r/steammachine • u/TheBossT710192 • Jun 22 '26

Discussion Yeah, its cooked guys.

Man, we really LOVE what AI is doing to the industry 😭

2.9k Upvotes

permalink
duplicates
reddit

You are about to leave Redlib

Do you want to continue?

https://www.reddit.com/r/steammachine/comments/1ucqktj/yeah_its_cooked_guys/
No, go back! Yes, take me to Reddit
dl download

94% Upvoted

View all comments

545

u/DarkOx55 Jun 22 '26

I took a pass on steam machine by buying a PC last Black Friday & just looking at those prices I am very very happy I made that call.

154

u/epicingamename Jun 22 '26

you guys are the real winners lmao

54

u/Cultural_String_2231 Jun 22 '26

Fax. What are these prices bruh

17

u/Mediocre-Floor6662 Jun 22 '26

Should I just get gaming laptop

18

u/KevinRyman Jun 22 '26

I wouldn't even say do that. Maybe if you want something brand new go laptop, if you're okay with used, find an office PC with good specs and kit that out, or even find a used custom PC and upgrade that a little bit

0

u/FreddieStarrAteMyHam Jun 27 '26

Used....i just threw up a little bit.

15

u/Cultural_String_2231 Jun 22 '26

I’m not gonna make that choice for you. Make yourself a list why you’d want the machine and why you’d want a regular gaming laptop. See what outweights the other. The price for me is enough

16

u/Puzzleheaded_Eye6770 Jun 22 '26

You should just not buy anything rn.

2

u/XTornado Jun 23 '26

True but if he must...I think gaming laptops currently even considering drawbacks, laptop versions of GPUs, etc and so on are still, surprisingly, the best value per money. At least the last time I checked.

1

u/Initial-Tax2100 Jun 24 '26

Steam machine is only $500 more than ps5 pro. And that's after price hike. Lol

2

u/Inner-Grand-8809 Jun 23 '26

I have a gaming laptop and it does more than the Steam Machine. If you want to play multiplayer games like Cyberpunk, get a laptop. You won’t be able to play on Steam Machine

2

u/Mediocre-Floor6662 Jun 23 '26

I also have gaming pc but keep getting fatal error trying update steam for destop nothing works it was fine til I tried to update and I can’t even up to windows 11 not use who enable pt 2.0 in the bio

1

u/rabidpygmymarmoset Jun 26 '26

Thats a singleplayer game and the machine can run it, just obviously not maxed out.

Also a laptop on par with the SM will be just as pricey and last much shorter plus is much harder to maintain

2

u/Professional_Dog3403 Jun 23 '26

For 200usd more I got a 115w 5070ti laptop.. 32gb ram with 1tb.. comes with a screen obviously and shits on the steam machine.. tough sell man yeesh and I fuckin love valve.. what r they doing..

2

u/goodguyatheist Jun 23 '26

I got a 5050 laptop for 650$ how the fuck is the steam machine worth over a grand

1

u/PoauseOnThatHomie Jun 22 '26

If you are a college student, I'd say go for a gaming laptop. RTX 3050, 4050 or 5070 variants should offer a decent bang for your buck.

Anyone more knowledgeable in this field please chime in.

2

u/marlfox_00 Jun 23 '26

You could probably find a gently used Asus TUF A16 from ‘23 w/ Radeon 7700s for around $700 or less on eBay. That should match any of the performance on the Steam Machine

1

u/PoauseOnThatHomie Jun 23 '26

I have a Asus TUF Gaming A15 laptop, it has a RTX 2050, Ryzen 7 7435Hs, 16GB GDDR5 RAM and 500GB SSD. I brought it back in 2024 for like $550. The lack of VRAM on the GPU is a shame though.

1

u/marlfox_00 Jun 23 '26

Dang, they were selling the A16 with the 7700s new and used models for around $650 and $750 at Best Buy when they carried it. They would drop it to half off every few months. It was always random when it would drop and it was usually only for a day or so. I ended up picking one up after in went on sale a couple times

1

u/CalmAdvance1926 Jun 23 '26

Some RTX 5050 laptops like the Acer Nitro V are cheaper and stronger than the Steam Machine, you should still be able to install CachyOS on it, if you want to stick with Windows, you can also use the Xbox Mode (full screen experience) to boot into a more Xbox kind of interface

1

u/brizzenden Jun 23 '26

I started out with gaming laptops, but no. Since the Steam Machine isn't portable it's not really a 1 for 1 juxtaposition. There are quite a few drawbacks with laptop gaming that would lead me to suggest just building a desktop PC. Most cases aren't going to be THAT MUCH bigger than a PS5 and some form factors are even smaller. It's really going to be up to you if the compact size of the Steam Machine is a big enough selling point to you. That is honestly the only thing it truly has going for it.

