The chip almost looks like a cut down AMD Ryzen AI Max 385, but with fewer CPU cores and GPU CUs, but the GPU gets its own dedicated VRAM, rather than sharing it, like it does in something like a Framework Desktop.
It also seems like it gets a decent amount of power, so likely at higher clock speeds, performance should be pretty good for not that much money. If this is supposed to be a console then it can't be much more than a PS5 at $550 or PS5 Pro at $750.
Dave2D mentioned that Valve said it isn't aiming to directly compete with consoles, but rather sff PCs. So the price will likely be in the $700-900 range(?)
I believe that Valve can afford to sell hardware at cost or even a little in the red. Getting people in the steam store ecosystem makes it back and then some in the long term.
Normally that only works if you have DRM that locks the games to your platform, so that people don't get the hardware at a discount then use it to run someone else's software.
But, in Valve's case, it really has no competitors in the PC gaming space. That might not last forever, but it almost certainly will last as long as this PC / console is around.
They said they wanted to sell it at PC prices not console prices. Probably because this thing is literally a PC that can be used without ever downloading a single game. If it were too cheap companies could buy it as cheap office PCs.
Is it an APU, or is it a "desktop" CPU and GPU on one board? CPU specs are close to the 7600x but downlocked. And with dedicated vram I'd assume the GPU is it's own separate thing.
GPU looks like it's probably a tweaked RX 7400 based on the specs.
This seems to blur the lines between desktop and mobile APU's, but I would bet that's it's closer to a higher clocked mobile chip, than it is to desktop. The only reason I think this is the case is due to the similarity spec wise with the Max 385, and that it's semi-custom.
If it was just a 7600x CPU + 7600 GPU I think they would have just said so.
It could be separate CPU+GPU, but I think it might be possible that it is built more like a SOC, where the GPU is just given its own dedicated VRAM.
Looking at the hardware of say a PS5, it has 16 GB of GDRR6, the same as the Steam Machine's VRAM.
If everything is soldered anyway, there is no reason to have separate chips for CPU+GPU, especially if that hardware already exists like the AMD Ryzen AI Max line.
Well I'm probably wrong then, framework said they couldn't get good performance and maintain signal integrity with upgradable memory for the Ryzen Max cpus, so this is likely discrete Cpu and GPU. Probably all soldered in the same mainboard though.
Well I'm probably wrong then, framework said they couldn't get good performance and maintain signal integrity with upgradable memory for the Ryzen Max cpus
On the other hand, Framework is run by far right sympathizers and are a few billion short of what Valve's R&D might have access too.
If everything is soldered anyway, there is no reason to have separate chips for CPU+GPU, especially if that hardware already exists like the AMD Ryzen AI Max line.
Cost is a factor because just as with Steam Deck the two SKUs will only differ in storage space, not in performance. Using last gen RDNA3 is 100% a cost driven choice.
There was the story recently that AMD demanded a very high minimum order (10 million or so?) for semi-custom versions of the lasest Ryzen and RDNA iterations for some Xbox handheld which is unlikely that handheld would sell.
By going this route, Valve avoided this. Surely there is spare manufacturing capacity for RDNA3 by now.
I would have thought unified memory would pay off, otherwise you spend your time shuffling stuff between system memory and vram. Isn't the deck unified memory?
What you lose shuffling between CPU and GPU you gain by not having your GPU and CPU sharing the same bandwidth.
Apple gets away with it by having an ungodly massive memory bus. I don't think valve is getting a 512 bit memory bus on what's probably a RX 7400/Ryzen 7600 tier CPU. Both of those combined would be like half that?
Apple gets away with it by having an ungodly massive memory bus.
It's kind of impressive how effective Apple's marketing team was towards developers when they started that push towards ARM PCs. A lot of people can remember that having shared memory benefits from not having to copy memory between the CPU and GPU, but barely any of them remember that the only reason it's feasible is because Apple gave their devices insanely high memory bandwidth.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, look no further than the original Nintendo Switch. With an incredible 64-bit memory bus and 1600MHz memory clock speed, it was already being bottlenecked by its memory bandwidth 2 years into its lifespan. And that's counting first/second-party titles like the Link's Awakening remaster, not even shitty ports of games made for other consoles.
I was going to build a gaming pc for the first time in years on Black Friday
This news put it on hold immediately. I’ll just get the Steam Machine instead, it’s exactly what I’ve wished for: a more powerful Steam Deck without a screen or controller built in.
AND it’ll run 4k games so I don’t need to downscale to my monitor.
I’m perfectly fine with it being FSR and only 60fps, as 99% of the stuff I play are single player games anyway.
I'm not the best at gauging this but it seems it's meant to be carried around and plugged into a 4K TV and operate okay at 60fps for most games that multiple people would play while in the same room. The specs seem to align with that. What would the GPU be comparable to? A 6700 (non XT)?
Moore's Law is Dead is estimating a $425 cost to produce, sale price between $450 to $600, depending on how hard they want to fuck Microsoft out of gaming.
This is not only about gaming. If this low consume high performance sweety is actually affordable, 2026 could actually become the biggest year ever for Linux users. SteamOS is based on Arch Linux, and considering the power of the machine, editing should be more than doable. Now, i'm not too sure about the current compatibility/emulation of windows native software on linux, but with a substantial increase in desktop users, there could be some serious breakthrough, just like we already had with Proton for the games.
I don't think that's what they mean. They mean it'll show these companies that there's a market and money to be made by releasing Linux versions of their software.
Litetally two days ago, I said that Proton is the most important project in the history of linux, in terms of getting linux to a mass adoption / user base.
Got mostly downvotes.
Then this happens.
Another thing I'vr been saying for a while:
Kernel Anti Cheat profileration in huge AAA games has the effect of stymying wider linux adoption.
It will be MSFT's last trump card, now that they're basically just a mega publisher, in terms of video games.
The GabeCube looks awesome! The GabeGoggles probably aren't riddled with spyware. The controller fucks so hard it could be an aphrodisiac. Massive win for valve today.
The only thing the old Steam Machines were missing a decade ago was good Linux compatibility via Proton, but now we've got that! I have literally never been more excited for a new "console." Goodbye, Steam Deck.
Goodbye to Steam Deck for this? Both, both is good.
I'm buying this not just for TV play, but hopefully also streaming to SD as a performance upgrade (without handing a ton of money annually to GeForce for laggy inputs), as someone who hasn't had a desktop to do that in a long while. At that point, Steam Deck is a GabeCube accessory turning it into a Switch.
After finally getting a pay raise and trying Switch 2, the size is pretty subjective. I appreciate SD's bigger size giving not only a better controller grip, but also actually good speakers.
It's totally a personal preference thing, but the Deck really deserves the love it's gotten. The screen and speakers are amazing, which is rare for handhelds. I have high hopes for the AYN Thor as an eventual successor to my 3DS.
Ah, I should keep an eye on that.
I love Steam Deck but the 3DS is the best console I've ever had, and was hoping some replacements would be available in 20 years when it breaks and used are hard to find.
Thank you for your sacrifice. The same thing happens to me at my bus stop whenever I open my umbrella on a rainy day. The bus arrives as soon as I open it.
The Steam Machine will not be $700 I'm certain. I'm betting around the $300-400 mark. I think most are assuming around $400 based on the fairly weak hardware (8GB of VRAM i+is of particular note), but they make money from sales on the market. I wouldn't be surprised if they sell it as a loss, because anyone they move off of console to PC is an even larger profit in the long term than any profit they could make from hardware sales.
Consoles used to be sold at a loss when they were competing more on hardware rather than peer pressure and brand loyalty. Now they're sold at a profit and they require a subscription to use the internet you're already paying for, and they get a cut of sales. Valve would be stupid not to try to undercut them.
Love to see it! Been very excited about the rumors of the steam machine! Probably won't get one for a while cuz money, but I'll probably pick up a steam controller!
What a moronic question to ask on a Steam Deck sub?
