$1050 for 512gb no controller
Honestly surprised that they hit that price point with the way things are going. Still don’t need one so I won’t buy one, but about 1000 was what I was expecting
Same for me. I was expecting like $1200 for the base model which nobody should pay that much for such middling specs.
But still $1k is way more than I’d pay for an HTPC. I’d much rather the steam link approach and use streaming to my already nice and powerful desktop. I guess this is a nice thing to point newbies who want a box that should “just work” and don’t already have something and don’t want to build.
This is for people who don’t have a nice and powerful desktop.
They didn’t stop development of the link explicitly for people like you?
I’m convinced hardly anybody on Lemmy has a functioning theory of mind.
I couldn’t put a finger on it for the longest time, thank you for verbalizing it. It really does read like “me” and there’s all there is. A universe of one
Obviously, no shit. I never meant to imply that this was targeted at me. But I know multiple people who already have a high end computer who would also like this for their living room.
If it was $600 like I’d originally hoped I’d be interested. I wasn’t going to get one day 1, but I’d have picked one up once they’re consistently in stock. But $1000 for mid specs is rough for anyone. Just like the steam controller, Valve has made another hyper niche device.
The price for everything went up. That “mix spec” PC you were going to build? That went up by the same amount, if not more by the time this is all over
You’re still paying the premium for getting a low power parts in a small form factor. At half the price it’s a lot easier to justify to someone who doesn’t really care. But at almost twice the price that FPS per dollar difference is a lot higher.
This random ass power spec computer is going to kick the shit out of the steam machine. Again if size isn’t a concern. And I’m sure actual oems have smaller pcs with less compromised performance.
But I know multiple people who already have a high end computer who would also like this for their living room.
Why? High end computers can also go in the living room. You can also simply stream your high end computer to other devices if you don’t want to do that, or put HDMI cables in the walls.
Going from a high end gaming PC to this, which struggles to do 720p/30fps in AAA games, would be a nightmare.
This is for people who don’t have a nice and powerful desktop.
You can build a significantly more powerful desktop that is also upgradable for less than this. This price renders it absolutely useless and no one should buy it.
I don’t think you can if you take into account the form factor, noise and thermals.
I built my mini itx before this silliness and it was a good 20% more expensive on account of no space and specific components
Intel NUCs have existed for like a decade at this point.
And how many compare with gaming performance at that price point point?
I don’t know of a single one that can match it.
Also I’d say that’s moving the goalposts from building a cheaper one, to buying a shittier one
The steam link software is still being updated. It’s also open to a wider range of devices.
My wife uses it with our Apple TV and the gaming PCs on a different floor. Works flawlessly even at 4k over WiFi.
Yes I said that. I am glad it works for you I haven’t used it for Apply TV but I do use it from my phone, and on my Deck to play Windows games that are incompatible.
Works great for both
Wow, my prediction was pretty close. 7 months ago, I predicted that the Steam Machine prices would be $800-$900 for the 512GB model, and $1,000-$1,200 for the 2TB model.
That was in the middle of memory prices going vertical, and I still got down voted to hell by people claiming that they were expecting $600-$800 tops…
Honestly, with how bad memory has become even over the last 6 months, and the increased brutality to the market done by tariffs and the oil supply shock, I’m actually surprised they were able to hit $1,049 for the base model.
The hard truth: It’s an acceptable price within a piss-poor market. The harder truth: It will sell out extremely fast and won’t restock likely for months.
When Framework announced their new Framework 13 Pro line laptops last month, a lot of people balked at the price. $1,500 was the cheapest pre-built model, and DIY was basically the same price, unless you already had some components. The pricing for higher tier specs easily climbed to $2,000+
Still, they sold out of every model for the first 6-8 batches in a few days, and barely 2 months later, they are sold out to batch 15, with an expected delivery in October.
The K-shaped market is further becoming a reality. The people that have the money to drop on stuff like this, are happily dropping it. And the people who can’t afford it are getting left in the dust.
The scumbag oligarchs have created the cyberpunk dystopia, and most of us aren’t going to be living up in the shiny skyscrapers…
I tried telling people it will be over $1000 on all the forums and discussion sites I’m on, and no-one would believe me lol.
It’s obviously not Valve’s fault but man, that’s expensive. Wasn’t planning on getting one anyway, but it certainly makes me worried about what the Frame may cost.
Anyone here planning on getting one? I do wonder how much of a market there is for it at this price.
Is the frame more expensive hardware? Can we make any sort of reasonable determination on frame price now that we know the gabecubes cost?