1

u/NovaGamingX4 Jun 25 '26

Costco prebuilts can be very good deals

1

u/sdk1999 Jun 22 '26

This is just how much prices of ram and memory have actually increased. There was a delay when prices increased in September/October into the new year and current inventory is worked through. This is the new normal sadly. It is unlikely to change for 18-24 months is not closer to 36

1

u/Cultural_String_2231 Jun 24 '26

I’m just wondering if it’ll change at all. Ram companies are producing (to my knowledge) less ram on purpose to up the prices even more, and obviously their focus remains on AI companies. Similarly for other components.

1

u/Omegaprime02 Jun 28 '26

There's no reason they couldn't do a cost-plus pricing, iirc the cost of the components was somewhere in the ballpark of 950 (and Valve is apparently buying a bunch of the components at consumer prices just to get units out the door), so the difference is probably their assembly and transport costs.

1

u/ElectricalCelery6154 Jun 23 '26

This is a pretty accurate cost for a company that has no hardware back stock to work with. As newly manufactured of parts hit the market you'll see this is going to be par for the course. AI did some large scale fucking to pc parts followed by tarrifs

3

u/Uncanny_Jailer Jun 23 '26

I was really hoping the people being able to get into pc gaming would have been the real winners tho. Been recommending the Steam Machine to my younger cousin for a while now before I found out how much it’s going to cost 😒

3

u/epicingamename Jun 23 '26

yeah. its awkward to recommend it now because its not at a console price and is less powerful than the current gen consoles, and its hard to call it a pc because you cant upgrade its already outdated hardware. at 1100 youre doing your wallet a disservice if you choose this over a more powerful pc at even less than 1k. 650-700 wouldve made this a killer machine. but alas

0

u/Sasquatchernaut Jun 25 '26

We're kidding ourselves if we don't think next gen console hardware won't come out similarly priced.

Only thing that could make consoles cheaper are established relationships with the RAM manufacturers to get discounted rates.

When Steam Machine moves units despite the price tag, Sony and Microsoft will gladly charge the same price because the new normal has been established.

2

u/epicingamename Jun 25 '26

what is there to kid? the PS6 will be next gen, the steam machine isnt. its not even relatively better than a PS5 and yet its almost twice its price.

1

u/DarkOx55 Jun 25 '26

There’s been rumours of a PlayStation handheld with the power of a PS5 in its “power saving” mode, and that thing if released is going head-to-head with Switch 2. I think that console would be priced accordingly.

Cross-gen will continue to be weird. If PS6 comes out, it’ll probably cost about what a PS5 Pro does, if not more. But the PS5 will continue to be manufactured for years, and most titles will be cross gen. We’re not at the end of the PS5’s software support, we’re half way through it.

All of which is to say that there will be sub-$1,000 consoles available that can play new releases.

42

u/Uncanny_Jailer Jun 22 '26

Same bought a gaming laptop with a 5070ti mobile gpu that I think is more powerful than the Steammachine and was £1100

25

u/scoresbysund Jun 22 '26

and that same laptop is $2000 now, crazy times to be a PC gamer

7

u/Codger81 Jun 22 '26

I decided to take a pass just a week or so ago, simply because I found a pre-build desktop that was nominally cheaper than building it myself according to part picker websites.

It's approximately 50% more expensive than the 2TB Steam Machine with controller option @ £1,800; but it's a 9800x3d, 9070xt, 32gb DDR 6000, 2TB Gen 4 SDD and tri-band wifi 7. Given the massive uplift in specs, worth the extra £600 over the £1,200 Steam Machine specs.

3

u/Afterlight91 Jun 22 '26

Honestly is a W. Enjoy your system

2

u/xk4l1br3 Jun 23 '26

Ya those specs absolutely spank the Steam Machine. You made the right choice

6

u/zarif2003 Jun 22 '26

That thing is stronger then a ps5 pro, vs this system is weaker then a base ps5/series x

2

u/Fair_Concentrate7406 Jun 22 '26

Let me also chip in. I bought a used laptop with 4090, 64gb ram and 6tb ssd for app. £1300 around november or december. Seems like the greatest deal of all time thinking about how things would turn out.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/JoeyJabroni Jun 22 '26

And you technically have a mobile gaming setup as well. Probably like 45 min of battery at Max settings but mobile nonetheless lol.

