The Strong Case for a "Steam Machine Pro" :: Hardware and Operating Systems

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Arminius 12. nov. kl. 20:54

The Strong Case for a "Steam Machine Pro"

Hello,

First, I just want to say congratulations to the Valve team on last night's announcement. It was incredibly exciting, and I am genuinely in awe of the new hardware lineup.
The new Steam Controller and the Steam Frame look perfect. It's clear an immense amount of thought went into them, and I'm honestly sold on both already.

The Steam Machine is also a brilliant product, and I see it as an absolute home run for so many people—it's the perfect upgrade from a Steam Deck and an amazing, accessible entry point for regular console players to join the PC ecosystem.

I'm writing this post to offer feedback from a slightly different perspective: I am your exact target market, but I'm not yet convinced I can buy the Steam Machine.

My primary way of playing my Steam library on my TV has been as a premium subscriber to GeForce NOW. I have been waiting for an official, native Steam-based console to let me move away from streaming and have that perfect, lag-free local experience.

My only concern is that the announced specs for the new Steam Machine, while a great value, would be a significant graphical downgrade from the high-end, ray-traced performance I get from my premium streaming subscription. For high-end games like ARC Raiders, the announced configuration just won't be able to deliver the "Ultra" settings I'm used to.

This brings me to my main point: I believe there is a large, dedicated market of high-end PC gamers and cloud-streaming users who would gladly pay a premium for a "Steam Machine Pro."

We are not the same audience as the standard console player. We are performance-focused enthusiasts who would willingly pay more/double the price for a "Pro" variant with a more powerful GPU and, critically, more VRAM (e.g., 12GB or 16GB) to truly compete with a high-end PC experience.

The new hardware lineup is a massive step forward, and I'm ready to buy in. Adding a high-end "Pro" tier would, in my opinion, capture the entire PC-on-TV market, from the casual player to the enthusiast who is ready to leave cloud streaming behind for your hardware.

Thank you for all the amazing work and for listening to the community.

Sidst redigeret af Arminius; 12. nov. kl. 21:02

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smallcat 12. nov. kl. 21:10

if they roll out a Pro variant ,it d be a little less expensive than if we build one . i guess you wont buy it again and stick to your subscription . as for the Pro who knows what Steam are hiding up their sleeves

Chaosolous 12. nov. kl. 21:16

Hahahaha. Yeah, it is time, huh?

Electric Cupcake 12. nov. kl. 21:37

At the very least, they should include a thunderbolt connection so people who want to can connect a full external GPU,

Arminius 12. nov. kl. 23:55

Oprindeligt skrevet af smallcat:
if they roll out a Pro variant ,it d be a little less expensive than if we build one . i guess you wont buy it again and stick to your subscription . as for the Pro who knows what Steam are hiding up their sleeves

I don't really care how much cheaper it would cost compared to a custom mini PC. I'd prefer a native Steam machine with almost no build/maintenance effort. And most importantly, I want the "Steam" logo on my living room console — not Lenovo, Asus or anything else.

Sidst redigeret af Arminius; 12. nov. kl. 23:56

smallcat 13. nov. kl. 0:01

Oprindeligt skrevet af Arminius:
Oprindeligt skrevet af smallcat:
if they roll out a Pro variant ,it d be a little less expensive than if we build one . i guess you wont buy it again and stick to your subscription . as for the Pro who knows what Steam are hiding up their sleeves
I don't really care how much cheaper it would cost compared to a custom mini PC. I'd prefer a native Steam machine with almost no build/maintenance effort. And most importantly, I want the "Steam" logo on my living room console — not Lenovo, Asus or anything else.

take a look at GMKtec EVO-X2 mini PC 2TB .But it s 2000 bucks

x 13. nov. kl. 1:39

In any case, it has to be fundamentally cheaper than an "equivalent" regular PC. Most PCs have something that the steam machine probably will struggle with. Upgradability. And that for me is the killer.
Not to mention that I suspect these machines will suffer from the same curse as gaming laptops. Heat.
This actually reminds me a lot of how a few years back mini "stick" pcs were going to take over... yeah.

ChickenBalls 13. nov. kl. 2:02

yeah in order for a Pro version to be viable it has to be cheaper than a regular PC with similar specs
but considering the current shortage on RAM, SSDs and overpriced and underperforming GPUs it won't happen for quite quite awhile. imo the current AI bubble is a bigger threat to pc gaming than the crypto bubble because it will likely last much longer

BurakZG 13. nov. kl. 2:02

I see it as an alternative to an entry level gaming PC with 4060/5060. The cheapest offer for such in the big shop in my country is about 800EUR. Most is for more than 1000EUR. I think Valve has enough room to make it price competitive.

Mabi 13. nov. kl. 2:13

Steam has taken into account the developers' budgets for projects; there's excess power here.

For special effects, you need to adopt a limited number of projects, a Kickstarter program, or voting, to awaken players.

Rod 13. nov. kl. 2:15

Rx7600 8gb with hdmi 2.0 ouch

#10

x 13. nov. kl. 2:23

Oprindeligt skrevet af BurakZG:
I see it as an alternative to an entry level gaming PC with 4060/5060. The cheapest offer for such in the big shop in my country is about 800EUR. Most is for more than 1000EUR. I think Valve has enough room to make it price competitive.

Steam might actually be taking the living room spot of an xbox. With XBOX going (probably) full on W11 console, and a hefty price tag, steam might actually be setting the bar lower. But it has to fundamentally be lower and more or less equivalent in performance to the current (or next gen) consoles. This is not meant to be a full on "PC". Just a gaming machine with a proper desktop environment that you can check emails and write stuff on. Something console users have been asking for years but never got.
If the xbox goes to over 1000 dollars as we've been getting rumours, it no longer will be a cheap living room console for the kids. PS has been slowly getting away from it for years and the next one might not be too far from the 1k price tag.
But also, this is not meant to be a powerful PC. Anyone that wants that just gets a proper PC and installs steamOS or some equivalent. It will be better, have proper upgrade and customisation options.
On the upside, steamOS might be getting a better "desktop environment".
But I don't think the steam machine will be for me, unless it's cheapppp.

#11