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| The Steam Machine may deliver performance comparable to the PS5. Shown: both systems. (Image source: Sony and Valve - edited) |
The gaming community is buzzing with a mix of excitement and skepticism since Valve officially resurrected the Steam Machine concept. We’ve been treated to a flood of hardware specifications and bold promises about a living-room PC gaming revolution. But one crucial piece of the puzzle has been conspicuously absent: the price.
While Valve has been tight-lipped, a new investigative deep dive is shedding light on what we can realistically expect to pay for this compact gaming powerhouse—and how it truly stacks up against the established console champion, the PlayStation 5.
The $700 Question: Piecing Together the Steam Machine's Probable Price
Valve has confirmed the Steam Machine will feature a custom AMD APU with Zen 4 CPU architecture and RDNA 3.5 graphics. It’s a compelling specs sheet on paper, but without a price, it's hard to gauge its value in a market dominated by the PS5 and Xbox Series X.
Thankfully, we don’t have to rely on guesswork alone. The team at Linus Tech Tips took it upon themselves to build a PC that mirrors the announced Steam Machine hardware as closely as possible. After sourcing the components and crunching the numbers, Linus and his co-host David arrived at a compelling conclusion.
They believe Valve will position the Steam Machine at a launch price of $699.99.
This strategic pricing would place Valve’s new contender in a fascinating spot. It’s significantly pricier than the standard, non-Pro PlayStation 5 Slim, which has a retail price of $550 (though it frequently sees discounts, like its current price of $449 on Amazon). This $150-$250 premium is the first major hurdle Valve will need to justify to consumers.
A Head-to-Head Showdown: Steam Machine vs. PlayStation 5 in Cyberpunk 2077
A price is one thing, but performance is everything. To see if the Steam Machine could justify its cost, the LTT team put their frankensteined build to the test against the PS5 in a demanding modern title: Cyberpunk 2077.
The initial results were sobering. Trying to run the game at 4K resolution with medium visual settings, the PC build couldn't maintain a stable 60 FPS. To hit that crucial performance target, compromises were necessary. Linus had to dial the visual preset down to Low and enable AMD's upscaling technology, FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution), in Performance mode.
For those unfamiliar, AMD FSR is a crucial piece of tech for modern gaming, rendering games at a lower resolution and then intelligently upscaling them to your display's native resolution to boost frame rates.
With these settings, the Steam Machine-like PC delivered a much smoother 60 FPS experience. And this, as Linus notes, is likely exactly what Valve is envisioning for its system—a plug-and-play experience that prioritizes smooth gameplay.
The Visual Trade-Off: Sharpness vs. Lighting
The comparison yielded some intriguing visual observations. The team noted that the image on the PC, even with FSR active, appeared slightly sharper than on the PS5. However, the PlayStation 5 version seemed to have an edge in lighting quality, creating a more atmospheric scene.
This highlights a key philosophical difference. On a closed console like the PS5, you're typically locked to a few presets—prioritizing either 60 FPS performance or 30 FPS with higher visual fidelity. The Steam Machine, by virtue of being a PC, offers granular control. If you prefer better lighting over sharpness, you can tweak the settings to find your perfect balance. This flexibility is a core part of the PC gaming appeal that Valve is banking on.
The Valve "Secret Sauce": Why Final Performance Could Surprise Us
It’s important to remember that the LTT build is an approximation. As we previously reported in our initial coverage of the announcement, Valve has two secret weapons that could tip the performance scales: a custom AMD driver and deep, system-level integration with SteamOS.
These optimizations are designed to strip away the overhead of a general-purpose operating system like Windows and squeeze every last drop of performance from the hardware. This "console-like" optimization could potentially allow for better visuals at the same frame rate, or higher frame rates with the current settings. We won't know for sure until the final hardware is in reviewers' hands.
The Verdict: A High-Stakes Bet on the PC Gaming Faithful
You can watch the full, fascinating investigation and see the side-by-side comparisons for yourself in the video from Linus Tech Tips right here.
The evidence suggests Valve is positioning the Steam Machine as a premium alternative to traditional consoles. At an expected $700, it’s not trying to beat the PS5 on price. Instead, it's betting that PC gaming enthusiasts and a segment of the console market will pay a premium for the freedom of an open platform, endless game customization, and access to the entire Steam library.
The final test will come in early 2026. If Valve's custom software can deliver a noticeable performance uplift over a standard PC with similar specs, the Steam Machine could carve out a unique and compelling niche in the gaming landscape. If not, that $700 price tag will be a very tough sell.