Valve quietly changes Steam Machine's 4K/60fps claim after performance criticism

[midian182]

A hot potato: One of the many controversial elements of the Steam Machine has been Valve's bold claim that it was capable of "4K gaming at 60 fps with FSR." That might be true in most cases, but testing has shown it requires games to be played at their absolute minimum settings. Now, the company has changed the line to a more accurate "Up to 4K gaming with FSR 4.1."

Beyond that painful price and restrictive hardware, Valve's claim about 4K/60fps gaming was another Steam Machine element that's come in for heavy criticism. It's now led to Valve altering the language and listing FSR 4.1 by name – the first time the company has publicly confirmed support for the latest upscaling standard. Our testing shows detail and clarity have been further improved, though it's not quite on the same level as Nvidia's DLSS.

– Steam Hardware Updates (@HardwareSteam) June 25, 2026

Changing the statement to "up to 4K" makes the claim a lot safer. Having to drop games to their bare minimum graphics settings to meet the 4K/60fps boast made them look hideous, and there were some titles, including Death Stranding 2, that simply could not reach that 60fps target in 4K.

The surprise here is why Valve waited until after the Steam Machine was released before altering the 4K/60fps claim into something more honest. Surely it knew this would attract a lot of heat, especially with so much attention on the Linux PC often being outperformed by the aging PS5.

In Valve's defense, it's far from the first company to slap these sorts of big claims on products. From the moment it launched in 2020, the PlayStation 5 box proudly displayed an 8K badge, but the only game on the console that renders internally at native 8K/60 is the Minecraft-style title The Touryst. Moreover, the standard PS5 outputs it as downsampled 4K because the base PS5 never enabled 8K output. Sony removed the 8K logo from PS5 boxes in June 2024.

The Steam Machine starts at $1,049 for a 512GB model and climbs to $1,349 for the 2TB version. We knew the prices would be high because of the AI-driven memory crisis that is making everything more expensive, but many argue that Valve could and should have kept the machine below four figures – or at least made it more powerful.

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Valve quietly changes Steam Machine's 4K/60fps claim after performance criticism

 

[Rapob]

The hardware is weak even for 1080p or 4K/UHD upscaled from said 1080p target. Same thing pretty much.

The 4K claim has always been with FSR enabled (using Performance preset, which is 1080p internal res)

60 fps, can happen, however CPU is weak, will probably require low/medium settings in the most demanding games, I would expect.

GPU is weak too but the CPU is the most important aspect in getting stable 60 fps. For "high" framerate, you will be mostly CPU bound Just look at last console gen, where the weak Jaguar cores was the reason for 30 fps in most games. Going to 60, required CPU to work much harder. No open world games run 60 as a result. Too CPU intensive. Many 60 fps games have drops as a result. Dont hold thoose 60 fps steady. Bad framepacing and drops.

With 8GB VRAM, the expectation should probably be 1080p using medium preset on a device like Steam Machine. It is just a low-end PC is disguise, running Linux which adds to the problem. Tons of Steam games won't run on Deck/Machine due to Linux. Hence the Sream Deck Verification on games. Which most games don't have. Weak hardware and Linux is to blame.

Most Steam users run Windows 10/11, 94% marketshare. Game devs have one focus on PC for now, Windows. Just because Linux gained 1% in a few years, does not move the needle.

Same with hardware manufacturers and driver development. Do AMD, Intel and Nvidia focus on Linux for consumer hardware? No, a BIG NO, they barely have drivers for Linux. AMD Adrenaline don't support Linux. Windows only. They don't care for Linux. Miniscule desktop marketshare is the reason. Open source drivers are used.

99% of Steam sales, happens on Windows.
Absolutely no true PC gamers, uses Linux only. Some casuals might, old people playing old games but people who actively build top tier gaming rigs, buys NEW hardware, plays NEWER games, is using Windows. The end.

Even Valve says Linux have tons of obstacles to overcome and they are the main reason why Linux got slightly more relevant for gaming in recent years. Valves work with Proton is the reason Linux gaming got better but when Valve says Linux has a long way to go still, you listen.

Absolutely no-one builds a new fresh gaming machine and then installs Linux as the only and primary OS. You might shoot yourself in the nuts too, if that is your thing.

 

[dangh]

SM is just too expensive for what it provides. Sure, thanks to Linux it will work better for many titles than a Windows, but you can build a stronger matching with a similar volume for this price.