Of course I have, and Steam deck was priced very aggressively, but info on who makes this Steam Machine and how it will be priced is 100% absent here.
There was a pretty massive attempt at launching steam machines years before Steam Deck, and that it didn't go well.
Following a two-year testing period, Steam Machines and its related hardware were released on November 10, 2015. By 2018, many Steam Machine models were no longer offered on the Steam store.
How does that raise the question whether I'm aware of Steam Deck????
The LED strip? It's on the units that have already been tested and demo'd. What looks really interesting is the (presumably optional) front panel display that shows machine vitals. I've only seen that mentioned on some articles and videos.
Pretty exciting announcement! I was thinking about building a new rig and retiring my current machine with a 3080 to the TV. This might change that.
What I'm more curious about is how are the folks at Microsoft reacting to this news, since it sounds like the next Xbox was essentially going to be a PC. With Valve doing it first and the fact that the Steam store is so huge, I'm imagining this makes them a bit nervous.
If I were 20 years older, I'd be happy to spec out a mini-ITX build. But with a 3 year old running my life, my time is limited and if the price of this is right, it might make more sense for where my current life is at.
if you have time to play videogames on one of these you also have the time to build your own pc. You don't have to anyway, you can pay someone to build it for you, the price would be about the same.
Yeah, it seems that they have different color and graphics face plates, but what looked really cool to me was the actual live display front panel showing machine vitals. Someone in comments mentioned that it's e-ink. Very interesting.
I won't be able to afford the Steam Machine at launch, but it will probably be a long time before I can easily get one anyway. Pretty sure I'm going to be jumping ship from traditional consoles to Valve with the way the industry is going. They've really impressed me with the Steam Deck.
I wonder if I'll be able to drag and drop the game and save files for my non-Steam games from the Steam Deck to the Steam Machine and have them just work? That would be nice!
Right, like I said, 4k120hz is a very limited market. However, for those of us with living room OLEDs, 4k120hz would be very much appreciated. The couch gaming experience on a 77 inch 4k120hz oled is pretty wicked.
It's been a long time since I looked at consoles, how many games will render at 120 fps? I thought developers would try to find a balance between fps and graphical fidelity. Do games have uncapped fps now?
They’re becoming more common though. The Sony oled I just got does 4k120. I’m bummed it doesn’t have hdmi 2.1 though. VRR would have been nice but maybe the hardware is powerful enough it won’t need it.
Fair enough. The displayport has limited use though, given how there aren't many (any?) large 4k120hz televisions with displayport. And let me be clear, that's no dig against displayport (which is the better standard). As far as I know, certain shady license deals keep hdmi artificially ubiquitous on televisions.
That same shadiness is why AMD GPUs can't directly support HDMI 2.1 on Linux. But there are workarounds like DP to HDMI converters or using 4:2:0 which is tolerable for non-HDR gaming at least (not so much general PC use).
Yeh this will make it a tough choice for me. Have an OLED TV and playing something like Hades 2 in 4K120 would be really nice. Maybe a USBC hub/adapter could do the trick but that’s kinda weird and an extra cost. Definitely dampened my hype for it sadly.
Eh, that's not really how it works. It all comes down to the HDMI standard. The HDMI 2.0 used by the steam box has a max officially supported output of 4k60hz. You need HDMI 2.1 to get 4k 120hz - regardless of the capability of your machine.
Linux PC gaming is already here. The only games that don't work with Proton are if the developers specifically disable support for Linux (via intrusive anti cheat).
I'm a bit concerned about the vram situation. 8Gb is not a lot nowadays, particularly if you start adding stuff like ai framegen and stuff which these types of machines tend to need further down the line.
An extra 8gb wouldn't have killed the profit margins.
Given that they'd have locked in the supply at least half a year ago, though, it would be funny (though unrealistic) to find out they contributed to the price hike 😂
As a deck owner, it's not that powerful, you're never going to drive it at full settings on most modern games, so the size of the vram does not matter all that much.
Also, the GPU already does the cache work itself if the vram is full anyway, and GDDR is much faster than regular DDR, which is why you see stuttering on 8gb GPUs when texture resolution is pushing the limits.
With the spot price if GDDR6 modules it's frankly disappointing to only see 8gb.
Plus, add in the fact that FSR/DLSS models take up valuable vram size to work for framegen and stuff, it reduces even more the availability for actual data.
It seems to just be a 7600m laptop GPU which comes with 8Gb. I don't think this is a custom chip like SONY uses but, just off the shelf stuff AMD sold for a discount.
Those are the only officially supported devices. They do also provide instructions on how to install SteamOS on other devices, and even encourage feedback on the experience.
They provide the instructions, but last time I checked they took down the install files. Im hoping they come back because i would love to give it a try on my system.
Edit: Just rechecked and it looks like everything is there including files. I know what im doing tonight!
If I am correct, CPU in this one is approx 7600x-7900x which i fucking cool! I got HX99G and I love my little machine. It seems that insides of Steam Machine are a little bit better, which is fucking insane and probably will mean that prices are not going to be super high. In any case, seems to be a very stable machine to run games on with a 4k TV.
I'm excited to see what it can do at idle power draw along with the price. This can end up being a really good miniPC if it's priced as competitively as the Deck was when that launched
That looks really cool! I'll likely pick up a couple of the new controllers, but I've currently got a few mini PCs scattered around the house for gaming so I won't need a steam machine until one of these craps out on me. But I'm very excited for the folks who will be able to get and enjoy it!
Yes, Steam Machine is optimized for gaming, but it's still your PC. Install your own apps, or even another operating system. Who are we to tell you how to use your computer?
I wonder if this means it's less locked down the Deck? Like is it kind of an iPad vs Mac situation? When I got the Deck and it was my only CPU travelling around at one point, I tried installing some general tools so I could get some actual work done on the road. Things were fairly heavily sandboxed, though nothing was a total deal-breaker I guess?
Curious about this too. I love my Steam Deck, but Desktop Mode is horrible. You can't install apps from the command line because they just get deleted on every update, including CUPS which made printing a huge hassle. You have to jump through hoops to get it to mount an external hard drive automatically. I could never get Discord voice or video chats to actually work. But if you install a separate distro, you lose out on the performance settings that are locked to Game Mode.
Now that Valve is actually doing a desktop, I'd love to use this as my daily driver so my old ThinkPad can finally rest. I'm hoping Valve will finally fine-tune Desktop Mode so people can actually use it. Or at least not throttle performance if people want to install a different OS. Maybe they could even let us boot directly into Desktop Mode this time?
Exactly, if you're a hardware designer, no amount of money will turn you into a software developer within a month. A dollar of software development is not equal to a dollar of product design. That's the mindset of shareholders. "Give me $12.99 engineering, and give it now"
They have said in interviews that the main reason they made it was to respond to the fact that the majority of steam deck owners keep it docked to a TV most of the time. It is meant to be a living room appliance with all the sound and heat dissipation issues related.
It's smaller than an Xbox and barely larger than a GameCube. According to the reviewers that saw it, it is also much quieter and smaller than the smallest ITX case, while also being six times more powerful than the deck. It's targeting a very specific audience that just wants a plug and play gaming experience and don't want the hassle of PC building.
I imagine that's because that's what they tried back in 2015 with the Alienware steam machine.
Because they were forced to do the work of making a custom cpu for the handheld, now they have the contracts and relationships to tailor a CPU for their 2026 machine. But you can tell they still want it to be primarily a PC because they only "lightly modified" it.
After investigating various releases, I suspect that that) slightly modified likely mostly means 'directly welded to the motherboard instead of socketed' and it is otherwise probably mostly stock.
I imagine the direct welding is a cost-saving measure to make the product more competitive with consoles.
Given that they announced that the recovery image should now work with a wide variety of systems and that they have stated in multiple places that they plan to eventually release a general version of the OS, they've done the work of making it compatible with mostly all AMD stuff. My bet is they're also working with Nvidia and and their driver support is the holdup.
Why are people so excited about what looks like custom proprietary hardware designed to have a limited lifespawn and that will end up in a landfill in less than a decade?
I'm seriously stoked about this, even though I'm not planning to buy any of the new hardware! It all comes down to the fact that Valve's hardware projects force them to pump huge resources into open-source development, and we all get the benefits. That means the compatibility tools like Proton—which are essential for the high-end Steam Machine and Steam Frame—are immediately available to my desktop rig. By pushing Linux into the living room, VR, and high-performance space, they're pressuring game developers to finally treat Linux as a serious platform. Basically, Valve's huge investment accelerates development and developer adoption, which makes my own Linux desktop a way better and will hopefully get more people into Linux and open source.
Remember that valve main product is a proprietary third party software launcher that doesn't share much with what linux stand for. With this hardware to me it looks like they are trying to make a console out of a pc.
And yet, with Proton they're one of the biggest contributors to Linux adoption in the past several years. They're allowing millions of users to cut the last string that was binding them to Windows
And yet, with Proton they’re one of the biggest contributors to Linux adoption in the past several years.
They are also routing million of users through a proprietary third software launcher. Don't forget that steam was built on and fueled the windows ecosystem for two decades.
Most people don't really use windowns because they like it but because of the third parties applications that only run on windows, so yea you can point the finger at third parties.
Most people don't really use windowns because they like it but because of the third parties applications that only run on windows
Most techies, maybe. MAYBE. Linux has not been anywhere near user friendly enough over the past 2 decades to be remotely usable by normal people. Not a chance.
If only a giant corporation like steam made their own Linux based OS and poured huge resources into an open source compatibility layer(maybe even call It proton) that would move more people to Linux and even create more incentive for third party developers to have Linux versions of their applications because of the growing market sjare of end users using linux that would be exciting.... 👀👀👀
I wish it had a more defined upgrade path, I really do. I was actually going to get a Framework 16 until their controversy came to light. For those of us who care for that sort of thing, the only game in town left the building.
So my answer is that this device checks all my boxes except for that. It's built with Linux in mind, it's small, it's not a laptop, it has quality assurance and I don't have to build it myself, and it can run all my favorite games. And it is still repairable, just not upgradable. But I'm going to get as much life as I can get out of it, and I'm not going to just throw it out or sell it when the next Steam Machine comes around. I'll make do with what I have until it breaks or becomes unusable.
I didn't want to get too specific, but by "that sort of thing" I meant not supporting companies who financially contribute to certain political organizations and individuals. That's a personal decision and I didn't want to ruffle any feathers on an unrelated thread.
I'll also say that not everyone wants to build their own PC and would prefer the assurance that everything will just work out of the box, yet still don't want a locked-down experience that you'd get with consoles. And that's okay.
Steam Deck was one-of-a-kind for having a console-like pricing model, while having a high ifixit repairability score, and because it's not a custom build, there's a tutorial out there for most repairs or other problems you'll encounter. So that's pretty reliable in my book.
I’ll also say that not everyone wants to build their own PC and would prefer the assurance that everything will just work out of the box, yet still don’t want a locked-down experience that you’d get with consoles. And that’s okay.
some people don't want to cook their launch and get mcdonald
This is a custom small form factor PC with many of its components being user replaceable. The GPU and CPU are soldered, which is unfortunate, but it is still significantly more upgradable and repairable than any other console that has existed. So what the hell are you on about?
And Valve already has a partnership with iFixit to offer replacement parts for their handheld gaming device, the Steam Deck, and they intended to continue that partnership with their new hardware products.
I think you're just dumb and don't know what you're talking about.
This is a custom small form factor PC with many of its components being user replaceable. The GPU and CPU are soldered, which is unfortunate, but it is still significantly more upgradable and repairable than any other console that has existed. So what the hell are you on about?
Well there seems to be exactly one component that's upgradable that you don't have on the other consoles, which is the RAM. And at first sight I think you'll have to remove the heatsink to get to it.
If you want any 'usable' upgradability it's better to compare to modern minipc's where you can easily replace the RAM and WiFi, have multiple SSD slots and even have the option to connect an external GPU.
This is a custom small form factor PC with many of its components being user replaceable. The GPU and CPU are soldered, which is unfortunate, but it is still significantly more upgradable and repairable than any other console that has existed. So what the hell are you on about?
Consoles are garbage, bringing a PC close to these is rowing in the wrong direction. Their presentation doesn't say much about components being replaceable and hint at fix storage. GPU is one of the most important pieces in a machine that is supposed to be dedicated to videogames
I think you’re just dumb and don’t know what you’re talking about.
You are on lemmy, a decentralized and open source platform that doesn't share peanuts with steam or for profit companies like valve, i may be dump but i encourage you to learn more about open source software/hardware and decentralized platforms.
It's a console for PC gaming. Consoles have always been like that. The original Steam Machines were small modular PCs built by system integrators and they sold barely any of them.
What makes you think you wouldn't be able to load a different Linux distro on this box? Sounds like it's just a PC with steam OS pre-installed. Or are you just against an OS being pre-installed?
I mean the hardware is a cool toy but everyone else here is excited for the software that will be available and accessible elsewhere. Gotta be honest sounds like you just want to hate it lol which more power to you but you're not really making sense to me. 🤷
I'm not a hardware guy, how is this different from the Steam Deck? Is the hardware here used of crappy quality by comparison? I thought most people liked the Deck (and everyone in here, I thought this is general Linux for a second), I sure do and will likely use it for a decade.
Well I know that, but isn't that good in the context of waste (OP's problem)? Since PS6 hasn't been released yet, it's seems the PS5-like specs here will last a decade and be future proof enough. PS4 is almost 13 years old and still has games coming out. The Switch 2 is PS4 level and it seems to be successful for now, and Steam Deck was aiming for that benchmark too.
(You can tell I'm a tech idiot by how I measure power in Playstations)
The difference is in the form factor. The Steam Deck is a purpose-built device for handheld gaming, with the expectation that it won't be useful for AAA games that push current PC hardware. It's found that niche and serves very, very well there. For that reason, it will likely outlive its tech specs - it will continue to work for many lower-spec indie games, because expectations will be reasonable.
The Steam Machine, on the other hand, is positioned as something that can play all current games (that aren't kernel-level DRMed to hell and back, at least). These become outdated the moment new games start coming out that run poorly on it. Since it's not upgradeable, the whole device becomes outdated and will need to be replaced if you want to play the next new hotness at a good FPS.
The thing is that since Steam Deck's release, a lot of competitors made handhelds, and it's mostly keeping up because of SteamOS. It sounds to me like Valve just needs the Steam Machine to once again offer software, convenience etc. above everyone else in the couch gaming market this is aiming for.
Then the only upgrade most users would want is from Valve themselves, but the same goes for Steam Deck - they said they might make a new one with a big enough generational leap, and then the old SD's become outdated too. We had emulation machines before Steam Deck - being able to play last gen games on it was still a big appeal.
Also, is constantly upgrading PCs better, when instead of selling off/scrapping the PUs and other parts every 5-10 years, you sell off/scrap PUs annually? I don't think people doing that are the target audience here anyway. I think some patient gamers would buy a used GabeCube 15 years from now for a low price.
SteamOS, the trackpads that drastically increase the breadth of games that are reasonable to play on it, AND the price-to-performance ratio that blows nearly everything else out of the water.
You're not wrong; it's possible that the SM will see a longer lifespan than its specs suggest. I do think it's more likely to get bumped in less time than the SD though.
The steam deck is a portable device, soldering components and custom parts in devices that need to be small it's more justifiable because it can save space. This box on the other hand is a SFF pc that has to be small only for marketing reasons.
200 Comments
magiccupcake@lemmy.world · 82 pts · 275d
This thing has pretty interesting hardware:
The chip almost looks like a cut down AMD Ryzen AI Max 385, but with fewer CPU cores and GPU CUs, but the GPU gets its own dedicated VRAM, rather than sharing it, like it does in something like a Framework Desktop.
