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Steam Machine

store.steampowered.com

571–580 of 1001 posts

Re: Steam Machine

#571
post #482

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same, if they also released something like a Steam Machine Pro with more ram+vram and bit higher specs I would instantly purchase it. Nvidia and AMD have been rightly criticized for releasing 8GB video cards in the past year and valve shouldn't be immune to that criticism.

Would be great of Valve to just drop a Steam Machine Max++ with an AMD Ryzen AI 395 and 128GB unified memory. I know this is not going to happen, but SteamOS should boot fine on that SoC, so you can DIY a Steam Machine that also runs LLMs (albeit a bit slow) :).

It sounds like you want to install Bazzite on a Framework Desktop.

Re: Steam Machine

#572

A bit of topic, but I was wondering how much bigger is the steam machine compared to the mac mini m4, since that's what I have and is my frame of reference. Obviously comparing apples to oranges and only talking about physical volume, not features, compatibility, price, personal preferences, etc. Mac Mini m4: 127 x 127 x 50 mm = 0.8 L Steam Machine: 156 x 162 x 152 = 3.8 L That's 4.76 times more volume.

For anyone wondering how the Mac Studio compares:

95 x 197 x 197 mm = 3.7 L

Re: Steam Machine

#573
post #29

Pretty much the only reason I boot to Windows anymore is to play games with my kids and family. The direction of this thing is dangerously close to being all I'd care about from a desktop computer. If Valve pivoted into making a well-supported laptop with good hardware that ran Linux and played games...

This promises 4k 60fps gaming and Valve is good with hardware, so this is an immediate buy from me if it's under 1000€ No need to mess around building a gaming PC anymore.

> This promises 4k 60fps gaming and Valve is good with hardware, so this is an immediate buy from me if it's under 1000€

Does it promise that? It seems like the hardware might do it, didn't see that anywhere

Re: Steam Machine

#574

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow this looks great. Foveated streaming, great resolution, wireless, 144hz, looks much more comfortable... As much as I want this, I feel like it'll end up being a really cool thing that just sits on the shelf. Edit: foveated streaming , not rendering

It looks good until I reached one bit: > Passthrough - Monochrome passthrough via outward facing cameras This is an outright bone-headed move that I can't believe Valve is making. Only having monochrome cameras means augmented reality is basically a non-starter. AR has a lot of potential. I literally bought a Meta Quest 3 just for PianoVision [0] when I already had a Valve Index. I would love to see some sort of AR-b…

AR is really cool but it seems like a better fit for premium VR headsets right now. At a given price and assuming other specs are fixed, monochrome cameras offer higher refresh rate. I'm hoping this will help the frame offer better tracking.

Re: Steam Machine

#575
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 signifi…

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

In 2026, those specs are significantly underpowered and close to outdated.

> Does the M4 Max run SteamOS and your Windows steam games very well?

Even if it does with Asahi Linux [0] it would still run over the Steam Machine in performance alone, especially with 2024 specifications.

We both know that neither of them can run DRM'ed games on Linux on Day 1 on Steam.

> I guess this Steam Machine is going to be embarassingly underpowered if it also costs $3500.

Not even the original Steam Machine sold well even though the lowest priced model was at ~$450 with the highest priced one was at $1,110 and was still also behind the state of the art console specs at the time.

> 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'.

Then there would be no point for Windows PC gamers or console players at all to switch. It only appeals to hardcore Linux users and at least competes against a Framework laptop running steam which is a very low bar to beat.

[0] https://asahilinux.org/2024/10/aaa-gaming-on-asahi-linux/

Re: Steam Machine

#576
post #175

In this big hardware refresh, honestly most excited about finally getting a new steam controller [1], which feels like it might finally give us a better, more extensible standard than the extremely outdated XInput protocol (which still doesn't even support motion controls) [1] https://store.steampowered.com/sale/steamcontroller

It looks way too chunky, just like the original Steam Controller, Steam Deck or original duke Xbox controller. Not everybody has Jack Reacher hands. Microsoft really did it right with the XSX controller. They took the old X360 / Xone design (perfect for large and medium hands) shrunk it slightly and then added cut-outs and and angled button surfaces (perfect for medium and small hands). The Elite is similarly good, w…

You do not need big hands to use a classic steam controller, you just need to shift your grip. It's actually hard to use a steam controller with big hands. With long thumbs, the proper grip doesn't land your thumbs in the middle of the track pads.

Failing to better communicate the proper grip for the steam controller was a real fuck up on valve's part though. They should have tried to communicate it through design, making it harder to hold wrong.

I am kind of concerned about the size of the new controller, but valve seems to have decided there's no place in the market for a controller without sticks.

Re: Steam Machine

#577
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Re: Steam Machine

#578

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…

You can replace the internal ssd with an off-the-shelf ssd and it also has SD card support, so there should be less need for external SSDs.

Gigabit Ethernet is definitely a bummer when I'm close to having fiber all the way to my PC.

Re: Steam Machine

#579

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Valve / Steam presumably has good data on what controllers and peripherals people are using, so I'd imagine their port choices are based around that. Here's a June 2024 post talking about Steam Input and controller market share: https://steamcommunity.com/games/593110/announcements/detail... . At the time of the post they say "59% of sessions are using Xbox controllers, 26% are using PlayStation controllers, 10% are…

Steam input controller says nothing about the interface being used (USB A vs USB C). A single USB C (with DP support, I hope) port in 2026 sounds like a bad design.

Almost everyone is using these controllers wirelessly if I had to hazard a guess.

The USB interface is used for initial pairing and charging, in which case the port location doesn't matter nearly as much.

Re: Steam Machine

#580
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.

If it competes with a PS5, but runs my Steam Library, it’s automatically won IMO.
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