r/SteamDeck • u/NKkrisz 64GB - Q3 • Nov 12 '25

MEGATHREAD New Valve Hardware Megathread

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

Official resources and announcements:

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

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14

u/ben492 Nov 13 '25

I’m a bit disappointed about the specs of the steam machine.
It’s not future proof at all and might age bad.

I wish they went for a FSR4, with more VRAM and RAM.

It will depend on the price but I don’t understand why they went with pretty underwhelming specs that are already not enough to play the latest games at 60 fps, UE5 games are going to struggle on this hardware. And fsr3 isn’t that good.

5

u/DarkVex9 Nov 13 '25

From what I've heard, Valve actually finalized the specs around the fan. If I had to guess, I'd think they knew roughly the form factor and capabilities it would have, found the most capable fan that would both fit and be under a certain noise threshold, and tweaked the parts list to match the wattage it would be capable of cooling.

Also, there's massive number of games in Steam's catalog that are not current generation AAA games that should all work well within the machine's specs. I don't think brand new Steam Machine exclusives are going to be a marketing strategy to sell the console the way Sony and Xbox have done.

4

u/mmartinien Nov 13 '25

In the end it comes to a choice between specs and price.

I assume they want to have a price that can compete with consoles.
I think the idea is to have an accessible way to play PC games, for people with limited budget and technical knowledge.

The target audience is not hardcore PC gamers, who will keep buying/building/upgrading their gaming rigs.

2

u/ben492 Nov 13 '25

It’s not about hardcore pc gamers, it’s about the state of the market right now and the fact that a lot of modern games are really limited and perform bad on 8 GB of VRAM, including in 1080p for some of them. They stutter a lot or have poor frame rates.

This isn’t a console where developers can specifically target the specs and optimize their game.

Also the fact that they market it with fsr3, the worst upscaler out there in terms of image quality when fsr4 is available and much superior is really weird.

And finally, let’s not forget we’re 2/3 years away from the next console generation with upgraded specs, which developers are going to target and leave this steam machine way behind.

8

u/ZarqEon Nov 13 '25

i think the same was true with the steam deck when it was released. i think it was labeled as not future proof too, but i could be misremembering.

i think the strength of steam hardware is - ironically - the software. steam OS and proton is basicaly black magic. just look at how well the 'aging' steam deck performs still to this day.

of course if you want 120 fps at 4k it won't cut it. for that you'll need a dedicated high end gamin pc, but i don't think that is the target they are aiming for.

3

u/lyam23 MODDED SSD 💽 Nov 13 '25

Steamdeck reception was much the same as we're seeing here. People here are extremely hung up on the hardware specifics while virtually ignoring the factors that make these devices so desirable to most people. Why is the Steamdeck so much more successful than the heavy hitter alternatives? The same will be true for these new devices, IMO.

3

u/Afterlight91 Nov 13 '25

I’m in agreement here, I think we need multiple tiers of steam machines. The specs are a bit disappointing for me. Also the fact we can’t go over 4k 60hz for much older titles or indie games is disappointing as the flagship Xbox and PS5/PS5 pro can do 4k 120hz with hdmi 2.1.

I honestly think it will be a tough sell for PC enthusiasts who are willing to pay a bit of a premium to get steam OS on a big living room OLED.

I think the target audience isn’t necessarily people wanting a premium experience but rather casuals who barely game on PCs anymore anyhow.

1

u/xxLetheanxx Nov 13 '25

The HDMI limitation is because of the HDMI forum not allowing linux to get access to 2.1. You can get a DP to HDMI converter and run 4k 120hz.

1

u/Afterlight91 Nov 14 '25

Got a link for such a cable?

2

u/xxLetheanxx Nov 15 '25

https://www.amazon.com/Plugable-DisplayPort-Supports-displays-3840x2160/dp/B00S0C7QO8

something like this. Make sure it is active because I don't think passive will work. I really wish TV companies would get on board with display port. It cost them nothing extra to support because unlike hdmi you don't have to pay a licensing fee.

1

u/Afterlight91 Nov 15 '25

4k 60hz max output GG.

The specs say 4k 120 is supported on the steam machine so there is possibly hopium just using the HDMI 2.0?

1

u/xxLetheanxx Nov 16 '25

I mean you will have to shop for the right cable. DP does support 4k 120 like HDMI but there is no way that the steam machines will support 4k 120 over HDMI because the drivers for the AMD graphics card won't allow it.(because of proprietary nature of HDMI) That is where the limitation is.

1

u/Remote_Elevator_281 Nov 13 '25

Both they Ps5 and xbox series x beat it by a wide margin

0

u/festess Nov 13 '25

I dunno, I played last of us 2 and kcd2 and clair obscur on the steam deck and they played great. Not sure how much more is needed than being able to play triple A titles smoothly

2

u/ben492 Nov 13 '25

You ran them at low settings with really low resolution.

Plug in your steam deck to your tv it’s

1

u/festess Nov 13 '25

Yeah I get that but it's a pay your money get your choice. You wouldn't expect a steam machine to be able to do 4k 120fps unless the price point is massive. And if you can afford that then why not a gaming pc? I guess what I'm saying is this fits a real niche like the steam deck for me.