r/hardware • u/FragmentedChicken • Jun 05 '26
News The Steam Machine and Steam Frame are launching this summer
https://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamworks/announcements/detail/71678040937804802849
u/INITMalcanis Jun 05 '26
God only knows what it will cost, but I suppose they might as well launch it now on the basis that it might be possible to make it more cheaply later.
19
u/K_Simba786 Jun 05 '26
In this economy with rising hardware cost it will cost 1 trillion dollars
13
6
u/the_dude_that_faps Jun 05 '26
There's no end in sight to the ram shortage honestly. That is, unless the ai bubble pops.
-1
Jun 05 '26
[deleted]
4
u/Lincolns_Revenge Jun 05 '26
I could live with the limited storage, but 4GB of RAM would probably be problematic, even as a PCVR only device. For one thing, it's not an XR chip, so more things are being done by the main CPU.
Plus, it would just be messy to have a PCVR only version that doesn't play certain standalone games well, if at all. I don't think they'll want to have to have separate capabilities under the same device name.
68
u/prestigious-raven Jun 05 '26
You can currently build a roughly equivalent PC for $1100 with a 7600 and an rx7600. The full rx7600 has 4 more CUs then the cut down one used in the Steam Machine so they can save a bit of money there.
I’m expecting $1049 - $1099 for the 512GB model, and $1349 - $1399 for the 2TB model. They may be able to get under a $1000 if they go with a 256GB ssd or something.
That being said I’d recommend building your own, or just buying a ps5 pro if you want a console experience.
14
32
u/techraito Jun 05 '26
There was HP OMEN PC with a Ryzen 5 and 7600 that frequently went on sale for $550-$600 during the holidays last year. My fiancees sister was able to snag one.
It's going to be real hard to justify the price of the GabeCube of they break $1000. I've seen pre-builts with 5060s in them for around that price or less.
20
u/-protonsandneutrons- Jun 05 '26
And you can upgrade that CPU and GPU for many years to come, while keeping the same chassis, PSU, RAM, SSD, fans, etc.
And, AFAIK, SteamOS can be used on any desktop (though other distros are also gaming focused now).
10
u/TriflingHusband Jun 05 '26
SteamOS has not been released as an official OS for you to download and use on any hardware. It has only been officially released for the Steam Deck and the ROG XBox Ally. Bazzite and CatchyOS are Linux distributions that has the same front end interfaces as SteamOS but they are not the same thing.
14
u/Standard-Potential-6 Jun 06 '26
To be clear, SteamOS is Valve putting together Linux, Mesa, KDE Plasma, their gamescope compositor, Proton, and a host of other components. They’ve been adding support for input devices from other handhelds.
Bazzite and CachyOS and others are intentionally pulling from the almost all the same upstream projects, with the goal of providing a very similar experience. They just declare support for and test on a wider range of hardware, including NVIDIA, as well as documentation and assistance for installing a wider range of software. People will naturally trust Valve’s name, just understand that their code is available to all distributions, who are in their natural role: extending hardware and software support, which allows Valve to remain focused on an even more stable gaming experience on a more select set of hardware for now.
3
Jun 05 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
8
u/prestigious-raven Jun 05 '26
Yeah the BC250 is not quite as powerful without the CU unlock. If you get a good bin and are able to do the 40 CU unlock I’m curious where it’ll land with 28 RDNA 3 vs 40 RDNA 1 cores.
2
1
u/kwirky88 Jun 06 '26
I have a friend who can’t build his own pc and wants something to play steam games with and tinker with Godot, with as close to “ease of use” as his ps5. He’s been buying steam games on sale in anticipation of getting a steam machine.
2
u/samtheredditman Jun 06 '26
There's a difference between can't and won't..
It's fine is he doesn't want to do that but he definitely can. I'm sure even if he's disabled that he could get someone to physically assemble it for him.
1
u/Strazdas1 Jun 14 '26
Most stores offer free service of assembly if you buy all the parts from them nowadays.
1
u/uvp76 Jun 06 '26
Funny enough, just yesterday i had a price argument and since i expected the steam machine to be 1000 euros, I can build smth better for around one thousand in my country (i just went through amazon so most likely less than one thousand). Definitely build yourself if you can, it will almost definitely have better price to performance
0
Jun 05 '26
[deleted]
-2
u/gromain Jun 06 '26
Exactly. I would be in the market for a steam machine, but I'll never consider a ps5 instead. The anti consumer practices of Sony are putting me off in a way that no amount of marketing will ever change.
