Well, here goes the hope for a sub-1000€ Steam machine.
this post was submitted on 27 May 2026
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Steam Hardware
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Th 512GB OLED model still cost under 800 Dollars. Steam Machine does not include any OLED display, controller or battery. And it does not need to fit in small size. So there are things that help the Steam Machine compared to a handheld. Let's say you have already a controller and decide to get the cheapest 512GB model of Steam Machine.
The big costs are memory, that affects ram and SSDs. Not having a screen is not going to lower the price much.
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I assumed that the Steam Machine would be much more powerful than a four year old budget portable computer.
I thought a controller was generally included with consoles?
It will probably come with and without gamepad. As you can use other gamepads too and maybe you have one already. At times like these, having the choice of buying without gamepad to get it 100 Dollars / Euros cheaper is worth a lot.
I absolutely get that it makes sense that a new console comes without a controller, many people already have controllers.
But a controller is also pretty essential, and controllers get worn out too. So a bundling price of the 2 could also be more attractive for most.
A controller is not essential for a PC / Steam Machine. Who says everyone wants to use a controller for the Steam Machine? One could just use mouse and keyboard and that is not wrong. Or another one already purchased the Steam Controller standalone (or has other controllers that could be used). On a console, usually you need the official controller as most controllers won't work. I mean if you have a Xbox or Switch controller, it would not work on a Playstation. But most controllers work on a PC / Steam Machine.
In example, if I were to buy a Steam Machine, I would choose one without controller. Why? Because I have multiple, even a Steam Controller already. There is 0 value for me to pay 100 Euros extra for a controller I would not need. Valve tries to get the price down as much as possible, and having that option is a simple way.
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There is absolutely nothing necessary about the steam controller. Everything can be done with other controllers or input methods. We have steam input available.
I’ve used the deck and Linux in general on TVs and in desktop setups. I pretty much always need a keyboard and mouse handy for specific things or specific games. Just makes it easier.. like it’s always faster to type text on an honest to god keyboard than any other input methods from voice to motion to touch to sign language. A wireless keyboard is about the same price as a pizza where I live.
Instead of a battery + USB power supply, you have a "normal" power supply. The controller parts of the Deck are basically in the Steam Controller, plus the dock/dongle. The Machine has a huge chunk of metal on the chips to dissipate the additional heat, which also adds to the cost. All of this still needs to fit in an incredibly small form factor and has better, more expensive components plus more RAM in total. Add ~20% VAT because that's how prices are calculated in the EU.
I say the cheapest we might see for a variant with included contoller is 900€ and that's probably if we're lucky.
Better buy the Steam controller quickly before AI companies decide TMR sticks are essential to feed the AI machine.
Still waiting for my reservation to trigger… I don’t think they have shipped the second batch.
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They wrecked the economy so hard that game consoles are appreciating in value.
Friend has a used car that he's contemplating selling because it's gained value despite the higher mileage.
Meanwhile my launch steam deck just gained value.... wtf
Yes but then what will he drive?
Because the other used cars have also gained value?
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Daaaaaamn. If I didn't have one already, I would not consider buying it at that price anymore. And I got the cheaper 512 gb model.
I still have the first generation, first pre-order 256GB LCD model, + 512GB microSD. It still rocks. The Steam Deck is not my main machine, so therefore I have nothing to complain. Seeing the new prices really hurts to watch go online. And I thought the Xbox Series X price is bad enough.
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Steam Deck OLED is awesome. Fantastic screen, excellent controls, insane ergonomics, light for long play sessions... even now, with older internal hardware and lessening power versus new games, it's still the best stream-to-around-the-house device on the market, and it's not really close.
But I can't see it still being $789 / $949 USD awesome. My guess is that Valve has decided that they aren't going to run out of Steam Decks again and have priced these accordingly.
My understanding is that Valve was hoping they could wait it out and not have to raise the price. Guess they decided that selling expensive Steam Decks would be better than selling none.
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I'm just gonna go live in a cabin. Fuck this tech bullshit world.
Wait til you see the prices of cabins
I got a refurbished 512GB for $439 a year ago, that is nuts.
What's even available that's competitive? Legion Go 2 prices are absolutely bonkers, maybe the first gen at $849?
