• 2 min read
Skip Valve’s Steam Machine and buy a $269 mini PC
PCWorld argues a cheap mini PC plus SteamOS is a better living-room gaming buy than Valve’s pricey Steam Machine.
Image: PCWorld
Valve’s new Steam Machine may be charming, tiny, and nearly silent, but PCWorld argues it’s a poor value for most gamers. Michael Crider says the device costs more than $1,000, faces supply shortages, and still struggles to compete with consoles like the Switch 2 and PlayStation 5 for living-room gaming.
Crider’s alternative is straightforward: buy a mini PC, remove Windows, and install SteamOS. Recent updates have expanded SteamOS support to more off-the-shelf hardware, especially systems with AMD processors and graphics, including integrated GPUs. The pitch is simple — get access to your Steam library on a TV without paying Steam Machine prices.
Using the Steam Deck as a performance baseline, Crider says even modest AMD hardware can still handle a wide range of games in SteamOS:
- Cyberpunk 2077, Elden Ring, Borderlands 4, and Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced
- Showpiece titles like Forza Horizon 6 and Spider-Man 2, with reduced settings
- Older PC games from Half-Life to Skyrim
- Popular Steam games like Counter-Strike 2, DOTA 2, and Palworld
- Many 2D and indie titles, including Balatro, Stardew Valley, Hades, and Hades II
There are still limits. Crider says this class of hardware is a bad fit for cutting-edge graphics showcases like Space Marine 2 or Flight Simulator 2024, keyboard-heavy games such as Dwarf Fortress, and some multiplayer titles blocked by Linux anti-cheat issues, including Apex Legends and Fortnite.
His target spec was roughly Steam Deck-class hardware: an AMD Zen 2 4-core APU, 16GB of memory, and 512GB of storage. In practice, he found two more realistic mini PC options:
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- A $400 model with Ryzen 7640HS, 16GB RAM, 512GB of storage, and Radeon 760M graphics
- A cheaper $269 system with a Ryzen 5 5300U, which he says may trail the Steam Deck somewhat but still delivers the core idea at a fraction of the price
The broader point is less about raw performance than practicality. For gamers who want a console-style box for the TV that still plays real PC games, Crider argues a mini PC running SteamOS is easier to buy, cheaper than current consoles, and available now.
PCWorld’s newsletter column also briefly notes that one of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s black leather jackets sold for $960,000 at a Sotheby’s auction.
Crider’s game pick of the week is Dead as Disco, an early-access rhythm beat-em-up with four boss-rush stages and support for loading your own music.
Computing Editor
Tomas lives in the terminal. He covers chips, laptops, and operating systems with a focus on performance and efficiency. He reads kernel changelogs the way other people read fiction, and he's always on the hunt for the perfect mechanical keyboard switch. If it processes data, Tomas has an opinion on it.
via PCWorld
