Steam Machine review roundup: Hefty pricetag for a niche product

Journalists have gotten their hands on Valve's Steam Machine ahead of launch, but found the eyewatering price tag too much to look past.

The Steam Machine is almost here. Valve has finally announced the price of their latest hardware release, with the interest list for purchasing one of the four options available open until June 25. Valve has sent review models to journalists around the world, and while some are fans of the Steam Machine, they all share the same opinion: It's very expensive.

The base 512GB model of the Steam Machine costs $1,049, while the 2TB version comes in at $1,428. Neither of those comes with a controller, so you'll need to add an extra $69 if you want one of those, too. The price reflects the cost of buying the hardware required to build the Steam Machine, with memory shortages making it difficult to procure RAM and suppliers charging a massive markup.

The Steam Machine's specs aren't terrible, and it comes with a semi-custom AMD Zen 4 six-core CPU and a semi-custom AMD RDNA 3 GPU, but both chips use older AMD architecture, which has raised some eyebrows among PC gamers. It also comes with 16GB of DDR5 and 8GB of GDDR6 VRAM, and a surprisingly small case that is just 152mm tall, making it a fraction of the size of both gaming PCs and consoles.

For reviewers who got to test out the Steam Machine early, it's been difficult to look past the cost of Valve's latest hardware offering. In their 8/10 review, IGN's Jacqueline Thomas praised the machine as the "easiest way to get into PC gaming right now," but at $1049, it is going to be too expensive for gamers who plan on using it like a console in their living room, with the PS5 and Xbox Series X both significantly cheaper.

Tom's Hardware Andrew Freedman focused more on the internals, though, saying that while they felt the price was competitive based on the current market, the Steam Machine's hardware was already aging, and that many will feel that the 8GB of DDR6 RAM isn't good enough for gaming above 1080p today, never mind in the future.

Linus Sebastian from Linus Tech Tips called the Steam Machine "by far the best solution to PC gaming on the couch" in his review, and praised Valve for how smoothly SteamOS runs on the device. He did, however, admit that he found that the Steam Machine's raw gaming power left a lot to be desired, and that he felt the parts found inside did not match what he would expect from a 4K gaming machine.

Eurogamer's Chris Tapsell is a fan of the Steam Machine and believes that there is a place for bringing PC gaming into the living room, but also struggles with the pricetag, saying it would have been a "genuine competitor" to the PS5 and Xbox Series X if it arrived at a cheaper price point. The Verge shared that feeling, with Sean Hollister calling it the "best attempt [he's] seen at a PC that actually fits into a living room," but ponders if it's "good enough" for that $1,049 pricepoint in their 6/10 review.

Whether the Steam Machine is worth your money is difficult to say. If you have a Steam library full of games that you want to play while relaxing in your living room, then yeah, it might be. It may also be a good option if you want to start PC gaming but don't want to build your own computer. If, at this price point, you just want a powerful device that you can play games on while sitting on your sofa, you're probably better off looking at Xbox and Sony's offerings.