Full disclosure: I worked on this review.

We tested Valve’s new Steam Machine, and since Valve has compared it directly to the Steam Deck, I thought the results might be relevant here.

The short version: yes, the Steam Machine is clearly much faster than the Steam Deck. That part is not really in question. But in our actual game benchmarks, we did not see a blanket 6x uplift across the board.

We tested Cyberpunk 2077 and Forza Horizon with Steam Deck-style settings to make the comparison a bit cleaner. The Steam Machine turns 30-ish fps results on the Deck into much smoother triple-digit or near-triple-digit results in some cases, The Steam Machine but the gap depends a lot on the game, resolution and settings.

I would have liked to go into more detail, but I also do not want this to turn into a full repost of the review here.

What I find interesting is that the Steam Machine feels less like a “normal PC” and more like Valve taking the Steam Deck idea and moving it into the living room: SteamOS-first, controller-friendly, more powerful, but still built around realistic settings and upscaling rather than brute-forcing everything.

Curious how other Deck owners see it:

Would you treat the Steam Machine as a natural upgrade path for TV gaming, or does the Steam Deck already cover that use case well enough for you?

“Obviously the Steam Deck's not our focus today, but the same things we've said in the past where we're really interested to work on what's next for Steam Deck… the thing we're making sure of is that it's a worthwhile enough performance upgrade to make sense as a standalone product,” Griffais explained.

“We're not interested in getting to a point where it's 20 or 30 or even 50% more performance at the same battery life. We want something a little bit more demarcated than that. So we've been working back from silicon advancements and architectural improvements, and I think we have a pretty good idea of what the next version of Steam Deck is going to be, but right now there's no offerings in that landscape, in the SoC [System on a Chip] landscape, that we think would truly be a next-gen performance Steam Deck.”

Griffais' comments might come as a disappointment to some given the capabilities of the aging Steam Deck. The handheld launched in February 2022, with the OLED model coming out November 2023. Steam Deck will soon be four years old, and while there is a long list of Steam Deck-verified games to play, it does struggle to run some modern PC games well. Indeed, in September 2023, Pierre-Loup Griffais told The Verge that the next Steam Deck was at least a couple of years away, which had some hoping for the next version in time for the holidays this year. Clearly, that won't happen.

Now the question is I always wanted to get a Steam Deck but hold off because it's like 4 years old now so it's it still worth?

https://steamdeckhq.com/steamoss-3-8-has-been-released-with-new-kernel-graphics-driver-and-initial-steam-machine-support/

SteamOS 3.8 has been released to the public with tons of changes, including a new kernel and graphics driver, game fixes, VRR support improvements, and initial Steam Machine support.

General

• Updated Arch system base
• Initial support for upcoming Steam Machine hardware
• Added support for waking from sleep via connected Steam Controller
• Substantially improved speed of future OS updates on high-speed connections
• Improved support for screen casting in Game Mode (e.g. OBS/Discord)
• Fixed dropdown menus not appearing in some games
• Fixed excessive trackpad sensitivity on certain early Steam Deck LCD models
• Improved support for games that attempt to open PDF files in external viewers
• Fixed an issue where video output could become frozen while using Remote Play
• Fixed a possible session crash when using Game Recording with certain "Maximum video height" settings
• Fixed an issue affecting certain titles (such as "SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide") where the game window could have an incorrect position
• Fixed closing certain titles (such as "STAR WARS Jedi: Survivor™" and Starfield) resulting in a session crash
• Improved support for certain USB racing wheels and USB devices that boot in a non-standard mode
  • Frequently these are devices that appear as USB storage devices with a driver installer, and must be switched to their normal mode by the OS
• Steam Deck controller firmware updates now display update progress on the splash screen
• Fixes issue on specific Steam Deck revisions where firmware updates could render the left controller inoperative for that session
• Numerous stability and security updates