 

[Rapob]

SM is just too expensive for what it provides. Sure, thanks to Linux it will work better for many titles than a Windows, but you can build a stronger matching with a similar volume for this price.

Better performance in "Many titles" !? No haha. It will limit the Steam gamelibrary like crazy tho.

 

[NumberNine]

Graphics aren't everything, but this is still a terrible value.

 

[yRaz]

SM is just too expensive for what it provides. Sure, thanks to Linux it will work better for many titles than a Windows, but you can build a stronger matching with a similar volume for this price.

Outside of stuff manufactured and sitting on shelves since 2025, the steam machine is basically being sold at cost. When it was being developed last year the BoM was probably $550 and could have been sold profitably for $650-700.

Better performance in "Many titles" !? No haha. It will limit the Steam gamelibrary like crazy tho.

No, it won't. Outside of kernel level anti-cheat, nearly everything will run. Developers have to go out of their way to disable linux support. At this point, I see it as no different than console exclusives

 

[dangh]

Outside of stuff manufactured and sitting on shelves since 2025, the steam machine is basically being sold at cost. When it was being developed last year the BoM was probably $550 and could have been sold profitably for $650-700.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/jfjjH3 , you can buy now much better pc, with 4.5 liters case, for less. You will have nvidia 5060, which is much better than SM and in general a better performance.

Better performance in "Many titles" !? No haha. It will limit the Steam gamelibrary like crazy tho.

I don't think you were around last 5 years. Things are different now, with more or less all single player games working, and multiplayer games working as long as game do not require to expose your ring zero privileges to some big corpos.

 

[The Talking Tech]

The Steam Machine's underperforming hardware makes the Xbox and PS5 look underpriced...another reason why Microsoft and Sony saw the opportunity to increased their own prices.

As if the disappointing hardware wasn't enough, Valve's arrogance in refusing to subsidize the Steam Machine has made its own pricing worth of a laugh.

That's the Steam Machine in a nutshell.

 

[yRaz]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/jfjjH3 , you can buy now much better pc, with 4.5 liters case, for less. You will have nvidia 5060, which is much better than SM and in general a better performance.


I don't think you were around last 5 years. Things are different now, with more or less all single player games working, and multiplayer games working as long as game do not require to expose your ring zero privileges to some big corpos.

thats a 5050,not a 5060. it also uses zen 3 instead of zen4. that system is actually a decent bit slower than the steam machine.

 

[Loadedaxe]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/jfjjH3 , you can buy now much better pc, with 4.5 liters case, for less. You will have nvidia 5060, which is much better than SM and in general a better performance.

Except you're using outdated hardware that isn't even available anymore, like the Intel SSD. That graphics card isn't an RTX 5060, and that Apevia power supply is junk.

If you're building a decent system today with even a Ryzen 5000 series CPU and an RTX 5060, you're still looking at well over $1,000. Using discontinued parts and low quality components just to hit a lower price point isn't a realistic comparison.

 

[guillejp]

Well fine, but they absolutely need to lower the price at least a good 20%, even if selling it at a loss.
They needed the market penetration to get consumer mind share and hardware and game developers collaboration for this endeavor to make sense, more than simply making money.

 

[dangh]

Except you're using outdated hardware that isn't even available anymore, like the Intel SSD. That graphics card isn't an RTX 5060, and that Apevia power supply is junk.

If you're building a decent system today with even a Ryzen 5000 series CPU and an RTX 5060, you're still looking at well over $1,000. Using discontinued parts and low quality components just to hit a lower price point isn't a realistic comparison.

@yRaz
right, that was wrong link. Below is correct one. $857.16, 5060ti, and you could swap for a stronger cpu. It already is much faster than sm:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/3cMwYX

Something similar could be cone only on newegg, just will be bit more expensive (just add a case):

Custom PC Builder - Build Your Own PC | Newegg

Newegg’s custom PC builder makes it easy to compare components, find compatible parts, save builds & share them with friends. Build your PC today!

newegg.io

Both will be much faster and cheaper than a steam deck.

and btw, Valve is not using any better components, and SM is not offering any kind of upgrade.

