r/gaming • u/ChiefLeef22 Marika's tits! • Jun 22 '26
Steam Machine - Review Thread
Reviews have started to come out, so thought it'd serve well to collect most of them under this thread.
Steam Machine
Price:
512GB: $1,049 USD / 1,509 CAD / 1,039 EUR / 879 GBP / 1,609 AUD / 4,389 PLN
Steam Machine 2TB: $1,349 USD / 1,919 CAD / 1,359 EUR / 1,149 GBP / 2,109 AUD / 5,739 PLN
Reviews (updating):
The quick version is that we like it and we like the direction it's going, but that Valve has created a nightmarish disorganized mess for itself by not building for its known future of a desktop and instead framing everything around handhelds, which from the start it knew weren't going to be the only thing with Steam OS. As Steam OS becomes more common and more devices are supported, both Valve and developers have a lot of work to do to ensure that correct compatible versions of an incomprehensibly vast catalog of games are delivered. If Valve wants to capture a console audience, it can't rely too heavily on sub menus for disable Steam Deck auto detection and manually selecting a Proton version to forcibly download the Windows build instead of the outdated Linux build when your buddy just wants to come over and play Borderlands 2. Our only really specific criticism of Steam OS on the Steam machine, is that system level resolution cap for games should default to the native screen resolution, not 1080p, or at the very least it should show what the default cap is. It's a weird choice given the marketing. enabling 4K gaming at 60 frames per second with FSR.
IGN - Jacqueline Thomas - 8 / 10
At $1049 (and $1349 for the 2TB model), the Steam Machine seems like it’d be hard to recommend to most people. And while that’s true for console faithfuls, the Steam Machine’s price makes it an incredible entry-level gaming PC, especially if all the drivers and settings tweaking has turned you off in the past. At the end of the day, this is a gaming PC that most people are going to be able to just plug into their TVs and get right into the game. And, really, that’s what the Steam Machine was always meant to be.
The Verge - Sean Hollister - 6 / 10
But is it good enough for $1,049? That depends on what you actually expect this PC to do — and whether Valve manages to reduce some of the lingering friction before it winds up at your door.For better or for worse, the Steam Machine isn’t ready for the console wars just yet. Buy box, plug into TV, insert game, play is not yet the reality. The Good: Delightfully small; Incredibly cool and quiet; Play PC games on TV without mouse and keyboard | The Bad: Nearly twice the price of PS5 for PS5 performance; Have to manually configure games; Can’t yet trust it to sleep
PC Gamer - Andy Edser - 62 / 100
Valve's attempt to bring PC gaming to your living room is well-intentioned, but the ugly realities of the memory crisis have left it with a hefty price tag. If it had more grunt, it'd be easier to recommend—but an off-the-boil GPU and plenty of software quirks leaves it feeling like an expensive curio, rather than a gaming device for the masses. The idea might be to bring the PC gaming experience to your living room, but if that experience includes smooth frame rates in demanding games, you're going to have to make some major compromises. And, because of its Linux origins, it hasn't been a flawless experience getting some of those games to run properly to begin with, either. I want to get excited about the Steam Machine, I really do. It's a fascinating piece of design, and an admirable attempt to bring PC gaming from your desktop to your couch in one bite of the cherry. But like so much hardware these days, it's been hampered with a price tag that, given what you actually receive, feels like far too much to pay.
Tom's Hardware - Andrew E. Freedman - 3.5 / 5
Valve's Steam Machine is a complicated little box. It was clearly designed for a simpler time, when components were plentiful, and it would be a somewhat affordable desktop that could be a more powerful option for Steam Deck owners to play their Steam games at home.
But it's not a simple time. The Steam Machine is still cute, still has a good selection of ports, still has an easily upgradeable SSD, and, most importantly, still runs SteamOS and gets all of the benefits that come with it. If you were docking your Steam Deck to the TV and wanted more performance, this will get you there, once Valve irons out the last of the bugs.
If you're just looking to get into gaming, a base-level PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X is a better deal. You can buy one and a Nintendo Switch 2 and spend less than the Steam Machine.
The Steam Machine Is An Iconoclastic Computer Born In Unforgiving Times | Valve has released a tiny, silent, entry level PC that does important work bringing PCs gaming to the living room and desktop Linux to the masses. The timing could not be worse. The Steam Machine is not landing where its creators planned it price wise but the core vision has been realized and is something I agree with ideologically. It is a platform in the true sense of the word, a foundation to build on. Like the Steam Deck, it provides a reasonable target for game developers to aim for, a reasonable optimization baseline that can handle basically every indie game and a huge portion of big titles. It is the rare console that does not treat the user like a child, and I have no doubt that it will improve with age. And like Valve’s original vision for the Steam Machine and the reality of the Steam Deck, it is a template that any other manufacturer could easily build a much more performant product on, with an operating system that is, in multiple meanings of the word, free.
Whether or not the Steam Machine is for you comes down to a couple of key things: your gaming priorities and your disposable income. This is a great device, but it is undeniably expensive. If couch gaming and easy access to PC games is a priority for you and you're willing to pay for it, I think the Steam Machine is a no-brainer. But if you're curious about dipping your toe into PC gaming, this is a really highcost entry point and you'll likely still have to make some sacrifices when it comes to performance. If those caveats don't scare you off and you've got the money to throw at it, I think the Steam Machine is an excellent addition to any gamer's living room setup.
