How much could the Steam Machine cost? Our prediction

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We’d love to tell you exactly how much the Steam Machine will cost, but Valve hasn’t released any pricing information yet. So, we’ve done some research and are offering our best guess at the potential price.

Many call it the ‘GabeCube,’ and the Steam Machine essentially brings the power of the Steam Deck to your TV for a bigger gaming experience.

A key reason the Steam Deck did so well was its reasonable price, and Valve plans to keep future devices affordable too. However, rising costs of essential computer parts could make that difficult.

Since Valve hasn’t announced a price, we have to analyze interviews and their target audience to estimate how much the Steam Machine will cost.

How much could the Steam Machine cost? Our prediction

In a conversation with Linus Sebastian from Linus Tech Tips, Valve explained that the Steam Machine will cost about the same as building a PC. They emphasized that its pricing will be based on PC component costs, not console pricing models.

This gives us a good idea of how much the Steam Machine will likely cost. Generally, entry-level gaming PCs are pricier than consoles when you compare the standard models – not the more powerful, specialized versions like the PlayStation 5 Pro.

Sebastian notes that console makers usually sell their hardware at a loss, planning to make a profit from game sales. However, the Steam Machine is essentially a PC that companies could buy in large quantities for business use, without needing to purchase any games. This means Valve needs to price the Steam Machine carefully to ensure it’s profitable and sustainable.

Unlike most pre-made computers, Valve created the Steam Machine themselves. This lets them control costs and only pay for the components they actually need.

Valve can directly negotiate prices with component suppliers like AMD, who make the processors and graphics cards for the Steam machine. Because Valve will be purchasing parts in large quantities, they can also lower costs even more.

Comparing prices with established PC retailers like AWD-IT, a computer with similar specifications to this one, such as the Mars model, is currently available for £569.99 during a sale.

The Mars includes an AMD Radeon 7600 with 8GB of memory, offering a bit more graphics power than the customized AMD chip in the Steam Machine. It’s paired with an AMD Ryzen 5500 processor, which has 6 cores but is one generation older and therefore slower than the 6-core processor found in Valve’s console.

The Steam Machine will likely be a bit faster than previous models thanks to its upgraded processor, but the difference won’t be dramatic.

While the Steam Machine could potentially offer similar performance to other PCs with comparable parts, tests have indicated that some games actually run better on Linux. However, you could achieve the same result simply by installing Linux on the AWD-IT PC.

We estimate the Steam Machine will likely cost between £500 and £600 if Valve wants it to be a good value compared to other similar devices.

Add in the fact that you will be getting a controller as well, then this value proposition goes up.

However, it’s important to remember that the price of DRAM (used for system memory) and NAND (used for SSDs) keeps going up, and that’s something to keep in mind.

The increasing demand for artificial intelligence is the main reason for this, because powerful language models like ChatGPT require a lot of computer memory.

Tariffs are also a factor, mainly impacting US customers. However, Valve might share those costs with other regions to avoid losing sales in a major gaming market. We’ve already seen tariffs cause delays – Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders were postponed in the US – so console disruptions aren’t unusual.

Valve likely doesn’t have a firm price for the Steam Machine yet. Ideally, they’ve already secured agreements and pricing, but the lack of an announcement suggests that hasn’t happened.

When we know more, we will update you as soon as we can.

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2025-11-13 20:34