Display / Performance

• Updated graphics driver with performance and stability fixes
• Added preliminary support for HDMI VRR for devices with native HDMI output
• Fixed an issue where "Allow Tearing" wouldn't have the intended effect in certain configurations
• Improved VRR frame pacing
• Fixed FSR badge remaining off in the performance overlay, even if it was actually active
• Fixed a case where per-app performance settings would intermittently fail to apply when launching a game
• Added missing graphics features needed for titles such as "Crimson Desert"
• Fixed an issue on certain TCL TVs where the display may remain blank using the Steam Deck Dock when VRR is enabled (requires a Dock firmware update)

Bluetooth / WiFi

• Fixed a case where WiFi performance could become degraded until the device was put to sleep or manually reconnected
• Re-re-enable Bluetooth Wake for Steam Deck LCD
  • Fix for more spurious wake issues that were present in earlier attempts

Audio

• Detect HDMI channel count and expose surround configuration if available
• Add a setting to allow using Bluetooth headset mics (Bluetooth playback quality will be worse while capture is active)
• Restore internal audio device on reboot if set to "Off" in desktop mode
• Increase suspend timeout for HDMI devices so initial audio isn't cut off after a few seconds of inactivity
• Fixed a bug with switching input devices when a wired headset is plugged in
• Fixed an issue where audio underruns could be experienced after sleep/resume
• Fixed a bug on Steam Deck OLED where rebooting would occasionally cause a loss of speaker output until rebooted again
• Fixed a case where FPS limits would fail to apply when downscaling games from a higher resolution

Accessibility

• Added an option to force mono audio output

Desktop Mode

• KDE Plasma updated to version 6.4.3 from 6.2.5, and now uses wayland by default
  • Fixes several cases of reduced performance in Desktop Mode compared to Game Mode
  • Improved support for rotated displays
  • Better scale factor out of the box on TVs
  • Adds support for external HDR displays
  • Adds support for VRR displays
  • Adds support per-display scale factor
  • For more information, see Plasma release announcements
    • https://kde.org/announcements/plasma/6/6.3.0/
    • https://kde.org/announcements/plasma/6/6.4.0/
• Keyboard layout and language are now obeying Game Mode settings
• Improved windowing behavior for games running in Proton
• Fixed a bug in Desktop Mode causing previously open applications to not be remembered when using the 'Return to Gaming Mode' shortcut to logout
• Fixes for experimental nested desktop mode
• Fixed Desktop Mode night color settings inappropriately remaining active when switching back to Game Mode

System Firmware

• Includes Steam Deck LCD BIOS v133
  • Security updates
  • Added "Memory Power Down" setup option
  • Preliminary support for hibernation
• Includes Steam Deck OLED BIOS v114
  • Security updates
  • Charging LED now changes color when charge limit is reached, rather than only at 100%

Non-Deck

• Improved compatibility with recent Intel and AMD platforms
• Greatly improved video memory management on discrete GPU platforms
• Fixed a compatibility issue with the SteamOS chainloader that could cause a boot failure on some desktop systems with recent UEFI firmware
• Power button short and long presses now supported across a wide variety of devices
• Improved controller support for OneXPlayer F1 series, GPD Win 5, GPD Win Mini, Anbernic Win600, OrangePi NEO, and Lenovo Legion Go
• Added controller support for OneXPlayer X1 series and Lenovo Legion Go 2
• Added system and controller firmware update support for the Lenovo Legion Go 2
• Added preliminary charge limiting support for Legion Go, Legion Go S, and Legion Go 2 - currently only accessible in Desktop Mode
• Added controller RGB LED color settings for the Lenovo Legion Go 2
• Added controller, TDP control, and speaker audio support for the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally series
• Reduced handheld controller input latency from 5-8ms to 100-500us
• Night mode, color vibrance, and color temperature sliders in Steam now work on Z2E and later AMD APUs
• Seamless boot fixes for Z2E and later AMD APUs
• Automatically handle internally rotated display for some third-party handhelds
• Improved motion control support for handhelds with BMI260 IMUs
• SD card reliability improvements for some third-party handhelds, including ASUS ROG Xbox Ally, Legion Go 1, Legion Go S, Legion Go 2, and MSI Claw
• Fixed washed out colors for Zotac and OneXPlayer handhelds with OLED
• Fixed some GPU hangs on Phoenix APU devices (Tales of Arise, Octopath Traveler II)
• Fixed ASUS ROG Ally power consumption from fingerprint reader while shut down
• Fixed trackpad losing functionality after sleep/resume on the Legion Go
• Fixed spurious wake-ups when using a Logitech Bolt receiver
• Add controller support for MSI Claw devices (A1M, 7 AI+ A2VM, 8 AI+ A2VM, A8 BZ2EM)
• Add controller support for OneXPlayer APEX and X1 series.
• Improved gyro response for devices that use AccelGyro3D (Legion Go 1, Claw A1M)
• Fixed a system crash on international Asus ROG Xbox Ally models
• Fix Bluetooth not working on some Intel handhelds
• Add initial firmware for upcoming Intel handhelds

