These Sub-$1000 Pre-Built Gaming PCs Destroy The Steam Machine With Faster CPU/GPU Combos, Double The Memory & Storage

Steam Machine is here, but it comes at a really high price point, which makes these sub-$1000 PCs a far better value.

Valve's Steam Machine Comes In At A Very High Price Tag, Making Pre-Built & DIY PCs A Better Option For Gamers

Well, the Steam Machine is officially here. It is the latest hardware launch by Valve, a company all gamers know and love. The creators of the highly successful Steam Deck have now introduced a full-fledged PC that offers the convenience of a console thanks to its compact design. We talked about the specs and initial benchmarks a few days ago, but after today's launch, one thing is very clear: even Valve couldn't save itself from the claws of the memory and storage crisis that's been going on for several months now.

As such, today's introductory prices aren't very well received amongst the gaming community. There are four configurations, and the primary difference between each is the storage size and the controller.

The Price Dilemma

All four models are equipped with 16 GB of DDR5 memory for the system, 8 GB of GDDR6 memory for graphics, and an NVMe SSD. The base models feature 512 GB of storage, starting at $1049 US without the controller and $1128 US with the controller. The 2 TB model comes at $1349 without the controller, and $1428 with the controller. The 2 TB models come with some add-ons, such as extra faceplates. All Steam Machines come pre-installed with SteamOS 3.

The Alternatives

The alternatives to the Steam Machine are many. Retailers usually hold discounted sales on pre-built PCs, and it looks like Newegg was right in time to start their FantasTech Sale, which has pre-built PCs with much more decent specs than the Steam Machine listed online.

One PC equipped with an Intel Core i5-14400 (10-Core) with an Arc B570 10 GB graphics card, 16 GB of DDR4-3200 memory, and 1 TB of NVMe storage is listed for $849 US. You can also get an RTX 5060 8 GB graphics card version of the same PC for $899. And the RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB version will set you up for $999. Or if you want to try the Arc B580 12 GB, you can get that too at the same price.

While 16 GB is enough memory for most gaming needs, having 32 GB is always preferable for the ideal PC and Gaming experience. A 32 GB PC with an 8 GB RTX 5060 and an i5-14400 CPU is currently being sold for $1100, which is just $50 more for twice the memory and storage space as the Steam Machine, and with a much better CPU/GPU combo. The Steam Machine GPU is only comparable to an RX 7600, and sometimes, it even runs below that. You can also get a 32 GB PC with an Arc B570 10 GB graphics card for $999.

Another impressive configuration is a pre-built with an Intel Core i5-12600KF CPU (10-cores), 32 GB of DDR4 memory, 1 TB NVMe SSD, and an 8 GB RX 9060 XT graphics card for $1349. ASUS has the same specs listed with 32 GB DDR5 memory, an RX 9060 XT PRIME OC graphics card, and an AMD Ryzen 7 8700F (8-Core) CPU for $1199.

Once you go into the $1300+ range, you can find plenty of PCs with DDR5 memory, but due to high prices, you will only get 16 GB capacities in such a setup. These are more future-proof. Even the Steam Machine comes with DDR4 memory.

We also tried to build an even cheaper PC using a 6-Core Ryzen 5 5500, Arc B570 10 GB graphics card, 32 GB DDR4 memory, 1 TB SSD, and the pricing came to around $800 US. With 16 GB RAM, we can go below $800, too.

And for a more future-proof configuration:

With that said, even the prices these current pre-builts are listed at are higher than what they used to be. Most of these systems should be around $500-$800 if it weren't for higher memory and SSD prices. But just like Valve, regular gamers and consumers are widely affected by higher prices, and it is something that will last for a while.

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