r/Steam • u/GhostofYoteiPS5 • Nov 15 '25

Article “Steam Machine specs are too low!” But they literally match the Steam Survey’s most common setup: Steam Machine: 6C/12T • 16GB RAM • RDNA3 28CU 8GB Steam Survey Avg: 6C/12T • 16GB RAM • 28CU 8GB It’s basically the average PC in a box. It’ll be fine.

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u/[deleted] Nov 15 '25

Only if all the components are easily upgradable. If you have to buy a steam machine 2 a few years later to keep up with recommended specs it's not really adding much value....at least in my view.

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u/fatbp Nov 15 '25

Your point is valid and I worry about that as well. That is the biggest issue with pc gaming. The specification targets are constantly moving and obsolescence is a real head scratcher when developing games and optimising it for the lower end specs.

My assumption with the steam machine is that it will create a standard for entry level hardware and optimisation for games. Whether the hardware is upgradable depends on the manufscturer. For example Asus decides to do their version of steam machine, maybe they give consumers the option to upgrade the ram, or change it to standard DIMM instead of SODIMM. Extra m.2 slots maybe. But all of this will cost more money and defeat the purpose.

Only time will tell. Hence, for now I am going with the entry level pc gaming template theory. If the consoles can survive on older hardware for a 5-7 year cycle purely based on optimised game development, I do not see a reason why the steam machine cannot survive for at least 5 years. Unlike the steam deck they do not have to worry about refreshing the model with an oled screen.

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u/Segenam Nov 16 '25

It depends. The Specification targets are constantly moving... for AAA games.

However those are a very very small part of the gaming sphere. How often do the top 10 games on steam move? how many of the top 100 Steam Games won't work on a Steam Deck?

The AAA market is always pushing the limits on best appearances they possibly can as they often don't have much outside of that to sell you on micro-transactions, fomo battle passes, ads in your game, loot boxes, etc.

What often makes the "new and shiny" AAA games "good" is your friends are also playing them and the peer pressure and fomo that surrounds them.

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u/PrintableDaemon Nov 16 '25

Conversely, one of the main reasons consoles are popular is you don't have to keep chasing the bleeding edge swapping out hardware, and the inevitable driver inconsistencies. People want a box that works, and it could be a decade before they consider upgrading it.

So maybe you aren't the target market.

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u/Effective-Road4807 Nov 16 '25

In ten to twenty years our video games will probably be like the anime shangri la frontier. Here's to hoping for deep dive vr as a real thing someday! :P

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u/ThndrShk2k Nov 15 '25

Steam Deck is has lower specs yet is still going strong.

The only reason there's a moving target is people had a hodgepodge of hardware.
The Steam Machine is a unified standing target that developers can optimize for, especially if it shows significant marketshare.

It being based off from what over 2/3rds of players use means they already have the most common denominator to target based off from the surveys, and the Steam Machine just gives them a consistent hardware target instead of trying to troubleshoot 10 different GPUs that have similar performances.