Steam Machine

fernadez

fernadez

Premier League
Joined
28 May 2003
Location
E.7
Team
Tottenham Hotspur


Thought there would be a thread about this already, feel free to delete if I've missed it.

I have and i5-8400 with 16 GB ram and a Radeon Rx 580 that is starting to struggle. As someone who was about to rebuild his PC basically just to play games every now and then, this has caught my eye.

All depends on the price I guess.

Steam Machine features and specs:​

Models
  • 512GB model and 2TB model
  • Steam Machine will ship in a bundle with Steam Controller and will also be available standalone
Specs
  • CPU: Semi-custom AMD Zen 4 6C / 12T up to 4.8 GHz, 30W TDP
  • GPU: Semi-Custom AMD RDNA3 28CUs 2.45GHz max sustained clock, 110W TDP
  • Supports 4K gaming at 60 FPS with FSR
  • Ray tracing supported
  • Over 6x more powerful than Steam Deck
  • 16GB DDR5 + 8GB GDDR6 VRAM
  • 512 GB & 2 TB SSD models
  • micro SD card slot for expanded storage/ portable catalog
  • Internal power supply, AC power 110-240V
I/O
  • DisplayPort 1.4
  • Up to 4K @ 240Hz or 8K@60Hz
  • Supports HDR, FreeSync, and daisy- chaining
  • HDMI 2.0
  • Up to 4K @ 120Hz
  • Supports HDR, FreeSync, and CEC
  • Ethernet 1 Gbps
  • USB-C 10 Gbps, 3.2 Gen 2
  • 4x Type USB-A ports
  • 2x USB 3 in the front
  • 2x USB 2 in the rear
  • 2x2 Wi-Fi 6E, dedicated BT antenna
  • Integrated Steam Controller 2.4GHz radio
Other features
  • Works with other controllers, accessories, and PC peripherals
  • Wake with Steam Controller
  • Runs SteamOS
  • Familiar, gaming first user experience
  • Fast suspend / resume
  • Steam cloud saves, and all the other Steam features you'd expect
  • Customizable LED bar
  • Personalize with colors and animation
  • Reflect system status (e.g. downloads, booting, updating)
 
Anything that makes a PC more "consoleified" and reliable so that more casual users can jump on board, the better IMO. Looks great.

More than anything I'm looking forward to the new Steam controller - I didn't use the first one but I was always fascinated by it, and if fans of the old one say the new one is improved, I think I'm finally going to grab one.
 
It is very interesting that they are going to try and price this this as close as possible to the PS5/Xbox price, if they can manage this then they could really be onto a winner. I would certainly be interested in buying it if that is the case, I have a laptop but that is really just for Football Manager, higher powered PC's have always scared me because there are so many variables that you have to look for etc that I got a bit lost.
 
Ha, I still have a version of the old Alienware Steam machine...they stuck Windows on them and re-branded them Alienware Alpha. As someone who loved the Gamecube size, never owned a Playstation and is now a disillusioned Xbox fanboy I'd be all over this if I hadn't recently built my own HTPC
 
kamy100 said:
It is very interesting that they are going to try and price this this as close as possible to the PS5/Xbox price, if they can manage this then they could really be onto a winner. I would certainly be interested in buying it if that is the case, I have a laptop but that is really just for Football Manager, higher powered PC's have always scared me because there are so many variables that you have to look for etc that I got a bit lost.
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I've used PCs all my life, consider myself a "power user" - and, frankly, I hate them. Especially for gaming.

I haven't owned a single PC that hasn't randomly developed a complex problem at some point that has required some fairly deep technical knowledge and a lot of trial and error that would make any "normal" person give up the hobby.

I remember @Placebo recently suffered with his PC crashing every time he tried to play The Division 2. This is what he had to go through to fix it:

[At this point he had been through crash logs and found that the issue was related to something called "Bypass IO", which he had to research - he asked ClaudeAI what that was.]

"Claude says: 'Bypass IO is a Windows 11 storage optimization feature that allows applications to directly access storage devices, bypassing some of the normal Windows storage stack layers.

