In the six months since Valve announced the Steam Machine, PC gaming hardware has continued to get more expensive, and now that the Steam Deck has an official price increase, anyone hoping to get a Steam Machine for less than a thousand bucks is probably going to be disappointed.
When I visited Valve to take an early look at the Steam Machine last year, I was told that the price would be competitive with a comparable gaming PC. My gut feeling at the time was that would mean a $1,200 sticker price, which I walked back on once I started doing the math, figuring it would settle at around $800. But I wasn’t taking a months-long RAM crisis into consideration.
Welcome to The Desert of the RAM
In the months since this all started, there have been these momentary glimpses of lower prices. I’ve been using this basic kit of G.Skill Flare X5 RAM as a sort of barometer for the memory market, and right now it’s ‘on sale’ for $404. That’s a high price to be sure, but it is about 10% lower than it’s been for months. But, like all the other dips that have happened recently, that price will probably bounce back up in a few days.
It is technically cheaper, for now
Even back in January, I was told by analyst Anshel Sag that this RAM crisis would be a long-term affair, and that just continues to be the case. But at least for the first few months, DIY PC builders were facing most of the pain. For a while at least, prebuilt gaming PCs and laptops were eating the price while the manufacturers had inventory to spare. But it seems like those days are drawing to an end.
Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have all raised prices on their consoles, and now the Steam Deck has finally followed suit. In the short term, if you’re in the market for a handheld gaming PC, you’re probably best off trying to find something more affordable. For instance, the lower-tier Xbox Ally is still available at Best Buy for $599. You can even install SteamOS if you want a Steam-Deck like experience.
Asus ROG Xbox Ally
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The Asus ROG Xbox Ally comes with an AMD Ryzen Z2 A and the Xbox Full Screen Experience. You even get a trial of Xbox Games Pass.
But I have to imagine it’s only a matter of time before the Xbox Ally goes up in price, too. After all, it also has RAM in there. It pains me to say it, but we’re probably heading into an era where most gaming devices start at around $1,000. It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if the PS5 and Xbox Series X get another price bump up to that point, either.
Steam Machine In the Age of AI
In the few posts Valve has made about the delayed Steam Deck, it has referenced the rising costs of hardware as the one thing holding its console back. At face value, it seems like the company is just holding the mini gaming PC back, hoping that prices will drop enough to launch the Steam Machine at a reasonable price. There will come a time, and probably soon, where everything is more expensive, and suddenly a $1,200 Steam Machine feels much more reasonable, especially if the consoles get another price bump.
Because, sure, a $1,200 gaming PC with the equivalent of an AMD Radeon RX 7600 or Nvidia RTX 4060 is a hard sell when the PS5 costs $599. But that math is going to look a lot different if Sony’s console goes up to $699 or $799 for the digital version.
We still don’t know when the Steam Machine is actually going to come out, but with each passing day, it becomes less likely that it’s going to squeeze in under $1,000. I’d love to be wrong, but when Valve finally turns that order button on, don’t be surprised if it’s accompanied by a four-digit number.
Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra
