I already own a PS5 and an Xbox Series X. I’ve got a Steam Deck too. And after two weeks with Valve’s Steam Machine, I’d spend $1,049 to buy one today.
Yeah, I know the review score was a 6. I don’t disagree with my colleague. The Steam Machine is expensive, its GPU isn’t upgradeable, and it’s competing with six-year-old console hardware. But here’s the thing — none of my other consoles can play my Steam library, use Steam Cloud saves, support my Steam Controller, or run mods.
The hardware is tiny. A 6-inch cube that’s basically silent. I never once heard the fan while playing Final Fantasy VII Remake, 007 First Light, or Balatro. It fits anywhere in my TV cabinet. My PS5 and Xbox don’t.
It boots fast, plays nice with my soundbar, and gets me into a game in seconds. Games look better and run smoother than on the Steam Deck, and I can’t hear a fan from my couch.
The catch: I can’t actually buy one. I signed up for the waitlist and didn’t get picked. Instead of waiting, I’m looking at building my own PC. A friend offered me an RTX 3070 Ti and 1TB SSD, so I could put together something more powerful and upgradable without paying for the two most expensive parts.
But honestly? I still want the Steam Machine. Nothing I build will be as quiet. SteamOS isn’t on Nvidia GPUs yet, so I’d be stuck with Windows or Bazzite. It won’t be the seamless experience Valve built.
Maybe I won’t build anything. I spent the weekend playing on my Steam Deck hooked to the TV with an 8BitDo controller, and it worked better than I remembered. It was 90% of the Steam Machine experience plus portability.
My heart wants the Steam Machine, though. If I could just buy one, I’d pay the asking price.
