They can't sell this at a loss, or at least it would be incredibly risky. This is (intentionally) "just a PC". It ships with SteamOS but you can of course install whatever you want, including windows. If it is (much) cheaper than a roughly equivalent normal PC, companies might just start buying them in bulk but obviously not generating the supporting sales needed.
this post was submitted on 14 Nov 2025
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I saw in a LTT video that they already claimed they will not be selling this at a loss because they want their hardware division to be self-sustaining.
If they sell it only through Steam as they do with the Steam Deck, companies wouldn't really be able to buy them in bulk.
I heard at one point in time the fastest super computer in the world was a cluster of 900 ps3. It was cheaper then buying a single computer and in the beginning of the ps3 era you could easily format and run Linux on them.
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I’m calling $700 US price. Valve’s the only company that can get into the console space with console prices since the real revenue source is the game store they run.
Edit: I slept on it and decided $750 is a safer bet, at least on the base model
The problem is that it makes less sense for them to sell at a loss than for example Xbox or Sony. It's just a capable PC, corporations could buy hundreds or thousands and they wouldn't make a cent off of game sales.
It's not impossible, however, have you seen what corporations buy for their employees? Saving on upfront cost isn't really part of the equation, it just has to say "dell" and/or "workstation" on it. A large company values long-term support and supply way more than what they'd save by getting a gaming machine.
And besides all that, it's not like the best selling console of all time didn't make money because a (objectively large) minority of owners only used it as a DVD player.
I don’t think most corporations would be interested in buying a computer that doesn’t include a windows license. Unless they intend to use it for like… server stuff, but they’d be way better off buying like… actual server hardware… if only for the operating cost.
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The article i saw a few days ago specifically mentioned that they didn't really talk about the price but when asked if it would cost more than the ps5 pro they didnt really say no and only offered that it will be priced accordingly to the hardware used to make it. To me, that most likely means it's going to cost around $1k. The absolute max is would ever be willing to pay is like $600. I have no doubt it will sell, but at that $1k price, they will severely limit the group of people that will be buying it. Honestly, if that is the cost, they should be shying away from even associating it as a console and just market it as a PC due to how people think.
Yeah, on announcement day people were adamant about it costing less than consoles, but one look at the specs and you'd know there's no way of that happening.
I'd be shocked if it's under $600
It’s likely in everybody’s best interest that this is a wild success. Not only will game developers be incentivized to actually optimize their games for reasonable setups; this will unseat Nvidia’s monopoly over gamers with their ridiculously overpriced graphics cards and also Microsoft’s monopoly of a gamer’s operating system.
Nvidia’s partnership with Palantir is incredibly concerning and any blow to Nvidia is a welcome one. Encourage these developments and hype this all up.
no way this thing costs more than 800
I'm not in the market for the GabeCube but if I were, I'd find a price point of $500-$600 attractive, given it's mostly just laptop tier hardware. I would prefer it over the current gen of consoles, although I don't know if there's gonna be the same level of optimisations for games on this as there is on consoles (most likely not really). It'll be a ripper emulation box, though.
~~Upgradability would've been nice, too. Soldered in RAM is ok for a hand-held device but for this? Nah mate....~~
I think the RAM just uses laptop sticks, so it is upgradable edit: https://www.digitalfoundry.net/features/hands-on-with-steam-machine-valves-new-pcconsole-hybrid
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At $1,000 that'd be a hard pass for me even though I love Valve, I could easily build something better for less. I seriously doubt that'll be the price too, it'll probably around $600-800.
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Higher RAM price is irrelevant as it acts on the whole market, it's not a disadvantage specific to the Steam Machine
It may act on the whole market, but it doesn't have the same impact on every OEM.
It's a bigger issue for Valve than the console competition, who have established supply chains potentially with fixed prices for certain terms or at least more significant volume discounts, and proprietary compatibility hurdles binding their customers, so they can sell hardware at a loss if they want to.
If Valve sells the computers at a loss they run the risk of people buying them for other uses, without generating corresponding Steam profits.
Here’s a gaming laptop for $700 that I think is similarly powered, except it also has a screen, keyboard, a trackpad and a Windows 11 license that probably represent like $200 of that. I’ll probably pick up a SM if it’s around $500 for the base model, but otherwise, I’ll probably build something instead.
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It has a midrange graphics card, it can't cost more than 5 or 6 hundred
I'm ready, but Amd is not. I want 4k 120hz on my TV via Amd videocard. But this stupid hdmi forum is blocking this.
Displayport to HDMI 2.1 adapter?
Regardless, fuck HDMI
I tried.. it didn't work..
I have one working from cablematters. It's slightly finicky (maybe driver issues) but supports HDR, vrr, and 4k@120hz.
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It has display port as well, for the picky
Sure, but most TVs don't, which is the main issue with wanting to connect any Linux AMD build to a TV
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If this post is intended as discussion material; No, not as long that I have my stationary computer that fills my gaming needs.
I guess if you have a stationary computer that fills your gaming needs you really aren't the target group regardless of the price.
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Whatever the price, I most likely will buy it.
I will only consider buying it if it's half that price. Also I'm in a specific intersect of necessary mobility & content with what I have.
Even if it won't be that high, it's definitely gonna cost more than Steam Deck.
I have a desktop, but would buy it for the bespoke compact hardware to fit in the TV console. The dedicated antennas are a clear sell as well.
Right now I Steam Link via Shield, but I need wired or a better router to do any low latency play.
I bought a fancy desktop PC recently so I'm not in the market. Otherwise I would consider it, but only if the desktop environment was usable for general computing. I believe it is, but I'm not sure if its version of Linux would be best for like software development.
Best? Depending on what you do, probably not. That being said I have a friend with whom I code from time to time, and he uses the desktop mode for that. He uses nix packages to setup his development environments and seems happy with it.
This is more work than I'd personally like (I am lazy) but it does not sound so bad.
I really would like to upgrade to a steam cube as my current PC is about 15 years old just with upgraded RAM, storage, and graphics but i also only play games that came out over a decade ago too
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