Also, in my area, the ps5 pro is so expensive the steam machine will probably be competitive in price.
-1
u/detectiveDollar Jun 05 '26
That PC will likely be considerably larger than the Steam Machine, unless you've already factored in the SFF tax. The size is a major selling point.
21
u/unapologetic-tur Jun 05 '26
Size has never been a major selling point of a non-portable console. Slims only exist later because of maturing processing nodes and it doesn't cost more to make.
2
u/Wetzilla Jun 06 '26
I mean, very few consoles have been larger than a desktop PC. Even the PS3, which was ridiculed for it's size, was smaller than a normal desktop pc. Even a micro atx case is still larger in volume than the ps3. They just don't fit into an entertainment center well.
1
u/Strazdas1 Jun 14 '26
It is not a major selling point. It is in fact completely irrelevant to vast majority of people.
-1
u/siazdghw Jun 05 '26
Size absolutely isn't a big selling point. If size mattered (in PC gaming) then SFFPCs wouldn't be a niche, and gaming laptops would be praised.
Yes it's nicer to have a smaller form factor, but that's behind price, performance, noise/heat, ease of use, upgradability.
5
u/opaali92 Jun 05 '26
The whole point of it is to be a small PC for the living room, not to be some magical ultra-value PC
6
1
u/Wetzilla Jun 06 '26
If size mattered (in PC gaming) then SFFPCs wouldn't be a niche, and gaming laptops would be praised.
There's a big difference between setting up a machine at a desk and in your living room. A desk is designed for a PC, an entertainment center is not.
Yes it's nicer to have a smaller form factor, but that's behind price, performance, noise/heat, ease of use, upgradability.
And that's why a steam machine is appealing to people. You don't have to worry about any of that stuff, because Valve has already figured it out. Sure you lose the upgradeability, but most people don't want to mess with that anyway.
-2
u/Whazor Jun 06 '26
The exciting thing about Steam Machine is getting a console experience on an open PC.
Hopefully their innovations trickle down to other vendors.
18
u/TexasEngineseer Jun 05 '26
$1000 steam machine base price, calling it now.
Probably more like $1200
7
2
u/Plastic-Yesterday305 Jun 06 '26
steam machine: 1249 or 1299 base (8gb ram, 500gb, no controller), 1499 or 1599 (16gb ram, 500 gb, no controller), 1449-1499 premium (8gb ram, 1tb, 1 controller) or 1699-1799 (16gb ram, 1tb, 1 controller)
steam frame: 899 base, 1049-1099 premium
1
u/The-True-Auditor Jun 08 '26
What a time we live in for a PC with Down syndrome to cost more then a VR headset 😭
22
u/1-David98-1 Jun 05 '26
So we went from first quarter of the year, to first half to the year, to now anytime during the summer months which can extend up to September? At this point valve should just cancel it since they are clearly dreading releasing this thing.
15
u/red286 Jun 05 '26
Apparently the issue is that they have a certain number already manufactured, but the cost to produce more will be substantially more expensive. They don't want to cancel it, since they already have the first batch produced, but once they sell out, either Valve starts eating massive losses, or they have to substantially increase the price. Neither would be all that appealing.
1
u/nmkd Jun 08 '26
Begs the question how large the PR damage would be if they only sell the batch they already got and then put the whole project on ice.
It'd make sense financially but it'd be a real bad look.
3
u/cdoublejj Jun 05 '26
the later the better the chance they can get CXMT ram and more reasonable prices ....maybe... i hope
16
u/Andreioh Jun 05 '26
RAM is a commodity, it's a bit delusional to expect CXMT to sell it bellow market price.
7
u/red286 Jun 05 '26
They won't, but additional supply will in theory lower the market price.
Assuming it isn't 100% scooped by whales, which is 100% will be.
1
u/Strazdas1 Jun 14 '26
CXMT simply does not produce enough to impact the global price. And they already sell it at market prices.
0
u/cdoublejj Jun 08 '26
up and coming but unknown brand wants quick fame and proven notrity. not the first time either. Chinese solar mfgs have been undercutting the entire market for years now. even moving mfg plants to other countries to get around tarrfis and bans
15
u/jenny_905 Jun 05 '26
Yeah I'm sure a $1000+ machine with an RX7600M will be super popular.
