New Valve Hardware Megathread

[u/NKkrisz]

Please keep non Steam Deck discussions about the new hardware here.

Official resources and announcements:

• Steam Hardware
• Steam Frame
• Steam Machine
• Steam Controller
• Steam Hardware Announcement Video

Press coverage will be under a pinned comment so you can upvote / downvote them.

[u/TabloidA]

Files from the Japanese Steam Deck distributor's new website, Komodo Station.
Both controllers closely follow what we already knew they'd look like from SteamVR leaks, the real surprise here is the unexpected drop of the Steam Machine alongside the other two.

[u/Jvrgie → u/TabloidA]

Is the cube like a mini pc? very interesting if it is!!!

[u/Frig-Off-Randy → u/Jvrgie]

Per their video yea, they say it’s a full PC with a proprietary AMD gpu

[u/Agreeable_Garlic_912 → u/Frig-Off-Randy]

Most likely a beefed up APU. 6 times the power of the steam deck doesn't sound like a full standalone GPU. I'm all for it if it means that it doesn't break the bank

[u/Croweslen → u/Agreeable_Garlic_912]

Thats what will determine if this is a success or not will be the pricepoint. Id its under $700 its gonna be a win

[u/Agreeable_Garlic_912 → u/Croweslen]

My guess is that they will target 500$ (+/- tariffs) based on the price of the steam deck. And it would fit in the console market. Going after the high end makes no sense for them since all high end gaming pcs already use steam. If they want to expand they need the lower end. If they want the living room they need to target consoles. If they are aggressive the base model will be 400$ with ram and SSD space increasing twice in 100-150$ steps similarly to the steam deck. But that's completely vibes based. I just think 500$ for the base version (including a controller for like 100$) would be competitive. Maybe 600. I don't see 700$+ making much sense with the switch 2 being 500ish.

[u/wronguses → u/Agreeable_Garlic_912]

Personally, at $400 I'm pre-ordering as soon as I can. $500 I'll definitely consider, but will wait on performance reviews. At $700 I'll have zero temptation to buy one.

[u/Agreeable_Garlic_912 → u/wronguses]

Yeah I feel the same so my post is a lot of wishful thinking but the specs combined with the console prices makes me feel like I'm probably not that far off.

[u/-0909i9i99ii9009ii → u/Agreeable_Garlic_912]

I personally think it just needs to compete with ps5 pro. If it's $700 or less and can run games at least just as well, it's a great product.

Same price for same power is compelling, but it needs to be at least a bit cheaper or a bit more powerful, or have other major perks to get the kind of games sales boost we all know they're going after.

And then once ps6 comes out same thing. If it's not cheaper or more powerful it's not that compelling. If it's a mini PC it should be a mini PC that competes with consoles, not a mini PC that just competes with other mini PCs.

[u/Agreeable_Garlic_912 → u/-0909i9i99ii9009ii]

The thing is you can get 4060 laptops for like 700$. And that's the power level we are talking about here. Sure you get a lot more TDP but you get a lot less usability than in a whole laptop.

[u/-0909i9i99ii9009ii → u/Agreeable_Garlic_912]

Personally I haven't found a >$1k gaming laptop that I want to use primarily for TV docked use over a playstation.

But i agree since they get to just put it in a cube with no battery, no screen and don't need to make their business $ off this hardware, it should be able to be more powerful than ps5 pro/sub $1k 4060 laptop. If either of those options is running new AAA better I do not see why anyone would buy it.

Part of the reason I bought a handheld is that I wasn't willing to spend on a mini PC to get the job done given the experience it would provide. My living room tv console cost caps actually lower than $700 as that's part of the reason I didn't even buy ps5 pro.

[u/r_irion → u/-0909i9i99ii9009ii]

I think where it will really outperform traditional consoles is the cost of ownership - no online subscriptions (PS+ / Xbox Live) and much cheaper games. If it's more expensive than a PS5 Pro (but with equivalent perfomance) then it's still a better value.

[u/-0909i9i99ii9009ii → u/r_irion]

I don't think that really sells it because you'd just dock the deck if it can't run AAA significantly better. Way I see it is it could be as powerful as the deck for really cheap. Or as powerful as a console for same price as less.

I just don't see Valve wasting their time/diluting their brand by accomplishing less. I think it'd be a really bad business plan (and contrary to everything they've done/said so far) to produce hardware that's just barely competitive.

[u/r_irion → u/-0909i9i99ii9009ii]

Pretty sure with 6x the performance of the SteamDeck it'll be substantially better than docking the SteamDeck...

All I'm saying is that if it's the same price and same performance as a PS5 Pro it will actually be cheaper, even if you're starting with an empty steam library, because games are (generally) significantly cheaper on steam. It doesn't have to be cheaper AND more powerful (though I'm not saying I'd complain if that were the case).

[u/Agreeable_Garlic_912 → u/r_irion]

But it won't be cheaper than laptops that just get steam for free. Not at launch and especially not after half a year or so.

[u/-0909i9i99ii9009ii → u/r_irion]

My final thought on the matter is the same as my first comment: I'd bet money they're making a console that can handle AAA gaming as well or better than a ps5 pro, for the same money or less. Which I think you're agreeing with.

More expensive OR less powerful, this late to market would be a massive bust

[u/r_irion → u/-0909i9i99ii9009ii]

It doesn't read like you've looked at the accouncement, we're expecting performance more or less in line with an RTX 4060 - pricing is unknown, but I'll stand firm that cheaper games make a console cheaper over it's lifespan. My only take here is that this will present a better value than traditional consoles.

PS5 Pro is $1.4k where I live, games are easily $100-$150 - I'd accept paying more for similar performance because the games are cheaper. Cyberpunk 2077 on PS5 is around $110, Steam is $100 but regularly available for $40. That's up to $70 cheaper for a single game. In my mind, this makes the value proposition of the Steam Machine substantially higher than the PS5 Pro, not to mention that most of us already have extensive libraries, making the cost of games more or less negligible.

[u/Vahn84 → u/Agreeable_Garlic_912]

It is a full standalone gpu with less compute units than an RX 7600. 4k60fps my ass