It also seems like it gets a decent amount of power, so likely at higher clock speeds, performance should be pretty good for not that much money. If this is supposed to be a console then it can't be much more than a PS5 at $550 or PS5 Pro at $750.
abfarid@startrek.website · 37 pts · 275d
Dave2D mentioned that Valve said it isn't aiming to directly compete with consoles, but rather sff PCs. So the price will likely be in the $700-900 range(?)
kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 13 pts · 275d
I can see this going for around $750 personally
ekZepp@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 274d
Below this price it will literally "evaporate" in seconds after release.
sanpo@sopuli.xyz · 9 pts · 274d
It probably will anyway.
Index and Steam Deck both sold like crazy on release, Valve has already proven itself with their hardware.
ekZepp@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 274d
Last time they've locked the sell on account base. Hopefully they'll do the same this times too.
JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca · 5 pts · 275d
You're not fitting a 6 core processor and a **60esque card in a ssf case for less than $1k I don't think, so even $900 is competitive
Smokeydope@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 274d
I believe that Valve can afford to sell hardware at cost or even a little in the red. Getting people in the steam store ecosystem makes it back and then some in the long term.
merc@sh.itjust.works · 9 pts · 274d
Normally that only works if you have DRM that locks the games to your platform, so that people don't get the hardware at a discount then use it to run someone else's software.
But, in Valve's case, it really has no competitors in the PC gaming space. That might not last forever, but it almost certainly will last as long as this PC / console is around.
warmaster@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 274d
Well, they already did that with the Deck, they earn very little from the hardware. Chances are they'll do the same.
bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de · 2 pts · 273d
They said they wanted to sell it at PC prices not console prices. Probably because this thing is literally a PC that can be used without ever downloading a single game. If it were too cheap companies could buy it as cheap office PCs.
Harbinger01173430@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 274d
I think you can. The Ryzen 7600 and Rx 7600 are kinda cheap nowadays, even better if you use a 7500f.
You use a Chinese b650 ITX motherboard around 150 dollars and boom. You don't need to buy expensive stuff to make a passable small PC.
fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 7 pts · 275d
Is it an APU, or is it a "desktop" CPU and GPU on one board? CPU specs are close to the 7600x but downlocked. And with dedicated vram I'd assume the GPU is it's own separate thing.
GPU looks like it's probably a tweaked RX 7400 based on the specs.
magiccupcake@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 275d
This seems to blur the lines between desktop and mobile APU's, but I would bet that's it's closer to a higher clocked mobile chip, than it is to desktop. The only reason I think this is the case is due to the similarity spec wise with the Max 385, and that it's semi-custom.
If it was just a 7600x CPU + 7600 GPU I think they would have just said so. It could be separate CPU+GPU, but I think it might be possible that it is built more like a SOC, where the GPU is just given its own dedicated VRAM.
Looking at the hardware of say a PS5, it has 16 GB of GDRR6, the same as the Steam Machine's VRAM.
If everything is soldered anyway, there is no reason to have separate chips for CPU+GPU, especially if that hardware already exists like the AMD Ryzen AI Max line.
abfarid@startrek.website · 6 pts · 275d
According to Dave2D's review, RAM is upgradeable, and GPU has dedicated VRAM.
magiccupcake@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 275d
Well I'm probably wrong then, framework said they couldn't get good performance and maintain signal integrity with upgradable memory for the Ryzen Max cpus, so this is likely discrete Cpu and GPU. Probably all soldered in the same mainboard though.
Lumisal@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 275d
On the other hand, Framework is run by far right sympathizers and are a few billion short of what Valve's R&D might have access too.
panda_abyss@lemmy.ca · 0 pts · 53d
That has nothing to do with this…
That’s like saying Steam has rape simulators so they probably don’t know how to make a controller.
woelkchen@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 275d
Cost is a factor because just as with Steam Deck the two SKUs will only differ in storage space, not in performance. Using last gen RDNA3 is 100% a cost driven choice.
There was the story recently that AMD demanded a very high minimum order (10 million or so?) for semi-custom versions of the lasest Ryzen and RDNA iterations for some Xbox handheld which is unlikely that handheld would sell.
By going this route, Valve avoided this. Surely there is spare manufacturing capacity for RDNA3 by now.
YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 275d
To keep the package small, they might still have laptop type discreet GPU, just integrated on the same board.
stsquad@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 275d
I would have thought unified memory would pay off, otherwise you spend your time shuffling stuff between system memory and vram. Isn't the deck unified memory?
fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 6 pts · 275d
What you lose shuffling between CPU and GPU you gain by not having your GPU and CPU sharing the same bandwidth.
Apple gets away with it by having an ungodly massive memory bus. I don't think valve is getting a 512 bit memory bus on what's probably a RX 7400/Ryzen 7600 tier CPU. Both of those combined would be like half that?
pivot_root@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 274d
It's kind of impressive how effective Apple's marketing team was towards developers when they started that push towards ARM PCs. A lot of people can remember that having shared memory benefits from not having to copy memory between the CPU and GPU, but barely any of them remember that the only reason it's feasible is because Apple gave their devices insanely high memory bandwidth.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, look no further than the original Nintendo Switch. With an incredible 64-bit memory bus and 1600MHz memory clock speed, it was already being bottlenecked by its memory bandwidth 2 years into its lifespan. And that's counting first/second-party titles like the Link's Awakening remaster, not even shitty ports of games made for other consoles.
mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 273d
2 separate chips, both soldered to the board
lepinkainen@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 274d
I was going to build a gaming pc for the first time in years on Black Friday
This news put it on hold immediately. I’ll just get the Steam Machine instead, it’s exactly what I’ve wished for: a more powerful Steam Deck without a screen or controller built in.
AND it’ll run 4k games so I don’t need to downscale to my monitor.
I’m perfectly fine with it being FSR and only 60fps, as 99% of the stuff I play are single player games anyway.
SparroHawc@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 274d
With 8GB of VRAM, 4K gaming will suffer some.
lepinkainen@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 274d
4k FSR, so it’s not rendered at 4k, but upscaled on the GPU
Which I’m perfectly fine with
SparroHawc@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 274d
Then it's not actually running games at 4K, now, is it?
lepinkainen@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 273d
Nope, and I’m perfectly fine with it. It’s still better than 1080p
LodeMike@lemmy.today · 4 pts · 275d
I'm not the best at gauging this but it seems it's meant to be carried around and plugged into a 4K TV and operate okay at 60fps for most games that multiple people would play while in the same room. The specs seem to align with that. What would the GPU be comparable to? A 6700 (non XT)?
Prunebutt@slrpnk.net · 5 pts · 275d
GamersNexus estimates a 7600.
Ugurcan@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 275d
I’m wondering how much horsepower this stationary device have compared to a PS5 or Series X.
sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 3 pts · 274d
Moore's Law is Dead is estimating a $425 cost to produce, sale price between $450 to $600, depending on how hard they want to fuck Microsoft out of gaming.
Harbinger01173430@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 274d
I suspect the CPU is probably some Ryzen 7640u and the GPU is a 7600m equivalent.
This doesn't seem to be an APU
qwestjest78@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 274d
Retro Game Corps was estimating $500-$600 and they are defintely out to lunch with that
SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 274d
Depends on tariffs.
brachiosaurus@mander.xyz · 0 pts · 274d
You call pretty interesting hardware what looks like non-replaceable parts?
ekZepp@lemmy.world · 52 pts · 274d
This is not only about gaming. If this low consume high performance sweety is actually affordable, 2026 could actually become the biggest year ever for Linux users. SteamOS is based on Arch Linux, and considering the power of the machine, editing should be more than doable. Now, i'm not too sure about the current compatibility/emulation of windows native software on linux, but with a substantial increase in desktop users, there could be some serious breakthrough, just like we already had with Proton for the games.
kilgore_trout@feddit.it · 15 pts · 274d
The relevant bit is not that SteamOS is based on Arch, but that it is running KDE Plasma desktop.