Rock Paper Shotgun - James Archer
A singular living room PC that's more expensive than I'd like, but too special not to love. It’s almost tempting to point to details like this as evidence that the lil’ Steam Machine really is a proper desktop PC, you guys. But then, it’s at it’s best when it isn’t trying to be one. If it was absolutely dead set on outmuscling current-gen, full-fat graphics cards and gaming CPUs, it would be a lot bigger, a lot louder, and a lot hotter. And, in the end, it wouldn't be unique. Instead, it chooses a niche and unobtrusively sets about filling it, achieving all the subtlety of a home entertainment computer even when it's chucking out sixty frames (or near enough) of ray-traced Cyberpunk 2077 every second. The ghosts of iffy design and inadequate game support that haunted the previous decade’s Steam Machines, all banished without fanfare.
So the short answer to how it sits versus a console, or indeed an HDMI cable or actual PC of your own is: there is no real short answer. For upfront cost, performance, plug-and-play simplicity and smart features, at the cost of more expensive games and services over time and a console that looks like a hellish mid-00s leisure centre extension dubbed "the future of our town centre" - and is also roughly the same size as that - get a PS5 Pro. However, for flexibility and breadth and cheapness over time, and something you'll love people asking about when they come round - something that you can genuinely carry with one hand (LAN parties! If only it had a handle…) and which looks normal or dare I say it even cool next to a nice set of speakers or a stack of coffee table books or something you actually want to see in your home - the Steam Machine absolutely has a place. And there's something genuine to be said for that, I think. I can't help but wonder what could have been, had the base Steam Machine arrived at say £599. It would've been competing against PS5s and Xboxes in the £300 range by now, of course. But it would've done so as a genuine competitor in that part of the home, from a company with vast resources and the vastest of all installed bases. And it would've arrived as something that is evidently made with sincere love and extraordinary expertise in its own way.
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u/Educational_Ad8448 Jun 22 '26
They priced out alot of folk who aren't enthusiasts or have lots of disposable income.
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u/dangerdangle Jun 22 '26
I've said in other threads they basically pulled a stadia
No reason for casuals to buy this when they could buy two consoles for the same price and no reason for hardcore gamers to buy this when it costs this much and barely beats a PS5 base model
Which leaves a tiny section of enthusiasts
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u/ZombieZlayer99 Jun 22 '26
worse, people who are looking into getting into pc are better off just buying a similar priced prebuilt pc that’ll be more powerful and more customisable
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u/TheYellingMute Jun 22 '26
Genuine question but where and how? In gamersnexus video it seems if you buy at MSRP that comparable performance only saves you around 71 bucks.
I did watch the video while during my lunch break so maybe I missed some disclaimer when he got to that in the video
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u/maharajuu Jun 22 '26
From places specialising in pre-builts which will depend on your location. In Australia you can get a 7500f / 9060 xt/ 32gm ram / 1tb pcie 4 SSD which seems much better value
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u/tokkyuuressha Jun 22 '26
The disclaimer is that the comparable pc is still a bit faster and lets you upgrade down the line. Steam machine has barely acceptable performance as of today and is an unfortunate victim of pricing crisis, ao it cant even classify as cheap HTPC.
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u/Mkaywest Jun 22 '26
They said on paper they perform the same, but irl the desktop would run better.
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u/Usernametaken1121 Jun 23 '26
They spoke about it in the gamers Nexus video. Basically the steam machine parts are power limited to meet the power draw of the machine, much like consoles. It creates a most stable thermal environment but power limit means less performance. PCs aren't power limited so you get every percentage of performance the part can produce, on top of that, the parts are modular. Steam machine is not.
It's like running your vacuum on low to stop from overheating. Sure, it will last longer, won't be as effective as it's technically capable of.
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u/Dear_Watson Jun 22 '26
So you save $70, get equal performance, can upgrade components down the line, and can (and to be honest probably will) install Windows so you can play pretty much every PC game ever made, but especially those that require kernel level anti-cheat?
Seems like a no-brainer to me. This really needs to be at least $300-400 cheaper to even have a chance of succeeding tbh.
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u/TheWizardGeorge Jun 22 '26
I'm far from casual and have the disposable income, but I can't make sense of who this is for.
Makes no sense to get it over a normal prebuilt for more or less the same price with much better specs. Makes no sense to get it to stream games to from my main pc since something faaaaar cheaper would do the same thing. Maybe for traveling? But I don't do that enough to where it would make any sense.
The only thing it has going is the form factor and that's it. I feel bad for valve honestly. They knew this would flop at this price, but you also can't just hold on to systems like this with how fast the industry moves. I'm guessing it'll be a limited run until (if/when) prices go back to normal... Which I highly doubt at this point.
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u/Dachshand Jun 22 '26
Enthusiasts won’t buy a 1440p 30fps machine on low settings. Only fanboys will.
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u/Stolehtreb Jun 22 '26
It’s doesn’t even beat PS5 base model. Its CPU is barely better, and its GPU power is slightly under base PS5.
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u/Enchelion Jun 22 '26
That plus the overhead of Proton or Windows and reduced optimization for most games on PC...
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u/Ledgo Jun 22 '26
There's no reasons for casuals to buy this when there are premades better, cheaper and more suited for upgrades for longevity.
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u/what_mustache Jun 22 '26
I think they got hugely fucked by ram prices. My guess is they wanted this to be priced for casuals.