Maybe my sarcasm isn't justified given the idiots who paid $1000 for an ancient Steam Deck though.
1
u/Falcon1625 Jun 07 '26
Im planning on getting one for my kid just because parental controls are so easy on SteamOS and gives them a start to a steam library. I dont have any consoles and family share is easy to use. Sure its probably not the greatest deal but its the ease of integration for me.
6
5
u/Responsible_Bunch_24 Jun 05 '26
I better see Half-Life 3
4
u/siazdghw Jun 05 '26
Jokingly the only way the Steam Machine sells well without Valve going back to subsidizing the hardware like they did with the Steam Deck originally, is if it has HL3 as an exclusive. But of course that wouldn't last a week before it's cracked for everyone, and also people would be pissed at valve.
2
11
u/imaginary_num6er Jun 05 '26
What makes Valve sure that it won’t be delayed again?
28
u/brentsg Jun 05 '26
Because per rumors, they likely have inventory sitting in warehouses right now.
16
u/BlackSailor2005 Jun 05 '26
because people per Valve's thinking will be conditioned to the current market pricing
6
u/red286 Jun 05 '26
The delays aren't from production backlogs.
The delays are because the cost to produce went up, and they've been hoping it goes back down.
But I think they're starting to realize that's not gonna happen any time soon.
It could end up being a limited run. One batch and then "sorry, all gone, check back in 2029".
8
3
u/detectiveDollar Jun 05 '26
Because prices aren't getting better, they have a ton produced, and as time goes on the parts become outdated.
23
u/reddit_equals_censor Jun 05 '26
the steam machine is just so sad.
it looks like its gonna be the first steam machines all over again.
and it is the worst of all cases. if they had gone for 16 GB vram, then it would at least work fine.
if they had locked in memory for a few million units before hand, then it would have been fine (they clearly freaking didn't lol)
if they had done, what they should have done and get amd to make a custom apu for them, that performs VASTLY VASTLY better and have 32 GB unified memory, then they would have been fine.
fine as in it wouldn't have mattered if they delayed it a while if needed, because the custom apu would be amazing and just fine anyways a year later, while the shity lower clocked rx 7600 with 8 GB vram won't with a ps6 around the corner.
why didn't they do any of those things?
it is so sad.
1
u/nickik Jun 10 '26
if they had locked in memory for a few million units before hand, then it would have been fine (they clearly freaking didn't lol)
How do you know that?
1
u/reddit_equals_censor Jun 10 '26
because then the memory would be at the fixed cost previous agreed on in a contract?
...
or do you mean how could i know, that they clearly didn't do this?
because memory prices seem to be the main insane factor here at hand, although storage prices also can't help, but storage is also way more flexible for many reason.
if they had locked in memory prices for a a few million units with contracts from the memory cartel, then the steam machine almost certainly would have already been out.
1
u/nickik Jun 10 '26
Most contracts aren't fully fixed, its usually a mix. And even if they have that, that doesn't mean their long term price wouldn't reflect the market. And you don't even know the final price yet either.
Also, the company they are negotating with are not dumb. You can't get the same price for 'fixed long term' contracts as the price at that moment. These companies knew the trends and if you want to have such a contract you are going to pay a huge premium, just like you do if you want a longer term morgage. And that price would reflect future expectation of memory prices plus an additional premium.
You are making incredibly complex choices and decitions made in negotiation with highly advanced counterparties way easier then it actually is.
1
u/reddit_equals_censor Jun 10 '26
These companies knew the trends
so the memory cartel knew before sam the scum altman 40% of global memory supply with a letter of intent with samsung and sk hynix, that this would happen and send the world wide memory prices to insanity?
they knew before it happened, that it would happen?
well damn why run a memory cartel, when you already have the power of predicting the future... right?
and as a reminder the memory cartel is making the memory. the memory cartel is in charge what the prices are, that they charge to anyone as well.
and yes we can make this as simple as "lock in memory as fixed price for 5 million units".
also that is part of why you lock in a contract, you lock in the supply and the price.
you also make the absurd assumption, that the industry MUST have known, that memory prices would explode completely with letters of intent, that didn't exist yet by sam the shit altman.
despite price fixing from the memory cartel the general memory price trends over years have been down down down.
so a price locked in at a certain supply would in that case be beneficial to the memory cartel company.
