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valve always pulling out these magic boxes. guess i’ll start clearing a spot next to the tv just in case it’s actually revolutionary this time.
I’m excited to see what it can do at idle power draw along with the price. This can end up being a really good miniPC if it’s priced as competitively as the Deck was when that launched
I’m a bit concerned about the vram situation. 8Gb is not a lot nowadays, particularly if you start adding stuff like ai framegen and stuff which these types of machines tend to need further down the line.
An extra 8gb wouldn’t have killed the profit margins.
An extra 8gb wouldn’t have killed the profit margins.
I see you haven’t checked ram prices lately…
Bulk pricings has increased sure, but not to the extent consumer price did. Capitalism, ho!
Given that they’d have locked in the supply at least half a year ago, though, it would be funny (though unrealistic) to find out they contributed to the price hike 😂
It seems to just be a 7600m laptop GPU which comes with 8Gb. I don’t think this is a custom chip like SONY uses but, just off the shelf stuff AMD sold for a discount.
Companion Cube 😍
The only thing the old Steam Machines were missing a decade ago was good Linux compatibility via Proton, but now we’ve got that! I have literally never been more excited for a new “console.” Goodbye, Steam Deck.
Goodbye, Steam Deck.
Nah, just stream from the Steam Machine to your Steam Deck.
I, for one, can’t wait for the limited edition companion cube edition to get released exactly 30 days after I have my steam machine delivered.
Thank you for your sacrifice. The same thing happens to me at my bus stop whenever I open my umbrella on a rainy day. The bus arrives as soon as I open it.
Goodbye to Steam Deck for this? Both, both is good.
I’m buying this not just for TV play, but hopefully also streaming to SD as a performance upgrade (without handing a ton of money annually to GeForce for laggy inputs), as someone who hasn’t had a desktop to do that in a long while. At that point, Steam Deck is a GabeCube accessory turning it into a Switch.
That sounds like the perfect setup! If the Steam Deck were smaller, that’s exactly what I’d do too.
After finally getting a pay raise and trying Switch 2, the size is pretty subjective. I appreciate SD’s bigger size giving not only a better controller grip, but also actually good speakers.
It’s totally a personal preference thing, but the Deck really deserves the love it’s gotten. The screen and speakers are amazing, which is rare for handhelds. I have high hopes for the AYN Thor as an eventual successor to my 3DS.
Ah, I should keep an eye on that. I love Steam Deck but the 3DS is the best console I’ve ever had, and was hoping some replacements would be available in 20 years when it breaks and used are hard to find.
🎶 They’re here! They’re here! They’re fina-lully here! There’s no more time for expectat–
Pretty exciting announcement! I was thinking about building a new rig and retiring my current machine with a 3080 to the TV. This might change that.
What I’m more curious about is how are the folks at Microsoft reacting to this news, since it sounds like the next Xbox was essentially going to be a PC. With Valve doing it first and the fact that the Steam store is so huge, I’m imagining this makes them a bit nervous.
Never buying Microsoft after the recall bullshit. Also not paying monthly subscription to enable Internet on my device
don’t wait for this, get or build a normal pc that you can change parts anytime you want, you will not regret it.
If I were 20 years older, I’d be happy to spec out a mini-ITX build. But with a 3 year old running my life, my time is limited and if the price of this is right, it might make more sense for where my current life is at.
I’ve got 3 under 10 and it’s brutal trying to find time for hobbies. I paid someone to repaste my GPU and that felt weird as hell
I completely understand where you’re coming from, no shame in that game!
if you have time to play videogames on one of these you also have the time to build your own pc. You don’t have to anyway, you can pay someone to build it for you, the price would be about the same.
I still don’t get why didn’t they just use an ITX motherboard with a Ryzen 7600 and a Rx 7600 in an ITX case and called it steam machine instead.
Less resources for engineering the thing that could’ve been sued for software development.
Is it less resources though? At that level to buy consumer grade?
