The specs and pricing for Steam Machine have been revealed, and the preorders are opening soon. But if you’d rather sidestep that headache and build your own Steam Machine, Valve is officially making it easier for players to do so.
While speaking with The Verge, Valve’s Pierre-Loup Griffais confirmed that the recently launched SteamOS 3.8.10 is part of the company’s ongoing attempts to make the Steam operating system “more compatible with desktop hardware.” That includes “improved compatibility” with the most recent Intel and AMD platforms.
“If you have something that is similar to the use case of a Steam Machine, where you have a PC that’s gonna be plugged into a TV, and has a single hard drive that you’re not going to try and dual boot … you can put SteamOS on there, and you’ll have an experience that is very similar to a Steam Deck docked or a Steam Machine,” said Griffais. “With some caveats, of course … The core bits of the experience are there. The SteamOS graphics driver, the shader precompilation … you can get at all of that with the SteamOS.”
However, SteamOS doesn’t currently support Nvidia drivers. Griffais noted that Valve and Nvidia are “collaborating … very closely” on the issue, but compatibility with SteamOS may not be ready to go this year.
Building a high-end PC on par with Steam Machine may not be much cheaper than the $1,049 for the 512GB model. But players’ custom builds can potentially address some of Steam Machine’s shortcomings in terms of video memory and graphical power.
In response to the chaotic launch of Steam Controller preorders, Valve is trying a new procedure with Steam Machine. After the initial reservation list is closed on June 25, Valve will send out randomized invites to get a Steam Machine to discourage bots and resellers.