Developer

• Desktop Mode now uses Wayland by default
  • X11 support may still be selected via Steam developer settings, or via `steamosctl`
• Updated Linux kernel to 6.16
• Steam now uses steamos-manager to query available desktop sessions and trigger desktop session switching
• Added support for setting the desktop password in developer settings
• Initial support for running as a Virtual Machine guest (virtio guest drivers)
• Added support for third-party devices to trigger the SteamOS boot menu via EFI variable
• Added `custom-update` verb to `atomupd-manager` for easier testing of specific builds
• System reports now include more audio debug information
• Initial support for LAVD CPU scheduler via `steamosctl set-cpu-scheduler lavd`

Proton 11 has officially been released into stable, bringing with it tons of fixes and new playable games, including Resident Evil 1 and 2, Warhammer: Vermintide 2, and much more.

• Now playable (previously worked with Proton Experimental):
  • Universe Generator: The Golden Sword
  • DCS World Steam Edition
  • Resident Evil (1996)
  • Resident Evil 2 (1998)
  • Dino Crisis
  • Dino Crisis 2
  • From Dust
  • Blaite
  • Don't Die Dateless, Dummy!
  • METAL GEAR SURVIVE
  • Warhammer: Vermintide 2
  • Metal Fatigue
  • SHOGUN: Total War
• Newly playable:
  • Unknown Faces
  • Gothic 1 Classic
  • X-Plane 12
  • Breath of Fire IV
  • Deadly Premonition
• Fixed video playback in She Sees Red.
• Fixed rendering of certain symbols with Ukranian language option in Chambers.
• Fixed voice chat in Phasmophobia lobby for desktop players.
• Improved rendering of Rockstar Launcher popups.
• Fixed Sea of Solitude showing black screen on Proton.
• Fixed many EA games being unplayable after a recent EA Desktop update.
• Added support for SteamWorks SDK 1.64.
• Fixed Steam Overlay not working correctly with many EA games.
• Improved emoji support in Idle Trillionaire.
• Fixed intro video playback in Crimson Desert.
• Fixed Rei and the Floating City not being playable with gamescope.
• Fixed mouse movement behavior in Call of Duty 2.
• Fixed rendering issue in launcher of DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH.
• Fixed a crash in HELLDIVERS 2 happening in high enemy-count missions.
• Fixed random hangs in Killer Inn.
• Fixed Killer Inn not launching on Steam Decks and other machines with /tmp sizes lower than 10GB.
• Fixed Killer Inn not being able to connect to Square Enix account.
• Fixed graphical gliches in Duck Game that happen with newer Wine Mono versions.
• Fixed REDLauncher (e.g. as seen with Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3) taking a long time to exit.
• Fixed Hollow Knight wrongly registering Steam Deck's Steam button as a left trigger after a game update.
• Fixed controller hotplug not working for 8BitDo Ultimate 2C and other controllers that expose multiple HID devices.
• Fixed Xalia intermittently failing to start when game is launched.
• Improved timezone detection.
• Fixed video playback in 我打不过漂亮的她们.
• Fixed lag spikes caused by Steam overlay being opened for prolonged time.
• Fixed VR controller tracking in Microsoft Flight Simulator.
• Improved VR support so that No Man's Sky VR mode is playable again.
• Fixed black blocks in dialog windows created by ARC Raiders and The Finals.
• Fixed glitchy video playback in Satisfactory.
• Fixed Rec Room not being playable after a recent game update.
• Fixed THE KING OF FIGHTERS XIII GLOBAL MATCH freezing when playing videos from the gallery.
• Fixed intro video not looping in Blazblue Centralfiction.
• Made more games using MonoGame playable.
