Valve broke its silence on June 22nd after months of delays blamed on the global RAM shortage, and revealed the Steam Machine’s price, launch date, and a spec sheet.
The news comes after Valve started teasing its imminent release early June.
How does the Steam Machine compare to PCs and consoles
The base model starts at £879 in the UK, $1,049 in the US, with a 2TB model at £1,149 and controller bundles stretching to £1,208. Reservations opened June 25th with shipping expected June 30th.
In terms of hardware, there’s 512GB or 2 TB SSDs available. As for the core GPU and CPU, WCCFTech’s analysis puts the CPU in Ryzen 5 5600X territory at 30W, while the GPU broadly aligns with the RTX 4060 or RX 6600 XT.
Tom’s Hardware’s review gives the clearest picture. At 1080p, Cyberpunk 2077 on Ultra averaged 61 FPS, Spider-Man Remastered cleared 120+ FPS on High, and Red Dead Redemption 2 on Ultra hit around 69 FPS. Solid numbers for TV gaming. At 1440p, Notebookcheck’s coverage found Red Dead hitting 85-95 FPS at a High/Ultra mix, though Cyberpunk at native 1440p Ultra dropped to 45 FPS, the point where FSR becomes necessary.
The harder comparison comes from PC Gamer’s review, which put the Steam Machine up against the Minisforum AtomMan G1 Pro, a mini PC with a desktop RTX 5060 available for around $10 more, and found the G1 Pro producing roughly 58 more FPS in Cyberpunk at equivalent settings.
Some evidence even benchmarks the PS5 outperforming the Steam Machine, which is another market fit issue depending on how you read the pricing.
Pros and cons of the Steam Machine
The Steam Machine seems to be for a consumer who wants a more console-like device but with their PC library in mind. The cube form factor sits discreetly on a TV stand. SteamOS boots into Big Picture mode. Any game already Steam Deck Verified automatically earns Steam Machine Verified status too, meaning a huge catalogue of optimised titles from day one.
The Steam Machine will also likely become a new baseline PC spec for developers to target their games at using 1080p metrics, similar to how the Steam Deck became a widely accepted baseline spec to target for an audience. It should help weed out some optimization issues for PC gaming in the future if developers target that hardware.
While it’s more expensive than a PS5, and arguably weaker performance-wise than one in some benchmarks, it does offer some longevity that other consoles likely won’t experience.
Asha Sharma noted in her memo published online that storage component costs have already risen by 50% in her first 100 days and are projected to reach more than five times 2024 prices by 2027. Every platform is absorbing the same cost pressure. Unlike Sony or Microsoft, Valve isn’t subsidizing the Steam Machine against software revenue, as Pierre-Loup Griffais confirmed. It means that while technically console gaming is cheaper upfront, the add-ons expected over several years will eat into that price difference.
If you’re already a PC gamer, you’re probably not paying for all those extras and have your own library built. You have access to the generous Steam sales, the improved SteamOS Linux environment, and other conveniences other platforms don’t have. Sure, it’s expensive, but all other hardware is going to increase in price as a result of AI infrastructure demands that won’t be complete for the next few years. Next-gen consoles will feel the same impact and pricing pressures. So ultimately, developers are going to have to design games with current gen hardware in mind, and that’s where the Steam Machine could have some impact.
It’s an expensive device in the US and the UK, but it offers several perks for those looking for a PC experience in a console-like setting.
The post How does the Steam Machine compare to PCs? Is it worth it for you? appeared first on The Escapist.
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Author: 360 Technology Group