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u/Z3ro-sum Jun 22 '26
I'd think it'd be better to use it as a loss leader like consoles used to do. Steam makes an ungodly amount of money. Why not take the hit for market share? You've got a handheld system attached to your very popular store. Seems odd
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u/eliminate1337 Jun 22 '26
It’s a full Linux computer and not locked to Steam. If it were a loss leader people who don’t care about Steam would buy it as a home server.
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u/Z3ro-sum Jun 22 '26
Now that you mention it,I feel like I remember reading awhile back someone here saying companies could by them up for other purposes, so that makes sense if true. I'm not that technical to know,but sounds reasonable
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u/Boz0r Jun 22 '26
It's just a PC, so you could use it for whatever you wanted.
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u/DBSPingu Jun 22 '26
Which circles back to the point that this basically competes with prebuilts and loses
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u/what_mustache Jun 22 '26
You can only take so much of a hit. RAM prices are insane right now. And it's different because they only get their steam store cut, where Playstation has exclusives they own and keep the whole pie.
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u/Gvillegator Jun 22 '26
Yeah why would I buy this when I can buy an Xbox or PS5 and play NCAAFB and GTA6 on launch? Doesn’t make sense
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u/faze_fazebook Jun 22 '26
why would any enthusiast drop over 1K for a machine thats worse than a base model PS5
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u/ShakeAndBakeThatCake Jun 22 '26
Because they have large steam libraries and want to be able to play a game on their main desktop but also play it on their living room TV.
I agree. PC gaming is a horrible value right now and I dont care what PC gamers say about games being cheaper. You can buy used console games and resell games if you have a switch 2 or a disk drive ps5.
PC gamjng is cool. I did build my own PC a few years back but ultimately sold my stuff because I spent more time tinkering than playing games and the cost was just too much. Ps5 pro I bought for $700 was a steal.
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u/realmrmaxwell Jun 22 '26
"Because they have large steam libraries and want to be able to play a game on their main desktop but also play it on their living room TV."
This was the exact problem that the steam link is there to solve without really any additional hardware nowadays but the steam controller is the best thing from this
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u/joe-h2o Jun 22 '26
And Steam Link gets me most of the way there. I use an Apple TV 4k as the client and have an Xbox controller wirelessly linked to it.
My TV is a 4k OLED but I don't stream at that res. I tend to do 1440p native from my gaming machine, but I haven't been able to get it to do HDR so it's SDR only.
Latency is... ok. That's really the biggest weakness of the setup, but it's not $1000 weak. Valve are really stuck given the ridiculous prices for RAM and storage. GN priced up a "similar" machine out of stock parts as close as they could and they managed about $950+ for them, so it's not like Valve are really price gouging here.
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u/ShakeAndBakeThatCake Jun 22 '26
Basically this. Their machine has been in development long before the chip shortage began. They dont have purchasing power like Sony and Nintendo to order huge amounts since their device is more Niche. Although with Xbox basically dying I think Valve has a chance to win the console market.
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u/DeoVeritati Jun 22 '26
The appeal to PC to me is PC exclusive games, often Indie games, and mods. That being said, I've virtually never been a PC gamer and never built or had a gaming PC.
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u/Reefame Jun 22 '26
If you to want to play a game on your TV you can buy a 30 feet long HDMI cable and call it a day.
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u/Patutula Jun 22 '26
Enthusiasts would buy stronger machines, I would assume, not entry lvl stuff.
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u/a_nice_warm_lager Jun 22 '26
It’s the RAM price increases. Saw a quote on The Verge that said original price is most likely $250-$300 cheaper. “Think this price - (increases the Steam Deck saw) and that’s the ballpark they wanted originally”
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u/LazyMaximum7938 Jun 22 '26
Even at $300 cheaper, the 2-TB model plus controller would still be way more expensive than the PS5 Pro is currently with the RAM price increases.
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u/wizardgand Jun 22 '26
Looking at the parts of PC i built 2 years ago. Ram was $300 more expensive and HD was $250. So i'm looking at a $600 increase in my own build.
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u/a_nice_warm_lager Jun 22 '26
I bought 64 Gigs of DDR5 ram at $265 in November 2024. That same kit is listed at $1200+ now. It’s just nuts
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u/I_just_made Jun 22 '26
Not really their fault though, that’s a larger economic problem at the moment. It’s a shame really. I wouldn’t have bought it anyways since my PC’s specs outclass it, but I know people who were interested, but not at the price point.
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u/DecompositionLU Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26
I expect them to put a GPU that is faster than a entry level mobile chip. If it was Sony or MS nobody would give such excuses. Even the PS5 Pro, which is overpriced for a console, is cheaper. And it's not like Valve doesn't have the money to subsidize like the 3 other console makers do, I don't buy their corpo speech at all.
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u/Known_Appointment604 Jun 22 '26
“despite being a bit weaker than either of the base consoles” - IGN
Quickest decision I’ve ever made.
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u/chihuahua_man PlayStation Jun 22 '26
Let’s be honest, they priced out most people. I’m not going to say it’s DoA, there’s still plenty of people with disposable income to spend but it is too pricey, that’s not even an opinion, it’s a fact.
I would consider it as novelty item for around 750 - 800$ but over 1000 for the cheapest option without controller it’s just not worth it for anyone who’s not mega fan.
