It's all AMD-based, 16GB DDR5 and 8GB VRAM with 512GB storage. They're about 4x more powerful than a Steam Deck.
Con: Since it's Linux-based I think online games with anti-cheat won't work, which seems like a significant downside in terms of utility.
Is this a decent deal compared to building my own gaming rig?
p.s. I don't really care about the size footprint.
Correction: it's some online games, not all. According to areweanticheatyet.com, ~500 games with anticheat work. And if you ask me, the ones that don't work are ones not worth playing in the first place - these companies (on Windows) employ malware-like anticheat systems that spies on you, causes BSODs and upgrade failures, slows down your PC etc. It's clear that these companies don't respect your PC, so why should they deserve your money?
As for whether the Steam Machine is worth it or not, if you don't really care about Linux, then it's not worth it, because you can build your one rig for way cheaper. The Steam Machine, especially in this market, is for people who really want to support Valve and the work that they're doing towards improving Linux gaming, it's to show the industry that there is indeed a growing market for Linux gaming. People who're buying the Steam Machine right now are mainly these kind of folks, people fed up with Windows and Microsoft's monopoly.
If you don't care about all that, then don't get the Steam Machine.
Can you? I got it because between CPU, GPU and RAM I'd be already over the Steam Machine price
Intel Core Ultra 5 225F - GeForce RTX 5060 - 32GB RAM - 1TB SSD
> Con: Since it's Linux-based I think online games with anti-cheat won't work, which seems like a significant downside in terms of utility.
EAC does work on Linux, but the dev has to set a feature flag per-game. Check the specific games you want to play.
If your internet is half way decent you’ll be able to stream games with maxed out graphics. Connects to your steam account or whatever game store you use.
So no, not worth it at that price. Either build your own machine or subscribe to a service.
i'm happy with the purchase. the controllers are excellent.
Valve claims they have solved it at a hardware level on the Steam Machine. I'm not really in the market for another HTPC, but if I was starting from scratch I would seriously consider paying the premium for that feature alone.