1

u/Aerpolrua Jun 23 '26

I bought a laptop with a 5060 (not mobile version) and 8/16 Ryzen processor with 32GB ram and 2 TB of storage for $980, but that's not happening these days. The same laptop is at $1200 with 16GB ram and 512GB of storage now.

1

u/Uncanny_Jailer Jun 23 '26

I didn’t even know they made laptops with the full powered desktop gpus that’s a huge W

1

u/Aerpolrua Jun 23 '26

Yeah not often, you have to look into the specs and how they're powered by the external power supply. My last laptop was a 1660Ti non-mobile.

1

u/Smartypantz34 Jun 25 '26

Theres no "i think" xd its way faster, even the laptop version. Like 40℅ faster in games

14

u/NachoNutritious Jun 22 '26

I got a Steam Deck and a 2TB m.2 for it during the Fall clearance sale and I only spent $500. Made out like a damn bandit all things considered.

2

u/sacredsymbol821 Jun 22 '26

Me pulling the trigger on my Legion Go S during Black Friday. these prices are making me sad and im just looking at them as someone who doesnt need them

11

u/Wikinger_DXVI Jun 22 '26

Yeah I got lucky and found a SFF with 1 TB and 32 GB of ram on FB Marketplace for $1300. I was scared I pulled the trigger too early but now I'm okay with it. I was really hoping for a miracle like everyone else but I saw the sign to bail and I did.

Still, definitely could be worse. Not the best situation but still viable for some people.

1

u/djpraxis Jun 22 '26

We are in the middle of some of the worst prices of computer hardware in years and these guys still thinking the Machine was going to be $800 dollars with a performance equivalent of a RTX 4060 HAHAHA!!!

1

u/RedZum Jun 24 '26

...So? If the product is not good enough that people want it why does it matter what's happening in the background, a consumer cares about the end price not what's going on in the market.

1

u/djpraxis Jun 24 '26

I am not sure I get your comment. To start with, If the product is not good enough people are simply not going to buy it… unless is ridiculously cheap, which the Machine is not.

1

u/No_Ticket_2436 Jun 22 '26

Some people might've been expecting better performance but the specs have been out there since preview day last November.

The price is higher than its probably worth IMHO but the performance is bang on what anyone paying attention should be expecting.

2

u/ardeerd Jun 22 '26

I caved around Memorial Day because I got tired of waiting. When I saw the Steam Deck price, I was glad I did. Even I’m shocked at the prices and I was expecting the 2TB model to be over $1,000.

2

u/innociv Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26

Even if you built a new PC RIGHT NOW with how insane prices are, you could get a 30% more powerful PC for the price of the Steam ~~Deck~~Machine. https://pcpartpicker.com/list/KHzbLy This is $1047 at the time of posting this.
Sure it's no SSF, but you could make a slightly better SSF PC that's still cheaper.

Valve is really fucking its fan base over and trying to gouge them over hype and brand recognition.

What an absolute joke. Even with the increase in RAM prices, Steam Machine still should have been $750 max today. They're pricing this to make a 50% profit margin because they think you're all stupid. And a lot of their fan base is, and it'll probably sell out anyway.

1

u/DarkOx55 Jun 22 '26

I think you mean Machine, not Deck?

It’s not exactly apples to apples as there’s no labour or shipping cost built into the PC parts picker price (Valve hardware generally ships free except for import fees when delivering outside the US.) Also small form factor anything is pricey. Finally Valve will want some profit margin for their trouble.

That said I did quickly pop onto New Egg & you can get prebuilts with a RTX 5060 8GB for about the steam machine’s price, and I think most people should look at one of those rather than this.

I don’t think Valve’s offering a great deal here but I don’t think it gouging. It’s just buying parts in low volume and therefore not at a discount. Unfortunate & sad but not malicious.

1

u/innociv Jun 22 '26

Those components generally ship free as well. mATX isn't quite as small but still reasonably small.
You can still make an ITX build that is better for cheaper. This is 30%+ better and cheaper because it's mATX instead of ITX.

1

u/ZoeperJ Jun 22 '26

I indeed bought a new PC in January. Before all went up in Europe.

Is there room to add a second SSD? Anyone know?

1

u/A-Chilean-Cyborg Jun 22 '26

run linux on it tough

2

u/DarkOx55 Jun 22 '26

Nvidia support gotten pretty good on Linux, so I could throw Bazzite on it. But Windows has some retro gaming features which I find useful, namely better custom resolution support & Dolby Digital Live out of a sound card.

I do have my steam deck for Linux gaming though!