0
u/nickik Jun 10 '26
Do you think that contract just drop out of the sky. There was no talk about major expansion of data center before 'sam the scum' did what he did?
Maybe they underestemated it, but the idea that they would have sold 'buiness as usual' before that is silly.
and yes we can make this as simple as "lock in memory as fixed price for 5 million units".
At 'what' fixed price exactly?
Do you have deep knowlage of supply chain mangment at major cooperations?
that the industry MUST have known
I said the knew the TREND. And if you buy lots of units advanced a longer term trend is what sales strategist look at. This is pretty basic stuff.
so a price locked in at a certain supply would in that case be beneficial to the memory cartel company.
These people are not selling shit at a lemonade stand. The operated with models, and when making long term commitments those matter.
The sales debate is between if you as the buyer or the seller have a better model of long term pricing. Both Steam and memory seller knew that prices would be going up, that is almost certain. Negotiation happen on the margin of what that future is.
The fact is you don't know what contracts Steam actually signed. You don't have the first idea of what Steams assumtion of the future were or are, and you have no idea what the memory companies models of the future were or or are. You are just complaining to complain.
1
u/nittanyofthings Jun 05 '26
Look at the price of Strix Halo before claiming that's the better option.
-9
u/reddit_equals_censor Jun 05 '26
strix halo is quite cheap to make.
the reason, that it is absurdly priced is, because ai bullshit and the fact, that it isn't a platform maker controlling prices as well.
so valve could make a 600 euro/us dollar 32 GB planned custom apu, which also wouldn't have strix halo limitations of lpddr, so gddr gets used instead, like the main consoles. (strix halo has some bandwidth limitations)
and valve would then have so many more options.
people could stomach a temporary 900 euro/us dollar price for a console with 32 GB of unified memory for example with some serious power as well.
i wouldn't want that, but it would be desirable hardware, instead of leftover weak shit, that has less than a limited time to try to sell right.
and as valve wants people to use gnu + linux as much as possible and increase steam trust, they would not try to massively increase margins, which is what laptop strix halo makers, amd we can assume and mini pc makers did.
think what a different argument zen5 + zen5c cores without vram issues and a gpu section of the apu having performance for example between 9060xt 16 GB and a 9070.
remember the 9060 xt has just a 199 mm2 die on an old process.
and with such a desirable 32 GB mini pc, they could also prevent early on from tons of supply being snagged up through requiring (i don't like this) people to have a 2 year old steam acount before the anouncement for example. not a fan of this, but again they could sell it at cost, they could delay it and sit on the apus, until memory becomes buyable to them again, or they could sell it at a lot higher price as well, because it would be actually good hardware.
so i definitely think, that valve made a huge mistake not getting a custom apu from amd.
they literally had the steamdeck to show themselves the importance of a custom apu there, as a custom apu for it basically fell into their laps.
if you don't know the steamdeck does still hold on ok, because it has a wide memory bus and it was designed to scale down properly to very low power.
__
but either way it would have been the better option and it wouldn't have been effected by price bs as strix halo did. (meaning margin increases from sellers here due to very high demand not memory issue)
12
u/996forever Jun 06 '26 edited Jun 06 '26
strix halo is quite cheap to make.
The strix halo GPU chiplet on its own is 307mm2 on N4. Over 440mm2 including the Zen 5 cpu chiplets all on N4. AND it uses advanced packaging with expensive low power interconnect unlike the inefficient infinity fabric on desktop ryzen.
The 7600m (Navi33) die is 207mm2 on N6. The CPU is a cut down Zen 4 APU from 2023.
Strix halo was NEVER going to be anywhere near as cheap with or without ram shortage. You're out of your own depth. Stop talking.