Most desktop users are not going to turn developers.
Cethin@lemmy.zip · 15 pts · 274d
I don't think that's what they mean. They mean it'll show these companies that there's a market and money to be made by releasing Linux versions of their software.
ekZepp@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 274d
Both really.
sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 9 pts · 274d
Litetally two days ago, I said that Proton is the most important project in the history of linux, in terms of getting linux to a mass adoption / user base.
Got mostly downvotes.
Then this happens.
Another thing I'vr been saying for a while:
Kernel Anti Cheat profileration in huge AAA games has the effect of stymying wider linux adoption.
It will be MSFT's last trump card, now that they're basically just a mega publisher, in terms of video games.
imetators@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 3 pts · 274d
The bearded madman did it! He really nailed it!
Smokeydope@lemmy.world · 41 pts · 274d
The GabeCube looks awesome! The GabeGoggles probably aren't riddled with spyware. The controller fucks so hard it could be an aphrodisiac. Massive win for valve today.
madjo@feddit.nl · 8 pts · 274d
Valve just casually changing the entire PC gaming landscape on a Wednesday...
IzzyJ@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 274d
They used to do it with their games, now it's with their hardware
MystValkyrie@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 36 pts · 274d
Companion Cube 😍
The only thing the old Steam Machines were missing a decade ago was good Linux compatibility via Proton, but now we've got that! I have literally never been more excited for a new "console." Goodbye, Steam Deck.
Datz@szmer.info · 18 pts · 274d
Goodbye to Steam Deck for this? Both, both is good.
I'm buying this not just for TV play, but hopefully also streaming to SD as a performance upgrade (without handing a ton of money annually to GeForce for laggy inputs), as someone who hasn't had a desktop to do that in a long while. At that point, Steam Deck is a GabeCube accessory turning it into a Switch.
MystValkyrie@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 3 pts · 274d
That sounds like the perfect setup! If the Steam Deck were smaller, that's exactly what I'd do too.
Datz@szmer.info · 7 pts · 274d
After finally getting a pay raise and trying Switch 2, the size is pretty subjective. I appreciate SD's bigger size giving not only a better controller grip, but also actually good speakers.
MystValkyrie@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 4 pts · 274d
It's totally a personal preference thing, but the Deck really deserves the love it's gotten. The screen and speakers are amazing, which is rare for handhelds. I have high hopes for the AYN Thor as an eventual successor to my 3DS.
Datz@szmer.info · 3 pts · 274d
Ah, I should keep an eye on that. I love Steam Deck but the 3DS is the best console I've ever had, and was hoping some replacements would be available in 20 years when it breaks and used are hard to find.
Rooster326@programming.dev · 9 pts · 274d
I, for one, can't wait for the limited edition companion cube edition to get released exactly 30 days after I have my steam machine delivered.
Wahots@pawb.social · 4 pts · 274d
Thank you for your sacrifice. The same thing happens to me at my bus stop whenever I open my umbrella on a rainy day. The bus arrives as soon as I open it.
raptir@mander.xyz · 7 pts · 273d
Nah, just stream from the Steam Machine to your Steam Deck.
Sanctus@anarchist.nexus · 34 pts · 275d
Let's goooooo I just need to sell one kidney and I can complete the set
Goodlucksil@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 9 pts · 275d
It's expensive, but not that expensive.
Sanctus@anarchist.nexus · 32 pts · 275d
I meant that I am that poor
Fern@piefed.world · 6 pts · 274d
Relatable
zymagoras777@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 275d
The kidney?
Jhex@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 275d
How much is it?
Goodlucksil@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 274d
Around 700, if we follow previous trends and account for inflation.
Cethin@lemmy.zip · -2 pts · 274d
The Steam Machine will not be $700 I'm certain. I'm betting around the $300-400 mark. I think most are assuming around $400 based on the fairly weak hardware (8GB of VRAM i+is of particular note), but they make money from sales on the market. I wouldn't be surprised if they sell it as a loss, because anyone they move off of console to PC is an even larger profit in the long term than any profit they could make from hardware sales.
Consoles used to be sold at a loss when they were competing more on hardware rather than peer pressure and brand loyalty. Now they're sold at a profit and they require a subscription to use the internet you're already paying for, and they get a cut of sales. Valve would be stupid not to try to undercut them.
FishFace@piefed.social · 2 pts · 53d
lmao
Cethin@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 53d
Yeah... this didn't age well. How did you end up here 7m later?
FishFace@piefed.social · 2 pts · 53d
Someone linked the same URL today due to the release, and my instance's web UI groups posts with the same URL together... even 7 months apart!
Goodlucksil@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 274d
The 2015 steam machine was sold for 400-600, so I was basing it off that
Cethin@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 274d
It also failed. I don't really think they're going to be using it as a guideline to follow.
DoGeeseSeeGod@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 26 pts · 275d
Love to see it! Been very excited about the rumors of the steam machine! Probably won't get one for a while cuz money, but I'll probably pick up a steam controller!
uuj8za@piefed.social · 1 pts · 53d
See ya in 2027... 👋
Buffalox@lemmy.world · 22 pts · 275d
Cool, I hope they keep that idea. 😀
Anyways it all depends on price/performance is good.
Previous attempts at 3rd party Steam Machines were not good in that regard.
Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 275d
Have you heard of the Steam Deck? Things aren't the same as they were ten years ago.
Buffalox@lemmy.world · -27 pts · 275d
What a moronic question to ask on a Steam Deck sub?
Of course I have, and Steam deck was priced very aggressively, but info on who makes this Steam Machine and how it will be priced is 100% absent here.
There was a pretty massive attempt at launching steam machines years before Steam Deck, and that it didn't go well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_Machine_(computer)
How does that raise the question whether I'm aware of Steam Deck????
Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world · 17 pts · 275d
Have you heard of irony? Especially considering the sub this is in, I thought it would be obvious.
Buffalox@lemmy.world · -13 pts · 275d
I don't understand the purpose of that, or how that would be irony.
Looks just like a dumb comment to me.
Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 275d
If that's how you want to see it, that's fine.
Cricket@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 274d
The LED strip? It's on the units that have already been tested and demo'd. What looks really interesting is the (presumably optional) front panel display that shows machine vitals. I've only seen that mentioned on some articles and videos.
forgetful_fox@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 275d
I saw that area and secretly hoped for an optical drive slot, not that it would ever happen.
EveningPancakes@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 19 pts · 274d
Pretty exciting announcement! I was thinking about building a new rig and retiring my current machine with a 3080 to the TV. This might change that.
What I'm more curious about is how are the folks at Microsoft reacting to this news, since it sounds like the next Xbox was essentially going to be a PC. With Valve doing it first and the fact that the Steam store is so huge, I'm imagining this makes them a bit nervous.
jnod4@lemmy.ca · 13 pts · 274d
Never buying Microsoft after the recall bullshit. Also not paying monthly subscription to enable Internet on my device
brachiosaurus@mander.xyz · -2 pts · 274d
don't wait for this, get or build a normal pc that you can change parts anytime you want, you will not regret it.
EveningPancakes@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 14 pts · 274d
If I were 20 years older, I'd be happy to spec out a mini-ITX build. But with a 3 year old running my life, my time is limited and if the price of this is right, it might make more sense for where my current life is at.
CancerMancer@sh.itjust.works · 5 pts · 274d
I've got 3 under 10 and it's brutal trying to find time for hobbies. I paid someone to repaste my GPU and that felt weird as hell
EveningPancakes@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 3 pts · 274d
I completely understand where you're coming from, no shame in that game!
brachiosaurus@mander.xyz · -4 pts · 274d
if you have time to play videogames on one of these you also have the time to build your own pc. You don't have to anyway, you can pay someone to build it for you, the price would be about the same.
Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world · 18 pts · 275d
Prreciousssss....
We wants it!
AstroLightz@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 275d
In one of their videos on the store page, they even show the face plate being changed. :O
Cricket@lemmy.zip · 5 pts · 274d
Yeah, it seems that they have different color and graphics face plates, but what looked really cool to me was the actual live display front panel showing machine vitals. Someone in comments mentioned that it's e-ink. Very interesting.
WhatGodIsMadeOf@feddit.org · 12 pts · 274d
I'm still surprised that there's no USB c on the front. I've felt this way for 3 hours now since I first saw the picture.
dangrousperson@feddit.org · 3 pts · 274d
And only HDMI 2.0, not 2.1. At least it has DisplayPort.
madjo@mstdn.social · 14 pts · 274d
@dangrousperson @WhatGodIsMadeOf The hardware is apparently capable of HDMI 2.1, but the HDMI Forum doesn't allow open source to have HDMI 2.1 drivers.
TonyTonyChopper@mander.xyz · 2 pts · 274d
If you hook this up to a monitor you can use DisplayPort with the full features. I wish TVs had DisplayPort.
recklessengagement@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 274d
Agreed, I wonder if this has to do with pricing? I imagine they can save on PCI lanes this way, and can keep the cost of components down.
samus12345@sh.itjust.works · 12 pts · 274d
I won't be able to afford the Steam Machine at launch, but it will probably be a long time before I can easily get one anyway. Pretty sure I'm going to be jumping ship from traditional consoles to Valve with the way the industry is going. They've really impressed me with the Steam Deck.
I wonder if I'll be able to drag and drop the game and save files for my non-Steam games from the Steam Deck to the Steam Machine and have them just work? That would be nice!
bert@piefed.monster · 12 pts · 274d
I read that SD cards will be hot swappable, which seems to imply you might get your wish!
samus12345@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 274d
Oh wow, that'd be super convenient! I keep all my non-Steam games on a card and my Steam games on the console.
hanrahan@slrpnk.net · 2 pts · 274d
Wait the wait for used ?
Ferrous@lemmy.ml · 9 pts · 275d
No 4k120Hz. bummer. To be fair, 4k120hz is not a primary market pull.
Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world · 21 pts · 275d
It's for people to play on their living room TV. Most of those don't do 120 Hz.
Ferrous@lemmy.ml · 11 pts · 275d
Right, like I said, 4k120hz is a very limited market. However, for those of us with living room OLEDs, 4k120hz would be very much appreciated. The couch gaming experience on a 77 inch 4k120hz oled is pretty wicked.
Lfrith@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 274d
greedytacothief@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 274d
It's been a long time since I looked at consoles, how many games will render at 120 fps? I thought developers would try to find a balance between fps and graphical fidelity. Do games have uncapped fps now?
Lfrith@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 274d
mephiska@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 274d
They’re becoming more common though. The Sony oled I just got does 4k120. I’m bummed it doesn’t have hdmi 2.1 though. VRR would have been nice but maybe the hardware is powerful enough it won’t need it.
BootLoop@sh.itjust.works · 9 pts · 275d
It has DisplayPort 1.4 which supports 4K@120hz
Ferrous@lemmy.ml · 10 pts · 275d
Fair enough. The displayport has limited use though, given how there aren't many (any?) large 4k120hz televisions with displayport. And let me be clear, that's no dig against displayport (which is the better standard). As far as I know, certain shady license deals keep hdmi artificially ubiquitous on televisions.
vividspecter@aussie.zone · 10 pts · 275d
That same shadiness is why AMD GPUs can't directly support HDMI 2.1 on Linux. But there are workarounds like DP to HDMI converters or using 4:2:0 which is tolerable for non-HDR gaming at least (not so much general PC use).
brrt@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 275d
Yeh this will make it a tough choice for me. Have an OLED TV and playing something like Hades 2 in 4K120 would be really nice. Maybe a USBC hub/adapter could do the trick but that’s kinda weird and an extra cost. Definitely dampened my hype for it sadly.
fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 275d
I mean if you're playing older stuff it will output 4k 240. You can probably run Crysis at 4k 240 on that thing.
Ferrous@lemmy.ml · 10 pts · 275d
Eh, that's not really how it works. It all comes down to the HDMI standard. The HDMI 2.0 used by the steam box has a max officially supported output of 4k60hz. You need HDMI 2.1 to get 4k 120hz - regardless of the capability of your machine.
Unusable3151@lemmy.ml · 10 pts · 275d
I'm fairly certain that there is an issue with AMD and HDMI licensing that is a barrier here
fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 275d
Ah, I was looking at the DP specs not the HDMI.
QuoVadisHomines@sh.itjust.works · 9 pts · 273d
This is the weirdest looking humidifier I have ever seen.
PearOfJudes@lemmy.ml · 8 pts · 274d
This will no doubt be good for linux pc gaming. On the steamdeck Valve contributed greatly to the opensource proton project.
TonyTonyChopper@mander.xyz · 5 pts · 274d
Linux PC gaming is already here. The only games that don't work with Proton are if the developers specifically disable support for Linux (via intrusive anti cheat).
AceOnTrack@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 8 pts · 274d
I'm a bit concerned about the vram situation. 8Gb is not a lot nowadays, particularly if you start adding stuff like ai framegen and stuff which these types of machines tend to need further down the line.
An extra 8gb wouldn't have killed the profit margins.
Rooster326@programming.dev · 24 pts · 274d
I see you haven't checked ram prices lately...
AceOnTrack@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 5 pts · 274d
Bulk pricings has increased sure, but not to the extent consumer price did. Capitalism, ho!
AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 274d
Given that they'd have locked in the supply at least half a year ago, though, it would be funny (though unrealistic) to find out they contributed to the price hike 😂
reluctant_squidd@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 273d
Would it be safe to assume their processor/gpu magic that brought us the deck has advanced enough since then to compensate?
I’m no hardware guru, but wouldn’t it be possible to use a swap file or other methods to simulate extra ram if optimized and efficient enough?
AceOnTrack@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 1 pts · 273d
As a deck owner, it's not that powerful, you're never going to drive it at full settings on most modern games, so the size of the vram does not matter all that much.
Also, the GPU already does the cache work itself if the vram is full anyway, and GDDR is much faster than regular DDR, which is why you see stuttering on 8gb GPUs when texture resolution is pushing the limits.
With the spot price if GDDR6 modules it's frankly disappointing to only see 8gb.
Plus, add in the fact that FSR/DLSS models take up valuable vram size to work for framegen and stuff, it reduces even more the availability for actual data.
David_Eight@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 274d
It seems to just be a 7600m laptop GPU which comes with 8Gb. I don't think this is a custom chip like SONY uses but, just off the shelf stuff AMD sold for a discount.
NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone · 6 pts · 274d
I sort of gave up on upgrading my under TV Steam machine so this actually looks like a nice way back in.
captainlezbian@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 275d
Ooh that's completely unnecessary to my use but looks amazing and if I had a big enough place it would be something I'd seriously consider
ook@discuss.tchncs.de · 5 pts · 274d
anonymous111@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 274d
Is Steam OS available for public use, or only Steam devices?
Rozz@lemmy.sdf.org · 13 pts · 274d
It is available for public use. https://store.steampowered.com/sale/steamoslandingpage?l=english
WinGirl99@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 8 pts · 274d
It is also arch linux based
SuspiciousCatThing@pawb.social · 1 pts · 274d
based af
TonyTonyChopper@mander.xyz · -3 pts · 274d
They do not list support for desktops, only Steam Deck and some other handheld devices.
SparroHawc@lemmy.zip · 6 pts · 274d
Those are the only officially supported devices. They do also provide instructions on how to install SteamOS on other devices, and even encourage feedback on the experience.
Sprinks@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 274d
They provide the instructions, but last time I checked they took down the install files. Im hoping they come back because i would love to give it a try on my system.