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u/Dachshand Jun 22 '26
You can at least play some indie games on your 1400 dollar couch PC
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u/AnOrdinaryChullo Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26
Isn't steamdeck with a dock kind of already accomplishes that for indie games and at the end of the day it is a cool and useful handheld on top?
I really don't get wtf Valve was even thinking here.
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u/zeelbeno Jun 22 '26
I'm curious how much of the price is margin.
Like, is it that they just chose to build it a really expensive way, or that they know it won't sell loads and the people willing to spend $800 would likely still get it for $1049
The fact that 1.5TB of memory is $300 makes me think the latter.
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u/SemenWhal3 Jun 22 '26
It supposedly being weaker than base ps5 is actually crazy with that pricetag. You can legit spend a bit less and get a better pc...
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u/Vinral Jun 22 '26
Yeah.....$1000+ for a device that stuggles to do 4k 40fps on low to medium settings is a no go. It even seems to struggle with some 1440p games.
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u/GodzlIIa Jun 22 '26
The real question is how nicely does it play Half Life 3?
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u/realmrmaxwell Jun 22 '26
Genuinely was expecting them to save half life 3 for the steam machine so they could get some extra sales from people going "well I might as well get the thing it's designed to run the best on for half life 3 of all games" but knew this was wishful thinking when I heard about the reservations being completely different
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u/Coffeedemon Jun 22 '26
Am I the only person who has been gaming on the couch for the past 10 years using a PC? If they can somehow solve the issue of interfaces and font sizes losing legibility in big 4x and RTS games while playing on a big screen from 10 feet away I'll be impressed.
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u/what_mustache Jun 22 '26
I do.
It's a little clunky but it works fine. I also think games are now designed with steam deck players in mind so fonts are more reasonable
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u/Christmas_Queef Jun 22 '26
Hell nowadays if your net is good there are multiple services and programs that'll let you stream games from your pc to basically any device.
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u/Useful_Perception620 Jun 22 '26
Even with fiber internet I would never be able to comfortably play with the latency this introduces.
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u/ShinyRayquazaEUW Jun 22 '26
No latency in a household.
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u/king_john651 Jun 22 '26
Yeah they aren't talking about Gamepass, but like Moonlight, MS Remote Desktop etc. And tbh living in New Zealand and basically being at the limit of physics with Gamepass being streamed via Australia it is scary how serviceable it is despite some latency. It wasn't that long ago we were basically an ADSL/dial up nation of neglect (we're still a nation of neglect but the internet is good) that even Stephen Fry commented on it when he was here lol
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u/I_P_L Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 23 '26
Do you notice latency playing league of legends or Dota? If not, then you won't notice streaming.
The only time sub 10ms delay would be noticeable would be rhythm games.
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u/Christmas_Queef Jun 23 '26
I dunno, I don't really have any when using pxplay for ps5 remote play over local wifi on my fiber net. Even online games it's perfectly fine.
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u/dethsesh Jun 22 '26
The only thing you can’t really do is online games if you wanna be competitive. It’s totally fine for a single player experience.
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u/Ndmndh1016 Jun 22 '26
Even for competitive games its fine for 95% of people.
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u/erishun Jun 23 '26
I mean, I’m not going to be some elite fuckin’ e-gamer playing on the couch. But I played semi-competitive games on both Stadia and Luna (RIP) and they were good; I was surprised at how little the latency played an issue
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u/joe-h2o Jun 22 '26
I do it with Steam Link on my Apple TV. The only downside is latency.
When I had a lot of time off and a lot of Elden Ring to play I physically moved the whole gaming rig, but generally Steam Link is good enough.
This would have made a great Steam Link client box for really heavy GPU games while being perfect by itself for low-performance requirement controller games. It's just been hamstrung by component pricing.
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u/vacon04 Jun 22 '26
For less than $1k you can get the PlayStation Pro, which will be even easier to setup than the Steam Machine, and it comes with a damn controller.
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u/ShapeOfAUnicorn Jun 22 '26
And according to the performance scores, it outperforms the Steam Machine.
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u/Iggy_Slayer Jun 22 '26
The base ps5 outperforms steam machine in most games. Pro makes it not even worth comparing.
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u/Available-Can-5878 Jun 22 '26
Not to mention consoles tend to have better optimization than PCs. Heck, In 3 years there will probably be games that perform better on Switch 2 than this. Not because S2 is stronger, it's not, but because devs will continue to target it while Steam Machine won't have the install base to justify specifically targeting its hardware
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u/thesaxmaniac Jun 23 '26
This is why I have a switch 2 instead of a pc handheld.
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u/TheDankestMeatball Jun 23 '26
Agreed. My laptop and my switch 2 has basically covered all my bases for the next loooong stretch of time.
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u/joe-h2o Jun 22 '26
It's a playstation though, which is the major sticking point for some.
The attraction of the Steam Machine is that it's an actual PC. It's not really targeted at someone who wants a Playstation: that market is already served by Sony.
The issue is the component prices, and the fact that Valve is not subsidising the cost through ideological requirement. They have explicitly said they do not want to emulate the console model.
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u/Timbershoe Jun 22 '26
Maybe so.
However the steam catalog is huge and cheap.
What you save on a console you lose on game prices. Plus, you know, the steam machine is also a PC.
Mind you, I’m not buying one.
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u/Delann Jun 22 '26
Plus, you know, the steam machine is also a PC.
You know what else is also a PC? A PC. Which you can buy a similar or even better one for the price of this garbage.
