Who is the Steam Machine for?

There has been A LOT of very negative reception for Valve's Steam Machine. But I do still think it's a great machine for the right kind of person, released at a bad time.

Price

This seems to be the biggest hangup. And while yes, the Steam Machine is very expensive, have a look around. Everything is expensive right now, most of all compute hardware. If you look at comparable hardware, the pricing is commensurate, as Valve said it would be many months ago.

Why it's not for me

I already have a desktop PC that's quite a bit more powerful, and runs Bazzite, which is (in my opinion) better than SteamOS anyway. I think this applies to most gamers who are talking about this device.

Who it is for

Console gamers

Sure, anyone can do what I did and install whatever Linux distro and get a similar experience, but most people do not want to, and will not, do that. Console gamers are looking for a "plug and play" experience.

They also want first-party support. If something goes wrong with my PC, I basically have to look to the community for solutions. If you buy a Steam Machine, you get support directly from Valve, and if there's a problem, they're not going to tell you they don't support Linux and to reinstall Windows and come back.

Mini PC lovers

Mini PCs are hot. Why? I really don't know. I have one that runs the server you're browsing on right now but certainly the majority are not buying them for that reason.

But just look at the myriad of people selling and reviewing them. Miniforum, Beelink, Geekom, GMKTech, and whatever Chinese alphabet soup name brand of the week is selling. People like and buy them, for whatever reason.

But if you've ever used one of these that actually has any power, or even a powerful laptop, you know what the compromise is: noise. And not just any noise, but like, really annoying noise. The Steam Machine improves on this design in a way I've not seen any other MiniPC do, and that's with an absolutely gargantuan heatsink (by comparison), and full-size PC fan.

I mean just look at this thing:

It's 80% heatsink by volume. This makes the Machine far less noisy than a typical miniPC.

Power-constrained gamers

Some people may be using the Machine in areas where power is expensive and otherwise inaccessible. Think like van-lifers who exist entirely on solar energy. Or Cubans who are currently experiencing a huge energy crisis. Having an efficient machine in those scenarios is really important, and desktop machines are usually the opposite of that, trading efficiency for raw power.