Valve's Steam Machine starts at $1,049 – great device, hard to justify the price

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That’s where the Steam Machine comes in. Priced between $1,049 and $1,428 for the top-end model, Valve’s sales pitch is that the little black box can bridge the gap between PC and console owners, giving the latter a plug-and-play solution that’s as easy to use as a PlayStation 5. Based on the time I’ve spent living with the device so far, the Steam Machine delivers on its casual ambitions. It’s a major graduation from my Steam Deck, and it will keep me from upgrading my PC during a RAM apocalypse. But as someone who is still technically-minded enough to analyze a benchmark test, I can’t deny that the Steam Machine’s hefty price tag doesn’t make financial sense, any way you slice it. The value you’ll get out of it is inversely proportional to the amount you know about hardware.