I mean you can literally build your own steam machine with that. You can install the os into any PC. That’s the ultimate goal I imagine.
I mean, they could’ve used all that engineering budget that was used in the design of the device for something like, enhancing proton
That’s not how engineering works.
Trust me I know. I am en engineer XD I just don’t remember most of what I learned in university, just the necessary stuff for work
Exactly, if you’re a hardware designer, no amount of money will turn you into a software developer within a month. A dollar of software development is not equal to a dollar of product design. That’s the mindset of shareholders. “Give me $12.99 engineering, and give it now”
Can’t they just hire overqualified people with multiple degrees?
Trust me they are improving proton all on their own. Proton let’s them sell games. That is how they make money - selling games not hardware.
I imagine that’s because that’s what they tried back in 2015 with the Alienware steam machine.
Because they were forced to do the work of making a custom cpu for the handheld, now they have the contracts and relationships to tailor a CPU for their 2026 machine. But you can tell they still want it to be primarily a PC because they only “lightly modified” it.
Couldn’t they just make sure their software worked properly in the CPU/GPU combo of their choice?
After investigating various releases, I suspect that that) slightly modified likely mostly means ‘directly welded to the motherboard instead of socketed’ and it is otherwise probably mostly stock.
I imagine the direct welding is a cost-saving measure to make the product more competitive with consoles.
Given that they announced that the recovery image should now work with a wide variety of systems and that they have stated in multiple places that they plan to eventually release a general version of the OS, they’ve done the work of making it compatible with mostly all AMD stuff. My bet is they’re also working with Nvidia and and their driver support is the holdup.
They have said in interviews that the main reason they made it was to respond to the fact that the majority of steam deck owners keep it docked to a TV most of the time. It is meant to be a living room appliance with all the sound and heat dissipation issues related.
It’s smaller than an Xbox and barely larger than a GameCube. According to the reviewers that saw it, it is also much quieter and smaller than the smallest ITX case, while also being six times more powerful than the deck. It’s targeting a very specific audience that just wants a plug and play gaming experience and don’t want the hassle of PC building.
I sort of gave up on upgrading my under TV Steam machine so this actually looks like a nice way back in.
The GabeCube looks awesome! The GabeGoggles probably aren’t riddled with spyware. The controller fucks so hard it could be an aphrodisiac. Massive win for valve today.
Valve just casually changing the entire PC gaming landscape on a Wednesday…
They used to do it with their games, now it’s with their hardware
Is Steam OS available for public use, or only Steam devices?
How much jank are you willing to deal with?
Minimal jank
Use Bazzite, or ChimeraOS if you do’nt care about desktop mode
It is available for public use. https://store.steampowered.com/sale/steamoslandingpage?l=english
It is also arch linux based
based af
They do not list support for desktops, only Steam Deck and some other handheld devices.
Those are the only officially supported devices. They do also provide instructions on how to install SteamOS on other devices, and even encourage feedback on the experience.
They provide the instructions, but last time I checked they took down the install files. Im hoping they come back because i would love to give it a try on my system.
Edit: Just rechecked and it looks like everything is there including files. I know what im doing tonight!
This is not only about gaming. If this low consume high performance sweety is actually affordable, 2026 could actually become the biggest year ever for Linux users. SteamOS is based on Arch Linux, and considering the power of the machine, editing should be more than doable. Now, i’m not too sure about the current compatibility/emulation of windows native software on linux, but with a substantial increase in desktop users, there could be some serious breakthrough, just like we already had with Proton for the games.
Litetally two days ago, I said that Proton is the most important project in the history of linux, in terms of getting linux to a mass adoption / user base.
Got mostly downvotes.
Then this happens.
Another thing I’vr been saying for a while:
Kernel Anti Cheat profileration in huge AAA games has the effect of stymying wider linux adoption.
It will be MSFT’s last trump card, now that they’re basically just a mega publisher, in terms of video games.
