Steam Machine – Nearly 2 Months Of Use: My Official Breakdown
The Steam Machine launched on June 29-30, 2026, with 4 purchase options that left many clutching their wallets as the price of RAM and computer components continues to skyrocket. The base model has 512 GB of storage and came in at $1,049 unless bundled with the Steam Controller for $1,128, or 2 TB of storage at $1,349, priced at $1,428 with the Steam Controller. Sounds kind of insane when you look at the prices and the storage available.
I ended up getting the $1,128 bundle, which arrived on July 24, 2026. Having watched people make their own variants of the Steam Machine, I wanted to try the actual Steam hardware to see if it was worth the money and effort. Linux operating systems like Bazzite act as a friendly SteamOS, but are there pros to using SteamOS?
Specs: Steam Machine VS Original Computer
I am a big fan of small computers, and after building giant PC towers for a few years, I wanted something smaller that let me have more desk space. My current computer is a Minisforum B550, which came with a docking unit to connect an external power supply and graphics card; I use the Intel A770, which has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory. The model I had picked up was a 1 TB with 32 GB of DDR4 RAM, featuring the AMD Ryzen 7 5700G Radeon Graphics processor, which I later upgraded with a 2 TB NVMe and an additional 32 GB of DDR4 RAM.
That may sound insane compared to the Steam Machine I picked, with 512 GB and only 16 GB of DDR5 RAM. My mainstay computer has more than triple the specs of the Steam Machine, so why did I even bother picking one up? Enjoying Steam itself aside, I always want to play with new and interesting technology, and I was curious whether the Steam Machine could run the games I enjoy on my computer.
The Steam Machine surprised me with its heavy yet small frame, roughly the same width and bulk, but more than twice as tall as my B550. When you add in the B550’s dock for the power supply and graphics card, the B550 is much larger than the Steam Machine, while still being smaller than the average desktop tower PC. That might be the absolute genius part of the whole machine: its compact ability to exist as is and be perfect anywhere.
Can It Run?
The first thing I loaded up on the Steam Machine was the graphically intense game The First Descendant. Upon loading in, it auto-detected the hardware and set the graphics settings to the highest, Cinematic, compared to my main computer, which only goes to High, two settings below. In an effort to see just how bad it might end up, I ran all 5 highest-difficulty dungeons with my most spastic character, Bunny.
The Steam Machine’s ability to run the game was positively flawless; I ran each dungeon as if I owned it. I experienced zero stutters, no rubberbanding, not even graphical errors; everything loaded cleanly and clearly. There wasn’t even any lag in display when the areas would spawn mobs to fight; it was the cleanest slew of dungeon runs I have ever experienced. The whole experience left me pleased with my purchase, while also incredibly surprised that something with so little could run so smoothly.
After realizing the smoothness and clarity of gameplay in The First Descendant, I moved on to Palworld, with increased spawns and raising everything that warns it consumes excess resources and may create lag. Palworld played seamlessly as well, and after a few days, it became a family living-room PC, and it has played Spark The Electric Jester 2 and 3, DAEMON X MACHINA, Dolls Nest, and Tevi without trouble.
Overall, it appears that if it is on Steam, the Steam Machine can play it.
Steam Machine: More Utility Than Expected
There’s a clear reason the Steam Machine carries its price: once consumers understand that it was never designed to compete with consoles, but to demonstrate that Linux‑powered PCs can handle modern gaming. It doesn’t stop at gaming, as it is a full-fledged PC with desktop mode to boot. My Steam Machine is now on my entertainment stand below my TV with a keyboard, mouse, Steam Controller, and DVD drive plugged into it.
It has become an integral entertainment device in my household, and based on all the copycat attempts created since the Steam Machine’s announcement, I have a feeling the future is bright for those who want an all-around entertainment center that is small, portable, and versatile like it.
