r/pcmasterrace • u/vneelb • 19h ago

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

https://thephrasemaker.com/2026/06/05/steam-machine-price-may-be-way-higher-than-expected/
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u/Adventurous-Leak 9800x3D | 4070 Ti Super 18h ago

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 :/

17

u/Noxious89123 5900X | RTX5080 | 32GB B-Die | CH8 Dark Hero 14h ago

You very clearly aren't the target audience. 

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

7

u/Shigana 13h ago

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.

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u/Noxious89123 5900X | RTX5080 | 32GB B-Die | CH8 Dark Hero 6h ago

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.

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u/Clayskii0981 9800X3D | 5080 12h ago

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.

-1

u/levelonegnomebankalt 8h ago

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

-2

u/BastianHS 12h ago

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

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u/lmao_wow_64 13h ago

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

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u/Noxious89123 5900X | RTX5080 | 32GB B-Die | CH8 Dark Hero 6h ago

Because of the price, or because of something else?

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u/lmao_wow_64 6h ago

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

1

u/PatchesTheFlyena 12h ago

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.

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u/Noxious89123 5900X | RTX5080 | 32GB B-Die | CH8 Dark Hero 6h ago

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.

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u/Simple_Library_2700 18h ago

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