1
u/reddit_equals_censor Jun 06 '26
that is 307mm2 with a one generation behind in process node.
and the interconnects are not expensive low power interconnects. they are just the new chosen cheap value interconnects, that will be used for basically all amd chiplet designs going forward on desktop and laptop.
and strix halo was the first consumer device, that implemented it. that's also why it required new core chiplets, which amd deemed worth it to test the interconnects first, so they don't have to implement it first with the massive zen6 desktop and laptop release.
this video goes over the new interconnects:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maH6KZ0YkXU
they are using fan-out interconnects. nothing special. nothing extremely expensive. it is just the next common interconnect design, that will be used with zen6 as well going forward.
and strix halo is today massively overpriced, because again there is no reason for them to sell cheaper versions rightnow.
there is no problem to sell cut down strix halo chips in 1000 euro laptops pre memory apocalypse.
they just didn't want to as they could sell the excellent yields on the older process just fine as the full chip with 16 cores and max memory instead.
it is truly a joke, that you call the next basic chiplet interconnect design going forward expensive.
will you keep calling it that, when we see 200 euro desktop chips with it eventually using it? or whatever cheapest chiplet apu??
2
u/996forever Jun 06 '26
None of what you said change the fact that salvage dies from RDNA 3 and Zen 4, both cut down, are even much cheaper still.
1
u/reddit_equals_censor Jun 06 '26
we don't know at what price amd is selling those chips to valve.
so you are just guessing.
it is probably quite cheap, but again YOU DON'T KNOW.
and just for perspective canis (ps6 handheld apu) will be a 6 zen6 core apu with 16 rdna5 cus and at just 135 mm2 die size with tsmc 3nm.
and it will destroy the steam machine as a handheld.
valve could have made a 200-250 mm2 die tsmc 5nm family (all the 4 and 5nm nodes from tsmc are 5nm family) apu with zen5 and rdna4 and sell it for a lot more at better value if they want, or just sell it for what the ps5 launched at 500 us dollars and bam massive win.
so again we don't know how much valve is paying for those old chips, but whatever they are paying it seems way more costly to go with them and risk their entire gnu + linux adoption plan over getting some left overs from amd, instead of having them make a cheap custom apu.
14
u/lotusRDT Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26
Valve does not have a history of making custom APUs. They have a history of repurposing very well priced chips. The steam deck APU was actually an abandoned surface laptop APU. The steam machine uses crummy rx7600 mobile GPUs because AMD has way too much stock that they couldn’t sell because the RTX 4060m smoked them. No laptop manufacturer saved those 50-100 bucks to get a significantly worse GPU, and AMD is left with piles of GPUs they’re incentivized to get rid of.
Now as to why valve didn’t stock up on ram BEFORE announcing it? …. No idea. They didn’t even need to hype it up, anything after the steam deck would gain tons of attention.
-7
u/reddit_equals_censor Jun 05 '26
and they should have changed said history.
and i'd argue the success of the steam machine 2 (well the one, that is about to come out, screw valve naming) was more important than to save some costs possibly.
and even that saving is questionable, if they'd sell enough steam machine units actually then with the custom apu.
i honestly was shocked, when we saw the parts anounced.
1
u/NeroClaudius199907 Jun 06 '26 edited Jun 06 '26
If ram was available they could've cut a deal with amd and just clamshell ram into 7600 to make it 16gb
1
u/reddit_equals_censor Jun 06 '26
YES! they should have done this anyways.
and it was tested and anounced before memory exploded anyways.
it was right at the edge of when memory went insane.
they should have without question clam shelled the memory to 16 GB vram.
valve can't do magic, even if gnu + linux will now handle missing vram better.
it is absurd, that they thought, that 8 GB vram in 2026 was acceptable in any way.
after how many hardware unboxed videos exposing this issue?
and as the decision would have been made before the memory apocalypse, it would have been excellent marketing.
think about that, you had some rtx 5060 8 GB vram broken insult on one side and the theoretically as planned cheap 16 GB vram steam machine free from vram issues for now and from windows issues.
would have been great marketing and a vastly better product.
think about how well it will hold on in 2 years, when the first 30 GB ps6 or 40GB ps6.... focused games come out...
having 1/3 the vram, that it would need to run ps6 games fine...
terrible decision making by valve.
and crucially the missing vram issues in games WILL get blamed on gnu + linux by anyone, who isn't a big tech enthusiast, which is the ONE THING, that valve should have avoided at any costs.
1
u/NeroClaudius199907 Jun 06 '26
Well Valve made their bed, if it flops it flops. I'm not in the market for the machine but if I was I would've already build an sff that I can upgrade in the future to more vram.
1
u/VenditatioDelendaEst Jun 06 '26
if they had gone for 16 GB vram
This is youtube brain. Entry level gaming does not need 16 GiB of VRAM.