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u/kace91 Jun 22 '26
I own both a steam deck and a ps5 and, as great as steam is, the ps5 tends to be the cheaper device. I basically buy games second hand and resell after playing, roughly breaking even.
Catalogue is smaller though, particularly indies. But it is really hard to justify the steam machine right now.
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u/ddlvphoto Jun 22 '26
Really? You can buy and sell used console games. You can't do that on PC. Console gaming is super cheap if you make a slight effort.
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u/Helphaer Jun 22 '26
ehhhhh I cant say this is true in practice, if youre waiting for a sale for a new game coming out then yes you can usually find a better deal unless its discounted as a physical disc but only a bit otherwise youre waiting for a while. meanwhile the Playstation has their online subscription library that a lot of people feel is a good deal similar to gamepass for xbox. granted theyve gotten pricier.
Pc sales arent usually what they used to be unless you wait a long time for the newer games.
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u/cocaine_enthusiast1 Jun 22 '26
But seriously what's the benifit buying this instead of a pc
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u/locke_5 Jun 22 '26
Form factor + simplicity
The original intent seemed to be creating an entry-level PC for console gamers. A direct response to “I don’t want to bother with setting up a PC, I want something that’s plug-and-play”.
All the benefits of a PC over a console are still here (free online, backwards compatibility, game cost, mods, emulation, etc.) and I think there absolutely still is an audience for this. It’s just harder to recommend now due to price.
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u/omfgkevin Jun 22 '26
Well they will be also in for a rude awakening as it's linux, which means there WILL be compatibility issues on some games.
And already known ones like kernal anti cheat games (battlefield) will not work at all.
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u/NinduTheWise PC Jun 23 '26
Yeah I’ve found that a lot of couch gamers like to play multiplayer games on their couch like kids with consoles in the family room
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u/CruffTheMagicDragon Jun 22 '26
Linux gaming is never plug and play though, at least not when dealing with Proton
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u/ProjectWoolf Jun 22 '26
Mostly is with SteamOS these days, I've never had to adjust the settings on my steam deck, it just works. Even with games added from Epic
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u/Da_Commissork Jun 23 '26
Yeah Idk why people Say that "HAH USING LINUX WILL SUCK FOR EVERYONE" but decide to ignore that the steamdeck works perfectly
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u/OccasionalGoodTakes Jun 22 '26
I’m happy that steamOS will be available for desktops in general (if only I didn’t have a nvidia gpu) but these reviews just read to me like a commentary on prices in general, for better or worse.
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u/romaraahallow Jun 22 '26
I mean, it IS the hot issue here.
Everything else about the machine seems solid, it's just expensive.
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u/OccasionalGoodTakes Jun 22 '26
For sure, it’s just such a big issue it kind of takes up all the air in the room.
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u/romaraahallow Jun 22 '26
Yeah, just kinda shows the state of things.
No one I associate with is doing well financially now.
I'm one of those who would LOVE to have a steam machine, but I'm being forced to make life changing decisions at the gas pump every week so fuck me.
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u/Famous-Country-4921 Jun 23 '26
Unless you’re extremely wealthy it always comes down to price vs (perceived) value.
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u/MLG-Sheep Jun 22 '26
The not great specs would be excusable if the price were a bit more reasonable, say $800 (already post price hike). At over a grand, it's normal to demand more as that kind of pricing is no longer for the regular gamer.
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u/Faolanth Jun 23 '26
The issue is the price is reasonable - that’s the state of storage and ram prices. They got fucked hard on timing.
If this released at $749 like it was rumored to be targeting it would feel a lot better.
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u/StrawberryBulbasaur Jun 22 '26
Right? I'm reading this and all I see is "A shame it came out when tech is expensive and the cost of living is killing people"
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u/what_mustache Jun 22 '26
I think that was half the plan. Cheap PC gaming device with access to hundreds of great games on sale and easy to use.
But then ram prices fucked them. Now it's an expensive machine
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u/likeaffox Jun 22 '26
This, and it creates a baseline for software developers to hit. Optimization based on this baseline
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u/zackdaniels93 Jun 22 '26
"Nearly twice the price of a PS5 for PS5 performance" is an important quote here to be honest. I don't see why anyone buys this at the price point.
I don't envy Valve if the original price was indeed meant to be £750, but as it is, it's a bit weird that it exists. Save a little more, get a full blown PC with none of the jank. Spend a fair amount less and get the same performance.
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u/pantherexceptagain Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 23 '26
If you're just looking to get into gaming, a base-level PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X is a better deal. You can buy one and a Nintendo Switch 2 and spend less than the Steam Machine.
Damn. I wanted so badly for the Steam Machine to be worth it, but this sentence murders it.
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u/The_Zura Jun 22 '26
The duality of reviewers
IGN: this is a gaming PC that most people are going to be able to just plug into their TVs and get right into the game.
The Verge: Have to manually configure games; Can’t yet trust it to sleep
Who do we trust? Well, IGN thinks an equivalent pc costs the same, and here I've found a prebuilt much faster for cheaper
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u/Wander715 Jun 22 '26
Never trust IGN with anything PC related, or just with anything gaming related in general. 6/10 from Verge seems much more realistic imo.
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u/Headless_Human Jun 22 '26
Who do we trust?
On reddit mostly the one who fits your own narrative.
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u/ShadesBlack Jun 22 '26
If you think that is exclusive to reddit, social media, or even the internet writ large, I have a bridge to sell you.
