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DF Direct Weekly #240: Steam Machine - Pricing, Specs, VRAM, ARM Ambitions + More (www.youtube.com)
submitted 9 months ago by to c/steamdeck@sopuli.xyz
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[–] 24 points 9 months ago (4 children)

just speculation.

only things valve employees said about prices is:

  • they are targetting a lower price for the frame than the index (index was 1000$ afaik)
  • the machine will be priced as a pc and not as a console (whatever that means)
  • prices will be announced closer to launch.
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  • [–] 14 points 9 months ago (2 children)

    the machine will be priced as a pc and not as a console (whatever that means)

    “Expect a high enough price such that we couldn’t group it in with console prices.”

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  • [–] 1 point 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 child)

    That's disappointing. However, being a mass produced, single spec device, it has to be cheaper than comparable self-built PCs. Otherwise, no one would buy it.

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  • [–] 1 point 8 months ago (1 child)

    Consoles sell at a loss with the idea that they recoup it with game purchases.

    Steam gets a 30% cut of game purchases and could do it also. Unfortunately/fortunately it’s also a functioning Linux desktop - so they can’t really sell it at a loss - because some companies might just purchase it for compute.

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  • [–] 2 points 8 months ago (1 child)

    Doesn't have to be a loss, just competitive with what a self-built PC would be.

    Daniel Owen does good PC part breakdowns. Especially video cards. Here's a cheap build he threw together using PC Part Picker to see what it would be like to build a PC using comparable parts to what the Steam Machine has, but a garbage power supply and case. It came out to $706.

    (This link skips to 27:24. You have to rewind 2 minutes or so if you want to hear him talk about the bad power supply and case, which you definitely shouldn't buy.)

    https://youtu.be/RTB-lP_qwc0?t=1644

    If Valve can come in around $700 it will be a good deal. If it's sub $600, it's an outstanding deal. Especially because of the premium wifi, special Steam Controller antenna, small form factor, and stuff like that. SFF cases and motherboards have premium prices.

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  • [–] 4 points 9 months ago (1 child)

    2nd line means it won't be sold at a loss

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  • [–] 8 points 9 months ago

    I'm surprised anybody thought it could be.

    Guys, it is literally just a small form factor PC (with a couple of console QoL additions like waking from controller support and HDMI CEC). It's an open platform.

    If Valve sold it at a loss, offices and governments would buy them up and reimage them with Windows.

    Sony and MS can only get away with making a loss because the closed platform guarantees they make money back on game sales.

    Part of the reason the PS3 got more locked down after release is that governments, researchers, and companies openly talked about buying them and running custom software on it, because the hardware was so subsidised.

    That said, this is a low end device for 2026, make no mistakes of that. If Valve want to, they can sell this for $500. Perhaps even lower if they're fine with razor thin margins.

    Remember that this thing's price needs to be justifiable not only now, but also in 2 years or so when vastly more powerful consoles come out.

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  • [–] 2 points 9 months ago (1 child)

    Why does everyone keep saying Index was $1000. That’s just blatantly wrong. It’s like $500. It was only the set that includes 2 controllers and 2 base stations that costs $1000. But you can order each part separately.
    The Frame won’t have base stations, and it’s unlikely that the Frame controllers will cost $300, since they don’t seem as advanced as the Index controllers (at least in regards to the hand presence tech).
    And since there are dozens of us that already have those I’d expect that you can buy the Frame w/o controllers too.

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  • [–] 2 points 9 months ago (1 child)

    because thats seemingly the upper bound l.

    i'd expect something a bit more expensive than the quest 3, which currently costs 550€ with controllers, because i don't think valve will sell at cost, but with a slim margin.

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