Regardless, the volatility of RAM and storage costs these days makes it difficult to know where the Steam Machine’s total cost and asking price will end up by the time it reaches the launch window in early 2026. “It’s a hard time to get a really good idea of what the price will be right now because there are so many different things going on… so many external things,” Griffiss said, pointing to skill uptick.
If the price of a Steam Machine won’t be significantly lower than an equally powerful gaming PC, some gamers may certainly decide to create their own Steam Machine alternative by installing SteamOS on a custom PC build. Going that route also future-proofs players against some potential Steam Machine shortcomings, such as the relatively modest 8GB of VRAM.
But Griffiss told Skill Up that the official Steam Machine will still differentiate itself from similar gaming PCs through features like its smaller form factor, ultra-quiet fan design, HDMI-CEC support, and strong integration with the Steam controller and other Bluetooth controls.
“There are people who would be perfectly happy building their own PC at any level, and it would be a great experience for them,” Griffiss said. “But we hope the machine is a good baseline offering that gives you some features that are really hard to get otherwise.”
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