Steam Machine • Hacker News Board

Re: Steam Machine

#491

Post by sedatk » Wed, Nov 12, 2025, 11:17 PM UTC

p1necone wrote: post #446

Excited for Steam/PC games on ARM to get better as a side effect of the Frame running using a Snapdragon CPU. Running x86 PC games on higher end Android devices already works better than you might expect via gamehub/gamehub lite/winlator, but it requires much random trying of different driver and runtime versions for every game and even then a lot don't work or have issues.

> Steam/PC games on ARM to get better

Exactly! It legitimizes ARM as a PC platform for both games and apps, and this helps the adoption of the architecture even on Windows.

Re: Steam Machine

#492

Post by osn9363739 » Wed, Nov 12, 2025, 11:18 PM UTC

Goronmon wrote: post #78

hananova wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All Valve has to do is say “Your software cannot deliberately exclude linux support including kernel anti-cheat to be listed on Steam.” And that would be that, the few devs big enough to make it on their own would leave, and everyone else would adapt.

Is there an feasible alternative to "kernel anti-cheat" available on Linux?

I wonder what ever happened to all those AI based anti-cheat solutions that I heard about. Was that last year maybe?

Re: Steam Machine

#493

Post by nicce » Wed, Nov 12, 2025, 11:19 PM UTC

coconut08 wrote: post #483

the 8gb vram is very concerning to me. it claims to be 4k ready and 8gb of vram is nowhere near enough for 4k gaming natively. they say that this is offset by using fsr upscaling, which is fine, but then you need whatever amount of vram that is necessary for running the game at 1440p or 1080p and then additional vram for the fsr. this will be fine for casual games or even AA games, but I can't imagine AAA gaming on t…

> the 8gb vram is very concerning to me. it claims to be 4k ready and 8gb of vram is nowhere near enough for 4k gaming natively

Depends on the game. I get 70fps with many games on 4k with old RX 5700 XT (e.g Path of Exile).

Black Desert runs 70fps with FSR on 4k.

Re: Steam Machine

#494

Post by outlore » Wed, Nov 12, 2025, 11:20 PM UTC

How does this compare to the Framework Desktop as a gaming Linux box? I notice only the RAM and storage is upgradable for the Steam Machine, but is there significant performance difference?

Re: Steam Machine

#495

Post by sedatk » Wed, Nov 12, 2025, 11:20 PM UTC

I've been using my Steam Deck + Steam Dock to play Hades II on my TV using my Xbox controller. It's been a fantastic experience. I can't imagine how much better a device like Steam Machine and Steam's own controller would make it.

Re: Steam Machine

#496

Post by extraduder_ire » Wed, Nov 12, 2025, 11:22 PM UTC

TheCoreh wrote: post #48

Very weird USB-C port placement choices... - 2 USB3-A on the front - 2 USB2-A on the back - 1 USB-C on the back If you want to plug an external USB hard drive or SSD at full speed, you'll need to plug it at the front? Or use up the only USB-C port... I suspect most joysticks sold today come with a USB-C to USB-C cable, so if you want to charge your controller you either need to plug on the back, use an adapter, or ge…

Adapting A ports to C is much more convenient than going the other way. I have a whole sack of passive A to C dongles that stick out less than 1cm from the port.

Re: Steam Machine

#497

Post by nicce » Wed, Nov 12, 2025, 11:22 PM UTC

przmk wrote: post #22

mojoe wrote: post #2

Steam is the only reason I have a Windows desktop, I'll probably just get one of these next time I want a hardware refresh (which admittedly will probably be many years). Interesting that it uses KDE Plasma for the desktop

It doesn't boot into the desktop by default — it uses its own session with the Gamescope compositor. The desktop is easily accessible through the power menu though.

Gamescope is really nice. I am running Steam headlessly with that on my home server.

Re: Steam Machine

#498

Post by phkahler » Wed, Nov 12, 2025, 11:22 PM UTC

rvz wrote: post #477

16 GB of RAM, 4K@60 FPS, with USB3. I’m afraid that this steam machine is so underpowered that it is no better if not much significantly slower than a MacBook Pro with a M4 Max. The specs appear to be from late 2019. Might as well get a PS5 instead. No thanks and No deal.

>> I’m afraid that this steam machine is so underpowered that it is no better if not much significantly slower than a MacBook Pro with a M4 Max.

Isn't that one of the fastest laptops money can buy?

Re: Steam Machine

#499

Post by osn9363739 » Wed, Nov 12, 2025, 11:23 PM UTC

metalliqaz wrote: post #144

mystifyingpoi wrote: post #137

Linus Torvalds was right. Valve will save the Linux desktop.

...by emulating WinAPI

I thought it was a translation layer? Not emulation right?

Re: Steam Machine

#500

Post by danudey » Wed, Nov 12, 2025, 11:23 PM UTC

rvz wrote: post #477

16 GB of RAM, 4K@60 FPS, with USB3. I’m afraid that this steam machine is so underpowered that it is no better if not much significantly slower than a MacBook Pro with a M4 Max. The specs appear to be from late 2019. Might as well get a PS5 instead. No thanks and No deal.

The XBox Series X and PS5 both have 16 GB of RAM; in the case of the XSX that's 10 GB for the GPU and 6 GB for the OS and apps.

So 16 GB in this case, for running the same games and outputting to the same displays, seems entirely reasonable.

> The specs appear to be from late 2019. Pass

Probably more accurate to say the specs are from 2020, which is when the PS5 and XSX launched.

> it is no better if not much significantly slower than a MacBook Pro with an M4 Max

Does the M4 Max run SteamOS and your Windows steam games very well? I guess this Steam Machine is going to be embarassingly underpowered if it also costs $3500.

On the other hand, if it is a mass-market 'console' PC priced at ~$500-750 then I think it's okay if it's 'no better...than a Macbook Pro with M4 Max'.