Ever since the Steam Machine’s price and release date was announced on Monday, there’s been a lot of discussion about what the mini PC is actually capable of. And, seemingly in response to the discourse, Valve has updated the Steam Machine’s store page, now claiming the CPU is capable of “up to” 4K gaming with FSR.
Originally, Valve claimed that the Steam Machine’s CPU and GPU combo was capable of “4K gaming at 60 fps with FSR.” In my testing that is true, but only once you start tweaking the settings to hit that performance target. And, there are certain games, like Death Stranding 2, where I couldn’t get the Machine to hit that target.
Now that FSR 4.1 is available on the Steam Machine, Valve seems to have used it to update the store page to, well, temper expectations. Valve now claims that the CPU and GPU combo can do “up to 4K gaming with FSR 4.1,” which is a much safer claim. After all, the Steam Machine is a touch less powerful than the PS5, even though it’s much more expensive, and “up to 4K gaming” is basically what the mainstream consoles can do.
In my testing, for instance, 007 First Light on a mix of medium and high settings with FSR set to performance at 4K, the Steam Machine averaged around 50 fps, compared to a locked 60 on the base PS5 and Xbox Series X. And, even then, the Steam Machine dipped down to the low 40s and high 30s a few times, when the consoles just didn’t.
That level of performance, along with the $1,049 price tag is why the Steam Machine has become infamous over the last week. For most people who just want to play games, a console like the PS5 or Xbox Series X makes more sense, especially if you don’t already have a large Steam library.
The problem is that, thanks to the ongoing RAM crisis, everything is going up in price, so that even an entry-level mini gaming PC like the Steam Machine costs an arm and a leg. Meanwhile, the Xbox Series X just today saw yet another price increase. However, even before the RAM crisis hit, the Steam Machine would have likely cost around $750, which would have still been significantly more expensive than the base consoles.
At the end of the day, the Steam Machine, especially at its current price point, is an extremely niche product. It’s a gaming PC you buy to put in your living room without it becoming an eyesore. If that’s not exactly what you’re looking for, consoles are always going to be the better deal.
Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra
