Ask HN: Is the Steam Machine worth $1049?

I got an email this morning inviting me to purchase a Steam Machine for $1049.

It's all AMD-based, 16GB DDR5 and 8GB VRAM with 512GB storage. They're about 4x more powerful than a Steam Deck.

Con: Since it's Linux-based I think online games with anti-cheat won't work, which seems like a significant downside in terms of utility.

Is this a decent deal compared to building my own gaming rig?

p.s. I don't really care about the size footprint.

11 points | by bigwheels 13 hours ago

8 comments

  • linesofcode 1 hour ago
    GeForce Now Ultimate is 20 dollars a month. That’s 52 months or a little over 4 years for the same price as a Steam Machine.

    If your internet is half way decent you’ll be able to stream games with maxed out graphics. Connects to your steam account or whatever game store you use.

    So no, not worth it at that price. Either build your own machine or subscribe to a service.

  • ehe78qhe 12 hours ago
    For the hardware you get, it's overpriced. Go look at a prebuilt on Costco.com, for example. I see this on there right now at $1100:

    Intel Core Ultra 5 225F - GeForce RTX 5060 - 32GB RAM - 1TB SSD

    > Con: Since it's Linux-based I think online games with anti-cheat won't work, which seems like a significant downside in terms of utility.

    EAC does work on Linux, but the dev has to set a feature flag per-game. Check the specific games you want to play.

  • wmf 6 hours ago
    It's not worth it and I'm kind of baffled that Valve let this happen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrRIhq2ZdLw
  • rjh29 10 hours ago
    The size footprint is literally the only important thing about this device (as you can install Bazzite wherever). It is overpriced. The form factor is appealing in the shiny rock sense and you will get a dopamine hit from buying one, but it will wear off.
  • legitster 12 hours ago
    The one killer feature I have never been able to solve with a HTPC is waking from sleep consistently.

    Valve claims they have solved it at a hardware level on the Steam Machine. I'm not really in the market for another HTPC, but if I was starting from scratch I would seriously consider paying the premium for that feature alone.

    [-]
  • Ekaros 12 hours ago
    I think if you are not in hurry it might be sensible to wait for deals on market pcs. Things are not great but there will likely be better deals if you are ready to wait and can identify right combinations of memory, cpu and gpu.
    [-]
    • ehe78qhe 12 hours ago
      No, RAM, GPU and SSD prices are going up week over week, they're only going to get more expensive.
  • fsflover 12 hours ago
    Related discussion (read the replies, too!): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48635414
  • sergiotapia 4 hours ago
    As an owner of it, it's worth it if you value the steam os and being to just buy cheap games on keyshops and play it. it's also ridiculously easy to install emudeck and game on all the consoles of previous generations. also a tiny cube looks nicer than a full blown desktop machine.

    i'm happy with the purchase. the controllers are excellent.