The Return of a Living Room Dream
Valve is giving the living room PC another shot. The company has officially announced a new Steam Machine, reviving its vision for a console-like computer that runs its SteamOS. Unlike the fragmented approach of the first generation, this new model is designed and sold directly by Valve, following the successful blueprint of the Steam Deck.
Scheduled to launch in early 2026, the new Steam Machine is positioned as a more powerful counterpart to the handheld Steam Deck, designed to sit under your TV and deliver a premium, big-screen gaming experience. It represents a key part of Valve’s expanding hardware ecosystem, which also includes the recently teased Steam Frame and a refreshed Steam Controller.
Compact Power with Custom AMD Hardware
Don’t let its small size fool you. The Steam Machine packs a significant punch, with Valve claiming it delivers over six times the performance of the Steam Deck. This power comes from a semi-custom AMD platform that, unlike the Deck’s single APU, uses two discrete chips: a dedicated CPU and a dedicated GPU.
The system features a 6-core, 12-thread AMD Zen 4 CPU and a RDNA 3 GPU with 28 Compute Units. With 16GB of DDR5 system memory and 8GB of dedicated GDDR6 VRAM for the graphics card, this hardware is targeted at smooth 4K gaming at 60 frames per second, leveraging AMD’s FSR upscaling technology to achieve that goal.
Designed for the Living Room
The Steam Machine is engineered to fit seamlessly into an entertainment center. It’s a compact 6-inch cube that houses all its hardware, including an internal power supply, and is designed to run cool and quiet. It comes with a built-in wireless adapter that can connect up to four Steam Controllers directly, without the need for a dongle.
For connectivity, it offers a modern port selection, including DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.0 for high-resolution displays, multiple USB ports, Gigabit Ethernet, and Wi-Fi 6E. A customizable RGB LED strip on the front adds a touch of personalization, able to display system status or custom animations.
The SteamOS Advantage and Open Platform
At its heart, the Steam Machine runs on SteamOS, the same Linux-based operating system that powers the Steam Deck. This means users get a console-like interface optimized for gaming, with features like quick suspend and resume. Valve will also expand its “Steam Verified” program to certify games that work flawlessly on the new hardware.
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True to Valve’s philosophy, the system remains an open platform. Users are free to install other applications or even a different operating system entirely, giving them the flexibility of a full PC in a living-room-friendly package. While the price is still unknown, Valve has indicated it will be competitive with entry-level gaming PCs, with industry estimates placing it in the $800-$1000 range.
Source: steampowered, theverge