 

[yRaz]

@yRaz
right, that was wrong link. Below is correct one. $857.16, 5060ti, and you could swap for a stronger cpu. It already is much faster than sm:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/3cMwYX

Something similar could be cone only on newegg, just will be bit more expensive (just add a case):

Custom PC Builder - Build Your Own PC | Newegg

Newegg’s custom PC builder makes it easy to compare components, find compatible parts, save builds & share them with friends. Build your PC today!

newegg.io

Both will be much faster and cheaper than a steam deck.

and btw, Valve is not using any better components, and SM is not offering any kind of upgrade.

Zen4 and ddr5 is a pretty decent upgrade, especially in CPU heavy games. The closest equivalent to what's in the steam machine on zen 3 is the 5600x3d which has similar performance to the Ryzen 5 7600, which is basically what's in the Steam machine.

The issues with your build are not so much with the GPU, it's that the SM has to be built with NEW components ordered in bulk and sent off to be assembled.

People keep saying "oh, I can do that cheap". Good, go ahead. That doesn't address the major logistical challenges in the industry. And these cheap parts on the market that are basically "old-new" stock are going to dry up. The ridiculous prices of DDR5 and current edge NAND are making people buy old-new stock rather than upgrading a new system and it's moving off shelves faster than it otherwise would have.

 

[bviktor]

remember those GTX 980 Ti boxes with the "4K ready" label?

I do.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

4k60 on the failure that was the RX 7400?

ROFLMAO. Valve is delusional.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

The real problem with the Steam Cube is that there isn't a better "Pro" version.

IF you care about tiny size and play undemanding games it's fine, but those are pretty big IFs. While it fits some use cases it's too weak for us enthusiasts to easily recommend to our non-techie friends.

Valve should have made this at $699 and a better spec'd Pro version for $999-1199 (obviously pre-AI prices). Something with a 9060 XT 16GB or perhaps cut down 9070. Something that could run the latest games on Very High at 1080p/60 is much easier to recommend to a normie that just wants to game and not build or even prebuild anything.

This is just too compromised for most people, but if it was "the cheap base model" I could understand it more.

 

[Tech420]

@yRaz
right, that was wrong link. Below is correct one. $857.16, 5060ti, and you could swap for a stronger cpu. It already is much faster than sm:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/3cMwYX

Something similar could be cone only on newegg, just will be bit more expensive (just add a case):

Custom PC Builder - Build Your Own PC | Newegg

Newegg’s custom PC builder makes it easy to compare components, find compatible parts, save builds & share them with friends. Build your PC today!

newegg.io

Both will be much faster and cheaper than a steam deck.

and btw, Valve is not using any better components, and SM is not offering any kind of upgrade.

Not sure why people are complaining about the price of the steam machine. The whole machine is less than the price of a 4080 Super

 

[dangh]

Zen4 and ddr5 is a pretty decent upgrade, especially in CPU heavy games. The closest equivalent to what's in the steam machine on zen 3 is the 5600x3d which has similar performance to the Ryzen 5 7600, which is basically what's in the Steam machine.

The issues with your build are not so much with the GPU, it's that the SM has to be built with NEW components ordered in bulk and sent off to be assembled.

People keep saying "oh, I can do that cheap". Good, go ahead. That doesn't address the major logistical challenges in the industry. And these cheap parts on the market that are basically "old-new" stock are going to dry up. The ridiculous prices of DDR5 and current edge NAND are making people buy old-new stock rather than upgrading a new system and it's moving off shelves faster than it otherwise would have.

There is no issue really with new or old component. This is a gaming machine, only thing it matters is gaming performance. With my bike you're getting much better performance or of the box, and you can do small upgrades with time. What's more, you can build same system on am5 for around 150 more, which will give you even better results, but I wanted to show how overpriced for performance sm is.
If sm is more expensive with this production volume, for not upgradeable system I'd say (and hardware unboxed, and gamers nexus) it is doa and you have much better options around.

Am5 platform, 5060ti, 1020 usd: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/mTCFZQ

 

[dangh]

Not sure why people are complaining about the price of the steam machine. The whole machine is less than the price of a 4080 Super

I'm complaining about price to performance ratio and I linie a system 50pct more performant for a less price, with benefits of open upgrades in future.

 

[yRaz]

There is no issue really with new or old component. This is a gaming machine, only thing it matters is gaming performance. With my bike you're getting much better performance or of the box, and you can do small upgrades with time. What's more, you can build same system on am5 for around 150 more, which will give you even better results, but I wanted to show how overpriced for performance sm is.
If sm is more expensive with this production volume, for not upgradeable system I'd say (and hardware unboxed, and gamers nexus) it is doa and you have much better options around.