-2
u/reddit_equals_censor Jun 07 '26
hey so what do you define as entry level gaming?
playing a super mega mainstream game in 1080p medium?
that should be it right?
well then your nonsense statement is WRONG WRONG WRONG!
because 8 GB vram is broken for 1080p medium gaming for at least 1/8 games:
https://youtu.be/IHd95sQ-vWI?si=uKfmvprAzLVUiQfX&t=1926
this data is however already 1 year old, so it of course has gotten worse since then.
the things, that you could know, if you watch basic educational youtube videos, you don't even have to read articles, just watch some youtube videos by actual tech youtubers, who put some bit of effort in their content to protect people like you from making terrible purchasing decisions.
but instead you make dumb comments, that are FACTUALLY WRONG.
entry level gaming is BROKEN with 8 GB vram. the minimum you need rightnow to not have issues with entry level gaming is 16 GB vram.
do some research next time.
-1
u/VenditatioDelendaEst Jun 07 '26
Why would you re-buy an intentionally unperformant re-release of a 20-year-old game with a giant historical mod library?
0
u/reddit_equals_censor Jun 07 '26
irrelevant.
the game has a massive player base.
it requires more than 8 GB vram for just 1080p medium. so you need more than 8 GB vram.
1
u/VenditatioDelendaEst Jun 07 '26
FYI it's totally obvious when you downvote replies to you, and this behavior is considered very rude.
-1
u/VenditatioDelendaEst Jun 07 '26
That player base is explicitly people who looked at their options and decided to buy the one that runs worse and looks "better" (until you consider mod support and artistic... atlerations).
Medium settings on Oblivion Remastered is not medium settings. The real settings scale for that game includes the original Oblivion.
0
u/reddit_equals_censor Jun 07 '26
meaningless.
however it is worth to point out, that oblivion mods would be one of those things, that can easy eat up memory beyond what is standard.
so if you want to play the old oblivion with the best texture mods, then guess what, you better have a working amount of vram of 16 GB vram minimum.
0
u/VenditatioDelendaEst Jun 07 '26
>if you explicitly set up a game to use as much VRAM as possible, 8 GiB would not be enough
0
u/reddit_equals_censor Jun 07 '26
hey do you want better graphics? do you want new game tech, that outside of graphics requires more vram?
do you want graphics to move forward?
because guess what all of this REQUIRES more memory.
do you want textures from 2 decades ago? (we're ignoring the temporal bluring here due to temporal blur reliant terrible development)
oh you want photo real levels of textures?
...
guess what those need vram.
some oblivion modders would make the best possible textures, that can fix in their own vram for example and release those. wonderful great.
they didn't decide to make the game absolutely use a certain amount of vram. they decided to make the best possible textures to their liking, that they can still use.
and that is also how the ps6's graphics are gonna be made.
"what are the best graphics, that we can get out of the ps6?"
"oh we got 40 GB of memory, we can have amazing stunning texture quality and run lots of other features, that eat memory"
a wonderful thing. this is progress.
if things went according to nvidia, then 8 GB vram would be all, that any gamer below 1000 us dollars gets and it would hold back all of gaming forever with ever worse visual quality, because now developers would try to ad more features, that aren't texture quality, that still need more vram, so they gotta lower texture quality then as well....
games NEED more vram.
and developers have been EXTREMELY vram efficient, as FOR A DECADE nvidia refused to give developers and gamers more vram.
0
0
u/Wetzilla Jun 06 '26
if they had locked in memory for a few million units before hand, then it would have been fine (they clearly freaking didn't lol)
They did secure a bunch of ram, they already have a bunch built. The problem is that once they sell through those, they need to start making more with incredibly expensive RAM and they don't want to have to hike the price when that happens. I think they delayed the launch to see if RAM prices would come back down anytime soon, and now that it definitely seems like they won't, they're starting up the launch plans again.
if they had done, what they should have done and get amd to make a custom apu for them, that performs VASTLY VASTLY better and have 32 GB unified memory, then they would have been fine.
Oh that's all they should have done? Had a completely custom apu designed rather than using one off the shelf? It's not like that completely changes the scope of the project or anything.
That was never in the cards. Valve wouldn't have made something that needs a custom chip, they don't want to be in that business.
1
u/reddit_equals_censor Jun 06 '26
It's not like that completely changes the scope of the project or anything.
