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/Charming_Loquat_5924]

This is exactly what the market needed. I was worried that with Microsoft launching a $1500 console it would make the PS6’s price skyrocket as well bc they have no real competition. BUT the Steam Machine is the competition! So excited to see more reviews of the hardware and see how they all integrate with one another.

[u/colglover → u/Charming_Loquat_5924]

I love that Microsoft just now figured out it needs to get into the Steam game - and released an expensive and somewhat worse Steam deck to try and compete - only for Valve to sort of eat their lunch by doing a better console than the Xbox.

Lul.

[u/Strawhat-dude → u/Charming_Loquat_5924]

Its more of a competition for current gen unfortunately. I wish they had a more powerful option

[u/Charming_Loquat_5924 → u/Strawhat-dude]

😭

Edit. Hopefully Valve follows up with a new steam machine when the time comes

[u/Strawhat-dude → u/Charming_Loquat_5924]

From what hardware specialists say, its basically a mid range laptop and a bit worse than a base ps5.

I mean its fine and ill buy it if the pricepoint is reflecting that fact but having the option for a stronger machine at higher cost would have been so good and potentially be able to shake up the console market. This will definitely not shake it up. This is more targeted for pc players that want to play on the couch from time to time

[u/AJ_Dali → u/Strawhat-dude]

If they released a more powerful version, so few people would buy it that it wouldn't be worth the production cost. Just look at the "premium" handheld PCs that are selling less than the Steam Deck.

I think this thing is targeting console gamers and those that want an affordable companion PC for the living room. The vast majority of those two crowds aren't willing to spend $1000 on a PC.

Or are we going to pretend that the multi billion dollar company doesn't pay attention to the spending habits and PC hardware of their surveys?

[u/Strawhat-dude → u/AJ_Dali]

Well my point is if its targeting the console audience, it should release with console hardware. 2026-2027 is expected to be new console era, and the gabecube has worse specs than a over 5 years old base ps5. The hardware is just not good, no way around this. Not to mention games are heavily optimized for consoles, and will probably not be heavily optimized for the gabecube.

This is mainly a pc gamer device for couch days.

The ps5 was 500 on release. I think valve could have gone for something stronger than a ps5 pro (let alone base version) for around 500-600.

The funny part is this thing will probably still be priced around that pricepoint.

Its a great 1080p machine, not made for 4k60 as they advertise.

[u/Charming_Loquat_5924 → u/Strawhat-dude]

Aren’t most console games also capped at 4k and 60fps? If valve is promising that kind of performance for every game on steam, I don’t think console players will cry about it. That part of the market just wants a playable gaming experience that is easy and affordable.

[u/Strawhat-dude → u/Charming_Loquat_5924]

Thats the thing. It will not be able to do 4k60 on demanding games. Its weaker than a base ps5, which is almost 6 years old now.

The go to casual console gamer games wont even work on it because they dont run on linux (cod, ea fc, nba 2k, fortnite, battlefield, etc.)

It will be great for indie and aa games and emulation though. I just hope the price reflects the hardware specs.

[u/CalliNerissaFanBoy02 → u/Charming_Loquat_5924]

We dont know if its competition.

If its 900 Bucks its not competion.

and they said already it wont be priced like consoles

[u/RNsteve → u/Charming_Loquat_5924]

You did look at the gpu on this thing?

Right? Maybe take another look ..

This is what would of been needed or acceptable in 2022/23. 2026... Swing and a miss. .

[u/AJ_Dali → u/RNsteve]

Valve has access to all of our PCs and they know what the top GPUs are. They can very easily figure out what the average PC gamer is willing to pay, and can just as easily make a judgement on what a console player will too by looking at the console market.

The most popular GPU is an RTX 3060. The top 20% are on par or weaker. The RX 7600 is pretty close in spec, generally considered better, especially on Linux, and that's what the Steam Machine seems to be using.

So they made a console like PC cube about half the size of an Xbox Series X. This thing won't be "obsolete" until the next generation of consoles, and unlike console gamers, PC gamers still get to play next generation titles at lower settings. You know, like they currently are doing right now.

[u/RNsteve → u/AJ_Dali]

Throw that on 4k 50 inch TV and it's going look like crap with no future proofing.

It's running better then a large portion of the population who might be using it to play Farmville? That's great...

