How Does a Steam Machine Compare to a Gaming PC

After the thunderous debut of the Steam Deck trying to overtake the console market, Valve’s foray into PC (or PC-like) gaming with the Steam Machine looks to be no different. And with the release planned in early 2026, how does a Steam Machine compare to a gaming PC in terms of performance, price, and value?

Steam Machine vs. PC – Specifications and Performance

Specifications-wise, Valve has already released a Steam Machine guide for users to get acquainted with its configuration, including:

6 core/12 thread AMD Zen 4
16 GB DDR5 RAM
AMD RDNA 3 GPU with 8GB VRAM
512GB or 2TB SSD storage
Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth Connection

Comparatively, this belongs in the “upper-medium” range of builds. According to Valve’s engineers, the Steam Machine is supposed to be above 70% of user-reported builds acquired from Steam’s hardware survey.

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Of course, it’s practically impossible to directly compare a Steam Machine’s theoretical performance with that of a PC, given that the latter is infinitively more complex and modular. With a traditional PC build, you can go for the ultra-budget one that only runs the bare minimum of games you need to the extravagant machines that are basically future-proofed for the next couple of generations of games. Notably, Steam Machine uses AMD hardware, which is traditionally considered to be more cost-effective than Intel’s but can’t quite reach the top-end of performance.

Steam Machine vs. PC – Upgrades and Longevity

In a way, the Steam Machine functions somewhere between consoles and PCs. While it’s designed to act as a PC (complete with the ability to load Windows or other operating systems), the actual build of the device is static.

It’s fairly likely that the current iteration of the configuration won’t change meaningfully in the next few years after the release, after which we might see the second version. This is similar to how console generations work and contrasted with a PC’s potential for near continuous upgrades piece by piece.

Steam Machine for Gaming – Windows, Linux, or SteamOS?

Speaking of the ability to load Windows, a main draw of the device over the console is precisely to use PC operating systems natively. This might not sound like much of an upgrade, but multiplayer titles are notoriously difficult for SteamOS due to kernel-level anti-cheat systems being incompatible with the software.

This allows the Steam Machine to run every game available on Steam (and beyond), opening the doors for a much more varied gaming experience compared to consoles and directly comparable to a PC.

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Linus Tech Tips performed a performance check and found that the device could reasonably run Cyberpunk 2077 at around 60 FPS with only minor graphics adjustments. The ability to change the graphics is similar to what you get on a PC (and drastically better than console performance).

Steam Machine vs. PC – Price-Performance Ratio

While Valve hasn’t released a price point for the Steam Machine, there’s a likely range of where it might go. Linus Tech Tips has built a PC with parts similar to the stated configuration, indicating that the build could cost from $649 to $799 depending on where Valve lands with margin estimates.

This is due to two reasons. One, the recent AI craze has made prices of RAM skyrocket (similarly to what happened to GPUs before), making it impossible to predict long-term costs of PC parts. If Valve stocked up on RAM before the climb, it can offer them at a reasonable price point.

But on the flip side, Valve also likely doesn’t want to price the machine too cheap. The company is a game store first and foremost and is banking on the Steam Machine to drive further game sales. If it can perform as well as a PC on a similar price point and with much higher power efficiency and form factor (given that it’s a 6-inch cube), it can be snapped up by businesses and used for corporate rather than gaming purposes. This would drive the long-term revenue for Valve down, so it has no option but to ensure a relatively healthy price margin.

All this suggests that the Steam Machine is likely going to cost on par with a similar PC when accounting for trending hardware prices.

Where Does Steam Machine for Gaming Win Against PC?

PCs are likely never going away as the top-end gaming experience. The Steam Machine is going to bridge the gap between console and PC more by leveraging plug-and-play gaming in the living room through a TV set.

With most gaming rigs designed as desk-based systems, the Steam Machine fully leverages integration for full-screen Steam store and client through the SteamOS to help the TV-screen experience.

Also, the Steam Machine isn’t coming out alone. It’s paired with a dedicated VR headset, a controller, and a console (the Steam Deck). Much like with Apple, you can now have an entire ecosystem of devices, but oriented toward gaming.

Where Do PCs Beat out the Steam Machine?

At the top-end performance, PC is still king since you physically can’t make hardware that would fit in a console-sized box. PCs are also going to be better at futureproofing, since you can swap out or improve RAM and storage space practically at will, and the rest of the hardware can be changed periodically.

The Verdict

The Steam Machine is not going to put PCs out of a job any time soon. Its actual goal seems to be to bring Steam games to console players and carve out a niche of its own for people who want something better and slightly more versatile than a PC without the complexity and the monitoring that seems to be prevalent in newer Microsoft designs.