You can build a Steam Machine instead of buying one, admits Valve

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Valve’s new Steam Machine is now available for sale, but availability will be limited, as will the number of customers who will be able to afford one the new PC-console hybrid devices. With the Steam Machine starting at $1,049, sans controller, Valve’s new Steam hardware will be out of range for anyone who was hoping for console-like pricing.

The good news, Valve says, is that if you don’t get a Steam Machine right away or can’t afford the asking price, you can always build your own. In Valve’s recently updated FAQ on the Steam Machine, the developer addresses the question, “If I don’t get a Steam Machine right away, is there anything else I can do?”

Valve says, “Thanks to the openness of the PC platform, there are lots of options for devices that will allow you to run games natively or streamed to your TV. There are many PC sites and communities out there that can help you with that. For our part, we are continuing to work toward enabling SteamOS to be used on more hardware than just ours. In fact, with the newly-released SteamOS 3.8, you can run the same code and operating system as Steam Machine on your own living-room PC using whatever PC parts you want: learn more here. Right now, only AMD GPUs are supported, but we’re working on expanding support for the future.”

To anyone who’s built their own PC, the option to DIY your own Steam Machine may come as a no-brainer. But since the official Steam Machine is using semi-custom CPU and GPU hardware from AMD, and Valve has a Steam Machine Verified program, there may have been some concerns about how well a We Have A Steam Machine At Home compares to the real thing.

What’s more, Valve tells The Verge that it’s “collaborating with Nvidia very closely” to boost compatibility with non-AMD hardware in SteamOS.

“If you have something that is similar to the use case of a Steam Machine, where you have a PC that’s gonna be plugged into a TV, and has a single hard drive that you’re not going to try and dual boot […] you can put SteamOS on there, and you’ll have an experience that is very similar to a Steam Deck docked or a Steam Machine, with some caveats, of course,” Valve’s Pierre-Loup Griffais told The Verge.

If you’re thinking about building a custom Steam Machine or transitioning an older PC into one, here are Valve’s official specs for the Steam Machine to get a better sense of what’s required.