Club Benefits
The first reviews for the highly anticipated Steam Machine have gone live… and the verdict is decidedly mixed.
The SteamOS-powered mini PC is Valve’s latest attempt to deliver a premium, console-like experience for your Steam library. It starts at $1,049 for the 512GB model and jumps to $1,428 for the 2TB model with a controller. Yes, this is one expensive piece of kit!
We’ll be getting a Steam Machine in soon for review, so for now, let’s take a look at what some prominent tech reviewers have to say about the Steam Machine.
What are reviewers saying about the Steam Machine?
One aspect that’s receiving consistent praise is the Steam Machine’s design. Digital Foundry calls it “beautiful hardware,” and the other outlets agree that the small cube form factor feels premium and fits a living room setup. Valve’s mini PC apparently runs cool and quiet, and the front-facing ports (such as a microSD reader) are well placed for easy access.
“Valve's beautifully tiny console-like PC is finally here," says Digital Foundry. "And from a form factor perspective, it's kind of irresistible. Imagine a taller Nintendo Gamecube, and you have some idea of how tiny this thing is.”
Another thing reviewers like is SteamOS itself, which I’ve praised on the Steam Deck. Digital Foundry says that SteamOS is “fantastic,” and IGN notes that the Steam Machine boots straight into big picture mode while still letting you drop into the Linux desktop mode for other tasks, if needed. Basically, you get the same basic UI experience as on the Steam Deck, which is great.
Things get more complicated when it comes to performance. Linus Tech Tips, in particular, noted some big swings in their benchmarks. For instance, Shadow of the Tomb Raider ran above 120 frames per second at 4K resolution, but Cyberpunk 2077, with ray tracing enabled, hobbled along at 15 fps at 1080p. However, without ray tracing and the frame-boosting FSR enabled, IGN got the latter to run at 42 fps.
Richard Leadbetter, Digital Foundry
Valve's beautifully tiny console-like PC is finally here. And from a form factor perspective, it's kind of irresistible. Imagine a taller Nintendo Gamecube, and you have some idea of how tiny this thing is.”
Linus Sebastian, Linus Tech Tips
“I was really hoping that this was going to bring PC gaming to the mainstream living room... But this is a premium price, even though I wouldn't say it's a premium product."
IGN
"It is easily the best living room PC our reviewer has ever used, despite being a bit weaker than either of the base consoles."
Comparison-wise, Digital Foundry says the Steam Machine performs between an RX 6600 and RX 7600, which are GPUs that can deftly handle 1080p/1440p high settings. However, the Steam Machine's 8GB of VRAM becomes a limitation for gaming at 4K with ray tracing.
"It is easily the best living room PC our reviewer has ever used, despite being a bit weaker than either of the base consoles," says IGN.
Naturally, the thing all reviews keep coming back to is the Steam Machine’s price. IGN says the cost is “a major factor in who to recommend this to,” while Digital Foundry wonders if the hardware justifies the cost, given the performance level.
“It cost more than we hoped, and Valve confirmed they feel the same way,” said Linus Tech Tips, which is likely why their video is titled: "Even Valve is disappointed." Linus also said, “I was really hoping that this was going to bring PC gaming to the mainstream living room... But this is a premium price, even though I wouldn't say it's a premium product," says Linus Tech Tips.
Many of the comments across all three video reviews say they can build a strong PC for a similar price, and that it’s hard to justify Valve’s platform over a PS5 Pro (currently $899) or a proper desktop.
IGN had the most positive take, saying: “We love a lot about it, had some issues with it, but overall came away from our time with it feeling very positive.” The outlet specifically says it’s great if you have a large Steam library and want something that just works in the living room without any tinkering.
Outlook
Overall, early reviews of the Steam Machine agree that it is a well-designed piece of hardware that delivers on the promise of a convenient SteamOS living room box. Of course, the main sticking point is whether the performance and convenience are enough to justify the lofty asking price.
Again, we’ll have a full review of the Steam Machine for you soon, so stay tuned for that and additional coverage on Valve’s latest gaming machine.
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