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Valve describes just how brutal RAM negotiations are in 2026 (www.theverge.com)
submitted 2 months ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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Valve’s Steam Machine finally has a price: a whopping $1,049 for the 512GB configuration or $1,349 for the 2TB version. And those are without bundled controllers, which drive up the cost more.

The prices are so high in part because Valve isn’t subsidizing the hardware, and the company has already indicated that the component crisis forced it to reconsider its initial pricing plans. In an interview with the YouTube channel Gamers Nexus, Valve engineers discussed the reality of sourcing RAM in 2026, with take-it-or-leave-it prices as memory and other components remain in short supply, from only a few vendors like Samsung, Micron, and SK Hynix.

[...]

Valve, of course, isn’t the only company in a bind over memory shortages, as the crunch is forcing many hardware makers to make significant pricing changes. Even Apple CEO Tim Cook is warning of incoming price hikes for iPhones, Macs, and other devices. And the RAM crunch isn’t projected to get better anytime soon.

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[–] 90 points 2 months ago (1 child)

This really bums me out not cuz I was looking to buy one but because I wanted it to shake the market up and make every company do better for the consumer... I feel like this price takes them completely out of the console market and purely into the entry-level PC market where I think it still is a decent specs and price for that market. It's just not what it was made to be

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  • [–] 43 points 2 months ago (2 children)

    is it really that more expensive? because unlike a console the steammachine doesnt require a subscription to play online. PS5+ is 150€ yearly just for that. granted, you get a game per month but the games you get are often games you wouldnt buy anyways. so with the current price of 900€ for a 2tb ps pro youll pay 900€. after 3 years the steam machine is cheaper.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    Online is free with the caveat that some games might not allow it at all..

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    you wouldnt play most of these games on a htpc though if you have to compete with keyboard and mouse on a controller. also its still possible to install windows on it, if its such a problem.

    that being said the price for the performance is still too high and i wouldnt recommend it to nom tech people. (i commented before comparing the specs to the ps5 pro)

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  • [+] -6 points 2 months ago* (3 children)

    "After 3 years" lol. You're also not mentioning that even the base ps5, which was released 6 years ago, performs better than a Steam Machine.

    You're also comparing against the most expensive PS+ plan. The base one is about 80 per year so you'd "break even" in what? 6 years? What a joke.

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  • [–] 28 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

    You’re also not mentioning that even the base ps5, which was released 6 years ago, performs better than a Steam Machine.

    is that based on the specs or some reviews somewhere ?

    edit: nvm, looked it up

    6700(ish) for ps5 OG

    vs

    7600 for steam machine

    pretty close , though ps5 probably wins due to very specific optimizations for games compiled for that platform.

    I'm seeing 7700xt for ps5 pro, not sure if that's correct but it certainly beats a 7600.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    Early reviews are saying that the Steam Machine and PS5 perform similarly, with the PS5 being a smoother experience overall due to automatic framescaling. And that's with something that's 6+ years ago.

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  • [–] 0 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    Yeah, it's close but the ps5 was released 6 years ago and it's cheaper. The Steam Machine's bang for buck is awful. It's a pc with console limitations and a pc price.

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  • [–] 15 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    What console limitations? it's a full PC.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    Hardware console limitations. Everything but the SSD and RAM is proprietary and you can't upgrade it. Heck, it doesn't even have an audio output. The I/O sucks hard.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    Yeah not having an audio port is a bit shit especially if this is suppose to be a plug n play type of deal. At least the consoles allow you to use the controllers for audio.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    That was a huge surprise the first time when I plugged in a PlayStation DualSense controller into my PC and the audio started coming out of the controller.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago

    You can also plug headphone directly in to the controller (although you've probably seen that).

    nightmare for battery life if your headphones are above average impedance though.

    (or maybe it's just my headphones, i'm not an audio snob, who knows?)

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (1 child)

    I compared it to the yearly plan that showed up first. i was honestly not aware that there are different subscription tiers. when i used ps+ with the ps4 there was only one + as far as i know.

    the power of the machine is dissapointing and i commented before comparing the ps5+ specs with the SM.

    on the other side could it be a ok device if you want that formfactor, long softwaresupport and still have a pc that can be used for more than just playing games or watching tv. Especially if youre not into AAA-gaming and more into Indie or Emulators. There you‘ll get a bigger Library than from a regular Console.

    the price is also arround 7% more if you choose the SM over a comparable DIY according to gamers nexus so it seems fair i guess?

    that being said i think the current SM is more a niche product and not for the masses.

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  • [–] -2 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    The form factor is slightly smaller than itx and you can buy a pre-built itx pc. Software support is ridiculous, that's already a feature in every pc and OS.

    Also, I don't think the price is ok at all. If you're going to take away upgradeability, it needs to be a lot cheaper than diy.

    I worry that this is going to be so niche that it'll die a very quick death.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    yes. softwaresupport is a feature in every pc but not for consoles. this thing dies once its hardware dies or is so outdated you couldnt run a game anymore.

    a ps5 dies once the newer console releases, because there are no games coming anymore.

    but yes. i hoped that it would be more than that, but it seems like valve hoped for more too.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    Except that the steam machine is not a console? It's just a linux pc with a UI that can be navigated with a controller. You can just install bazzite and achieve the same result. Software support could actually be worse for the steam deck, considering that it has a semi-custom apu.

    Be honest, when was the last time you wanted to use a pc and couldn't because it didn't have drivers? Heck, my first server a little over a year ago was using a 15 year-old i5 2400, and it worked just fine for a simple file server + jellyfin with the arr stack and direct playback.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    yes. thats why it isnt priced as one, but still gets compared to a console because it wants to compete with thwm in the living room.

    soo fun story regarding drivers. my notebook from work doesnt support my docking station at home anymore after a upgrade to win 11 from 10. My linux pc works just fine. its a tablet though and has some unsupported hardware like gyro sensors.

    but thats not the point. the point is, that valve still updates its distro for the steamdeck and keeps improving it years after the launch.i expect the same for the SM. compare that to the asus ally: 1 year after release and asus dropped its support if i remember correctly.

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  • [–] 0 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    W10 drivers can be used in W11...

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (1 child)

    yeah, tell that win 11 because theres no driver missing, everything is up to date but the only thing my docking station does is power delivery.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (1 child)

    You can update drivers manually through device manager, don't know if you've tried that. I'm assuming you've tested this usb-c hub with another device already to confirm that it isn't dead, right?

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (1 child)

    yes i know all that.

    no the ports work just fine with other devices. also my device isnt the only one in the company that has some issues with certain devices after the upgrade.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (1 child)

    That's honestly very odd. It's windows though, so I'm not exactly surprised. Can you share the brand and model of that docking station?

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