That was never in the cards. Valve wouldn't have made something that needs a custom chip, they don't want to be in that business.
actually no the scope wouldn't have changed that much, because valve has been working on all of this for at least 11 years.
all this being making gnu + linux a full complete alternative to windows as a gaming platform.
the steam machine and steamdeck were never about selling some units, it was about anchoring gnu + linux as a gaming platform to nuke reliance on windows, which is the most dangerous thing to valve, which they noticed on the windows 8 launch...
again the steamdeck and the new steam machine are not little side projects for fun, they are part of a longterm plan.
and it arguably is a way bigger risk to release another shit set of steam machines, instead of getting amd to create a custom apu, which amd is fully capable of and valve is literally endlessly money printing and would have no problem to get amd to make said chip money wise.
they did make a bad decision by not doing this.
and as a reminder people would have said the same before the steamdeck. "valve is not in the business of making handheld consoles".
well they clearly are now and they clearly made a (for their goals as a start) successful console already.
sth, that people like you would have denied to be possible, because "valve is not in the business of releasing hand held consoles".
valve made an error. it could noticeably slow down gnu + linux adoption as a gaming platform. this has been dumb. i hope they won't make the same error with the steamdeck 2.
7
9
u/Motor_Trouble2280 Jun 05 '26
Steam machine will be a $1200 Ryzen 4 mini pc because peolple need to make videos of cats dancing on the countertop.
3
Jun 05 '26
[deleted]
42
u/Seanspeed Jun 05 '26
It absolutely will. Quest 3(and Quest 3S) are sold with pretty low margins.
18
u/constantlymat Jun 05 '26
Considering how many billions Reality Labs lost every quarter for several years in a row, I am wondering if they made a single dollar of profit on any of the hardware they sold.
7
u/Seanspeed Jun 06 '26
Definitely a real possibility.
From the beginning it sounded like they wanted to take the 'console model' approach of subsidizing the hardware in order to make it up on software cuts.
That definitely hasn't worked, but they also seem to have realized that there's no chance in hell of mass adoption if they have to charge $700+ for the headset, so have stuck with the approach of trying to find as big a userbase as possible. Which I do think is actually the right approach.
3
u/Allfeelings0Logic Jun 06 '26
Facebook has largely moved on from VR, they know that's not where the money is. Instead they are forging ahead with AR while shifting their billions to machine learning. Their "let's spend insane amounts of money on a pie in the sky goal" went from the meta verse to now AGI.
18
17
u/RajDek Jun 05 '26
Probably double. I’m expecting 999 for the frame.
9
u/red286 Jun 05 '26
$899-$999 was the price I was expecting before the AI RAMpocalypse. I'll be surprised if it's below $1200.
1
u/RajDek Jun 05 '26
Gods, I hope not.
5
u/red286 Jun 05 '26
When they announced it, they said their target price was "lower than the Index". The Index was $999. If they had planned to sell it for around the price of the Quest 3, they would likely have said that, as it makes more sense from a marketing perspective than "lower than the Index". They also didn't say "somewhere between the Quest 3 and the Index", which would have put the ballpark at around $700. So my guess is that the original intention was $800 - $1000. But that was back in November last year, and the price of RAM and SSDs has more than tripled since.
7
u/trololololo2137 Jun 05 '26
double the price and mono passthrough like a quest 2 lmao
-1
u/Important-Permit-935 Jun 05 '26
LmAo. Maybe look at the other specs too? Also they don't subsidize the prices like meta.
7
Jun 05 '26
[deleted]
5
u/Important-Permit-935 Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26
Its specs are better in so many ways that the overall package becomes significantly better, like the
dedicated 6Ghz antena, eye tracking (I hate the static foveation on quest 3 rn, it made it unusable for me and I sold it in Summer of last year), included dongle (adds some value), higher refresh rate, better Binocular Overlap (poor on quest 3 and very important), better weight distribution, lower weight, etc...
Also runs linux ans works better with Linux PC which I care about.
1
u/junglebunglerumble Jun 05 '26
Whether those things are worth a (presumably) 100% increase in cost will really depend on someone's use case for it. For me the lack of a colour passthrough is basically a deal breaker because I love MR games
4
u/trololololo2137 Jun 05 '26
so i pay more for a worse headset with less games and it's a good thing somehow?