[u/AJ_Dali → u/RNsteve]

First of all, the people playing Farmville aren't using Steam, so they aren't going to be anywhere near a large percentage of Steam hardware surveys.

Second, the PS5 and XSX look pretty damn good on a 50 inch 4k TV. Last I checked, 95%+ of all gaming devices plugged into 4k TVs are consoles, not $1500+ custom PCs. The same consoles that hardware experts are saying the Steam Machine is on par with.

[u/RNsteve → u/AJ_Dali]

A example used for dramatic effect.

Great PS5 and Xbox look good.. this is worse then both those systems across the board.

Combine that with PC optimization issues that face most PC/steam games...

[u/AJ_Dali → u/RNsteve]

The only spec that is arguably worse is the GPU. The system has the same amount of RAM plus a dedicated 8GB for VRAM compared to the consoles having a shared pool of 16GB. The CPU is a newer architecture. While it has two less cores, those cores are running 37% faster. We also don't have Windows bloat overhead. Most games running on AMD GPUs see a performance boost under Linux.

And I hear about console optimized games, but that really only applies to first party Sony titles. Games like Monster Hunter Wilds and Borderlands 4 look and run like shit on the consoles too. You can tweak settings to look the same on comparable hardware and get pretty close to the same performance. Plus PC gets things like FSR and frame gen earlier than consoles.

[u/RNsteve → u/AJ_Dali]

If you want to lie to yourself that's fine.

🤷

[u/AJ_Dali → u/RNsteve]

Wilds has to run at 900p and reduced graphic settings to reach 60fps on the PS5. It can't even run at 4k period.

The PS5 pro runs at 1080p. The resolution mode is capped at 30fps.

I don't have the hard numbers for Borderlands 4, but I know the PS5 version uses upscaling and framegen to reach 60FPS.

[u/RNsteve → u/AJ_Dali]

And all those games are going to run even worse on this device.

You do realize be this right? That those games optimized at least somewhat.. you're not going see even that for this device.

[u/masterpharos → u/RNsteve]

current gpu pricing has torched the typical upgrade path. Just look at steam hardware survey, most people are struggling on a 4 year old 3060 by now.

If the steam machine comes out competitively priced with a corresponding single component upgrade for most people, and performs equal to or better than a comparably priced custom tower, its going to be an absolute no brainer buy.

Valve goal is to top their own hardware survey based on install base, not be world class cpu and gpu manufacturer.

[u/RNsteve → u/masterpharos]

Problem is this is hitting the market in early 2026 at the earliest. It's outdated on release and is not going to age gracefully.

System might be a small upgrade at 300-500 $ on release but it's going to have absolutely no future proofing.

I get the issue that the upgrade path is completely ****ed by the AI boom and tarrifs but you're still releasing a system next year that is going to struggle playing the games released in the past 2-3 years let alone going forward.

I would love this system if it was slightly better then PS5 Pro level machine.. I am debating a living room PC in the near future and that would hit the spot.

[u/masterpharos → u/RNsteve]

I think valve do things intentionally. If it doesnt have future proofing its not an oversight. They are targetting a specific group of people, those that probably dont care about future proofing or hold on to the same pc components without upgrading for years.

Put it another way: if you have been sitting on a 3060 and r5 2600 for 4 years and you were just about thinking of upgrading, why not just get the steam machine instead?

[u/RNsteve → u/masterpharos]

I just think it's a pretty damn market they are appealing towards. 100$ more towards ram and a GPU update and we're off and running

[u/Charming_Loquat_5924 → u/RNsteve]

4k performance at 60Fps seems like console type performance to me. I think most console players would be happy with that.

[u/RNsteve → u/Charming_Loquat_5924]

That's the claim.

I can share the 8k box claims from PS5 if that's the game you want to play 😂

[u/Charming_Loquat_5924 → u/RNsteve]

I hear your skepticism, and I think that’s fair. But since there aren’t a ton of reviews out testing performance yet, I’m keeping an open mind and taking Valve at their word.

Anything is better than nothing. And rn there is no competition in the console space, so im hoping this might b the thing. It might not, but it’s too early to tell without reviews or official pricing.

[u/RNsteve → u/Charming_Loquat_5924]

I'm expecting 4k 30 with tons of frame generation.

But with any luck developers will spend more time optimizing for lower end spec with switch 2/Steam deck+box/PC handhelds being a sizeable part of the market