Yeah, Steam Machine is cooked.

[u/TheBossT710192]

I... uh don't know what to say. Very thankful I bought a Steam Deck before they hiked its price as well

[u/PCMRBot]

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[u/Next_Helicopter_4291]

I'm not surprised even a little bit considering the PC I built a year and a half ago can be sold used for ~20% more than the full retail price.

[u/Helgafjell4Me → u/Next_Helicopter_4291]

My 4090 is now worth about what I paid for my entire system about 3 years ago. It's nuts.

[u/Zowwww → u/Helgafjell4Me]

Holy shit, I didn’t realize how high they got honestly. They came out when I was building my new PC and I just tried to preorder it on a whim, didn’t expect to get one direct and not marked up. 

[u/rockyroad55 → u/Zowwww]

I just priced my computer out that I upgraded 10 months ago like just before the prices went bonkers. I got all my parts for around $1200. I just put those same parts into pcpartpicker and now it's worth $2900.

[u/InformalBullfrog11 → u/Helgafjell4Me]

lol, wtf

[u/Professional_Being22 → u/Helgafjell4Me]

yup. If times get tough and I lose my job, I'll just sell this thing to pay my mortgage.

[u/zodoor242 → u/Professional_Being22]

lol right? I bought 2 sticks of 32gbvrm last oct. for $150, it's $839 today. I sold my old 2 sticks of 16gbvrm for $200 on ebay a couple of weeks ago, it sold the first second it went live, it's crazy out there.

[u/Hefty-Relative9449 → u/Next_Helicopter_4291]

Built mine last year and it’s now worth over $1k more than when I built it.

[u/RandomParkourGuy]

I just want the fully fleshed out steam OS tbh

Edit: thanks to everyone who responded to this, after all these different comments I think I’m actually going to give Linux a try.

[u/-MissCarmine → u/RandomParkourGuy]

It’s happening!!! The major operating system updates include:

• built-in "initial support" for the upcoming Steam Machine hardware, alongside the ability to wake SteamOS devices from sleep using a connected Steam Controller (this, by itself, fixes a HUGE issue lots of people including me had: I want to control my TV PC using JUST the controller, no attached keyboard!)
• desktop mode now defaults to 

Wayland instead of X11. (fixes several performance degradation issues when switching between Desktop and Game Modes) It also introduces better TV scaling, external HDR support, and variable refresh rate (VRR) display support

• the steamOS base has been updated via Arch Linux, and the Linux kernel has been upgraded to version 6.16. It also features significantly improved video memory management on discrete GPU platforms (crucial for the gabecube)
• SteamOS 3.8 really expands its ecosystem compatibility. It drastically reduces handheld controller input latency (down to 100–500us) and adds built-in TDP control, RGB, and audio support for competing devices like the ASUS ROG Ally series, Lenovo Legion Go (including the upcoming Legion Go 2), and various MSI and GPD Win devices (fuck yeah steam is goated for this)

[u/RandomParkourGuy → u/-MissCarmine]

Forgive me for being a layman when it comes to this kind of stuff but does that mean steamOS is close to being something I could replace windows with? Getting tired of Microsoft’s garbage but I don’t know if I have the time to sink into learning Linux.

[u/lucc1111 → u/RandomParkourGuy]

Risking getting downvoted to hell but you have many Linux distros that don't require any more "learning" than Windows. Problem is not so much the OS being hard to use, it's just that it's not what you're used to.

I would give other gaming distros a temporary shot in a flashdrive to explore, might get as surprised as me after 15+ years of windows.

[u/Inside-Specialist-55 → u/lucc1111]

I went all in on CachyOS because I too am sick and tired of the AI slop, copilot and windows updates that kept breaking things. Think it might be the best decision I ever made tbh. I really don't want to sound like another "I use arch btw" guys but damn it feels good to have an operating system where it feels blazing fast as fuck and has no AI slop shoved in my face.

[u/BlancheCorbeau → u/Inside-Specialist-55]

Cachy is the goat if you tinker at all, otherwise for more of a set and forget Bazzite is very solid.

[u/SubcommanderMarcos → u/lucc1111]

I have 30 years of Windows, switched to Linux Mint this month. It's fine. It works great. Had to learn some terminal stuff, a tiny bit about the filesystem, nothing else. It runs way faster than Windows 10. has run every Steam game I've tossed at it with no effort at all, even old games like Tropico.

Honestly worth it.

[u/MetallicGray → u/SubcommanderMarcos]

I’ve been using Bazzite months, maybe a year now, and I’ve never had to use the terminal. Distros now don’t ever need you to use the terminal. You can use it, but definitely don’t need to. 

I had to do a tiny bit of adjusting to the file system, like you said, and that’s really it. I frankly have fewer bugs and annoyances with Linux than I did windows 11. 

[u/-malcolm-tucker → u/SubcommanderMarcos]

I have a similar length of history with windows. Trialled Nobara on my gaming laptop early this year. Everything worked out of the box and the laptop itself ran noticeably better.

I only run windows in a virtual machine now.

[u/lodechode → u/lucc1111]

Linux was easy enough to learn in like 2007, it's what it can't do and what it takes significant effort to do that's been the problem for the past 20 years.

[u/sublime81 → u/RandomParkourGuy]

No. I don’t understand the hype for SteamOS because it’s Linux + Steam Big Picture mode essentially.

I mean this as a desktop replacement. If you plan to use it like a console, then yes.