MS still had launch MSRP for the ROG Xbox Ally models.
Protecting my deck with my life...
Ouch, that's rough.
I mean, this is technically better than it just not being available. But those prices are hard to swallow, makes me really glad to already have mine. Really hope nothing happens to it.
The bright side is that Valve partnered with iFixit with the Steam Deck, so if certain parts need replacing, you can do it yourself without it costing too much. If anything happens to the higher end guts, though, yeah, that would be very bad!
Ouch. I don’t think they’re worth it at those prices, sadly.
That's an insane price increase. And it makes me worried for the price of the steam frame/machine.
At this point, I am doubting the Steam Machine will actually launch. Even on reveal, the value proposition was very questionable and entirely dependent on having an unrealistically low price. I expect Valve will announce "Yeah, never mind. We are just not going to launch the Steam Machine. It doesn't make sense anymore in this new economic climate".
One can just use off-the-shelf components to build their own small form factor (SFF) PC that has basically the same specs as a Steam Machine. Conversely, that is not something anyone can do for the Steam Frame, Steam Deck, or really even the Steam Controller. Even if most Steam hardware is priced absurdly high, someone could justify the price to themselves because the direct competition is just not there. But anyone can build a SFF PC that is equivalent to a Steam Machine. The only people who could justify an absurdly high price for a Steam Machine are the people who NEED a plug-and-play console-like system and can afford a high price. And that is just not a big market.
I share your skepticism, because Valve is definitely in a damned if you do/don't situation. But...
The only people who could justify an absurdly high price for a Steam Machine are the people who NEED a plug-and-play console-like system and can afford a high price. And that is just not a big market.
I'm not sure it was ever a large market. Like I don't think based on Valve's comments during the launch that they were thinking "bigger than the Steam Deck". It really felt like "for the subset of Deck users who want this too, and maybe it'll surprise us." The commentary around price has ALWAYS been "it's going to be too expensive", from the second it was announced, so it's hard to know how much the price will actually impact sales, because so many people want to talk about how they'd buy a thing if not for this one factor who were never ever going to buy the thing.
The pricing is definitely going to be a problem now, there is no way around that. But because I'm the person you are describing, I will say... I'm just over building PCs and the inherent compromises (nevermind that the component prices are crushing that market too). The guy who did the video a few months back was a) in Canada, b) buying shit in parking lots from FB marketplace, c) doing this 6 months ago, before the war. I'm not convinced it could be done reasonably today at some remarkably lower price than whatever you or I think the Steam Machine will cost.
I don't want the ecosystem lock-in of consoles, I already own tons of PC games. I want exactly what Valve is cooking, and not really anything else. Even if it's an alleged better value.
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I blame everyone except for Valve. Smart cars, AI, Smart TVs. Anything that has memory or SSDs. I remember when things got cheaper as they got older, not the other way around.
Isn't that more than 50% extra compared to when the OLED version came out, I think it was 2023?
I bought my 1TB OLED for 679 euros end of 2024. So at least for that is 35% price increase.
Considering the increase in price, that turned out to be a very good deal. 👍
Rough. Unfortunately Valve can’t shake the RAM or SSD shortage.
Annnnd IT'S GONE
Crazy! Universally people saying "not worth it at that price" and yet...
Lower inventory than expected? Extreme FOMO?
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Yeah it sucks but imagine spending a good chunk of that on a Nintendo Switch that has built in planned obsolescence and will be a poorly supported brick in a couple of years limited to never surpass the potential the original Nintendo developers could see in the device at an architectural level and set into stone by the mass armadas of copyright weapons that Nintendo deploys.
Does the price difference matter as much when you see it in that light? You can always use your Steam Deck as a computer in any way you want to. You can load stuff onto it using the sd card.... the nonsense is astronomically less with the Steam Deck I just can't imagine thinking the Steam Deck wasn't worth it over the Switch when you actually think about the value either device brings to your life longterm. One is disposable, the other is not.
I hope it doesn’t upset you too much that I own a switch instead of a steam deck and enjoy it
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I wish the old LCD models were still available, especially the 64GB model. We needed that more than ever.
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So glad I got mine on sale last year
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