At announcement I was hoping $700, which I don’t see happening. Are we still expecting index pricing or is that not happening?
… Well the quest 3 is $600. They can’t be too far from that can they? I mean I’d pay $1000 on the frame before I gave meta $600, but most people don’t have the same hate for meta that I do.
It’s hard to say, but at least before the component shortages, I would have expected the Frame to be the more expensive device. After all, it has 2 included controllers, displays, batteries, tracking cameras etc. But maybe the lower memory and storage (if you go for the 256GB) along with its mobile SoC might help reduce the effects of the component crisis somewhat. I don’t expect it to be below 1k€ though, personally.
The frame sure aint gonna be cheap hardware. 0% chance it can match the quest in price. But since it doesn’t need as much storage I’m hoping it’ll be 700-800. But I wouldn’t blink if it’s $1000. Valve just doesn’t have the economies of scale Meta will.
Anyone here planning on getting one?
I might get a 2tb. If I don’t game on it, I might swap the Linux version and use it for work. We have standardized in fully decked out System76 Meerkats with Proxmox VE serving jump hosts to manage different clients, so I can use it for that, or I can leverage the GPU and use it for datadump and log analysis. The point is, that it wouldn’t be money wasted. Ideally, I’d like to play games on it though.
EDIT: Looking at the Gamer’s Nexus review they state upfront that performance is limited, so I honestly don’t see why I should get this over a Meerkat.
EDIT 2: Nevermind. The Meerkat has almost doubled in price and is Intel only now. So the Steam Machine is back on the menu.
That was a rollercoaster! lol
If I don’t game on it, I might swap the Linux version and use it for work.
But…why? There are much better small form factor PCs for significantly cheaper than this.
I really wanted one, but now it’s an easy wait for at least some kind of sale.
Edited to add, just finished reading and watching a round of reviews and honestly don’t think I even want one anymore.
I genuinely can’t see any reason to get one. Like… if you’re a PC gamer with enough spare cash to get one, you can probably get a better gaming PC for the same money. If you’re a console gamer, there’s no reason to switch because the 512gb with no controller is almost double the cost of a five year old PS5, which has better specs and a controller, plus you’d have to buy all your games again, if they’re even available on Steam (and also if they even work in Linux.) The only thing I think it could be be good for is as a budget gaming PC, but it’s wildly over-priced for that.
Not Valve’s fault of course, but yeah there’s no way for me personally.
I signed up to get one the moment I heard about the price. I like gaming on my PC, but I much prefer playing certain games on the big screen in the living room. Likewise, my partner has gotten used to the Steam Deck’s UI so it’ll be great to get her more into gaming.
The Steam Deck + Dock is what I currently use, but playing everything in 720p upscaled to 1080 (or just playing indie games) is pretty frustrating.
And I’ve used moonlight/steam streaming/even Nvidia gamestream (I have an Nvidia shield) - while they’re fine solutions, I don’t like the compression artifacts of streaming. Also annoys me that the game physically renders on my computer.
So, yeah, TL;DR I want a Steam Machine. I’m also excited to use desktop mode on occasion. And when the machine finally runs its course, it’ll be a nice looking server for the closet!
I like gaming on my PC, but I much prefer playing certain games on the big screen in the living room
These things aren’t mutually exclusive. My PC is hooked up to my 75" tv in the games room.
With the specs of this steam machine, the last thing you would want to do is play it on a big screen lol. It will look atrocious. To even hit barely playable framerates you have to run at basically ultra low settings at 720p and use FSR3 (vomits) to get it back up to 1440p.
Eh, I don’t mind running the settings slightly lower for better performance. It really isn’t possible on the steam deck. E.g. Can’t even play a game like blue prince at 1080p without massive frame drops.
As far as hooking my proper pc up goes, I don’t have cables long enough for that, and wheeling the damn thing over with a cart (which I actually do sometimes) has gotten pretty old.
Also, the reviews showed some good performance at 1440p. As I don’t think I’ll go above 1080p with upscaling, I’m excited.
You’d be much better off just using moonlight from your pc to any other device, but seems like you want to buy it no matter the pointlessness haha. I’ve been there, but not at this price.
I have been waiting for the price to see about replacing my Xbox series S as I degoogling/M$ as much as possible. I just want a streaming box that I can play light games on.
I just want a streaming box that I can play light games on.
If that’s what you want, get an apple tv or shield tv lol.
I did the promise with witnesses and all to get one at least in year 2 if it launches with Half life 3 just cause the memes I haven’teven player HL ever. If it drops to 600 or so I’m getting it.
