Valve announced the new products line-up for 2026 and one of the most discussed is the Steam Machine. It’s a similar concept to Steam Deck but for home video consoles. However, technical specifications are not that high according to certain users.
Valve’s Steam Machine promises 6 times more power than the Steam Deck. The graphical performance will allow for 2160p/60 FPS thanks to FidelityFX Super Resolution scalating technology from AMD. The components are semi customized and include a RDNA 3 8 GB memory GPU and the CPU ZEN 4 with 6 cores and 12 threads. In terms of power, it would be something similar to a RX 7600 or a Ryzen 5 7600X.
The Steam Machine and Valve’s possibilities in the home console industry
It’s not a bad setting for a home console but it’s surely a low power setting compared with gaming dedicated computers. For example, you won’t buy a Steam Machine with these settings if you want to play Cyberpunk 2077 in 4K and with the maximum quality. The thing is that Steam Machine is not for those users. It’s more for the casual videogame player.
Valve staff recognized during an interview with Adam Savage’s Tested that the new device points to improve the computer setting of the 70% of the users. They have researched and 53% of the videogame players run games in 1080p and only 33% have GPU with 8 GB of memory. The most used GPU is the modest RTX 3060 and so Steam Machine comes to surpass these settings.
A console to play what everybody plays
The Steam Machine is not a project to give a generational leap for the videogame industry. It’s a product for those who want to play what everybody else plays without complications. Maybe Valve will create a Premium Steam Machine in the future but it depends on the demand of the market. In terms of marketing, the new console is more for casual gaming and the idea of adding a complementary computer at home.
On the other hand, you can also mount your own customized Steam Machine. The PC is an open platform which lets you choose your own micro-ATX components, install SteamOS and buy the new Steam Controllers and you’re ready. The experience won’t be too different. A good idea for the future would be to let you choose a MATX box from Valve with a similar design philosophy to Steam Machine. Then you can select the aesthetics and components in an open way.
At the end of the day, if you are having doubts about the power of the new Valve Steam Machine, maybe it’s not for you. The home console is designed for a kind of user that only wants to play the latest videogames but it’s not that important the graphics quality and resolution. In a market with several offers, this new device arrives with a specific target in mind. Those users who want to quickly start playing without too many complications the latest titles on PC.