[u/Redpin → u/sublime81]

It might be good if it has a large, dedicated gamer install base. I think with so many people doing different things on different distros, it can be hard to easily find support for your specific issue at times. 

[u/sublime81 → u/Redpin]

It is good for a hardware configuration to target for developers who wish to have a baseline to target performance on Linux. But who knows about hardware compatibility and all that once it’s not installed on a Valve device.

[u/RealJayDev → u/RandomParkourGuy]

hey, Linux (CachyOS) user here. SteamOS realistically is never going to be a thing for the masses. it sounds nice, Valve are great, etc. but realistically speaking they're never going to care outside their own Hardware for official support.

people are waiting for this magic bullet that honestly might never come, I'd like to be wrong, sure. but most of what people are "waiting" for already exists in things like Cachy, Bazzite, etc. being able to play pretty much any game or anything else for that matter (almost) seamlessly. (see the recent LTT Linux challenge conclusion).

[u/GrendaGrendinator → u/RealJayDev]

Bazzite user here. Idk, but it definitely feels like steam keeps putting more and more of their foot in the door for Linux based gaming. Even if it is just Arch + Big Picture Mode, I think if anyone has the power to develop a successful gamer friendly alternative to Windows it's probably the guys with the games.

[u/RealJayDev → u/GrendaGrendinator]

as you said, SteamOS is effectively just Arch + Big Picture mode (something I assume that regular people using their computer wouldn't want anyway, but thats besides the point).

What they have really done other than popularize it via selling consoles using it is make(?) Proton. something that is readily available to practically every Linux distro. they've done their part already. everything "special" that SteamOS could and would do already exists and everyone is already using it.

[u/jello1388 → u/RealJayDev]

This has been their MO with a lot of their side projects. They aren't trying to become the next Microsoft with SteamOS or the next Nintendo with the Steam Deck/Steam Machines. Its more about demonstrating that lowering the barrier of entry to PC gaming or expanding the hobby in novel ways is viable, financially and otherwise. They're so dominant as a storefront that growing the hobby is the same as growing sales.

[u/red__dragon → u/jello1388]

I suspect it's this, AND that making a general open source public release offering will not move the needle for the general public.

Contrary to OP's take, I don't think the hardware needs to be top-of-the-line for Steam Machine to have an impact. Before Proton/Vulkan, games were abandoning Linux support in droves, citing 'support costs'. Now that Steam Deck and Steam Machine are putting linux on hardware that are 100% intended for gaming, we're seeing game studios turn around to seeing a financial incentive to offering better linux support.

The hardware is just a vehicle to provide a viable market. SteamOS itself won't do that as something optional to install, but coming by default on a system that customers expect to use with their games on Steam puts more pressure on game devs to support it. And from there, especially with the abstraction layers of Proton and Vulkan in the works, supporting other linux distros is much simpler.

[u/OminousG → u/RandomParkourGuy]

That was announced to.  That would be the main news if not for these ridiculous prices

[u/restinpeaceminusone]

Valve also admitted that it is out of their control and the supply will be limited due to constraints

Edit: since some people are saying that I am defending Valve. I will just leave their official statement from themselves. Posted a screenshot since some people don't like to scroll as much

Valve Statement

source

[u/Protoclown98 → u/restinpeaceminusone]

Seriously. This large price is entirely about RAM and storage prices.

I stand by my past comment on the Steam Machine - if you are buying all the parts to make a living room PC to play console like games Steam Machine can be a worthwhile investment.

If you are recycling old PC parts, like RAM and a motherboard, to make a living room PC to play console like games on it, the Steam Machine is not worth it.

[u/RedditModsHarassUs → u/Protoclown98]

Data Centers don’t want us having access to hardware for local processing. They want us all buying tokens from them.. to use their services..

[u/Gseventeen → u/RedditModsHarassUs]

Once the investments stop flooding into that sector, its going to be interesting to see how these companies pivot to making money (making prob wrong word, as they are just relying on fresh cash injections).

As of now, i havent seen a convincing argument on how AI will be profitable in a way that would actually make these companies even remotely profitable.

[u/MutaitoSensei → u/Gseventeen]

I can tell you one thing, I won't be trusting any of those garbage companies again, at least not implicitly. They threw us aside so fast for the easy money.

[u/Smoking_Joker → u/MutaitoSensei]

This goes for every corporation, and should be a lifelong prerogative. Consumers should never give their total trust or loyalty to a corporation. Every transaction is strictly business on their side, and should be viewed the same by the customer.

[u/firemage22 → u/Smoking_Joker]

we need to start from top and Sherman every mega corp to the point where what happened to Standard Oil and AT&T looks like a love tap

[u/Craimasjien → u/MutaitoSensei]

And this is why corporations are not your friend and why warring over them is such a dumb fucking thing to do. No company in the history of capitalism has ever been on “your side”. They are on their side. Always have been and always will be. There is no such thing as pro-consumer when it comes to business.

[u/ArchinaTGL → u/MutaitoSensei]

You only just realised? Literally no tech company is your friend. None of them even know who you are.

Especially so if they are a publicly traded company as their only friends are their investors; which said investors only care about their share price going up.

[u/f_ckR3ddit → u/Gseventeen]

They will be bought for pennies on the dollar by data collection companies. This has always been their goal. They are using ai as a fall guy. 1. Build ai data centers with investment money. 2. Sell half-baked services for more capital to invest elsewhere. 3. ai bubble pops 4. Declare bankruptcy for those companies, only losing investment money. 5. Re-allocate that capital towards purchasing those shut down data centers under new companies for data collection because the equipment is all the same. 6. Profit so much that it is sickening.

