The system specs look very promising especially for the iGPU since technically it would be more powerful than in those handhelds with the Z2 Extreme and while the Z2e would have an RDMA 3.5 iGPU it is only 16 compute units while this would have 28 compute units so a good chance that a lot of games especially at 1080p (for the demanding titles) can easily hit 60 and could play at a higher setting.

There is 2 things i am hoping for and that is if one if it is more affordable and two if we could use 2280 NVMe drives in the system because while it is nice that they will have a 512GB and 2TB model i would like to install a 4TB drive into my system so i can have a lot of room for all of my games.

So now that the Steam Machine has been announced, do you guys think we'll get desktop compatible Steam OS that isn't Bazzite?

As the title says, I didn't get a Steam Machine, so figured I'd build my own. I was pleasantly surprised by the process. Only hiccup was the installer outputting the image via Displayport only, but once the install was done HDMI worked flawless. Even HDMI CEC, 7.1 audio and HDR just worked.

Got ChatGPT to help me setup the system so that the XBOX Controller can wake it up from sleep.

I'm currently playing with different thermal settings and limiting between 75C and 85C. I'll likely flip the PSU around and add passive vents to the case top so the PSU and CPU don't compete for the same fresh air. The mobo also has an unused chassis FAN header, so I might add some small Noctua just because I can't have an unused header.

Was surprised that even games like Crimson Desert worked, despite the Steam page saying otherwise. That said, the first thing my son wanted to play was Breath of the Wild, which lead me down a rabbit hole of installing EmuDeck. Once that was set up the integration with SteamOS was really neat.

Overall price was 1,845 EUR, so like 500 EUR more than the Steam Machine 2 TB, but therefore the system has about 3x the gaming performance, plus double the RAM (32 GB), VRAM (16 GB) and storage (4 TB). For storage I went with the WD_BLACK SN850P, which is just an SN850X with a Playstation branded heat sink. It's a PCIe 4.0 TLC NAND SSD with proper DRAM cache. For some reason it's often cheaper than the non-branded version (in my case 399 vs 540 EUR).
Also got some Steam stickers at redbubble to complete the look.

You could build this cheaper by not exchanging the included DeskMeet ATX PSU for an SFX one, but then the Noctua fan doesn't fit anymore and you'd have to opt for a low-profile one, costing some cooling performance.

Complete list of components used and prices here in Germany:

Every time someone gleefully cheers 'SteamOS is almost here' it grates my soul down to my bones. You don't want an OS maintained by Valve. You don't want SteamOS. What you *want* is a console-like operating system optimized for gaming. Also, Valve is very unlikely to commit to a general-purpose installable desktop OS. Here's why, and why that's a good thing.

Some background: I work professionally with Linux, have been doing so since 2010, and have been running Linux exclusively on my main gaming PC since 2016. Fair to say, I have some experience with Linux distributions and what the teams behind them have to do to achieve a great Operating System.

Valve is not an operating system maintainer. Their goals with SteamOS are very specific:

• Support the exact hardware they are selling (Like the cube, deck, headset, etc)

• Optimize the OS for their narrow hardware target

• Not bother with the support and maintenance burden that it takes to make everything work and test it across trillions of possible hardware combinations.

Maintaining a general-purpose OS is extremely hard and resource intensive. That is why actual OS maintainer teams behind things like Debian, Arch, Fedora etc exist. They have huge ecosystems, countless of contributors, established processes and long-term support structures. Valve does not have that, and they do not want to have that. Valve has said repeatedly through their actions that their focus with SteamOS is to support their hardware *only* and that any compatibility with other systems is merely incidental. Their goal is not to create a universal Linux distro.

This is not a bad thing. It's focus. It's purpose. A console-like device should have a console-like OS. Turning SteamOS into a general-purpose OS would take resources away from that.

If you want something that feels and works like SteamOS, is installable, works on normal PC hardware, and is actively maintained by a dedicated distro team that actually wants to do all of that for you, then use Bazzite. Or nobara. Or chimera.

Disclaimer: I have not used Bazzite and it is not the distribution for me personally. I understand what it is, I understand what it is based on, and I understand it's purpose. It's exactly everything people are hoping SteamOS will be except for the 'made by Valve' tag. My only wish is that Valve would go out and officially support Bazzite and tell people that it is Valve Recommended or whatever.

