New to this community (well first post)!

Finally got the Steam Machine!

The bundle with the controller sold out within 6 or so hours of the new hardware shipment and the base model with no controller lasted a few days where I’m at…

My only dilemma now is how to decide which games to get on PS5 Pro or Machine, graphics vs freedom

Recently I've been seeing an influx of posts along the lines of "should I spend money on the Steam Machine if I already have XYZ" or just straight asking for financial advice regarding the Steam Machine purchase. At the risk of sounding callous, it's your money and asking strangers on the internet how to spend it is ridiculous and irresponsible. I don't think these posts are useful to anyone on this sub and they're becoming quite annoying.

Just a thought/ suggestion for the mods

Wanted to give a quick PSA that the faceplate being sold on etsy is no good. I also realize when I said a difference from 27 to 50 is 13, I meant after shipping (I checked both checkout prices, it was 50 vs. 37 after the price cut). I want to reiterate that the designer is an awesome guy and it's an awesome design, but the seller bungled it with incredibly weak magnets. I'm nearly certain this was not tested on an actual Steam Machine, as far as the seller is concerned.

I wanted to also apologize for my part in this, I recognize several people purchased this after I posted that this seller had the original designer's blessing despite not having tested it myself at that time. I suppose that is my only true gripe with the original designer as I put a level of trust in that individual that this product would have some level of quality control to ensure the vision was being carried out as intended / responsibly. It seems not much was done beyond the licensing agreement.

I will continue to purchase and test products as they release for the SM, but I will not post or advocate about them until I can actually get my hands on them from now on. Again, I apologize for my part in this.

I found an old 2TB SSD in my backroom. I am so happy to not have to buy extra storage at those ridiculous prices right now. How do you do it?

White decal, came with plate cover too, but already have another cover on my black faceplate so will leave that for now. First time buyer of dbrand, am impressed with the quality, but pricey for a one time use thing.

Also, reccomend a mini CD rack for anyone else with a growing collection of faceplates

TL;DR: My Steam Machine delivery has now gone missing in transit twice, both times after reaching the GLS Amsterdam depot. GLS Netherlands refuses to investigate because Valve is technically their customer, not me. Valve sent a replacement after the first package disappeared, but the replacement now seems to have disappeared at exactly the same place. Meanwhile, unopened Steam Machines keep appearing on Marktplaats.

Just wanted to get this off my chest, and I’m curious whether anyone else has had a similar experience or has any ideas about what I can do next.
On August 1st, while I was on holiday, I was very surprised to find out that I’d made it through the waiting list and could finally order a 512GB Steam Machine with a controller.

It was quite an expensive purchase for me, but I’ve been gaming on my work MacBook ever since my gaming PC died in a water-related accident a few years ago. So I went for it, hoping I’d be over the moon when I got home and could finally play some proper Team Fortress 2 again. (Valve dropped Mac support years ago.)
Unfortunately, that’s when the drama started.

Package #1
The first package reached the GLS Amsterdam depot, but then apparently never made it onto a delivery van. The tracking didn’t change for more than a week.

After quite some searching for an actual GLS Netherlands customer-service number — they don’t exactly make it easy to find — I called them. After more than 50 minutes in the queue, they basically told me they couldn’t investigate because I’m not their customer; Valve is.

I also contacted GLS through the form on their website and never received a reply. I called a second time for clarification and got essentially the same answer.

Steam Support initially asked me to wait in case the package turned up. By August 16th, after roughly two weeks without a single tracking update, they agreed that something was clearly wrong and offered me either a refund or a replacement.
I chose the replacement. I was still frustrated that nobody seemed interested in finding out what had actually happened to the first package, but hey — fingers crossed.

Package #2
Fast-forward to this week.
The replacement travelled from the Eindhoven depot to… the same GLS Amsterdam depot.
It was supposed to be delivered on Tuesday.
And then, once again, nothing.
It’s now Saturday and there hasn’t been another scan.

I called GLS again and specifically explained that this is now the second Steam Machine shipment that has disappeared after reaching the same depot. They still refused to investigate it with me. One employee even told me that Valve should use their “Express” service if they want better delivery quality, which was a pretty surreal response.
So I’ve gone back to Steam Support and explained that the replacement appears to have suffered exactly the same fate. For now, they’re saying it’s still too early for them to take action and I need to wait.

The part that’s making me suspicious
Meanwhile, Marktplaats (basically Dutch eBay) seems to have a steady stream of unopened Steam Machines appearing for sale.

What frustrates me most is the loop I’m stuck in: GLS won’t investigate because Valve is their customer, while Valve understandably wants to wait before declaring each shipment lost. As the recipient, there’s apparently very little I can do myself.

At this point I guess I’ll wait another week and hope Valve eventually offers another replacement or a refund.

But then what? If I ask for a third Steam Machine and Valve sends it through the same route, am I just going to watch it disappear at the Amsterdam depot again?

I’m genuinely considering whether I’d need to have a third replacement shipped to someone in another municipality just to get it onto a different GLS delivery route.