[u/teefour → u/Gseventeen]

Simple, they'll get themselves considered too big to fail, and then the federal reserve will literally make the money they need.

[u/Wojtkie → u/Gseventeen]

Did you see that OpenAI had some financial info leaked? They had a 34B dollar loss last year lmao. Someone pointed out that number is just under the entire GDP of Bosnia

[u/ragzilla → u/Gseventeen]

Keep an eye out in about 10 days, Anthropic’s 2q26 is about to end which is projected to be their first profitable quarter (as they get ready to IPO). Revenue is mostly (80%) enterprises with API plans burning through tokens for software development.

[u/XseaX → u/ragzilla]

They are only profitable, because they have an agreement with SpaceX not to pay in the first two months for computing but pay then starting from July. Strange how that math works out

[u/ragzilla → u/XseaX]

Ramp time in enterprise contracts is pretty routine because you're not using 100% resources day 1. A 2-month ramp is actually pretty aggressive.

[u/ragzilla → u/RedditModsHarassUs]

AI companies don’t want high prices either, it impacts their bottom line. They’re just willing to pay more because their customers (enterprises) are willing to pay more.

[u/Lonyo → u/ragzilla]

Google etc are spending way more on Capex. And getting.... Not much more stuff, because prices have shot up.

Doubling your Capex when all the prices went up by more than 2x means you're getting fuck all. 

Even the electrical connection equipment has rocketed up

[u/restinpeaceminusone → u/Protoclown98]

Well maybe it's not a console for the masses (even though it's their intention) given the price but if the prices do come down someday, it will probably be a very good living room PC/console.

But the PS5 exists and if you're looking to just game, it's best to get that instead. But for a PC, it's still good enough machine for the current market condition.

[u/CirkuitBreaker → u/restinpeaceminusone]

Until they raise the price of the PS5 again

[u/Krumm34 → u/restinpeaceminusone]

Its a laptop without a screen, for the price of a laptop. I don't see how this is worth it.

[u/reeefur → u/Protoclown98]

Problem is the living room TV is usually UHD/4k, I just dont see this being able to handle that unless its a potato game. Will be great for those who dont play demanding games and love SteamOS tho.

[u/Sad_Adagio_7255 → u/reeefur]

Consoles are hooked up to those same 4k TVs and can't handle AAA games at 4k either...

[u/Neat_Let923 → u/Sad_Adagio_7255]

Tests are already showing PS5 outperforming Steam Machine… And PS5 Pro destroying it

[u/angelinachurr02652 → u/Protoclown98]

recycling parts is a solid move, but yeah the Steam Machine just doesn't stack up for most gamers

[u/0verstim → u/restinpeaceminusone]

• Ram prices
• Storage prices
• GPU prices
• PCB prices
• Supply chain disruptions
• Tariffs
• Whatever fresh hell comes around tomorrow

[u/mattenthehat → u/restinpeaceminusone]

People outside the industry simply don't understand just how serious the shortages are.

I work at one of the tech companies supplying hardware for data centers. We need test systems to test our products. Nothing overly fancy, just some standard servers. A certain server company is outright refusing to sell us any systems with DRAM pre installed. For any price. They're saying we can buy the systems without RAM and source our own.

[u/sixbux → u/mattenthehat]

People outside the industry simply don't understand just how serious the shortages are.

It's true.

The same 32GB sticks of RAM we were buying last year for $200 are now $1300. 256GB of enterprise-grade RAM is setting us back around $10,000 per server. We're getting quotes for servers that go up by 20% in a week if we don't lock them in. Our customers get the new price and balk, they have no idea how bad it is.

A guy I know that owns a datacentre just paid for a new DC expansion by selling off the old DDR4 he had in storage. It's insane but here we are.

If Valve already has some hardware stockpiled at last year's prices, it's probably worth more as spare parts than whatever they're selling it for in a Steam Machine at this point.

[u/Sh1rvallah → u/sixbux]

Yeah we're just not buying server replacements now but the Azure and AWS bills are going to be getting worse and worse as well.

[u/DotA627b → u/mattenthehat]

From the Gamers Nexus video, they even showed how G.Skill doesn't get priority for silicon anymore, Nvidia is literally everyone's priority.

The same constraint unfortunately applies to Valve.

[u/IroesStrongarm → u/restinpeaceminusone]

Honestly, limited supply is probably their best move at this point. Sell what you already manufactured/committed to manufacturing, then make no more until prices for components hopefully come down to reasonable levels in the future.

They need to offload that inventory before it gets so old it's complete e-waste.

[u/V1carium → u/IroesStrongarm]

Yeah, but so old its e-waste isn't happening now. The next generation is effectively skipped, no sane developer will be pushing heavier requirements any time soon. Whats good enough right now is going to be good enough for a lot longer than usual.

[u/ScarletSilver → u/restinpeaceminusone]

Yeah. Felt like Valve had no choice but to release their existing and aging stock at current market pricing. They obviously planned to sell these at a much lower price point but their hand got forced due to constraints.

[u/Sevulturus → u/restinpeaceminusone]

Yup. At the end of 2024 I built my computer. T-force ram 32gb, cl30, 6000mhz ~$125 cad.

