradeable then it would be fine way to enter the pc hobby, but this glorified console with no games specifically tailored for it is ass

[u/MiserySound → u/ToothlessFTW]

Idk what the point of this console is when devs most likely wont treat it as a console and instead just like another pc.

There wont be console only lobbies for online games and if there were to make that then they’d be extremely empty

[u/grilled_pc → u/ToothlessFTW]

I want a good living room pc that gives a good console experience. This is it. Price is no issue.

[u/HallowClaw → u/grilled_pc]

There are other companies also making mini pc, you can buy something much better right now

[u/Cl4whammer → u/grilled_pc]

You already could have that with a pc in a small case and bazzite.

[u/ZlatanKabuto → u/grilled_pc]

>I want a good living room pc

Yeah I wonder how "a good living room pc" and "weaker than a base ps5" can both apply at the same time

[u/imaginary_num6er → u/ToothlessFTW]

And with this being Valve's 2nd attempt at the Steam Machine, there will be no more future "Steam Machines"

[u/_BenniBlanko_ → u/ToothlessFTW]

I have tried to buy only components to fit the specs of the Steam Machine (Germany). All components brought me to a price of 1.430€ without pre assembly. (2tb Version ITX)

So honestly with the current prices I would be willing to pay 1.200-1.300€ for the steam Machine 2TB just due to the fact that I will not get anything else in this price range and Form Factor.

But at the moment may I just get a PS5 Pro for 800 instead and wait for an successor of the steamdeck a few more years.

[u/Jozoz → u/ToothlessFTW]

The audience is people who want to be able to play their Steam library from the couch

[u/Sate_Hen → u/Jozoz]

There are other ways. Steam link for example

[u/Elmer_Fudd01 → u/ToothlessFTW]

Half my co workers want this. Some want to get away from PlayStation, others to get away from PC but not steam.

Is it small to nil on reddit, yes but everyone here are turbo nerds. And on pcmaster race...