Valve Announces New Hardware for 2026, Including a New Steam Machine and the Steam Frame VR Headset

I'm looking forward to it - I've really bought into that 'SteamOS' environment (currently using a ROG Ally running Bazzite) and really wanted to replicate that experience on my desktop. I came close running various distros, but not perfect (typically my quick resume doesn't function 100% of the time - likely a mobo or Nvidia GPU issue I can't figure out). I'm expecting Steam Deck-like efficiency, features, and stability for the Steam Machine.

Performance-wise, for sure, I'd feel a lot better with 10 or 12 GB of VRAM, but honestly with the games I'm currently playing (typically JRPGs, Remasters, and chipping away at my backlog), the Machine should more than suffice.

As for pricing, I'm hoping for something competitive (Mac Mini-esque pricing for me would be ideal).
 
Yeah, that 8 GB VRAM really has me scratching my head, it and the storage options are my only real complaints about this thing. The 512 GB option shouldn't even exist.
 
Yeah, that 8 GB VRAM really has me scratching my head, it and the storage options are my only real complaints about this thing. The 512 GB option shouldn't even exist.

and the system memory and the gpu and maybe even the cpu, and not a fan of the controller either
 
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Yeah, I was thinking about this last night how up until all this memory price hikes and stuff, how you could actually find decent laptops on Amazon for ~$800 which exceeded a lot of these specs but the one they didn't have was a better iGPU. After all is said and done the price will be the real factor, the closer to ~$600, the easier to forgive it's deficiencies.
 
and the system memory and the gpu and maybe even the cpu, and not a fan of the controller either
Well at least the SO-DIMM memory can be upgraded, so there's that.
I've heard that the controller is pretty good actually, but my main gripe persists, AFAIK people don't really use the trackpads for gaming, since most games already have controller support and for multiplayer gaming you are still better off with KB/mouse.

On the pricing side, according to Linus, it will be "competitively priced" vs gaming pcs, but NOT consoles. So, everyone hoping for sub-$700 price will be very disappointed. Seems like Valve is NOT selling it at a loss as many speculated, not even razor thin margins. Apparently, they are opening the platform to 3rd parties, which would explain the price.
 
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