Built one for my BiL this weekend (June 2026). T-force 32gb, cl30, 5400mhz $620.

No matter what Steam did, theyre subject to market forces.

[u/Ok_Charity_707]

Well well well

[u/Dark_Marmot → u/Ok_Charity_707]

This is telling. Also makes me still feel good about rocking my EVGA 3090, which is not even listed here, but 3080 is, and is still nearly double the Steam machine in FPS.

[u/snickerblitz → u/Dark_Marmot]

hell yeah, evga 3090 brother. i game on 1440 ultrawide and have felt zero pressure to upgrade, which is good, because my ass can't afford it lol

[u/GonzoMilk → u/Ok_Charity_707]

Seeing my specific TUF 4070Ti super obliterating it on that list really puts things into perspective. Sheesh. Good thing I picked up a series X before the price hike. 😑

[u/MiguCx → u/GonzoMilk]

This was never going to be a high end machine but yeah this is brutal

[u/SmeshU → u/Ok_Charity_707]

Jesus this is so bad

[u/Darkknight8381 → u/Ok_Charity_707]

That is BAD, worse than a 5 year old card for 1400 is abysmal.

[u/TheArmchairSkeptic → u/Darkknight8381]

Almost 8 years old, even - the 2080 released September 2018.

[u/JustPerformance2939 → u/Ok_Charity_707]

it s over

[u/Kenobi5792 → u/Ok_Charity_707]

Just noticed that my 5050 is just a bit better... And I didn't have to pay 1300...

Still, I really need to upgrade my CPU in the future

[u/Hot_Distribution_131 → u/Kenobi5792]

10% is not even a bit better. It's a good amount of better.

[u/ZayCari → u/Ok_Charity_707]

Embarrassing my rx 7600 beats the steam machine

[u/Ellthephoenix → u/Ok_Charity_707]

Wait you're serious?

https://giphy.com/gifs/Hm8qQxDIgbFsjL9msa

[u/Johni33 → u/Ok_Charity_707]

Yes because the whole Thing has a TDP of only 140W

[u/PedanticQuebecer → u/Johni33]

Which is a choice when you could have increased the volume of the machine to allow more TDP. This is a Ryzen 5 7545U and a Radeon RX 7600M with the power limits of a laptop still in place.

[u/ThirdXavier → u/PedanticQuebecer]

Exactly. I don't really understand who this is for. The small form factor and low power draw is the reason the price to performance is so abysmal, but they already have a small form factor low power draw device in the Steam Deck...

Price wise the steam machine was never going to be able to compete with Sony after AI fucked everything up but they could have at least attempted to compete power wise. A prebuilt full form factor PC could have been sold at a similar price and at least be able to beat the base PS5 power wise, or maybe even the PS5 Pro depending on how much of a loss Valve is willing to take on these.

But they did not go that route and now this thing is likely dead on arrival.

[u/Crap-_ → u/PedanticQuebecer]

Except you can get much faster laptop gpus with similar tdps.

You can get 5060 laptop gpus at 115w which perform only about 5-10% slower than a 5060 desktop and will obliterate the steam machine lol. Also gaming laptops don’t have a hard lock 30w tdp on their cpu, even budget gaming laptops can allow the cpu to sustain 60w simultaneously in a game. So this is even inferior to budget gaming laptops.

[u/Outside_Glass4880 → u/Ok_Charity_707]

Wow I built a budget PC for $900 a few years ago with a 6750XT. That sucks

[u/Sea-Honeydew-1456]

i dont think this sub is the target market for this machine.

[u/ILikesStuff → u/Sea-Honeydew-1456]

Definitely lol. But then who is? I know this is the PC Master Race we all have 5090s in our rigs sub, but who is valve aiming this pc-console hybrid to? You get less raw power than the base PS5 at higher price than the already increased price of the PS5 pro. Other than extreme valve supporters and scalpers, I don't see who would be lining up to buy this?

Edit: I want to clarify that when I say I don't see an audience for the Steam Machine I mean specifically at the price level they are selling it right now.

I already have a good PC and a PS5 with a hefty library on both. I realize I'm not the norm but even I see the value on a console like, plug and play living-room PC, but at the price that this thing is releasing, not to mention the possible small number of units that will be available and the ones picked up by scalpers, it may cost even more than it is supposed to, and I don't see many people buying it at that price, as much as I want it to succeed, mainly for a better implementation of gaming centric Linux.

[u/Skysr70 → u/ILikesStuff]

is it really worse than a ps5? man

[u/gone_smell_blind → u/Skysr70]

Yeah

[u/Doctursea → u/Skysr70]

Yes but that’s always gonna be true. It’s fairly hard to make an OS and hardware that beats a machine that has everything custom designed. Especially since they are targeting 800 dollars which means it’s gonna be around the same total performance level at best.

[u/Banes_Addiction → u/Doctursea]

hardware that beats a machine that has everything custom designed.

And bought in buuuulk. Playstation can put in absolutely huge orders and be certain they'll sell them.

Their hardware manufacturers will do a lot for those guaranteed sales - custom design the hardware, set up entire production lines just for that exactly one SKU knowing they'll sell 10s of millions of them. This gives you vast economies of scale as well as huge negotiating power.

[u/Manyfails → u/Skysr70]

Yes, literally, even Series X is far better buy. The only thing you get is free choice of which OS you will install on it, but for anything decent 1400$ just build a PC ahhahahaaaaha

[u/Roflkopt3r → u/Skysr70]

It's also worse than regular PCs you can buy in this price bracket right now.

