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Valve confirms Steam Machine will be priced ‘like a PC with the same level of performance’
(www.videogameschronicle.com)
this post was submitted on 24 Nov 2025
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At that rate why not just build your own pc?
I agree with you but for the sake of answering why the average consumer might go the GabeCube route: convenience and a warranty.
I’d say more important is the fact that a community will exist around it. For the SteamDeck you have no idea how much easier it is to find answers to very specific problems simply because the exact same hardware is being run by millions of people.
Also for similar reasons, some developers will optimize for the hardware.
I actually have a Steam Deck so I definitely understand that. The amount of cool tools built for it almost overnight was amazing.
Sadly NCIX went out of business, which was my go to recommendation for this, but they used to build your PC, install an OS, stress test it, and provide a 3 year warranty for like $150 (Canadian). I’m sure there are computer places like that out there still…
Microcenter with their PowerSpec lineup, for example. I think this one has made the rounds as an example of what the Steam Machine would have to compete with.
Drivers, optimised OS experience, attractive packaging, maybe some slight improvements over trying to purchase parts individually.
Nobody really does prebuilts for running linux with gaming in mind. I have built many a PC over the years but long gone are the times of (aud) 5 dollar ram sticks and 300 dollar last gen GPUs. Even peripherals have gotten stupid, monitors chasing ridiculous resolutions and refresh rates or having displays not well optimised for video games.
You can hunt around, and if prices settle a bit I might try and build a microatx for couch gaming but I'd be surprised if I could beat their price without spending some serious time bargain hunting.
Having a hardware software combination that was actually tested by the vendor is nice.
I feel like 95% of PCs, probably even gaming PCs, are bought prebuilt anyway.
building your own sucks and it's a million times worse if you have to go through a vendor RMA process. A lot of services now let you spec yours and they'll build and test (at least make sure it boots) for you and I much prefer it at this point
its a device not for everyone.
i personally see it as a device thats easy to point to. if soneone doesnt know pc gaming well, its an okay box to point at at the surface level without needing to look up prebuilt prices.