Valve has, at long last, announced the pricing and release information for its new micro PC, the Steam Machine, with a starting price of $1,606.
Following plenty of speculation, the prices for the Steam Machine are finally here, and it’s a bit dire for those hoping to get into PC gaming on a budget. Depending on storage size and your appetite for the Steam Controller, you might need to take out a small loan to get your hands on the Gabe Cube, so here it is:
- 512GB model – $1,606
- 512GB with controller – $1,728
- 2TB model – $2,109
- 2TB model with controller – $2,228
If you’re cashed up and ready to purchase, hold your horses. The Steam Machine page won’t let you head straight to checkout, nor will it let you whack a pre-order down on one. No, you’ll need to head over there, pick your preferred model, and enter a randomised lottery. The lotteries for each unit will be drawn on June 26 at 3am AEST. Then, on June 29, the successful applicants will be notified by email and will have 72 hours to complete their purchase.
Yep, the demand is that high.
Back in November of 2025, Valve revealed three new pieces of hardware: the Steam Controller, the Steam Frame (a VR headset), and the Steam Machine. The Frame is a niche bit of kit, with the popularity of VR having dipped significantly in the last few years, but the Steam Controller, which utilises a lot of the features found on the Steam Deck, has seen a lot of love. So much love that it sold out in minutes in the US, and hours here in Aus.
The biggest of the three, however, is the Steam Machine. Ostensibly a mini PC, the Steam Machine is designed to simplify the often scary world of PC gaming and bring it to your living room. Or your desk if you want to use this thing as a workspace as well. While less powerful than the two major consoles on the market at the moment, the Steam Machine is more versatile and offers fewer barriers to entry into the PC space, as it effectively just bumps you into Steam Big Picture and tells you to have fun.
Specs, yes, we’ve got ’em. Here is a brief rundown of the basic specifications for the Steam Machine:
- CPU: Semi-custom AMD Zen 4 6C / 12T
- GPU: Semi-custom AMD RDNA3 28CUs
- 16GB DDR5 + 8GB GDDR6 VRAM
- 512GB NVMe SSD, microSD card slot
- Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, Gigabit ethernet
- Integrated Steam Controller wireless adapter
- Small form factor, ~6 inch cube
- SteamOS 3
It’s tiny, it has front-to-back cooling so you can just whack it into your TV unit, and did I mention that it’s tiny? As I mentioned, this thing isn’t pushing top specs, so running modern games at ultra settings isn’t going to be an option, but it’s still a reasonably solid little PC, particularly for those looking to dip their toes into that world or those looking for a PC to hook up to their home entertainment hub. And, with the component shortages and price hikes in CPUs, GPUs, graphics cards, and just about everything else you’d need to build an entry-level PC, the cost of the Steam Machine is relatively decent. Relatively. It’s still expensive for those of us paying rent and bills.
So, what do you think? Are you going to try your hand at nabbing a Steam Machine? Let us know in the comments or on our social media.