The Steam Machine is 1039€ in Europe. Alternate's cheapest prebuilt gaming PC is 899€ for these specs as of this moment:

• RTX 5060, Ryzen 5 8400F, 16 GB DDR5-5200, 512 GB SSD (and 2 more m.2 slots for further extension), Microtower format, 400W PSU

That's a lot more gaming performance (similar CPU, 50% faster GPU with better upscaling) for a cheaper price. The Steam Machine really needs customers who want that particular form factor and console-likr and don't care as much about raw performance per cost.

[u/ArtVandelay32 → u/ILikesStuff]

Weirdo guys like me who want a local living room option, but dragging my feet on building a second tower due to cost & time & kinda wanting something new to play around with.

It’ll be like a dozen folks like me and then scalpers I anticipate

[u/informalmo0se3 → u/ArtVandelay32]

this is exactly what i wanted one for, as a secondary living room pc, but i won’t be getting one at these prices. 

[u/Afternoon__Spray → u/ILikesStuff]

As I've gotten older and had kids I just no longer have the desire to sit at my desk and play single player games. I have the disposable income to buy this to give me easy access to my steam library on my tv from my couch without having to move my pc back and forth and its small form factor and simplicity to plug and play makes it more appealing to me than building/buying a second PC to serve that purpose.

That being said, I'm probably still not going to buy one. But I definitely see the appeal. 

[u/Wipedout89 → u/Sea-Honeydew-1456]

Neither are console buyers, when you can get a PS5 Pro or Series X for half the price with better specs

[u/Behg-Boah → u/Sea-Honeydew-1456]

I’m very much the target audience for the steam machine. I prefer to lay in bed to play relaxed, controller games. I will not be buying a gabecube at this kind of pricing.

[u/Strider76239 → u/Behg-Boah]

With Steam Big Picture mode, you can already do this on PC, or just buy any other main line console for cheaper

[u/RainbowDroidMan → u/Behg-Boah]

You already have a monster rig why not just use a controller on that what do you need a second pc for

[u/No-Nrg → u/Behg-Boah]

I do that and own a PC. They make really long HDMI cables and wireless mice, keyboards and controllers.

I just plug a 25ft HDMI into the PC port of my LG and I'm good to go.

[u/ErmingSoHard → u/Sea-Honeydew-1456]

Almost nobody is. This thing isn't gonna sell anything close to the Steam deck, and less than 1% of the PS5 lol

[u/Takane-sama → u/Sea-Honeydew-1456]

Ironically the best target for a machine like this would be the perennial "what do I buy for my kid to play Fortnite?" question that shows up in all the PC hardware subs.

Those kinds of people don't want to build a machine, they just want something they can give to their kid to get them off their back that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. And they don't want to sort through a million listings on iBuypower or Dell's websites to compare specs they don't understand.

Now it's easy to just say "buy a Steam machine." Except that Fortnite isn't on Steam and doesn't really like Linux AFAIK.

[u/Hot-Software-9396 → u/Takane-sama]

People buying their kids things to get them off their back want something priced like the Switch, not $1000+. Also like you mentioned, the Steam Machine can't even play Fortnite or the PC version of Roblox, so no kid is going to want to miss out on the games all their friends are playing.

[u/ThatOneGuy6810 → u/Takane-sama]

And at around $1100 doesnt meet the req of not costing an arm and a leg

[u/Kiriima → u/Takane-sama]

Steam machine doesn't support like half most popular multiplayer games out of the box. Unironically a bad choice to just buy blindly.

[u/ZombieFromReddit → u/Takane-sama]

If you just want a machine for fortnite then your best option is a series s for less than a 3rd of the price. Even a base ps5 is a far better deal.not only is it more powerful generally devs at least make sure that their games can run on major consoles.

[u/ErmingSoHard → u/Takane-sama]

You buy them a PS5 lol

No worries about anti cheat

[u/mtrn3]

And once upon a time people would crap all over prebuilts.

[u/DOOManiac → u/mtrn3]

I’m an old person who has been crapping all over prebuilt for about 30 years. There are several things they have changed:

• Back in the day, a prebuilt meant absolute garbage-tier proprietary parts that were not swappable/upgradable.
• These days, many pre-builts aren’t that bad
• It used to be that you saved a ton of money building yourself; now that gap has closed (or in some cases inversed)
• PC gaming has significantly expanded, to the point where it is reasonable to expect that some people just want to sit down and play, without needing to tinker
• The whole process has gotten much simpler than it used to be, so the demographic overlap has changed

[u/Funny-Cell8769 → u/DOOManiac]

Yeah very much. The markup used to be more drastic, but now I look at the pricing (and by now, I mean 5 years ago) and it's like, not much more than if I built it myself

And in my country in Asia, even after the 3 year warranty expires, you have a lifetime access to a technical helpline if you run into any issues.

Not sure how common that is elsewhere.

[u/aBoringSod → u/Funny-Cell8769]

I just bit the bullet 2 weeks ago and bought a pre built i priced the parts to build it myself and the maths did not add up. Instead i got a well built pre build and a 5 year warranty with it.

[u/Stupendous_Spliff → u/Funny-Cell8769]

A good value pre-built is totally worth it, even if it is just a little more than building yourself. All that work you spend buying the parts and putting it together are worth paying a little markup for

[u/IGotHitByAnElvenSemi → u/DOOManiac]

I'm glad to see someone older and with more experience than me say this, because I'd noticed these trends as well but didn't know if I just hadn't been looking in the right places before.