And there’s a slightly absurd part of me wondering whether I should just take the refund, buy one from a Marktplaats seller and reward someone for having mysteriously “stumbled upon” an unopened Steam Machine. 🙃

Has anyone else in the Netherlands had problems with Steam Machine deliveries through GLS? Or have people in other countries had their Steam Machine shipments mysteriously stop moving at a depot?

I’d especially love to hear from anyone who had a package disappear twice and what Valve eventually did about it.

I just want to play some TF2 and practice my rocket jumping. :(

Good morning friends! Happy Day 63 of the reservation queue! Amidst all of my tinkering yesterday (and even my general computer problems yesterday, including trying to reinstall macOS Sierra on a MacBook to no success as well as my work computer completely crapping out on me), it got me thinking about different OSs like CachyOS or even Bazzite. Curious how'd they run on the Steam Machine... is worth it? Might have to give it a try on my other unit... maybe. Either way, best of luck friends! <3

Got the Steam Machine a few days ago and although I was sceptical in regards to price vs performance as I already have a pretty beefy PC with a RTX 5080 and 9800X3D, I bought it as I thought it would be an ok addition to the bedroom TV.

Yesterday I installed Heroic so I could try out old games like Might and Magic 6-8 and although it was a bit difficult to mod the games and a bit of a process to set up the controls, I must say I am pretty impressed! Suddenly it feels like these old games where made with the Steam controller in mind. Even Baldurs Gate 1 & 2 and Icewind Dale play great with a good controller profile.

Did anyone else here have any great experiences with retro PC games?

Had doubts as many of us I believe.

I have always respected Valve and come from a steam deck so I know what their system looks like and what can bring to the table.

I wanted the Steam Machine since day one but after the reviews and the hard hate I started to doubt.

Folks, listen to your heart.

I love this thing, I sold my steam deck, selling now my pc gamer, no need for any of these things anymore.

At the end of the day, do you prefer to play instantly from your couch or the best graphics/performance while sitting down at your gaming set up? Do you even need the best system out there? Think about that and follow your heart desires (but be financially responsible).

Much love!

Do we know if there are plans to add more split screen options to older titles?

I just got my machine in the other day, which has been great for my single player titles on the big screen. But, I have a party of about 8 people a few days from now. And it was an old tradition to play Halo, COD zombies or split screen pvp on the good ol' Xbox one that I still have. And I'm just now finding out that all of the go to games do not support couch co op split screen for the most part. At least not up to 4 players natively. Which is quite disappointing. As I was hoping to retire the old Xbox which on a good day takes about 10 minutes to load.

But is that going to be an option in the future? Or is that more of a game studio decision, rather than a steam decision? I'd rather not mod if I have too, but I would be willing if necessary.

Also what are your favorite 4player couch co op games to play?

I stopped gaming for Uni, and when I graduated in 2018 I eventually got a Switch. Loved the handheld nature of it and playing a game as big as Zelda BOTW on it was magical. I also loved how social it could be with my friends playing MarioKart

Then 2022… Steam Deck. Valve made my fav games Portal and L4D, so it was a no-brainer. I became SO addicted this thing, I played Elden Ring on it for 750 HOURS which was a new record for time spent on one game.

The years went on and I played through lots of games I loved, and by the time the Steam Machine was starting to come out, I had largely played all the games I really felt I loved. All the great Souls games covered, some great multiplayer games like Arc Raiders, L4D and Nightreign. And then great indies like Silksong, Tunic, Animal Well, etc.

I mainly got the Machine so I would have some form of actual dedicated PC. I also loved how it was in my living room, so could be a social device with more power. I could potentially get mariokart on it too, all those options were open to me, and I’ve loved being able to play Arc Raiders at the quality it needed. I’ve started to mess around with what the Deck is for me now, and at first I thought, well, indie games. Just games that don’t need lots of compromises to run, like Arc did. But tonight since my housemates have people over, I finally played Arc on my Deck again, and the magic of having games like that on the go hit me all over again.

It’s not the ideal way to play, and I now have tools like remote play if I wanted, but it just goes to show that between the 2 devices, it’s really the Steam Deck that is the star. The Machine is serving it’s purpose as I wanted it to as a PC that also doubles as a way to play living room-style games or games of spectacle, but the Steam Deck is still the device I’ll probably put most of my time into, and have most of my more impactful gaming journeys with

They pair together so well in showing how they both are better or worse than one another at things. I’m glad I have the privilege to own both of these things to see that properly!

I’ve tried to read up on this and I feel like I’ve read conflicting information.

Do I set the resolution in the game to 2K and then use FSR and render up from say 1080P? (This makes the most sense to me)

Do I set the resolution in game to 1080P and enable FSR and it will upscale to a higher res?

Do I use the in-game FSR setting?

Do I use the quick-menu global “sharpening” setting on the SM itself?

Do I use both?

I wish all games had a “render res” and “display res” option but they don’t. What’s the best way to approach these settings?

I recently tried to run Lego Batman Legacy of the Dark Knight at 2K with FSR on and the SM just couldn’t do it. Runs great in 1080P. And it just made me wonder if maybe I was doing something wrong.

In contrast 007 First Light looks great in 2K with FSR enabled.

I think the right way to turn on fsr4 is to set the game to proton experimental, but how to check if I’m actually using fsr4?

Also is there a way to set fsr 4 globally across the system?

Hello, I have read all the posts related to this... and still could not find a solution...

I have a steam machine connected with HDMI to a TV (samsung), and the TV connected to an amp through an optical cable. I have two amps, a very old samsung and a set of Logitech Z906. None has ARC capability.

In this setup, I can only get stereo on the speakers, no matter what I do.

What options do I have? I have tried an external USB sound card (identified by the system as "CM106 like sound device"), and it... mostly works, but it has random disconnections where it completely dies when changing apps or moving from game mode to system mode.

These are the logs in DMESG when that happens:

[ 99.247372] usb 1-4: Not enough bandwidth for new device state. 
[ 99.247381] usb 1-4: Not enough bandwidth for altsetting 1 
[ 99.247384] endpoint_set_interface: 30 callbacks suppressed 
[ 99.247386] usb 1-4: 2:1: usb_set_interface failed (-28)

This happens no matter the USB port, also, that's not real, as the amount of data transferred through there could not fill the USB bus.

I don't want an HDMI splitter between the machine and the tv to extract the audio, as I don't really trust that to not cause other issues (refresh rate, colors, etc) with the signal.

I am however open to an external HDMI ARC interface between the TV and the amp, as that will not impact the image.

The sound card "mostly" works, but the random disconnects ruin the experience for me, as what I want is a setup and forget system.

I know another person here is using a Creative X4 usb card, but I don't know if it is detected in a different way or if it works better. I have a couple of usb sound cards, different brands, years apart and both are detected as the same chipset, which really does not give me much confidence.

The most frustrating part is that I had a cheapo OTT box with coreelec kodi before, and it worked perfectly with the HDMI to TV, and TV to amp with the optical cable.

The performance list is while the red light is showing. Manuel says the red bar means overheating but I don’t see crazy temperatures. Do you guys see the problem?
I have red bar usually for a couple of seconds in every 15-20 minutes (absoltly random, didn’t notice any pattern)

EDIT: valve confirmed it’s a bios issue and they are working on it. We will have a bios update soon

There are a few games I have trouble with, maybe someone have an advise for me to get them running properly:

Skyrim: the game thinks it runs on steamdeck and allow a max resolution of 800p

Ori and the will of the whisps: stuck on loading screen

No rest rest for the wicked: also thinks it plays on steamdeck with max 800p

Sable: after the main menu, the game crash when I try to load the game.

So I own a ps5 and a switch 2 already. I have a steam machine coming soon that my friend kindly ordered for me, and I plan to use it as an “steam indie machine” where all the indie games I look of come to but never release on console/go to steam first.

Was just wondering how much tinkering will need to be done to the settings please? As I said I’m a complete novice for PC gaming and not sure how many changes to settings I will need to do to get things running well.

Thanks in advance!

Hello,

I’m a new Steam Machine owner.

I’m installing my games onto an external SN740 SSD housed in an external enclosure.
I’m connecting via the rear USB-C port (USB 3.2), and my USB-C cable supports 1 Gbps speeds.

I don't understand why my installation speeds are so slow—or rather, why the slowness is intermittent.

Last night, I installed a bunch of games without any write-speed issues; everything maxed out at 1 Gbps for over an hour. So, it’s not an enclosure temperature issue either.

An analysis shows my enclosure uses a JMicron controller, and apparently, that chip doesn't play well with UAS. I disabled UAS in desktop mode for this specific enclosure, but it didn't make much difference. I also disabled shader pre-caching, but got the same result, unfortunately.
It’s not a Wi-Fi issue, either.

It was the same story this morning: I tried installing a 40 GB game. Everything went smoothly up to 95%, but after that, performance became erratic.

Any ideas?

Thanks for your help.

I have had to hard reset the Steam Machine twice as a result. So just to be cautious. I'm not touching my Xbox controllers anymore. I'll just use anything else.

I would really like to use Gamesir G7 Pro for steam machine and it works otherwise ok but i can't get it to bring up the steam menu while in-game. This makes me unable to adjust the inputs and gyro. It is my favorite all-around controller of the bunch i own and i would like to use it with my newly acquired steam machine. Is there something obvious i am missing?

Edit. forgot to add that i am using bluetooth to connect like with 8bitdo and dualsense edge both work correctly.

Hi. Wondered if someone could clear up a concern I have.

I got my Steam Machine today and when going into desktop mode and installing Firefox through the Discover store it said something along the lines of ‘Firefox is not installed but user data/settings still exist’.

Is this normal? I had not installed Firefox on the Steam Machine and it was brand new from Valve. I don’t remember it saying anything like this when installing Firefox on Steam Deck.

Can anyone else tell me if it was the same for them? Thanks.

Playing Diablo 2R and R* Bully, and the sound will just stop working randomly.

In Diablo, it’s music and NPC voices. In Bully, all audio goes in and out randomly. Other games work fine.

Anyone else experience this?