Bazzite (or nobara, or chimera) takes SteamOS’s ideas and actually implements them for general hardware, with:

• Full PC installer

• Wider hardware support

• Maintainers dedicated to making it work outside the Valve hardware

• Tons of QoL improvements

If your goal is “SteamOS, but installable,” Bazzite is literally what you want.

So instead of hoping Valve becomes a full-fledged OS vendor (they won’t and they shouldn't), support the distros that are actually built to fill that role.

Edit: many people rightfully pointed out that i should also mention the other great gaming distributions. Sorry for only focusing on Bazzite. I only use Debian and Ubuntu and am not a Bazzite shill of any kind. Their idea and execution seem great though but check out which distribution fits your needs best if you don't like Bazzite.

A likely path outcome of this ram and storage crunch is going to be gamers holding onto old hardware. Computers that were a bit skimpy on specs to begin with, and choking on windows 11. Or even those that are not compatible with windows 11 from lack of the tpm chips.

Steam Machine might end up priced attractively compared to what pc's of that time will be, but that's not exactly a sterling endorsement of pc gaming as a whole. The goal of Steam Machine is not to compete with other pc's. It's supposed to be a standard-bearer. And something that costs way, way more than a ps5 to even reach a baseline for late-release aaa games? That's just not a great standard to flaunt.

As bad a time as it is for the Steam Machine, these very circumstances make it a great time for a general SteamOS distro.

Now, imo, SteamOS should maybe not come out generally at all. It might be best as a project focused specifically on oem devices and all that means. Another thing to consider is that something like Bazzite is much more appropriate for general compatibility than SteamOS as we know it.

But what could be a better stand-in for the Steam Machine that so many will be priced out of? It would indeed be an officially endorsed SteamOS image. It's on the other end of the spectrum, breathing new life into the cheapest pc around. The one you already have.

the way this post got deleted immediately on nvidias reddit💀💀

Background: I've been mostly a console gamer (Playstation played a big role since childhood), and a prominent handheld fan! Dabbled in PC gaming for a year but it never stuck with me (mainly because I feel that the Windows experience makes it a hassle). I really went deep into Steam and built my game library when I got my SteamDeck that I bought on launch. I work in IT but I always gravitate more towards simpler console-like experiences for gaming.

Upgraded my PC with an AMD GPU just for SteamOS (9060xt 16gb)

TLDR; I'm super impressed and satisfied with the living room console experience that SteamOS is able to provide, albeit you'll need some googling skill to remove some obstacles (as of SteamOS 3.8.10)

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Disclaimer*: I'll only be talking about the experience of transitioning from Windows to SteamOS from an average gamer standpoint, the overview of using it in a living room setup for the last 1 month compared to a handheld (especially the SteamDeck). And to make things easier, I'll break it down mostly in a list of pros and cons. I won't touch on other Linux distros as I don't have extensive experience using them!*

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Okay now I'll try to list out the pros and cons in a chronological manner, here comes the fun part first:

PROS

- The initial setup and installation process literally took only 5mins, maybe 10mins at most.

- Once you sync with your Steam profile, almost everything carries over and is ready (save files in the cloud, even the settings in-game lmao)

- Most of the popular controller options have their own UI in the settings (in my example I was using the 8BitDo Ultimate 2 controller)

- The home button (Steam) and QAM button (...) that we normally have on the SteamDeck now requires a button combo. You can click the home button to get to the left home panel, and home button + A for left QAM panel

- Almost everything you need can be done via a controller

- QAM panel is super useful imo, especially being able to toggle the view on the gamescope readings!

- Playing it on a big screen in the living room does feel like a proper console compared to being on a PC table hooked up to a monitor

- Sleep function works perfectly! You can be in mid-game, go to sleep and later just boot it up again and pick up where you left it before! Same as SteamDeck!

- You can install DeckyLoader and tweak/adjust the UI to your liking (again, same as the SteamDeck!)

- Desktop mode is....well...desktop mode? Lmao it works and I'm currently exploring it as my first time properly diving into Linux

BONUS PROS:

- Recently tried to stream from my PC via the default built in Steam Remote Play and legit it worked like a charm! Minimal lag, smooth connection process. Felt like chiaki connecting to PS5 (though the TDP is 1-2W higher?)

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Okay now comes the not so fun part...