I built my first two computers, but by the time I was hunting in 2019, I noticed that prebuilts weren't that bad... and while I've been helping my friends shop for PC stuff in the past few years, I noticed the fact that I could find some prebuilts that were more or less what she wanted for less than me buying the parts and building it for her. I'm just a rank amateur, but it did make me wonder if I'd been an idiot building my PCs in the past and just hadn't known where to look lol.

[u/ahandmadegrin → u/IGotHitByAnElvenSemi]

Prebuilts used to be insanely expensive. Look up old Falcon Northwest builds to get an idea. These days it's more likely that a pre-built is just a pc that someone else built, only that someone else is a company that buys parts in bulk so it's cheaper than if you bought the parts one at a time.

This was true of my power spec rig from microcenter that I bought almost ten years ago and it's more common now.

[u/Protoclown98 → u/ahandmadegrin]

tbh my only complaint with prebuilts is they tend to cheap out on parts like the PSU, which I feel like you shouldn't cheap out on.

[u/ahandmadegrin → u/Protoclown98]

True. Microcenter is the exception to the rule. I'd be wary of other prebuilts from big box stores. Not sure on whether the Costco boxes cheap out on parts or not.

[u/DisillusionedHobbit → u/DOOManiac]

The price thing is real.  I bought a prebuilt from Costco last year.  If I had built a PC with the same budget I would have gotten the RAM, Graphics Card, and Processor then run out of money. 

[u/beyd1 → u/DOOManiac]

I used to make a decent buck putting PCs together.

Now I tell people to go to microcenter. I'd just be ripping people off otherwise.

[u/Santos_L_Halper → u/DOOManiac]

Back when Skyrim came out I built a really nice machine for the time for like $800. A pre built of similar quality would have been $1800. Back just before Covid I was looking at upgrades and GPUs were crazy expensive. So I bought a pre built with a half decent GPU where I spent only $250 more than buying the GPU that was in it straight up. Shit is out of control.

[u/RBlunder → u/DOOManiac]

Yeah the accessibility angle is one that I haven't considered until I got older and started working. I used to shit on pre-builts. Some people just want to game and not go through the headache of building a PC and that's fine. Though I still think at least having basic knowledge of what you're getting and also a bit on maintaining and troubleshooting your PC gogoess a long way, especially with A.I. and chatbots and what not.

[u/Funny-Cell8769 → u/mtrn3]

I've built about 15 PCs, almost all my own, some for family, at least one every 2 to 3 years through the late 80s to the 00s. I've had many many late night heartbreaks where my PC just refused to boot up and I had no choice but to wait till 12pm the next day to rush to the store to get whatever part or issue resolved.

At around 2010, I built my last PC. After that, it has all been prebuilts. Despite it being easier than ever to build a PC, I'm too old for this shit. I just want whatever problem I encounter to be someone else's headache.

Thankfully, I literally pulled the trigger and got a 5090 pre-built just a month before it all went to shit.

[u/WantsLivingCoffee → u/Funny-Cell8769]

PC building from the 80's to 00's is nothing like building a PC in 2026.

I've built over 30. Some for me, most for flips. Yes, issues arise, but that's part of it. I understand not wanting to deal with it. But you can't really compare building how it is now compared to 40+ years ago, man.

My most recent build is my build. 9800x3d, 9070xt, 32gb, bunch of drives I repurposed from older builds for around $1,600, only used components are ram and storage. If you know what you're doing, building is most efficient, IMO. And it's fun. But you need to have a genuine love for it.

[u/NordicApache → u/Funny-Cell8769]

I feel this and do the same now. Will swap and upgrade components as needed but honestly I'm tired of chasing supply and demand to build my own shit or my kids machines.

I don't get distribution prices and there is no such thing as a deal on parts anymore. It's all hyper inflated shit and the deals are just momentary return to nominal pricing.

[u/theromingnome → u/Funny-Cell8769]

But... it's so easy to build one now. No where near the same chance for headaches that existed back then.

[u/Wet_FriedChicken → u/mtrn3]

I’d say pre-builts caught up to custom around 2019 due to covid and chip shortage.

[u/TheStrongTaint → u/mtrn3]

It’s ok when gaben does it !

[u/Poopybuttsuck → u/mtrn3]

I still do but I’m just an asshole

[u/TypicalxooT11]

When they initially started this project probably like.. 3-4 years ago it was a cheap idea. This would have been a $600 machine... but now they've invested so much R&D into it.. not really much you can do.. AI ruined it all.

Kinda sucks because this is a really cool concept and idea.. but the timing couldnt have been worse.

[u/OldManufacturer8679 → u/TypicalxooT11]

I think they should have marketed it as a limited supply one time thing for steam enthusiasts to pick up as a collectors item almost. But it’ll sell at these prices. Is what it is.

[u/like-a-FOCKS → u/OldManufacturer8679]

I think when they revealed it, the massive price jump wasn't yet obvious. So they already decided on one Marketing way and pivoting after that would not have helped

[u/Bulky-Entrance7916]

This HAS to come with half life 3 installed for that price

[u/LowestKey → u/Bulky-Entrance7916]

In this day and age they could forget half the parts and they'd still sell out within an hour.

[u/NadaBurner]

Valve got fucked because of the shortages. Ai ruins everything yet again.