Edit: Just rechecked and it looks like everything is there including files. I know what im doing tonight!
AceOnTrack@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 5 pts · 274d
How much jank are you willing to deal with?
anonymous111@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 274d
Minimal jank
AceOnTrack@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 274d
Use Bazzite, or ChimeraOS if you do'nt care about desktop mode
imetators@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 274d
If I am correct, CPU in this one is approx 7600x-7900x which i fucking cool! I got HX99G and I love my little machine. It seems that insides of Steam Machine are a little bit better, which is fucking insane and probably will mean that prices are not going to be super high. In any case, seems to be a very stable machine to run games on with a 4k TV.
network_switch@lemmy.ml · 4 pts · 274d
I'm excited to see what it can do at idle power draw along with the price. This can end up being a really good miniPC if it's priced as competitively as the Deck was when that launched
sqw@lemmy.sdf.org · 4 pts · 275d
🤔wonder if this would double as an hdr-compatible media pc.
rotopenguin@infosec.pub · 1 pts · 272d
I don't think the rest of Linux is ready for HDR.
And judging by my mum's LG OLED tv, nobody else is ready for HDR either.
sqw@lemmy.sdf.org · 0 pts · 272d
lg oled does hdr ok, just needs hardware/apps that support
rotopenguin@infosec.pub · 0 pts · 272d
When you're playing HDR, any movie can be a Smurf Movie.
TexasDrunk@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 275d
That looks really cool! I'll likely pick up a couple of the new controllers, but I've currently got a few mini PCs scattered around the house for gaming so I won't need a steam machine until one of these craps out on me. But I'm very excited for the folks who will be able to get and enjoy it!
lemmyng@piefed.ca · 2 pts · 275d
Getting Shuttle PC vibes from the form factor.
Cevilia@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 274d
tunetardis@piefed.ca · 2 pts · 274d
I wonder if this means it's less locked down the Deck? Like is it kind of an iPad vs Mac situation? When I got the Deck and it was my only CPU travelling around at one point, I tried installing some general tools so I could get some actual work done on the road. Things were fairly heavily sandboxed, though nothing was a total deal-breaker I guess?
lepinkainen@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 274d
You do know you can boot up to a full-ass Linux on the deck?
Afaik that side has zero sandboxes
rollerbang@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 274d
Yeah but that lock down is just there to protect most users. Afaik it doesn't require any heavy workarounds?
darkreader2636@lemmy.zip · 7 pts · 274d
yeah you can just dualboot another non-atomic distro and call it a day
MystValkyrie@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 1 pts · 274d
Curious about this too. I love my Steam Deck, but Desktop Mode is horrible. You can't install apps from the command line because they just get deleted on every update, including CUPS which made printing a huge hassle. You have to jump through hoops to get it to mount an external hard drive automatically. I could never get Discord voice or video chats to actually work. But if you install a separate distro, you lose out on the performance settings that are locked to Game Mode.
Now that Valve is actually doing a desktop, I'd love to use this as my daily driver so my old ThinkPad can finally rest. I'm hoping Valve will finally fine-tune Desktop Mode so people can actually use it. Or at least not throttle performance if people want to install a different OS. Maybe they could even let us boot directly into Desktop Mode this time?
Harbinger01173430@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 274d
That would all work when using a regular Linux distro like mint or ubuntu
SparroHawc@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 274d
FYI the way to get around updates deleting everything is to build a flatpak with the things you want, and then install that.
cron@feddit.org · 1 pts · 274d
It will run on Steam OS like the steam deck is.
If you have troubles with its protections (like the non-writeable system partition), you can just disable them.
Harbinger01173430@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 274d
I still don't get why didn't they just use an ITX motherboard with a Ryzen 7600 and a Rx 7600 in an ITX case and called it steam machine instead.
Less resources for engineering the thing that could've been sued for software development.
Rooster326@programming.dev · 4 pts · 274d
Is it less resources though? At that level to buy consumer grade?
I mean you can literally build your own steam machine with that. You can install the os into any PC. That's the ultimate goal I imagine.
Harbinger01173430@lemmy.world · -1 pts · 274d
I mean, they could've used all that engineering budget that was used in the design of the device for something like, enhancing proton
dustyData@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 274d
That's not how engineering works.
Harbinger01173430@lemmy.world · -1 pts · 273d
Trust me I know. I am en engineer XD I just don't remember most of what I learned in university, just the necessary stuff for work
dustyData@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 273d
Exactly, if you're a hardware designer, no amount of money will turn you into a software developer within a month. A dollar of software development is not equal to a dollar of product design. That's the mindset of shareholders. "Give me $12.99 engineering, and give it now"
Harbinger01173430@lemmy.world · -1 pts · 273d
Can't they just hire overqualified people with multiple degrees?
dustyData@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 273d
And if farts were rocket fuel I could fly. We all have dreams.
Rooster326@programming.dev · 1 pts · 274d
Trust me they are improving proton all on their own. Proton let's them sell games. That is how they make money - selling games not hardware.
dustyData@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 274d
They have said in interviews that the main reason they made it was to respond to the fact that the majority of steam deck owners keep it docked to a TV most of the time. It is meant to be a living room appliance with all the sound and heat dissipation issues related.
It's smaller than an Xbox and barely larger than a GameCube. According to the reviewers that saw it, it is also much quieter and smaller than the smallest ITX case, while also being six times more powerful than the deck. It's targeting a very specific audience that just wants a plug and play gaming experience and don't want the hassle of PC building.
TeddE@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 274d
I imagine that's because that's what they tried back in 2015 with the Alienware steam machine.
Because they were forced to do the work of making a custom cpu for the handheld, now they have the contracts and relationships to tailor a CPU for their 2026 machine. But you can tell they still want it to be primarily a PC because they only "lightly modified" it.
Harbinger01173430@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 273d
Couldn't they just make sure their software worked properly in the CPU/GPU combo of their choice?
TeddE@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 273d
After investigating various releases, I suspect that that) slightly modified likely mostly means 'directly welded to the motherboard instead of socketed' and it is otherwise probably mostly stock.
I imagine the direct welding is a cost-saving measure to make the product more competitive with consoles.
Given that they announced that the recovery image should now work with a wide variety of systems and that they have stated in multiple places that they plan to eventually release a general version of the OS, they've done the work of making it compatible with mostly all AMD stuff. My bet is they're also working with Nvidia and and their driver support is the holdup.
melonhusk@sh.itjust.works · -3 pts · 273d
brachiosaurus@mander.xyz · -10 pts · 274d
Why are people so excited about what looks like custom proprietary hardware designed to have a limited lifespawn and that will end up in a landfill in less than a decade?
StinkySocialist@lemmy.ml · 10 pts · 274d
I'm seriously stoked about this, even though I'm not planning to buy any of the new hardware! It all comes down to the fact that Valve's hardware projects force them to pump huge resources into open-source development, and we all get the benefits. That means the compatibility tools like Proton—which are essential for the high-end Steam Machine and Steam Frame—are immediately available to my desktop rig. By pushing Linux into the living room, VR, and high-performance space, they're pressuring game developers to finally treat Linux as a serious platform. Basically, Valve's huge investment accelerates development and developer adoption, which makes my own Linux desktop a way better and will hopefully get more people into Linux and open source.
brachiosaurus@mander.xyz · -3 pts · 274d
Remember that valve main product is a proprietary third party software launcher that doesn't share much with what linux stand for. With this hardware to me it looks like they are trying to make a console out of a pc.
AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 274d
And yet, with Proton they're one of the biggest contributors to Linux adoption in the past several years. They're allowing millions of users to cut the last string that was binding them to Windows
brachiosaurus@mander.xyz · -2 pts · 274d
They are also routing million of users through a proprietary third software launcher. Don't forget that steam was built on and fueled the windows ecosystem for two decades.
AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 274d
That's nonsense, as if Windows needed any help being dominant in its heyday
brachiosaurus@mander.xyz · -2 pts · 273d
Most people don't really use windowns because they like it but because of the third parties applications that only run on windows, so yea you can point the finger at third parties.
AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 273d
Most techies, maybe. MAYBE. Linux has not been anywhere near user friendly enough over the past 2 decades to be remotely usable by normal people. Not a chance.
StinkySocialist@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 273d
If only a giant corporation like steam made their own Linux based OS and poured huge resources into an open source compatibility layer(maybe even call It proton) that would move more people to Linux and even create more incentive for third party developers to have Linux versions of their applications because of the growing market sjare of end users using linux that would be exciting.... 👀👀👀
MystValkyrie@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 9 pts · 274d
I wish it had a more defined upgrade path, I really do. I was actually going to get a Framework 16 until their controversy came to light. For those of us who care for that sort of thing, the only game in town left the building.
So my answer is that this device checks all my boxes except for that. It's built with Linux in mind, it's small, it's not a laptop, it has quality assurance and I don't have to build it myself, and it can run all my favorite games. And it is still repairable, just not upgradable. But I'm going to get as much life as I can get out of it, and I'm not going to just throw it out or sell it when the next Steam Machine comes around. I'll make do with what I have until it breaks or becomes unusable.
brachiosaurus@mander.xyz · 1 pts · 274d
what sort of thing? a SFF pc? you can build one quite easily of pay someone to build it for you, it's cheaper and more reliable
MystValkyrie@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 274d
I didn't want to get too specific, but by "that sort of thing" I meant not supporting companies who financially contribute to certain political organizations and individuals. That's a personal decision and I didn't want to ruffle any feathers on an unrelated thread.
I'll also say that not everyone wants to build their own PC and would prefer the assurance that everything will just work out of the box, yet still don't want a locked-down experience that you'd get with consoles. And that's okay.
Steam Deck was one-of-a-kind for having a console-like pricing model, while having a high ifixit repairability score, and because it's not a custom build, there's a tutorial out there for most repairs or other problems you'll encounter. So that's pretty reliable in my book.
brachiosaurus@mander.xyz · -1 pts · 274d
some people don't want to cook their launch and get mcdonald
MystValkyrie@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 1 pts · 274d
Zetta@mander.xyz · 3 pts · 274d
This is a custom small form factor PC with many of its components being user replaceable. The GPU and CPU are soldered, which is unfortunate, but it is still significantly more upgradable and repairable than any other console that has existed. So what the hell are you on about?
And Valve already has a partnership with iFixit to offer replacement parts for their handheld gaming device, the Steam Deck, and they intended to continue that partnership with their new hardware products.
I think you're just dumb and don't know what you're talking about.
couldhavebeenyou@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 273d
Well there seems to be exactly one component that's upgradable that you don't have on the other consoles, which is the RAM. And at first sight I think you'll have to remove the heatsink to get to it.
If you want any 'usable' upgradability it's better to compare to modern minipc's where you can easily replace the RAM and WiFi, have multiple SSD slots and even have the option to connect an external GPU.
brachiosaurus@mander.xyz · 0 pts · 274d
Consoles are garbage, bringing a PC close to these is rowing in the wrong direction. Their presentation doesn't say much about components being replaceable and hint at fix storage. GPU is one of the most important pieces in a machine that is supposed to be dedicated to videogames
You are on lemmy, a decentralized and open source platform that doesn't share peanuts with steam or for profit companies like valve, i may be dump but i encourage you to learn more about open source software/hardware and decentralized platforms.
Zetta@mander.xyz · 2 pts · 273d
I've used fedora for the past 5 years and run GrapheneOS. I'm familiar with open software dude
TonyTonyChopper@mander.xyz · 3 pts · 274d
It's a console for PC gaming. Consoles have always been like that. The original Steam Machines were small modular PCs built by system integrators and they sold barely any of them.
BunScientist@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 274d
the original steam machines had linux in a protonless time so they didn't have much appeal in the first place
brachiosaurus@mander.xyz · 0 pts · 274d
consoles are PCs running proprietary software
StinkySocialist@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 274d
So are PCs lol
brachiosaurus@mander.xyz · -1 pts · 274d
Don't get confused, not all PCs are sold with windows preinstalled or require microsoft software to work.
StinkySocialist@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 274d
What makes you think you wouldn't be able to load a different Linux distro on this box? Sounds like it's just a PC with steam OS pre-installed. Or are you just against an OS being pre-installed?
brachiosaurus@mander.xyz · -1 pts · 274d
And soldered parts that you cannot swap easily (not only hardware problems, proprietary firmwares can cause compatibility problems too)
StinkySocialist@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 273d
I mean the hardware is a cool toy but everyone else here is excited for the software that will be available and accessible elsewhere. Gotta be honest sounds like you just want to hate it lol which more power to you but you're not really making sense to me. 🤷
Datz@szmer.info · 1 pts · 274d
I'm not a hardware guy, how is this different from the Steam Deck? Is the hardware here used of crappy quality by comparison? I thought most people liked the Deck (and everyone in here, I thought this is general Linux for a second), I sure do and will likely use it for a decade.
recklessengagement@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 274d
Hardware in the cube is said to be roughly 6x more powerful.
Datz@szmer.info · 3 pts · 274d
Well I know that, but isn't that good in the context of waste (OP's problem)? Since PS6 hasn't been released yet, it's seems the PS5-like specs here will last a decade and be future proof enough. PS4 is almost 13 years old and still has games coming out. The Switch 2 is PS4 level and it seems to be successful for now, and Steam Deck was aiming for that benchmark too.
(You can tell I'm a tech idiot by how I measure power in Playstations)
SparroHawc@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 274d
The difference is in the form factor. The Steam Deck is a purpose-built device for handheld gaming, with the expectation that it won't be useful for AAA games that push current PC hardware. It's found that niche and serves very, very well there. For that reason, it will likely outlive its tech specs - it will continue to work for many lower-spec indie games, because expectations will be reasonable.
The Steam Machine, on the other hand, is positioned as something that can play all current games (that aren't kernel-level DRMed to hell and back, at least). These become outdated the moment new games start coming out that run poorly on it. Since it's not upgradeable, the whole device becomes outdated and will need to be replaced if you want to play the next new hotness at a good FPS.
Datz@szmer.info · 1 pts · 274d
The thing is that since Steam Deck's release, a lot of competitors made handhelds, and it's mostly keeping up because of SteamOS. It sounds to me like Valve just needs the Steam Machine to once again offer software, convenience etc. above everyone else in the couch gaming market this is aiming for.
Then the only upgrade most users would want is from Valve themselves, but the same goes for Steam Deck - they said they might make a new one with a big enough generational leap, and then the old SD's become outdated too. We had emulation machines before Steam Deck - being able to play last gen games on it was still a big appeal.
Also, is constantly upgrading PCs better, when instead of selling off/scrapping the PUs and other parts every 5-10 years, you sell off/scrap PUs annually? I don't think people doing that are the target audience here anyway. I think some patient gamers would buy a used GabeCube 15 years from now for a low price.
SparroHawc@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 274d
SteamOS, the trackpads that drastically increase the breadth of games that are reasonable to play on it, AND the price-to-performance ratio that blows nearly everything else out of the water.
You're not wrong; it's possible that the SM will see a longer lifespan than its specs suggest. I do think it's more likely to get bumped in less time than the SD though.
brachiosaurus@mander.xyz · 3 pts · 274d
The steam deck is a portable device, soldering components and custom parts in devices that need to be small it's more justifiable because it can save space. This box on the other hand is a SFF pc that has to be small only for marketing reasons.
rotopenguin@infosec.pub · 2 pts · 272d
Some people don't want the same beige tower as you.
brachiosaurus@mander.xyz · 1 pts · 272d
With this machine you are stuck to a specific case. With a modular setup you can chose the case you want between thousand.
Fractal design terra has a similar design and can fit a big GPU