Valve's handheld Steam Deck is still one of the best gaming handhelds, despite being several years old at this point. A new leak suggests Valve may be working on a TV-based console and not the Steam Deck 2.
Benchmarks for the potential console, dubbed Fremont, were shared by VR leaker SadlyItsBradley on X. Some specs for the device were also shared.
This isn't the first time Fremont has been leaked, but it is the first time actual specs for the device have been revealed. The last leak, from December 2024, made the console seem more like a streaming box, a la Google Stadia (R.I.P.), than a standard console.
This time, the specs reveal a device that appears to be more powerful than the Steam Deck but not quite up to the same level as the PS5.
The benchmark reveals Fremont and another device codenamed Galileo, which may be a lower-tier version of Fremont. Both devices feature an AMD custom CPU with the model number 1772, which ahs six cores and 12 threads.
It also shows the CPU is an AMD Hawk Point 2 model, like the Ryzen 200-series mobile chip, which does suggest that it's built on the Zen 4 architecture, which AMD is still using.
On face value, the CPU appears better than the AMD Zen 2 CPU in the Steam Deck, and the 7,451 multi-core score from the benchmark appears to back that up, nearly double the seen Steam Deck scores, which I've seen closer to 4,200.
SadlyItsBradley wrote in another post that Fremont would have a dedicated RX 7600 GPU with dedicated memory, and not an integrated GPU like the Steam Deck.
Other Steam machines
They added the device might launch alongside the rumored Steam Deckard VR headset with a new Steam controller and the rumored Roy VR controllers. The Deckard headset has been tipped to release later this year; if Fremont is coming in addition, it would be quite the surprise.
Valve tried this route more than a decade ago with the Steam Machine and Steam Boxes, but with limited support and the controversial Steam Controller, it never really took off.
A weaker GPU?
At this point the Radeon RX 7600 GPU is nearly three years old, and it wasn't high-end when it launched. Plus, it's odd that the device is listed as featuring 8GB of memory; the Steam Deck features 16GB of RAM.
Bradley claims the benchmark comes from Quanta factory debug, which suggests the tested Fremont is a prototype since that term refers to testing a device for commercial viability.
If this is a new console from Valve, I'd be surprised if the company released it with a weaker GPU and less memory than the Steam Deck. Something with 16GB of RAM and perhaps a newer mid-range Radeon RX 9060 XT GPU.
When could it arrive?
There's no word on when this new "Steam Box" could arrive. If SadlyItsBradley's prediction is true, it could launch with the Deckard headset. That device is allegedly going to debut before the end of 2025.
We've got a few months before the end of the year, so we'll have to wait patiently with our ear to the ground for any more rumors.
Still, SteamOS is coming to more devices making a Steam console a potential reality sooner than later.
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