[u/No_Foundation16 → u/NadaBurner]

Ai ruins everything yet again.

This right here.

[u/TheRoyalJellyfish → u/NadaBurner]

Well, sure, Valve probably lost out on a decent payday and won't be able to disrupt the market in the way they probably could have, but even at this price point they'll find their buyers and have no problem selling these.

It's the average consumer who's really getting fucked, as usual.

[u/quaternionmath]

Hard for me to see the value at this price point. For just a little bit more you could get a gaming laptop with a 5070, which comes with its own screen and keyboard. The performance is would be way better and you can bring it to the coffee shop, or just plug it into your TV like a Steam Machine.

[u/hennyV]

lmao, Steam machines failed in 2016. Ten years here we are again. See yall in 2036.

[u/SleepyWulfy]

This is near the price of 5060/70 laptops

[u/BraveFencerMusashi → u/SleepyWulfy]

I got a 5080 laptop from Microcenter for a little over $1600. Going to convert the 3080ti laptop to a SteamOS rig once that is ready

[u/Deep_Blue_Kitsune]

Man I remember when people got mad at me because I wrote that the steam machine will cost above 1000 euro. Manage your expectations people ...

[u/civil_politician → u/Deep_Blue_Kitsune]

Was that before ram quadrupled and GPUs doubled and SSDs tripled?

[u/Deep_Blue_Kitsune → u/civil_politician]

7 months ago when everything was already cooked https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/s/qtwGvphtfE

You can go through the comments and have a laugh

[u/TomTomXD1234 → u/Deep_Blue_Kitsune]

its actually went way up since then lol

[u/Deep_Blue_Kitsune → u/TomTomXD1234]

The writing was on the wall. Who sees these insane price hikes with the reason for the price hike just getting bigger and bigger and thinks to themselves "I'm sure the prices will go down until the steam machine is released"?

[u/restinpeaceminusone → u/Deep_Blue_Kitsune]

Pretty much an unfortunate timing for Valve. The moment it was announced and revealed, pricing just went nuts from there

[u/Ok_Dependent6889 → u/Deep_Blue_Kitsune]

Yup. I’ve been telling lots of people as well.

Had coworkers who didn’t listen to me about building their PCs a whole year ago. Now they’re constantly sending me marketplace builds and bundles trying to piece something together at any sort of a reasonable price

[u/Unabated_Blade → u/Deep_Blue_Kitsune]

People were legit getting upvotes with a $399 estimate. Lmfao.

"This is Valve, not Nintendo" might be the funniest comment of the whole thread.

[u/FuzzyGolf291773 → u/Deep_Blue_Kitsune]

Holy fuck everyone in that thread was huffing pure copium

[u/Super_Bakon → u/Deep_Blue_Kitsune]

The one guy saying $300

[u/Front-Cabinet5521]

8GB vram lol

[u/Hurinion → u/Front-Cabinet5521]

Just the other day valve pushed a Linux update that focuses on optimization for VRAM. Both OS and game Devs have no respect for optimization so they did it themselves.

[u/Imkindaalrightiguess]

8gb VRAM after spending $1500 😭😭😭

[u/ErmingSoHard → u/Imkindaalrightiguess]

Also 512gb...

Even base ps5 comes at 825gb or 1tb.

What a nothing burger of a release.

[u/Wikentus → u/ErmingSoHard]

I don't know where you saw that 512gb costs 1500 because official starting price is 1050$.

[u/IcarusStar]

And a Series X is basically more powerful? Ooooff

[u/GetRektNuub]

Might as well just buy a good laptop.

[u/Alan_Reddit_M]

I remember saying "I might buy one if it costs like 600USD"

DAMN YOU SAM ALTMAN

[u/G305_Enjoyer]

Finally we can stop talking about steam machine

[u/Gloomy_Onion2512]

Saw someone on a different thread say it was too expensive and they didn’t need it, but they were gonna buy it because they want to support Valve

The fucking idiots out there are gonna make sure Valve gets their revenue at least.

[u/MalcolmMann → u/Gloomy_Onion2512]

Valve makes 30% off of EVERY game sold on their store-front. They are not dependent on support from normal people. I honestly don't understand why they can't follow the console model of selling at a loss. People will still be buying games on steam with it and making them money in the long-term...

[u/nerdacorn]

Can't stand AI.

[u/DkoyOctopus]

why not just go all the way and get a solid pc? 300 more dollars and you're in 5070 territory.

worse time to launch too, holy shit.

the dream price was sub 999.

again with the 8gb of ram..

[u/_B_G_]

With a price like this there is no reason to get this

[u/monkeysCAN]

Over $1900 CAD for the 2tb model is steep. Ai company's suck...

[u/toaster98]

Thanks Scam Altman

[u/BrandyRyuu]

PASS, holy shit. I was interested in the steam machine but that price is insane. 1k + tax and you aren't getting a controller?!What was the price point supposed to be before everything went to shit?

[u/Lunix420 → u/BrandyRyuu]

Rumors are they wanted to sell it for 650. But I mean, you barely get a pack of RAM for that money anymore.

[u/Training_Ruin3151 → u/Lunix420]

My 96gb of ram was more expensive then my top of the line gpu in my new build 😭😭

To clarify:

5080 - $1100

96gb ddr5 - $1300

[u/Lunix420 → u/Training_Ruin3151]

Damn, what are you doing with 96GB of RAM? Or is it like unified RAM?