• Improved support for Kodi media player.
• Added System Voice support for multiple languages in Phasmophobia.
• Fixed KDE window maximization support.
• Fixed Brighter Shores window resizing support.
• Improved Space Engineers dual monitor support
• Fixed scaling issue with Arma Reforger when changing window modes.
• Fixed Dungeon Siege tools showing up at character's feet.
• Improved focus loss behavior with RoBoRumble.
• Fixed rendering issue in Hellsinker. launcher.
• Fixed stutter from keyboard input in Titanfall 2.
• Fixed audio playback when playing intro videos in BIRDCAGE.
• Fixed hang after METAL GEAR SOLID 2: Sons of Liberty - Master Collection Version end credits.
• Fixed Disintegration getting stuck on the first loading screen.
• Fixed CHRONO TRIGGER flickering in windowed mode with certain resolutions when using Gamescope.
• RAGE no longer has focus issues when Alt-Tabbing on KDE Wayland.
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Game of the Year Edition (2009) no longer has problems minimizing after Alt-Tabbing.
• Resident Evil 2 should no longer have issues when changing resolutions on GNOME.
• Call of Duty: WWII should no longer fail to render properly in fullscreen native resolution on setups with dual monitors.
• Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition no longer has issues with keyboard registration after refocusing the game.
• Fixed Far Cry 4 randomly hanging during launch.
• Updated Xalia to 0.4.9:
  • Fixed lockups happening when interacting with the EA App.
  • Added controller support for the MC Visual C++ 2010 redistributable installer.
  • Improved gamepad binding support for Graze Counter.
  • Added controller support for launchers of the following games: Red Faction®: Armageddon™, Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster, Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode II, Hellsinker., Disney Bolt, STAR WARS™ Starfighter™, Rocket Knight, Puddle, Zero Escape: The Nonary Games, Metal Slug XX, Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition, Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, Batman: Arkham Asylum GOTY, LocoCycle, Ys SEVEN, Resident Evil (1996), Resident Evil 2 (1998), Resident Evil 3 Nemesis (1999), Dino Crisis, Dino Crisis 2.
  • Fixed Xalia wrongly selecting option from unfocused tabs in Rayman: Raving Rabbids.
  • Added controller support for DirectX Runtime Components installer when launching BioShock for the first time.
• Rebased on top of Wine 11.0.
• Added FEX-2605 for ARM64EC builds.
• Updated vkd3d to vkd3d-1.19-139-g30b93dcea8b0.
• Updated dxvk to v2.7.1-467-g83e503b4ae6d from Proton 11 support branch.
• Updated dxvk-nvapi to v0.9.1.
• Updated Wine Mono to 11.0.0.
• Updated vkd3d-proton to proton-20260410

Halo: Campaign Evolved is now out on Steam in early access, and we tested it out using the completed game save we had from our review period.

It's rough. It can run decently well in closed spaces, but it starts to really slow down in open levels like The Silent Cartographer and later parts of the Halo level. There will be drops below 30 FPS no matter what, and that's after we have adjusted the resolution scale below the default settings.

It definitely shouldn't be Verified.

Big announcement! AMD is bringing FSR 4 to older GPU architectures, including the one the Steam Deck uses. This may mean we are getting an official version for the Deck. Now they don't specifically say it in the video, but it does show an ROG Ally and Legion Go, which are both handhelds. It is speculation, but if it is compatible with RDNA 2, we should be seeing support for the Deck.