Valve’s new console-sized PC, the Steam Machine, is more expensive than the Xbox Series X with 3 years of Game Pass Ultimate.
A price comparison (via Majestic-Bowler-1701 on Reddit) of the base Steam Machine model and the Xbox Series X digital edition shows that the former costs more than an the latter bundled with 3 years of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. This is despite Valve’s living-room PC offering weaker hardware in several key areas.
The base Steam Machine model is currently priced at 1108.00 Euros with a Steam Controller controller. In comparison, an Xbox Series X Digital Edition costs 549.99 Euros, while a 12-month prepaid Game Pass Ultimate subscription is available for 177.49 Euros. Purchasing three years of Game Pass Ultimate brings the total Xbox package to 1082.46 Euros, making it 25.54 Euros cheaper than the Steam Machine.
The Xbox Series X also holds a hardware advantage in several areas. Microsoft’s console features an 8-core Zen 2 CPU, 52 RDNA 2 GPU compute units, 16GB of GDDR6 memory with 560 GB/s bandwidth, and a 1TB SSD. Meanwhile, the base Steam Machine model contains a 6-core Zen 4 CPU, 28 RDNA 3 compute units, 16GB DDR5 system memory, 8GB GDDR6 memory, and a 512GB SSD. While architectural differences make direct comparisons difficult, the Xbox Series X offers substantially more GPU compute units, significantly higher memory bandwidth, and double the storage capacity.
The Steam Machine ships with no games, requiring users to purchase titles or rely on their existing Steam libraries. On the other hand, 3 years of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate provides access to hundreds of games for a long period, including day-one releases from Xbox Game Studios, such as Gears of War: E-Day, Fable, and Clockwork Revolution. Furthermore, the eagerly anticipated GTA VI is set to launch on consoles first, whereas a PC version has yet to be announced, meaning that Steam Machine users won’t have access to the game at least in the immediate future.