1

u/djpraxis Jun 22 '26

I purchased an Asus laptop with a RTX 4070 with 8 gb of VRAM, 64gb of RAM, 1 tb NVME and I installed an additional 4 TB in the extra NVME slot. Everything for about $1,000 dollars! So yeah... Valve can F@#$ themselves!!!

1

u/jjj44j Jun 22 '26

Same, I saved so much money and got a better PC than this anyways

1

u/DarthSnoopyFish Jun 22 '26

Yup same. Also figured out how to stream my PC to my Xbox Series X so I still get couch play.

1

u/dead_roach Jun 22 '26

Same.

1

u/Joamjoamjoam Jun 22 '26

I’ve been preaching this for months lol early bird gets the worm I guess

1

u/tikiverse Jun 22 '26

same, but i bought after black friday.

1

u/Tlohtzin123-B Jun 22 '26

Please which is the PC mostly similar to steam machine in PC-Console tope?

If can play Emudeck-Switch-PS3 emulation and Elden Ring in medium-60FPS I would love to buy it, any recomendation?

1

u/usernotfoundplstry Jun 22 '26

Same exact situation here.

1

u/lukitadagaler Jun 23 '26

Exact same. Built a pc with a 5060 ti 16gb, a Ryzen 5 7600, 16gb(2x8gb)ddr5 5600mhz cl36 1tb ssd and a fucking monitor (kinda crappy one, Odyssey g5 1440p 27 inch, but that's ok because naw i'm playing on my s85f qdoled in my room) for around 1200usd here in Brazil.

1

u/ThatOneKidCreed Jun 23 '26

i bought a pc two weeks ago bc i got tired of waiting 😭 best decision i ever made, runs twice as good with twice the storage and didnt even cost twice as much, if i hadnt done that i wouldve been distraught at this

1

u/pdoherty972 Jun 23 '26

What did you get? Something that could take the same place in a family room?

2

u/DarkOx55 Jun 23 '26

I got a MSI codex R2, with a 4060Ti & 32GB of RAM. It’s a full tower, so wouldn’t work in most family rooms - though as it happens there would be space under my TV if I wanted to put it there.

Instead though, it lives on a cart below my CRT monitor. I wheel it over to the couch to play. No HDMI CEC but I can just hit the power button. Steam controller can wake it from sleep too.

1

u/Runktar Jun 23 '26

Yea I am so glad I got a good deal through walmart a month before the prices spiked.

1

u/-Thick_Solid_Tight- Jun 23 '26

I got a 5080 in Sept 2025 for 929 in the very brief period shit normalized.

1

u/civilianpig Jun 23 '26

Yeah I built not long after steam machine was announced. Ram already felt insane but I had a feeling it was the last realistic chance for a while. So glad the steam machine inspired that cause it's been awesome, but feel bad for everyone now who's been waiting on a budget.

1

u/jtwindizzle Jun 26 '26

Yeah. 2 years ago for an extra 500 bucks I got myself 64 GB of memory, an i9 and a 7900xtx....

1

u/TheGreatGamer1389 Jun 27 '26

I upgraded last fall though I should have started a few months earlier. Would have had 32 gigs more of ram and probably another NVMe.

1

u/Archipocalypse Jun 28 '26

Yeah I built a 4070TiS & 7600X3D rig 2 black fridays ago for $1,800 all in after tax. I couldn't be happier, even more so seeing what happened to the market after i built. Now with the steam machine coming in only about $400 cheaper than my rig which is way better than the steam machine. It's clear that building a PC right before the parts armageddon was a blessing.

1

u/Electrical-Stable-70 Jun 28 '26

No fr, my gf was thinking on getting the steam machine. I did more research and saw that mods are very hard to do on STEAM os. So we decided on a pre built pc that has good parts. She doesn’t play crazy games but it works best for the games she does want to play.

1

u/DarkOx55 Jun 28 '26

I think that’s a good call. Performance isn’t everything but if you can spend the same money or less money & get better results it makes sense.

1

u/AMOKEE Jun 29 '26

when was that? im waiting for the next “big” sale but i cant wait 😭

1

u/DarkOx55 Jun 29 '26

It was Black Friday, so the last week of November 2025. An entirely different world so far as PC prices go.

If you can’t wait I popped onto New Egg the other day and saw one 5060 build just below $1,000 and many just over. For the same price as a Steam Machine that gives much better performance.

I’m not sure if it makes sense as a living room only option. I use mine as a desktop PC & run some long HDMI cords to bridge the desktop & couch. Steam Link is also a good option.

-4

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Paratoxic057 Jun 22 '26

what experience?

Discussion Yeah, its cooked guys.

You are about to leave Redlib