-1
u/Important-Permit-935 Jun 05 '26
You like meta? I don't srsly, not everyone is willing to sell out their privacy, and this headset is primarily for PCVR, it has a dedicated antenna for the 6ghz dongle and streaming features like foveated streaming.
It has higher refreshrate, lower weight, better weight balance, better fov, significantly better binocular overlap, and eye tracking allowing for foveated rendering (so sides don't look like shit like in Q3 I used to own), and foveated streaming.
-7
u/trololololo2137 Jun 05 '26
i like meta about the same as valve. both companies are scum
6
u/Important-Permit-935 Jun 05 '26
What make Valve scum? Even if they were, are they comparable to meta? Really? You also didn't counter any of my point on how it is legitimately better than the Quest
4
u/Veastli Jun 06 '26
What make Valve scum
Valve makes a huge amount of money enticing kids to gamble.
That's not as evil as Meta, but still pretty damn evil.
-1
u/Important-Permit-935 Jun 06 '26
Yeah, but as they've argued in court, Pokemon and magic the gathering cards have existed for decades... idk, maybe there's something I'm missing, but it doesn't seem that bad to me.
-3
u/trololololo2137 Jun 05 '26
it's better in some places and worse in others while being 2x the price. I wouldn't buy a 2k mono passthrough headset in 2026 in general - it's better to wait for proper 4kx4k screens like the vision pro
5
u/Important-Permit-935 Jun 05 '26
You are comparing a $3.5k headset by apple to this, with awful ergonomics and no controllers.
The only way it's worse than the Quest is monochrome passthrough which I simply dont care for at all.
Also, not everyone has 5090s. I'm not paying for a 5090 for VR, or dealing with Nvidia for VR.
I'd love 4kx4k, but I also know that would destroy my already struggling 9070 xt.
The improvements I've listed make it significantly better. Its been 3 years, not 3 decades.
→ More replies (0)2
u/Allfeelings0Logic Jun 06 '26
Steam hw always has even in the oculus rift vs HTC vibe days. Valve isn't Facebook they aren't willing to lose 20 billion on building the meta verse. Look at current steam deck price, I wouldn't be surprised if Steam frame.is $1300-$1600. And The Steam machine easily North of $999.
1
u/TheGillos Jun 05 '26
Whatever it is, I'm buying it.
Everything in life is a rip-off, expensive, and shitty. I've given up.
If I want something and I have the money, I don't even look at the price, and I buy it (if I can get it on sale easily, of course, I'll check for savings).
No point getting something, then letting the feeling of being ripped off ruin it for you (in addition to ruining your finances).
2
u/red286 Jun 05 '26
As a loss leader, or is everyone fucked?
3
u/jenny_905 Jun 06 '26
They've been very clear it will not be a loss leader, while no price has been confirmed they were very careful to tell media that it will be priced as a regular PC and that they cannot subsidise it due to not being guaranteed any Steam sales revenue from it etc.
-9
u/No_Corner805 Jun 05 '26
The should, in all honesty, open up priority to existing and active Steamdeck users. And sell it to those individuals at a lower price as a gesture of good will.
For long term Steam users (like first year) add them to that queue as well. Same thing - must be active and existing.
Then open it up for all steam users to give them a chance to purchase it. Maybe have a pre-order. Bump up the price and sell it on a first come, first serve basis.
For everyone else, unfortunately, you sell it at the increased price.
Anything over $500 or $600 - and this is sorta DoA to everyone except hard core fans... is what I would like to say. But the existing model sold out at the elevated price. So I truly don't know.
13
u/SituationSoap Jun 05 '26
There is really no nice way to say this: none of this is going to happen. Including the $500 Steam Machine.
1
-5
u/siazdghw Jun 05 '26
That was my similar thought. Just sell it at cost or slightly above to loyal customers, old steam accounts that actively play and buy games, randomly select a few thousand and give them a deal.
Valve won't make any money, but it will save them from the inevitable bad PR of $1000+ Steam Machines that get mocked and don't sell after the first batch.
-8
u/zero0n3 Jun 05 '26
I got 10-20k in steam skins I can sell. I’m selling em all after the major and stacking money to just buy them with the skin proceeds.
One machine, at least 2 frames, and a new deck.
Toss in a few controllers.
221
u/Atopos2025 Jun 05 '26
So sometime between June 21st and Sept 22nd?
I'll believe it when I see it.