CONS

- I did have to wait for this super long duration at the end of the installation process where I think it's downloading something from Valve which took around 1 hour to finalize

- I personally faced an issue when it was doing the initial network searching during the initial setup (refer to the pics). Had to go into a separate TTY (TeleTYpewriter) to do a network manager reset via sudo line

- There's no fan curve settings in the QAM menu (weird because I remember it was there on the SteamDeck?)

- Tried using some plugin via DeckyLoader to control fan curve, but none worked

- Had to go back into the BIOS menu to tweak the fan curve there

- Although sleep function works, you cannot boot up the system again from a controller. It NEEDS to be triggered from a mouse/keyboard

- Sometimes the keyboard view doesn't come up (happened twice)

- I don't think game recording works? Screenshots are fine but no video recording

BONUS CONS:

- Seems to have issues with my QD OLED tv where really dark scenes would create these rainbow-pixels around them (refer to pic)

UPDATE: It's fixed by updating SteamOS(again, simply by googling)

The root cause and the fix that I found: It's a known bug in SteamOS's HDR direct-scanout path on AMD GPUs where it's specific to Gamescope's "Game Mode" (Big Picture UI), and doesn't happen on Desktop Mode or on any other HDR source (like YouTube on the TV's own apps), because those don't go through Gamescope's direct-flip HDR presentation path at all.

*It's been officially fixed in SteamOS 3.9*

I really like current state of SteamOS and how well it runs on my PC. I still have Bazzite and CachyOS installed on another drive but I now prefer SteamOS over any other gaming distro.

Why?

Normal, full vanilla KDE. No changes, swaps, missing apps, customisations.

Optional pacman package manager. Sure, apps gets removed on updates but the system always feels fresh and clean. No errors or user interventions during updates.

The whole experience feels more polished to me. Especially after recent SteamMachine ready update and official wayland support.

Everything just works when on other distros I get random problems like "this one game doesn't launch with mangohud".

I still use Gentoo Linux for everyday use but I start to appreciate how good SteamOS is becoming. I could use it as my only OS now if I had to (I don't have to).

I was on the reservation list for the Steam Machine, but in the end I decided to build my own SteamOS gaming PC instead.

Specs:
Ryzen 5 9600X
RX 9060 XT
16GB DDR5
2TB SSD

Total cost was about €1300. Installed SteamOS right away and it’s been running like a dream.
Really happy with how it looks, and even better, my wife likes having it in the living room too. 😄
No regrets so far!

Thank you saint Gaben and saint Linus. Amen.

So- when I initially (over the last 8 months) saw everyone building their own PCs and running steamos or even bazzite, I thought that's a pretty neat idea. After the steam machine launch- 10x the talk. It sounded extremely legit to make it happen and I'm glad I did! I followed Linus tech tips for the hardware compatibility.

As a brand new PC builder I took my time over about 5ish hours doing the build. The next evening (midnight, dumb) I updated my ASRock bios and used RUFUS to add steamos to it. Those were extremely easy compared to the build actually and a lot less stress. Within 3 hours I got to downloading my first game! I can't wait to benchmark some larger and smaller games to get a feel for how the performance looks! I will likely need to step away from this cheap portable monitor though for the best results. Still trying to connect it to the t.v where I'm house sitting.

Also- would love to see more walkthroughs of this setup because I was struggling a bit to find a breakdown. Though Valve has some awesome instructions, I just got lost in the sauce with Ventoy- some video I watched said it was the best for steam os, really not the case. Rufus took some time to add the file all the way but when it was done, it was solid, no extra tries and my PC recognized it easily. Now it seems like all I do is get more games downloaded on some storage (have a 4tb USB one) and then get playing some sweet and savory games!

Same build I did: https://youtu.be/zvaO4DPM1ZM?is=JDiML_QwBfL3BnR1 I almost went with the fractal design mini c case but decided this one looked cooler and was smaller (cubix g)

Edit 1: My ears are open for next step recommendations for steam os or desktop mode. I used to use Emudeck and really liked it but I may stay away from emulation on here for simplicity's sake.

Edit 2: AMD Ryzen 5 7500F, Asrock b850m-x wifi r2.0 Motherboard, Corsair Vengeance DDR5 16GB (2x8GB), Sapphire Pulse 9060XT 16gb GPU, ADATA Legend 710 512gb, Zalman CUBIX-G Micro-ATX PC Case, Cooler Master Hyper EVO 212 Montior is 4k 120hz Sony Bravia.