410 CAD to go from 512GB to 2TB, and sadly that’s pretty much just what a 2TB drive costs these days.
I think it does include two additional faceplates, including the walnut veneer
Fuck genAI.
Steep as shit but still somehow cheaper than expected. We love AI bullshit destroying the entire hardware market hell yeah
Steam Machine, like our other hardware products, is made up of many components that we source from manufacturers around the world. The price at which we sell our hardware is a direct result of the cost of these components. We felt like we had a good understanding of how those costs might change over time when we first started sourcing them for Steam Machine back in 2023. That understanding was born from the many years of data we all have about the evolution of PC hardware prices – primarily, that it tends to get cheaper over time as new technology arrives.
Over the past year or so, that has changed quickly and significantly, most visibly for RAM and storage components. There are a variety of reasons, all of which are affecting hardware products everywhere. The overall effect is that our original goal for the price of Steam Machine is no longer viable. So the prices we’re sharing today reflect the state of the world for manufacturing; or, more accurately, it reflects the price of the components as we’ve secured them over the past 6 months.
Price wasn’t the only thing impacted by all of this: availability was as well. There were periods where we found we couldn’t source some of our components at all, at any price. More than anything else, this has impacted the number of units we’ve been able to produce for launch.
Also:
If I don’t get a Steam Machine right away, is there anything else I can do?
Thanks to the openness of the PC platform, there are lots of options for devices that will allow you to run games natively or streamed to your TV. There are many PC sites and communities out there that can help you with that. For our part, we are continuing to work toward enabling SteamOS to be used on more hardware than just ours. In fact, with the newly-released SteamOS 3.8, you can run the same code and operating system as Steam Machine on your own living-room PC using whatever PC parts you want:
https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/65B4-2AA3-5F37-4227 . Right now, only AMD GPUs are supported, but we’re working on expanding support for the future.
It’s hard to hold the steep price point against Valve when their communication looks like this.
The common Gabe W.
Is surprising to me that nobody has attempted to Luigi a tech CEO yet, Everybody has 10 independent, different reasons to hate AI, lives have been destroyed and yet no Luigi for now.
RIP steam hardware, a revolution repressed by AI slop costs.
It wouldn’t help. The CEOs are just the idiot figureheads who make dumb decisions, don’t be replaced within a day.
Some guy did throw a Molotov cocktail at Sam Altman’s house.
That’s surprisingly reasonable
It’s more expensive than we all would hope, but not unreasonably so given the economic situation.
That’s gonna be a no for me dawg.
I blame the AI bubble memory shortage for making this over $1,000 USD.
Even at double the cost of a normal console, once you factor in the cost of games it comes out ahead. And hopefully the RAMpocalypse will end eventually.
Don’t worry, if it doesnt, some other much worse *-pocalypse will make it all moot!
The resin to make circuit boards is getting scarce, thanks to troubles in some little strait.
Thanks AI.
I wan’t to see it compared to some of the less costly mini pc’s out there.
It’s too expensive, it’s just not a good idea for them to have released this. Honestly, they probably should have delayed it for 1-2 years or likely even cancelled it outright.
What they should have done is made a new Steam Link with more capable hardware for cheap. That would have sold like hotcakes.
People don’t want to pay $1050 USD for 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. People can’t afford to be casually dropping money like that in this economy.
I don’t think the target was the same people that would buy a link, the link is for someone that already has a pc. Meanwhile I think the steam machine was meant to compete with the consoles and gather new users into the steam ecosystem and then the price got hammered and took it out of that position.
Sure, I didn’t mean that it’s a standalone console.
However, at $1050 USD, there’s many people who won’t be buying this standalone console either.
It would have made more sense to release both at the same time, that way people who are turned off by the $1050 USD (or more) price tag would at least have something they could buy from Valve instead.
Hell, I’d buy a new Steam Link that supports H265 and isn’t capped to 1080p at 60 FPS.
I agree fully.
I"m not sure where you are getting this from, but there’s absolutely no demand, and I mean none at all, for another Steam Link hardware.
You can run some form of Steam Link on basically anything you can hook up to a TV (or the TV itself).Sure, and how many of those devices that you hook up to a TV can handle Steam Link at 4K 120 FPS?
Your TV OS may or may not be able to, but if your TV can’t then you have basically no other options. The original Steam Link can’t, The NVIDIA Shield can’t, the Fire TV Stick/Fire TV Cube can’t, the Roku can’t, the Apple TV 4K can’t, none of them can do Steam Link at 4K 120 FPS. An HTPC can, but good luck with HDMI-CEC on that.
I’m not out of touch for thinking 4K at high refresh rates would be nice to have.