The relevant bit is not that SteamOS is based on Arch, but that it is running KDE Plasma desktop.
with a substantial increase in desktop users there could be some serious breakthrough like we already had with Proton
Most desktop users are not going to turn developers.
I don’t think that’s what they mean. They mean it’ll show these companies that there’s a market and money to be made by releasing Linux versions of their software.
Both really.
The bearded madman did it! He really nailed it!
This will no doubt be good for linux pc gaming. On the steamdeck Valve contributed greatly to the opensource proton project.
Linux PC gaming is already here. The only games that don’t work with Proton are if the developers specifically disable support for Linux (via intrusive anti cheat).
This thing has pretty interesting hardware:
The chip almost looks like a cut down AMD Ryzen AI Max 385, but with fewer CPU cores and GPU CUs, but the GPU gets its own dedicated VRAM, rather than sharing it, like it does in something like a Framework Desktop.
It also seems like it gets a decent amount of power, so likely at higher clock speeds, performance should be pretty good for not that much money. If this is supposed to be a console then it can’t be much more than a PS5 at $550 or PS5 Pro at $750.
Moore’s Law is Dead is estimating a $425 cost to produce, sale price between $450 to $600, depending on how hard they want to fuck Microsoft out of gaming.
I suspect the CPU is probably some Ryzen 7640u and the GPU is a 7600m equivalent.
This doesn’t seem to be an APU
Dave2D mentioned that Valve said it isn’t aiming to directly compete with consoles, but rather sff PCs. So the price will likely be in the $700-900 range(?)
I can see this going for around $750 personally
Below this price it will literally “evaporate” in seconds after release.
It probably will anyway.
Index and Steam Deck both sold like crazy on release, Valve has already proven itself with their hardware.
Last time they’ve locked the sell on account base. Hopefully they’ll do the same this times too.
You’re not fitting a 6 core processor and a **60esque card in a ssf case for less than $1k I don’t think, so even $900 is competitive
I think you can. The Ryzen 7600 and Rx 7600 are kinda cheap nowadays, even better if you use a 7500f.
You use a Chinese b650 ITX motherboard around 150 dollars and boom. You don’t need to buy expensive stuff to make a passable small PC.
I believe that Valve can afford to sell hardware at cost or even a little in the red. Getting people in the steam store ecosystem makes it back and then some in the long term.
Normally that only works if you have DRM that locks the games to your platform, so that people don’t get the hardware at a discount then use it to run someone else’s software.
But, in Valve’s case, it really has no competitors in the PC gaming space. That might not last forever, but it almost certainly will last as long as this PC / console is around.
Well, they already did that with the Deck, they earn very little from the hardware. Chances are they’ll do the same.
I was going to build a gaming pc for the first time in years on Black Friday
This news put it on hold immediately. I’ll just get the Steam Machine instead, it’s exactly what I’ve wished for: a more powerful Steam Deck without a screen or controller built in.
AND it’ll run 4k games so I don’t need to downscale to my monitor.
I’m perfectly fine with it being FSR and only 60fps, as 99% of the stuff I play are single player games anyway.
With 8GB of VRAM, 4K gaming will suffer some.
4k FSR, so it’s not rendered at 4k, but upscaled on the GPU
Which I’m perfectly fine with
Then it’s not actually running games at 4K, now, is it?
Is it an APU, or is it a “desktop” CPU and GPU on one board? CPU specs are close to the 7600x but downlocked. And with dedicated vram I’d assume the GPU is it’s own separate thing.
GPU looks like it’s probably a tweaked RX 7400 based on the specs.
Is it an APU, or is it a “desktop” CPU and GPU on one board?
2 separate chips, both soldered to the board
This seems to blur the lines between desktop and mobile APU’s, but I would bet that’s it’s closer to a higher clocked mobile chip, than it is to desktop. The only reason I think this is the case is due to the similarity spec wise with the Max 385, and that it’s semi-custom.
If it was just a 7600x CPU + 7600 GPU I think they would have just said so. It could be separate CPU+GPU, but I think it might be possible that it is built more like a SOC, where the GPU is just given its own dedicated VRAM.
Looking at the hardware of say a PS5, it has 16 GB of GDRR6, the same as the Steam Machine’s VRAM.
If everything is soldered anyway, there is no reason to have separate chips for CPU+GPU, especially if that hardware already exists like the AMD Ryzen AI Max line.
According to Dave2D’s review, RAM is upgradeable, and GPU has dedicated VRAM.
Well I’m probably wrong then, framework said they couldn’t get good performance and maintain signal integrity with upgradable memory for the Ryzen Max cpus, so this is likely discrete Cpu and GPU. Probably all soldered in the same mainboard though.
Well I’m probably wrong then, framework said they couldn’t get good performance and maintain signal integrity with upgradable memory for the Ryzen Max cpus
On the other hand, Framework is run by far right sympathizers and are a few billion short of what Valve’s R&D might have access too.
If everything is soldered anyway, there is no reason to have separate chips for CPU+GPU, especially if that hardware already exists like the AMD Ryzen AI Max line.
Cost is a factor because just as with Steam Deck the two SKUs will only differ in storage space, not in performance. Using last gen RDNA3 is 100% a cost driven choice.
There was the story recently that AMD demanded a very high minimum order (10 million or so?) for semi-custom versions of the lasest Ryzen and RDNA iterations for some Xbox handheld which is unlikely that handheld would sell.
By going this route, Valve avoided this. Surely there is spare manufacturing capacity for RDNA3 by now.
To keep the package small, they might still have laptop type discreet GPU, just integrated on the same board.
I would have thought unified memory would pay off, otherwise you spend your time shuffling stuff between system memory and vram. Isn’t the deck unified memory?
What you lose shuffling between CPU and GPU you gain by not having your GPU and CPU sharing the same bandwidth.
Apple gets away with it by having an ungodly massive memory bus. I don’t think valve is getting a 512 bit memory bus on what’s probably a RX 7400/Ryzen 7600 tier CPU. Both of those combined would be like half that?
Apple gets away with it by having an ungodly massive memory bus.
It’s kind of impressive how effective Apple’s marketing team was towards developers when they started that push towards ARM PCs. A lot of people can remember that having shared memory benefits from not having to copy memory between the CPU and GPU, but barely any of them remember that the only reason it’s feasible is because Apple gave their devices insanely high memory bandwidth.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, look no further than the original Nintendo Switch. With an incredible 64-bit memory bus and 1600MHz memory clock speed, it was already being bottlenecked by its memory bandwidth 2 years into its lifespan. And that’s counting first/second-party titles like the Link’s Awakening remaster, not even shitty ports of games made for other consoles.
You call pretty interesting hardware what looks like non-replaceable parts?
Retro Game Corps was estimating $500-$600 and they are defintely out to lunch with that
Depends on tariffs.
I’m wondering how much horsepower this stationary device have compared to a PS5 or Series X.
I’m not the best at gauging this but it seems it’s meant to be carried around and plugged into a 4K TV and operate okay at 60fps for most games that multiple people would play while in the same room. The specs seem to align with that. What would the GPU be comparable to? A 6700 (non XT)?
GamersNexus estimates a 7600.
I’m still surprised that there’s no USB c on the front. I’ve felt this way for 3 hours now since I first saw the picture.
Agreed, I wonder if this has to do with pricing? I imagine they can save on PCI lanes this way, and can keep the cost of components down.
And only HDMI 2.0, not 2.1. At least it has DisplayPort.
@dangrousperson @WhatGodIsMadeOf The hardware is apparently capable of HDMI 2.1, but the HDMI Forum doesn’t allow open source to have HDMI 2.1 drivers.
If you hook this up to a monitor you can use DisplayPort with the full features. I wish TVs had DisplayPort.
Love to see it! Been very excited about the rumors of the steam machine! Probably won’t get one for a while cuz money, but I’ll probably pick up a steam controller!