Also- I really want to emphasize the fact that I'm not a techy person, I keep Internet stuff to a minimum. I'm a liberal arts major.. my work is in food production. So if I can do it, I definitely feel like most people can do this! I do believe that most of the people HERE already know how but I want to share about the simplicity of it.

Full disclosure: I HAVE dabbled in emulation stuff over the last few years, but that comes down to just tinkering with settings for the most part (and it's not even applicable to this setup at all). But that's just how I was predisposed to this- wanting something I could game with and tinker with more than the steam deck.

Anyway, I am certain that 3rd of 4th graders could handle this. Basically I don't think your age or skill set matters to build a PC and install SteamOs. And I'm sure it could be more involved if it wasn't steamOs, but this is a complete walk in Central Park.

Just an updated version of the meme I posted but this time I put more effort into making it

(I finally had an excuse to learn how to use krita)

Been dreaming about my own console after experiencing Steam Deck and SteamOS just wanted more juice and better visuals, finally bulled the trigger.

One question, any tips to improve fan noice? After buying the case I found out it wasn’t the best for thermals due to the cloth obstructing the air from going in.

PC Specs:
Case: Fractal Design Mood Mini-ITX case
Motherboard/CPU: MINISFORUM BD790i Mini-ITX with integrated AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX — 16 cores / 32 threads, up to 5.4 GHz
GPU: Gigabyte Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming OC 16GB GDDR6
RAM: 16GB DDR5-4800 Kingston ValueRAM CL40 — 2 × 8GB SODIMM
Storage: WD Blue SN5000 1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD
Power Supply: Cooler Master V850 SFX Gold — 850W, fully modular

Steam Frame uses an ARM processor with SteamOS btw

Boiler Room — my own Steam Machine. I wanted a light bar but couldn't have one. So I did something better: a hidden pixel display behind the front mesh.

The Steam logo appears on the mesh at startup and fades out on sleep or shutdown. When Steam starts a download, the mesh shows a live progress bar (at 100%, you get cake). Idle, the logo breathes. Press the Steam button on the Steam Controller and you get a connection status screen.

It sits under my 85" TV, and it looks like a subwoofer until the pixels light up 😆

Download bar in action: https://imgur.com/FWgIIIV
18-second teaser: https://imgur.com/vG27NbR

• Corsair 2000D case, stock mesh untouched

• Ryzen 7 5800X · Sapphire Pulse RX 9070 · 16GB DDR4

• 64×64 P2 HUB75 LED matrix

• Waveshare ESP32-S3-Matrix driving it, custom firmware

• Black LED acrylic diffuser + 3D-printed hanger bracket

• Panel powered off a Steam Deck charger

• SteamOS

good news for people wanting to use nvidia gpus in the future and maybe we will see third party steam machines with nvidia apus.

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to install SteamOS and I am unable to get past the installation screen because it keeps saying “No networks found” despite being fully connected to the internet via an Ethernet cable.

When I go to the Desktop mode through my USB, it shows my Ethernet working just fine. Can someone please help me understand what I’m doing wrong?

Thanks you in advance!

what is more surprising is that now anyone can dowload the steam os

Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU, GIGABYTE Radeon RX 9070 XT, and 32GB (2x16) of DDR5 RAM

I LOVE STEAMOS for making this shit possible!!!

$100 - bc250 mining board
$75 - ITX case PcCooler CPS K101
$79 - apevia 400 watt flex PSU
$39 - thermal right 240 AIO
$7 - power switch
$15 - USB WiFi/bluetooth adaptors

Running Bazzite SteamOS
GPU overclocked at 2000Mhz
Unlocked 38/40 compute units
Hits 51c on stress tests for over 2 hours

For comparison
Steam deck: 8 compute units
Steam machine: 28 compute units
My AsRock BC-250: 38 compute units

I just finished my 9060xt build for Steam OS and it's running beautifully!

I've always been a PC gamer but have been solely Steam Deck for the last few years, just built this bad boy because I didn't feel like waiting a year for the steam machine to get even more out of date.

I went all in, no dual boot, no windows back up. Steam OS from day one for this machine.

Edit: 9700x, 9060xt 16gb, 32gg ddr5, 2tb ssd