Am5 platform, 5060ti, 1020 usd: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/mTCFZQ

You only have better options while supplies of new-old stock last, and it won't last. Also, they're console is a linux system. If you want a steam machine because of SteamOS, you're going to have a lot of problems with nVidia hardware. You can find a faster AMD card for cheaper

 

[dangh]

You only have better options while supplies of new-old stock last, and it won't last. Also, they're console is a linux system. If you want a steam machine because of SteamOS, you're going to have a lot of problems with nVidia hardware. You can find a faster AMD card for cheaper

I used this card, because for low volume sffpc nvidia has smaller cards. And I use only Linux for years as well. While I have 9070xt, nvidia performance is slower in dx12 titles only. But sure, if you don't mind 10 liter case, amd is a better choice for Linux.

As for the cost and as long as supply last, we see ran price reduction in last 4 months. I think it is pretty stable now, and hopefully it get better next year. If this happen, you could cheaply upgrade self build pc, while you can't do that with sm. And if price go up, sm price will increase as well, same, like steam deck did. So still self build option is just better performance, better lifecycle, for less money.

 

[yRaz]

I used this card, because for low volume sffpc nvidia has smaller cards. And I use only Linux for years as well. While I have 9070xt, nvidia performance is slower in dx12 titles only. But sure, if you don't mind 10 liter case, amd is a better choice for Linux.

As for the cost and as long as supply last, we see ran price reduction in last 4 months. I think it is pretty stable now, and hopefully it get better next year. If this happen, you could cheaply upgrade self build pc, while you can't do that with sm. And if price go up, sm price will increase as well, same, like steam deck did. So still self build option is just better performance, better lifecycle, for less money.

if you think RAM prices are coming down anytime soon, you're going to hate the deal Micron just signed with 16 companies

 

[Loadedaxe]

@yRaz
right, that was wrong link. Below is correct one. $857.16, 5060ti, and you could swap for a stronger cpu. It already is much faster than sm:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/3cMwYX

Something similar could be cone only on newegg, just will be bit more expensive (just add a case):

Custom PC Builder - Build Your Own PC | Newegg

Newegg’s custom PC builder makes it easy to compare components, find compatible parts, save builds & share them with friends. Build your PC today!

newegg.io

Both will be much faster and cheaper than a steam deck.

and btw, Valve is not using any better components, and SM is not offering any kind of upgrade.

8GB of DDR4 2400?
5000 series excels with dual channel and 3600 MT/s, that would be crippling that build tremendously. Not to mention, Adata drives are a source of failure, have been for years. Also Kingston budget SSDs have been known to fail prematurely as well.

I get what your trying to do, and maybe it can be done with a mix of used parts, and I am not defending Valve. But with the current DDR5 and SSD situation, that price for someone who only plays Steam games, it isn't bad, what is bad is it is still unpolished.

An enthusiast is not going to buy the Steam Machine, that is not it's targeted audience.

 

[yRaz]

8GB of DDR4 2400?
5000 series excels with dual channel and 3600 MT/s, that would be crippling that build tremendously. Not to mention, Adata drives are a source of failure, have been for years. Also Kingston budget SSDs have been known to fail prematurely as well.

I get what your trying to do, and maybe it can be done with a mix of used parts, and I am not defending Valve. But with the current DDR5 and SSD situation, that price for someone who only plays Steam games, it isn't bad, what is bad is it is still unpolished.

An enthusiast is not going to buy the Steam Machine, that is not it's targeted audience.

I think the issue with the steam machine is that it was designed with the idea hardware would get cheaper overtime, not more expensive. I think that steam enthusiasts were the intended audience and that its original price point was going to make it cheap enough that people with 5090's would look at it and think it's cheap and a cool gimmick that they can stick under their TV. When I'm working on the road I often stream games from my laptop to my steam deck. I had always thought of the steam machine as a videogame streaming box, but the hardware shortage has made it too expensive to be a multi-role machine.

 

[NikoFluffer]

The hardware is weak even for 1080p or 4K/UHD upscaled from said 1080p target. Same thing pretty much.

The 4K claim has always been with FSR enabled (using Performance preset, which is 1080p internal res)

60 fps, can happen, however CPU is weak, will probably require low/medium settings in the most demanding games, I would expect.