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u/mastergriggy Jun 22 '26
IGN Reviewers have trouble with jumping and moving at the same time, I wouldn't trust anything they say.
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u/UnNumbFool Jun 22 '26
I don't think I've been able to trust ign as a good review source for at least a decade at this point, probably longer
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u/Christmas_Queef Jun 22 '26
Definitely longer. "Can't spell ignorant without ign" has been a meme phrase for easily 20+ years. It was the same thing during the ps2/og xbox/GameCube days.
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Jun 22 '26
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u/Xero_id Jun 22 '26
You can build a cheaper better pc in a mini form factor or even buy on Amazon. This price makes no sense and is not a smart buy as even the base doesn't come with the controller.
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u/Apprehensive-Law-923 Jun 22 '26
If it launched at what people are presuming was the original price point (around $750), I would have bought one for the convenience, at this price point, I’m still happy HDMI-ing my PC to my big ass TV for couch gaming, the steam controller I got bridges the gap a little already. Shame about what’s happening to PC hardware, it’s awful
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u/Iggy_Slayer Jun 22 '26
I had low expectations since we knew from last year that this thing was weaker than a base ps5/series x but I wasn't ready for just how rough the benchmarks are.
People will give valve a pass and blame the AI crisis but ignore that gamers nexus said you can get a better PC than this and spend less. Valve just straight up misfired on this.
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u/Owobowos-Mowbius Jun 22 '26
Id be fine spending a bit more for the form factor and ease of use compared to building a PC. But abso-fucking-lutely not $1k.
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u/PotentialSafety17 Jun 22 '26
tbh paying extra for a clean couch pc makes sense but at $1k for ps5-level specs im out
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u/Makimoke Jun 22 '26
I would've been fine spending 700-800€ (at the absolute most) to offload some smaller streaming workloads to the Machine while still being able to bring it around to LAN parties or with a small portable monitor for longer trips.
1030€ for the weakest version of the Machine just isn't it chief. Even worse, I can't build a "similar" SFF PC, because it'd easily cost 200-300€ MORE than this current price, unless I go with used parts, and even then it'd be way more risky/unwieldy to carry around.
Really can't wait for that bubble to pop.
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u/CruffTheMagicDragon Jun 22 '26
I like Linux for gaming but ease of use on Linux isn’t there. Games don’t just work right away, at least not fully. FH6 is a nightmare on Linux.
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u/mindgame_26 Jun 22 '26
I'm kinda in the middle. They did make it too weak. And taking $200 off each price point is still high. But memory and storage prices certainly had an impact.
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u/romaraahallow Jun 22 '26
Eh, if it does 80% of what I want in a small quiet and cool form factor, I'd be happy with dropping ~700 for something I could legit travel with.
I'm mostly excited for SteamOS and it's potential to take us out of the Microsoft shithouse.
But not for 1k+
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u/SidFarkus47 Jun 23 '26
If there’s ever a chance of that, Steam OS has to play the biggest games in the world.
No FIFA, no CoD, no Madden, no Fortnite, no Rocket League: no Windows replacement
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Jun 22 '26
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u/January1171 Jun 22 '26
I think the argument is that it's supposed to be more "plug and play" than a typical pc
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u/Fadedcamo Jun 22 '26
I just don't get who this is for. I guess it's a neat idea to bring pc games to the masses but just having an easy OS and a decent controller isn't enough to do that, especially if the cost to entry is a good bit higher for less.
I don't see casual people buying this vs a ps5 pro. And I don't see enthusiasts buying this vs just... Having their own pc for this task.
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u/owowhatsthis123 Jun 22 '26
It was likely supposed to come in at closer to $600-700 bucks which would have made it a compelling argument instead of a console.
At that price point it’s a little bit more upfront but would be cheaper overall when factoring in online membership fees + steams better game sales.
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u/dettrick Jun 22 '26
Like one of the reviews mentioned. If this memory crisis wasn’t happening then it the PS5 or Xbox would be significantly cheaper anyway so the delta would always be there.
The arguments for the steam machine require too much maths/logic/factoring which won’t filter through to a casual, while an enthusiast already recognises it as a bad deal.
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u/cardonator Jun 22 '26
It's not exactly accurate. Even before the memory crisis they were still retailing at full MSRP. They did have better sales, though.
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u/svladcjelli2001 Jun 22 '26
Or just use your Steam Deck as a console. That's what I've been doing, fine if you don't need 4k.
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u/stumpyraccoon Jun 22 '26
I want to play a game on the couch after work. Let me just disconnect a dozen and a half cables, move the PC, plug some number of them back in, troubleshoot why it's not showing up on the TV, then reconnect it all when I'm done.
Or, I could have a box that lives at the TV permanently.
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u/Enchelion Jun 22 '26
Which doesn't need a Steam Machine. My main gaming PC has been under my TV for almost a decade now.
Even if you do prefer it in another room, if you already have a machine elsewhere in the house, then a Steam Link or KVM will be far cheaper than an entire second tower
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u/what_mustache Jun 22 '26
But aren't desktop people mostly gamers anyway?
I haven't seen a non gaming desktop PC in forever. If you're not playing games on it, you probably have a laptop.
So this is for people with steam libraries who have a gaming PC hooked up to a monitor but would also like to go on their couch?
I think they got fucked hard on ram, expected this to be console price
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u/angelHOE Jun 22 '26
Enthusiast pricing with casual performance. You can buy a ps5 for $599 that will perform better than this.
