The promised 4K@60 FPS experience that the Steam Machine is said to deliver will rely heavily on AMD FSR and low settings, according to a new early analysis.
YouTuber The Phawx built a makeshift Steam Machine using available components to emulate the system's specs as much as possible, using the following components:
- AMD Ryzen 7 8840U CPU (2 cores, 4 threads disabled, clock speed lowered)
- Radeon RX 7600M XT GPU
- AMD Smart Memory Access was used to join them together, which is likely what the Steam Machine will do.
This system was then used to verify whether the claims that the Steam Machine is six times faster than the Steam Deck and can deliver 4K@60FPS with AMD FSR are accurate.
The Steam Machine Will Indeed Be Six Times Faster Than the Steam Deck
With their testing, The Phawx confirmed that the first claim is indeed real: the Steam Machine will be six times faster than the Steam Deck. In some GPU-bound tests, the makeshift system was actually 6.5 times faster than the handheld system, but this was due to the GPU being slightly more powerful than the one in the Steam Machine, which has a higher CU count that enabled it to handle ray tracing better as well.
The Steam Machine May Struggle to Deliver 4K@60 FPS, Even With AMD FSR
However, the second claim, delivering consistent 4K@60 FPS with AMD FSR, appears questionable based on these early tests. The only tested game that offered a 4K resolution and 60 FPS experience was God of War Ragnarok, utilizing Intel XeSS in Ultra Performance Mode and low settings.
Other games, such as Warhammer 40K: Space Marines 2, Marvel's Spider-Man Miles Morales, Starfield, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, delivered mixed results. None of them ran at 4K output resolution and 60 FPS, even with upscalers in Ultra Performance mode and low settings. Some would essentially require a 30 FPS lock to deliver an acceptable experience, such as Starfield.
Although the Steam Machine may not deliver the 4K@60FPS experience that top-end hardware does, the upcoming system is still set to provide much better experiences than most players can have today on their systems, according to Valve. The 8 GB of VRAM could definitely be a problem, but if the pricing will indeed be as competitive as Valve claims, the Steam Machine could have a significant impact on the market as a whole, much like the Steam Deck did when it heralded the era of handheld gaming systems upon its launch.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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