GPU is weak too but the CPU is the most important aspect in getting stable 60 fps. For "high" framerate, you will be mostly CPU bound Just look at last console gen, where the weak Jaguar cores was the reason for 30 fps in most games. Going to 60, required CPU to work much harder. No open world games run 60 as a result. Too CPU intensive. Many 60 fps games have drops as a result. Dont hold thoose 60 fps steady. Bad framepacing and drops.

With 8GB VRAM, the expectation should probably be 1080p using medium preset on a device like Steam Machine. It is just a low-end PC is disguise, running Linux which adds to the problem. Tons of Steam games won't run on Deck/Machine due to Linux. Hence the Sream Deck Verification on games. Which most games don't have. Weak hardware and Linux is to blame.

Most Steam users run Windows 10/11, 94% marketshare. Game devs have one focus on PC for now, Windows. Just because Linux gained 1% in a few years, does not move the needle.

Same with hardware manufacturers and driver development. Do AMD, Intel and Nvidia focus on Linux for consumer hardware? No, a BIG NO, they barely have drivers for Linux. AMD Adrenaline don't support Linux. Windows only. They don't care for Linux. Miniscule desktop marketshare is the reason. Open source drivers are used.

99% of Steam sales, happens on Windows.
Absolutely no true PC gamers, uses Linux only. Some casuals might, old people playing old games but people who actively build top tier gaming rigs, buys NEW hardware, plays NEWER games, is using Windows. The end.

Even Valve says Linux have tons of obstacles to overcome and they are the main reason why Linux got slightly more relevant for gaming in recent years. Valves work with Proton is the reason Linux gaming got better but when Valve says Linux has a long way to go still, you listen.

Absolutely no-one builds a new fresh gaming machine and then installs Linux as the only and primary OS. You might shoot yourself in the nuts too, if that is your thing.

I don't know if OS is the thing. Been using CachyOS on my main new rig and travel laptop and PCVR works fine, games works fine too. So far I'm pretty happy with Linux and also got a steam machine due to it

The hardware is weak even for 1080p or 4K/UHD upscaled from said 1080p target. Same thing pretty much.

The 4K claim has always been with FSR enabled (using Performance preset, which is 1080p internal res)

60 fps, can happen, however CPU is weak, will probably require low/medium settings in the most demanding games, I would expect.

GPU is weak too but the CPU is the most important aspect in getting stable 60 fps. For "high" framerate, you will be mostly CPU bound Just look at last console gen, where the weak Jaguar cores was the reason for 30 fps in most games. Going to 60, required CPU to work much harder. No open world games run 60 as a result. Too CPU intensive. Many 60 fps games have drops as a result. Dont hold thoose 60 fps steady. Bad framepacing and drops.

With 8GB VRAM, the expectation should probably be 1080p using medium preset on a device like Steam Machine. It is just a low-end PC is disguise, running Linux which adds to the problem. Tons of Steam games won't run on Deck/Machine due to Linux. Hence the Sream Deck Verification on games. Which most games don't have. Weak hardware and Linux is to blame.

Most Steam users run Windows 10/11, 94% marketshare. Game devs have one focus on PC for now, Windows. Just because Linux gained 1% in a few years, does not move the needle.

Same with hardware manufacturers and driver development. Do AMD, Intel and Nvidia focus on Linux for consumer hardware? No, a BIG NO, they barely have drivers for Linux. AMD Adrenaline don't support Linux. Windows only. They don't care for Linux. Miniscule desktop marketshare is the reason. Open source drivers are used.

99% of Steam sales, happens on Windows.
Absolutely no true PC gamers, uses Linux only. Some casuals might, old people playing old games but people who actively build top tier gaming rigs, buys NEW hardware, plays NEWER games, is using Windows. The end.

Even Valve says Linux have tons of obstacles to overcome and they are the main reason why Linux got slightly more relevant for gaming in recent years. Valves work with Proton is the reason Linux gaming got better but when Valve says Linux has a long way to go still, you listen.

Absolutely no-one builds a new fresh gaming machine and then installs Linux as the only and primary OS. You might shoot yourself in the nuts too, if that is your thing.

Not sure if Linux is to blame. Been using CachyOS for 2 years now on my fresh right for PCVR and other titles (CS2, TF2, Mc, BeatSaber, VrChat) got full AMD system and the drivers are much much better comparing to windows ones. Didn't had yet any issue with compatibility or something so imo the hardware is to blame there.