A $699 Steam Machine Is Still A Pretty Great Deal

Valve still hasn’t told us what the new Steam Machine will cost, but the shape of the conversation is already clear. In his recent video, Linus from Linus Tech Tips says he’d like to see console-style pricing, but ultimately predicts Valve will land on $699.99 to keep the hardware business “sustainable” over the life of the device.

At the same time, Valve engineers have been very explicit:

It’s going to be “priced like a PC” – but still a “pretty good deal”.

So if it really does come in around $700, is that actually good value? I’d argue yes, for a lot of people.

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You’re Buying More Than Just Parts

Valve isn’t subsidising this thing like Sony and Microsoft do with their consoles. Multiple Valve engineers have said outright that Steam Machine pricing will track what you’d expect from a comparable prebuilt PC, not a loss-leading console.

Under the hood you’re getting:

• A custom Zen 4 CPU and RDNA 3 GPU
• 16 GB DDR5 memory
• Fast NVMe SSD storage, with room to expand
• Performance pitched roughly in line with current-gen consoles in a compact box

Could you assemble something similar yourself for less? Maybe, if you’re happy to trawl parts lists, chase deals, and compromise on noise, size, and power draw. But that’s not what this product is for.

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The Living-Room Experience Tax (That People Will Happily Pay)

Where the Steam Machine really earns its keep is everything wrapped around those specs:

• Hassle-free setup – Plug it into a TV or monitor, sign in to Steam, and you’re done. No Windows install, no driver hunt, no bloatware cleanup.
• Proper living-room features – HDMI-CEC to turn your TV on and switch inputs, wake from the sofa, and controller-first UI built on the Steam Deck interface.
• Quiet and compact – Valve is heavily emphasising low noise and a small, console-like chassis; that’s not something you reliably get from budget prebuilts.
• Couch co-op ready – Improved Bluetooth plus dedicated support for multiple controllers means up to four Steam Controllers or pads without USB dongle spaghetti.

In other words, you’re paying for a well-behaved gaming PC that just happens to live under your TV and behave like a console.

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“Good Enough” Performance For Most Gamers

Is this going to out-muscle a PS5 Pro in raw teraflops? Probably not, and even Linus calls that out.

But for the majority of players:

• 1080p and 1440p at high settings
• Smart use of upscaling like FSR
• 60 fps targets in the big multiplatform releases

…is more than enough. And that’s exactly the tier Valve is targeting: a machine that outperforms a huge chunk of existing Steam PCs while staying within a sensible power envelope.

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And Don’t Forget: It’s Still A PC

The real kicker is that you get console-like convenience without giving up PC freedoms:

• Your existing Steam library and sales
• Mods, custom launchers and Proton for Windows-only titles
• Mouse and keyboard support, desktop mode, non-Steam stores if you want them

That’s why, at around $699, I think it does represent a good deal for a lot of gamers. You’re not paying for the absolute cheapest way to push frames – you’re paying for a well-tuned, quiet, sofa-friendly PC that “just works” out of the box, then lets you tinker as much or as little as you like.

If Valve actually hits that $699 prediction, the Steam Machine might end up being the sweet spot for players who are tired of babysitting a gaming PC, but not ready to give up everything that makes PC gaming great.