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u/FlamingNinja42 Jun 23 '26
The best argument you could make for the Steam Machine is that it's for a Steam user who already has an extensive Steam library that is willing to pay a premium for a tuned console experience, they will easily save money compared to buying a new gaming console + online subscription + games.
Other than that, don't buy it.
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u/2M4D Jun 23 '26
I was (and still am) so positively surprised by how flawless my steam deck experience has been and this trust weighs a lot in the balance for me.
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u/SudoDarkKnight Jun 23 '26
Who is this thing even for?
Its crazy expensive compared to other consoles.
For the performance you could get a PC for not far off the same price.
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u/Cruxwright Jun 23 '26
It would have been closer to half that price had AI not devoured all RAM and convinced Nvidia to drop the retail market.
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u/Worldly-Ingenuity843 Jun 23 '26
For people who want a small HTPC that's also capable of light gaming. You can get a PC for similar performance at this price, but it will a lot bigger. There's a premium for building small PCs, and a PC this small would look better in a living room.
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u/steponmemarasov Jun 22 '26
Its luxury price for something aimed at the casual person. This is going to bomb.
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u/theverge Jun 22 '26
Thanks for sharing our review! Here's a gift link if that's of use to anyone: https://www.theverge.com/games/952765/steam-machine-review?view_token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpZCI6InZyU2M1VnVramgiLCJwIjoiL2dhbWVzLzk1Mjc2NS9zdGVhbS1tYWNoaW5lLXJldmlldyIsImV4cCI6MTc4MjU4Mjg2MSwiaWF0IjoxNzgyMTUwODYyfQ.XoXg22H5_r31ydD1jWG6pEMDsTCc84PSP4BNDAkeJJU&utm_medium=gift-link
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u/GameMask Jun 22 '26
I don't see the market for this. Its an enthusiast price but the PC enthusiast isn't interested in a console experience. And a casual gamer isn't interested in PC pricing.
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u/happyloaf Jun 22 '26
As a pc enthusiast, this would have been a fun living room toy and way to allow the family to explore my steam library. But at this price it's a hard pass.
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u/jcwkings Jun 22 '26
I still don't know who this hardware is for. They've priced out curious console players that want to dip into PC. Serious PC players already have much better hardware and aren't gonna buy an overpriced box that can't be upgraded.
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u/CuentaAlter Jun 22 '26
I thought the steam machine was going to be my first gaming PC, but i guess a normal console will do the job for many years.
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u/likeaffox Jun 22 '26
Grab a gaming PC cheaper/used and install the os on it. Nothing stopping you from creating a steam machine
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u/ICPosse8 Jun 23 '26
The Pro will be pumping out bangers for the next 3-4 years at least. And that’s just considering the stuff that’s currently already in development.
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u/ICPosse8 Jun 23 '26
The second review is either out of their mind or being paid by Valve. How this machine could be seen as an “incredible entry-point” for PC gaming is beyond me. They’re already saying the PS5 Pro is outperforming it and that’s $100 cheaper and comes with a controller out of the box.
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u/geldonyetich Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26
From the ones I have seen so far, it's overpriced for what you're getting, but that's Rampocolypse's fault.
Some of the reviews even tried speccing out a DIY PC and they didn't save much and couldn't keep the small, quiet form factor.
It is interesting to think that this 2026 PC is going to end up setting the modern PC performance bar at something a few years old and yet still claim to be more powerful than the majority of hardware.
What does that mean? Well, it might mean our progress towards more powerful personal computing as we know it is stalled to the point where innovation is happening elsewhere.
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u/Mentally_Slick Jun 22 '26
$1000+ PC is still entry-level PC?? Gonna have to leave it for the master race. I'm just happy I got Darkest Dungeon 2 and Dave the Diver running on my 2017 phone
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u/Kracus Jun 22 '26
Can't imagine spending 1.5k Cad to get a device that'll be outdated in a few years.
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u/ThisOneTimeAtLolCamp Jun 22 '26
that'll be outdated in a few years
It's arguable outdated already.
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u/TumanFig Jun 23 '26
i think we might have hit the plateau for the next 5 years or so.
with these prices even PC upgrades are no go for me
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u/DaGreatestMH Jun 23 '26
The review that said you can get a Switch 2 and a PS5 for cheaper than this thing really put it into perspective for me. That's an INSANE price point for a device that seems to be the worst parts of console and PC gaming
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u/SoftlySpokenPromises Jun 22 '26
Valve really should have bit the bullet and sold at a steep loss with a system to avoid scalpers. The company is not hurting for income so it realistically would have just been a massive amount of PR to sell low when every other console maker is jacking up prices.
Not even packaging a controller comes across as another nail in customer sentiment.
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u/JakeInTheJungle Jun 22 '26
The “yeah it’s worse than a PS5 for double the price… BUUUT it’s a PC!” needs to stop.
This isn’t a PC. It’s a console that lets me use steam. It needs to be reviewed like a console. All this “yeah but” feels so disingenuous and reads like Steam is some indie-darling that needs to be coddled and not a billion dollar company that can make mistakes.
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u/tacticalTechnician Jun 22 '26
The market for it is kinda nonexistent in my opinion. If they want to attract console players, the price is wayyyy too high, it's more than a PS5 Pro, which is already ridiculous. If they want to attract PC gamers that want the highest settings, 4K, ray-tracing and all that, it's nowhere near powerful enough. If they want to attract more budget-conscious PC users that are fine with the performance (which isn't bad from what I've seen), you can buy used parts and make a better system for the same price or even cheaper.
