I, like I’m sure many others, wanted Valve’s Steam Machine to hit the market at a price that would revolutionize the old console space. but for more than $1,000 It certainly won’t do that.
I admit, it’s not Valve’s fault that this isn’t the case. Companies like Microsoft and others have contributed to what I can only describe as the absolute shit of the memory industry.pushing prices to levels that analysts increasingly believe will never return to normal.
To be fair, though, we’re not here to talk about that. Instead, we’re here to talk about the Steam Machine. While Valve initially marketed it as a 4K60 gaming machine, the company has now quietly removed those claims from the product listing page, replacing them with the much milder promise of “Gaming up to 4K with FSR 4.1, thanks to a discreet semi-custom amd Desktop CPU and GPU.“
Previously the page said the following:
“4K gaming at 60 FPS with FSR, powered by a discrete, semi-custom AMD desktop CPU and GPU.“
I’m actually pretty impressed with Valve’s Steam Machine, but it’s 4K60fps The claims were certainly short-lived once reviewers got their hands on it. It’s true that Valve always announced that 4K60 would be achieved with FSR, so it’s not that the company committed some cardinal sin of false advertising, moreover, they stretched the truth by a notable margin.
Based on reviewers’ hands-on testing, the Steam Machine appears to have failed to consistently deliver that 4K60 target, even with FSR enabled.
However, it’s nice to see Valve mention FSR 4.1, which I think is new. But don’t quote me on that. FSR4 is something I covered recentlyas many people, myself included, were hoping that Valve’s reference to it in a backend update would mean it would eventually come to devices like the steam covergiving a little more life to your already aging hardware.
I won’t be buying a Steam Machine, at least not until it reaches the price I think it deserves, around $500. At this rate, that might not happen for another decade, and by then I’ll be close to 40, which is a bit of a depressing thought.
But enough about me. What do you think of Valve quietly abandoning its 4K60 claim? Let me know your opinion in the comments and don’t forget to participate in our survey!
Join us at Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your ideas and discuss our latest news, reviews and more.
