The cost of the Steam Machine could turn out to be steeper than many people expect.
Valve revealed its new Steam Machine this week, and while I believe it could strongly influence the next wave of gaming hardware — whatever shape that takes on the PC side — there’s one major unknown still hanging over the compact console: its price. Valve didn’t disclose the cost during the announcement, though it did leave some clues.
The Steam Machine uses hardware comparable to a mobile Radeon RX 7600, but with a much higher TDP. When I visited Valve’s offices in Bellevue a couple of weeks ago to check it out, I was told that even though the official price wasn’t set, it would fall in the range of a “similarly specced gaming PC.”
There’s also good reason to think Valve wants to keep the system reasonably priced. When I asked Valve Hardware Engineer Yazan Aldehayyat about their pricing philosophy, he explained that, “Affordability was something we considered with every hardware choice and every feature we added, to make sure the device stays as accessible as possible.” While that doesn’t guarantee a budget-friendly product, it aligns with how Valve approached the Steam Deck — still the most affordable handheld gaming PC ever released.
“A PC With Equivalent Specs”
If Valve aims to compete with gaming PCs that offer similar performance, what would that look like? The Steam Machine includes a 6-core Zen 4 processor and an RDNA 3 GPU with 28 Compute Units. In desktop hardware terms, that’s roughly equal to an AMD Ryzen 5 7600X paired with a Radeon RX 7600M — both fairly inexpensive parts.
I built a similar PC on PCPartPicker and ended up with a total of around $913. That may sound high, but it’s not a perfect comparison because the Steam Machine is a tiny 6-inch cube. That’s more in line with mini gaming PCs, which usually rely on mobile chips to fit inside smaller cases — and Valve is doing the same.
For context, the desktop Radeon RX 7600 has 32 CUs and a 165W TDP, giving it a bit more power than the Steam Machine’s 28 CU GPU. The 7600M laptop version shares the same 28 CUs as Valve’s custom chip but normally runs at around 90W TDP. Essentially, the Steam Machine uses an overclocked laptop GPU.
So how much would a laptop with comparable performance cost? At the moment, there aren’t really any with identical specs, but a system like the MSI Thin B13VF — featuring a Core i5-13420H, 16GB RAM, RTX 4060, and 512GB storage — sells for around $780. And that includes a built-in screen.
Realistically, the Steam Machine should fall somewhere between a laptop and a desktop in power, due to its ability to draw more electricity. But there’s another category of computers right in that gap: mini PCs and NUCs.
The NUC Problem
Intel first introduced NUC (Next Unit of Computing) mini PCs back in 2013 — tiny barebones desktops using laptop parts. Intel no longer manufactures them, and the concept has now passed to Asus, which produces gaming NUCs. But they’re expensive.
The Asus ROG NUC I reviewed last year started with almost the same specs as the Steam Machine: an Intel Core Ultra 7, a mobile RTX 4060, and 16GB RAM. Its case wasn’t much larger either. But the starting price was $1,629 — a price point that would doom the Steam Machine instantly if Valve matched it.
Mini gaming PCs in general come with high price tags. The GMKTec Evo-X2 we just reviewed costs $1,499, and while it offers strong integrated graphics and 64GB RAM, the price still puts it far beyond what most gamers would pay.
I don’t expect Valve to match these prices, though, because these mini PCs are marketed toward professionals needing compact but powerful systems. And even though the engineering that goes into shrinking powerful hardware raises the cost, Valve has one major advantage that others don’t:
Steam Changes Everything
SteamOS funnels users directly into the Steam platform from the moment the system boots. That means most Steam Machine owners will be buying their games from Steam. Remember, Epic tried to push exclusives partly because Valve takes a large cut from game sales.
If the Steam Machine sells in big numbers, Valve can make back its money through software sales — letting it price the hardware more aggressively.
This is exactly how traditional consoles have been priced for decades. Hardware stays cheaper because every game sold sends money back to Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo. The only difference is that SteamOS can be replaced with Windows, which tweaks the math a little — though it’s unclear how much.
Windows is also part of the reason Valve may accept lower profit margins: competition. Steam is still the dominant storefront for PC gaming, but Microsoft’s next-gen Xbox — which is becoming more PC-like — aims to shift more players into the Microsoft Store. More purchases there means fewer on Steam. By releasing the Steam Machine, Valve strengthens its ecosystem and protects its 30% cut.
This strategy worked with the Steam Deck. Gabe Newell openly admitted hitting the $400 price was “painful” but necessary — and today, the Steam Deck practically defines handheld PC gaming.
So What Will It Cost?
Ultimately, no one outside Valve truly knows what the Steam Machine will cost until the company announces it. My first instinct was around $1,000, based on the class of hardware it matches. But realistically, it’s more likely in the $700–$800 range, depending on tariffs and manufacturing costs. If Valve decides to be really aggressive, a $600 entry price is possible.
As much as everyone hopes for a price under $500, it’s extremely unlikely.
Still, I’d love to see Valve surprise us.