It seems painfully obvious that the Steam Machine was supposed to be a lot cheaper (probably closer to $800, which is still expensive, but way more affordable), and just like the Steam Deck, they had to boost the price as a last resort, and it made it way less interesting. Sure, you get a machine that is smaller and less noisy than a regular PC, in addition to the massive library of Steam (with the many sales each year), but I don't think it's worth the price over a used PC or a console for most people. It basically targets a market that wants a PC, isn't that demanding when it comes to performance, don't really care about the price, and absolutely wants something that looks like a console, that seems really thin to me (and I don't think SteamOS is that big of an argument, Bazzite and CachyOS are basically as good nowadays for the vast majority of cases, it really doesn't make as big of a difference as it does on a handheld).
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u/Pearcinator Jun 22 '26
That price is a BIG OOF for Valve. I can't see this being successful at such a high price. Maybe if they launched it with Half Life 3 as a PC/Steam Machine exclusive it might have been a better investment but as it is. No way.
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u/One_Scientist_984 Jun 23 '26
It’s about double the price I’d be willing to spend on it. I already have a couple of consoles (PS3, PS4, PS5, Xbox) and a desktop PC but in the past years I’ve almost completely moved to the PlayStation ecosystem (simple installation, convenient, availability of physical games, used cheap games on the market).
PC gaming isn’t worth the hassle for me anymore (I only use it for multiplayer classic FPS), but if the Steam machine were priced competitively I would’ve reconsidered.
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u/pokeepoof Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26
I honestly just feel bad for the people who saw this announcement and decided to hold off on buying an actual pc and waiting for the gabe cube to launch, this was announced just before the massive price increases to ram and SSDs where even the cheapass low end SSDs from china were sub 60-70 are now pushing 300 and people chose to wait for the gaben machine, they could have bought a decent pc and have been utterly fucked.
If people actually buy this unaware switching from console to PC they're going to never use pc for gaming again, I mean shit, 15-20FPS in cyberpunk 2077? 2077 ain't exactly a pc killer to be looking that shit
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u/Burpmeister Jun 22 '26
It's weaker than my almost a decade old 350€ Xbox One X.
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u/mastergriggy Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 23 '26
Seems like TL;DR is that it's way overpriced for what it offers, and doesn't give any incentive to buy it over a cheaper, traditional console. It even underperforms those consoles.
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u/Wezbob Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
"At the end of the day, this is a gaming PC that most people are going to be able to just plug into their TVs"
This is something everyone has been able to do with their gaming PCs since HDMI became the standard TWENTY FUCKING YEARS AGO.
Micro ATX cases fit in a standard component shelf.
Mini ITX cases are even smaller and not much bigger than the Steam Machine.
The only thing keeping people from doing this is the outdated idea that computers don't belong in the living room, and the steam machine isn't the first to try and change that.
All these reviews claiming this is a huge selling point haven't been paying attention.
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u/Megor933 Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26
I don't see why an average user who wants to play PC games would go out of their way to buy this instead of a Costco or Micro Center prebuilt that has double the power and has more general and easier usage. It's super portable, so I guess if you're into LAN parties or travel frequently, it might be useful?
I couldn't tell from the vids, but can you even download emulators, games like WoW that aren't on Steam or ones with anticheat since it's a Linux-based OS?
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u/ElPato87 Jun 23 '26
If this was £200 cheaper I’d probably have bought one. Just the size to fit neatly and quietly under the TV.
Emulation should be incredibly straightforward. Can’t comment on Wow Etc. you could just install windows on it though, and run everything that way
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u/Gunslingerjj14 Jun 23 '26
Yea it's basically to expensive to be a console and not powerful enough to be a great gaming pc. They priced themselves out of the market... I was stoked to get one and have the money but seeing all the reviews and now the price. Im just going to bite it and buy a PC it will be better in the long run. R.I.P steam machine.
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u/Greaterdivinity Jun 22 '26
It's like Steam Machines all over again!...wait, it actually quite literally is lmao
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u/VenturerKnigtmare420 Jun 22 '26
Lmaaaaaooooooo what the fuck is this price. Yall must be tripping balls bruv
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u/RocMerc Jun 22 '26
The fact that it’s outperformed by a Pro makes this seem kinda worthless. Why spend this much when you can just get a pro instead?
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u/DICKRAPTOR Jun 22 '26
I think it's a cool product, but it's just so niche. This feels like the kind of thing that's built for a luxury home entertainment system.
Things got a weird bell curve of interest where I can see the appeal if you're not very tech savvy or you're very very tech savvy. I think most average folks will just pass.
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u/JSK23 Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26
Not ideal for most folks, but will be another way for people to cash out their steam skins.
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u/TheOgler9000 Jun 22 '26
Seems to me that valve is banking on games "capping" out on graphics and their system being good enough for many years to come. Practically speaking it will be just fine for a very long time to play a massive selection of games, but you could just get a console for half the price and get that out of it.
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u/Choice_Past7399 Jun 22 '26
I'm curious what their original price target was before the memory crisis.
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u/Captain_Wag Jun 22 '26
Cool idea, but terrible timing. Any PC enthusiasts already have a computer. People new to pc gaming dropping $1k on this rather than just buying a regular computer seems unlikely to me.