Normally, when an app reads/writes data, it goes through multiple Windows filter drivers and subsystems - Bypass IO creates a "direct path" between the application and the NVMe drive - This reduces latency and improves performance for certain workloads

Why EasyAntiCheat needs it: Anti-cheat software operates at kernel level and needs fast, direct storage access - EAC uses Bypass IO for real-time file integrity checks and monitoring - When Bypass IO isn't available, EAC can malfunction or crash'

There's a command you run in an elevated cmd prompt: fsutil bypassIo state C:\

That checks the status of BypassIO. I was getting this:

C:\Windows\System32>fsutil bypassIo state C:\
BypassIo on "C:\" is partially supported
Volume stack bypass is disabled (ambakdrv.sys)
Storage Type: NVMe
Storage Driver: Not BypassIo Compatible

So Claude tells me to delete ambakdfrv.sys which I did, but foolishly I didn't check if that would cause boot issues, which it did because it's installed at the Kernel level.

Essentially I used a program called AOEMI backupper to create C drive backups, and it "handily" has an option to add it into the bootloader so if my windows install fucks up I can reboot and there's an option there "install backup". Which is great, except the driver it uses is in the boot kernel which of course EAC suddenly decided it didn't like it (I've been using AOEMI backupper for maybe 1-2 years without that being an issue).

So essentially after uninstalling that windows won't boot, "boot device not detectable" yadda yadda, bit more trial and error and thankfully windows startup repair fixed it, got back into windows, uninstalled AEOMI Backupper, then ran the command again and boom. Tried [The Division 2] and played flawlessly for 2 hours after 3-4 days of constant PC lockups and/or BSOD."
Click to expand...

Who in their right mind (outside of dweebs like the two of us, no offence @Placebo) would put themselves through that when you could just play on a console instead? Which either works or doesn't work, the vast majority of the time? But that's PCs for you.

However, there is real potential for something like the Steam Machine to hopefully avoid all of this, and it would be fantastic - because there's no doubting that, when everything just works the way it should, PC gaming is on another level technically.
 
Chris Davies said:
I've used PCs all my life, consider myself a "power user" - and, frankly, I hate them. Especially for gaming.

I haven't owned a single PC that hasn't randomly developed a complex problem at some point that has required some fairly deep technical knowledge and a lot of trial and error that would make any "normal" person give up the hobby.

I remember @Placebo recently suffered with his PC crashing every time he tried to play The Division 2. This is what he had to go through to fix it:



Who in their right mind (outside of dweebs like the two of us, no offence @Placebo) would put themselves through that when you could just play on a console instead? Which either works or doesn't work, the vast majority of the time? But that's PCs for you.

However, there is real potential for something like the Steam Machine to hopefully avoid all of this, and it would be fantastic - because there's no doubting that, when everything just works the way it should, PC gaming is on another level technically.
Click to expand...
That's where I'm at, I've rebuilt this rig 3/4 times over the course of the years, but I really can't be bothered anymore, and the tinkering to make things work aspect is much less appealing with kids, work and limted time. I'd get more use of of this, essentially a high powered HTPC then I have out of my PS5 in the 5 years I've owned it.
 
It has to cost less than a console.
But I still don't think console gamers will buy one.

I don't even really know what market it is trying to capture.
 
if you can intall non steam games and mod games on it then i may be interested, i guess its a stationary beefed up steam deck. Currently i have a legion go and egpu which suits me
 
hitmanuk said:
if you can intall non steam games and mod games on it then i may be interested, i guess its a stationary beefed up steam deck. Currently i have a legion go and egpu which suits me
Click to expand...
Ofc you can, just like on any linux distro, as long as game doesn't have specific kernel anticheat that prevents you to play game.
 
Needs to be in the shops next to the other consoles rather than next to the laptops.

Combine that with a competitive price point and they've got a chance.
 
I really love this move from Valve. Having optimised Steam OS in one part of the disc for quick on-the-go gaming and experience, and then the other part with Windows for modded PES 2021 and other "geeky" stuff is a wonderful move. I wish Sony and Microsoft would make this possible for their consoles, too.

Basically, they give us (hopefully) a well-optimised gaming PC, but feel free to do whatever you want with that.

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https://store.steampowered.com/sale/steammachine
 
comes down to price. I would think a 499-599 price point would be a sweet spot as an entry level pc (but i might be too optimistic). It markets to a more pc gaming casual crowd. Someone who will not complain if they dont get 120fps in the latest games. It def looks interesting and I hope it does well. But I do think they need to price it lower than consoles although games are cheaper to get for Steam AND you don't have to deal with online subscriptions
 
How much is a PS5, 500 notes? Has to be the same or lower. Any more and I might as well go and build a PC.

No point trying to tap into the console market but price yourself out of it.
 
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