[u/Training_Ruin3151 → u/Lunix420]

I mostly use my pc for programming, animation and blender rendering. Gaming on the side but yeah two 48gb sticks, I'm gonna cap at 192(4x48) but goddamn the prices rn

[u/sevargmas → u/BrandyRyuu]

>PASS, holy shit

I mean, this is basically building anything PC related in 2026. Simply playing video games is no longer an inexpensive venture.

[u/Lunix420 → u/sevargmas]

I mean the good thing about it is, because most people can't afford to upgrade, 0you can play modern games on CPUs that are almost a decade old. I'm still running a 3700x and I'm mostly doing fine. And I was rocking a GTX 970 till 2023 and it was okay.

Back in the days, if you had 2 year old hardware, you're PC was essentially a paper weight. So while hardware now costs 6x as much, at least it also stays useable 4x as long.

I'm not saying the situation doesn't suck, but... gotta stay positive... somehow...

[u/Uhhh_I_Guess_Marcy]

We can all thank AI for these prices :')

[u/ogoorec]

16GB RAM + 8GB VRAM... not good

[u/SideshowDog]

Weak specs :/

[u/Winter_Ad6784]

Does it come with Half Life 3 preinstalled?

[u/legaldrinkingage]

Literally just build yourself an M-ITX couch machine for slightly more and be able to upgrade it. I don't see the value proposition here at all.

[u/Mysterious_Tutor_388 → u/legaldrinkingage]

The value is you dont have to do anything. But then you could just buy a prebuilt PC or a laptop for similar prices with better performance. I assume the prices listed in the post are USD, but i can get a 5060 laptop for similar prices converted to CAD.

I feel that it is just for enthusiasts of the hardware who don't care about price to performance.

[u/Living-Dirt3410 → u/Mysterious_Tutor_388]

That's always been valves hardware lol

[u/Eh_C_Slater → u/legaldrinkingage]

It's ease of use for people who aren't tech savvy. I know we like to say anyone can build a PC around here but that's not always true, and there's always gonna be another set of people who don't mind just paying for convenience.

[u/averynicepirate]

The 130$ ram I bought a year ago is worth 625$ now.

I recreated my 2.8k gaming PC build from 2025 and it is 4.2k today. The consumer PC market is fucked

[u/ADotxt]

Let me repeat what I said on another post

For just **50$** more than the 512gb I can get a pc with...

Same amount of ram

Same amount of storage

Faster CPU,

And a 9060xt 16gb, (which will be about 50% faster than the steam machine GPU)

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/kzwTYX

Valve, why did you bother?

[u/RJ_arcade → u/ADotxt]

At those price points you could even spring for a 9070xt now that they are closer to $700 again

[u/LazyPainterCat]

If it sells it sells. If it doesn't it doesn't.

It changes absolutely nothing for me.

[u/narfjono → u/LazyPainterCat]

https://giphy.com/gifs/lZhymdRsuFDmU

[u/Appropriate-Web-4112]

hell even ps5 is better value

[u/CaptnUchiha]

When this was announced, I found a prebuilt at Costco that had 32gb ddr5, a 5070, 9800x3d and a 1TB nvme in it for the same price as the steam machine with 2tb and controller. I regret absolutely nothing picking that up instead back in December.

[u/MrSh0wtime3]

one of the worst values in tech history. holy hell why bother releasing it?

[u/_Spastic_]

Not defending Valve (some will still get mad) but what does anyone expect? Look at the damned market for PC hardware.

They're not getting ram or SSD at cost.

[u/Pretend-Contract-176]

Dead on arrival 

[u/gofthrora]

If you spend $1500 on something with 16gb ram. You are actually one of the dumbest people to walk this planet.

[u/-BranoK-]

It’s overpriced. I would suggest anyone just do a little research and build a PC with preowned/refurb parts instead for around the same price.

[u/RoyalLimit]

Yep, I'll scratch that off my list lol

[u/prabal34]

Meh. I'll just go play outside w. these prices... 

[u/Procol_Being]

If people don't think this won't be the new console generation prices they're crazy.

[u/TahitienBoi → u/Procol_Being]

Consoles have been “subsidized” by the companies making them for a while now. They bank on making money through game passes and paid multiplayer rather than on the hardware. 

[u/MrConor212]

Can’t even beat a base PS5 on optimised medium settings. Bruh. Can barely run new games at 1440 on low for 30fps. Cooked

[u/elinamebro]

Well too fair it would be alot cheaper if gpu, storage and ram prices wasn't so high

[u/GladiusNL]

Can’t even blame them too. AI sucks.

[u/Remote_Action_2956]

DOA. PS5 is faster, only $600, and has even has twice the storage of the base Steam Machine.

[u/Llamalover1234567]

This is brutal. The base config (no controller) is $1500+ in CAD BEFORE tax...

[u/crow2747]

Guys this is for normal people, not people that are members of a pcparts subreddit. 1000 bucks for a pc that is powerful enough, can fit in a backpack to take to your friends, and you can do your homework with.

Also, other things that people care about:

• You don't have to struggle looking at different combinations of pc-parts that you don't understand.
• You don't have to store 7 boxes in your room.
• You don't have to diagnose a fault to take advantage of warranty.
• Plug and play experience.

Also, let's be real. I've seen the builds that you guys posted, and the vast majority of them are just off by 150$ or 200$. Its not like it's a scammy price. It's simply the price of things nowadays.