This AMD mini PC delivers better SteamOS gaming performance than the Steam Machine, but there's a catch
The Steam Machine may not be the hardware breakthrough many gamers were hoping for. Even so, Valve's announcement brings something arguably more significant: the official release of SteamOS 3.8 for standard gaming PCs. With the latest update, users can now install Valve's Linux-based operating system on compatible desktop hardware, making it possible to build a custom Steam Machine without buying Valve's console.
At the time of writing, SteamOS offers solid support for AMD-based systems, with most compatible hardware running the operating system without major issues. Nvidia GPU support remains less mature, although recent reports suggest Valve is working with Nvidia to improve compatibility in future updates.
The availability of SteamOS on standard PCs also reduces the importance of Valve's own hardware. Even if the Steam Machine proves expensive due to component shortages or limited availability, users can build or buy a compatible AMD-powered gaming PC, install SteamOS, and enjoy a largely similar console-like experience.
Which is exactly what YouTuber ETA Prime recently demonstrated. In a new video, they installed SteamOS on an AMD Ryzen AI Halo mini PC powered by the Ryzen AI Max+ 395, a 16-core, 32-thread Zen 5 processor with boost clocks of up to 5.1 GHz and an integrated Radeon 8060S GPU featuring 40 RDNA 3.5 compute units. For comparison, the Steam Machine is powered by a semi-custom AMD Zen 4 CPU with 6 cores and an RDNA 3 GPU with 28 compute units alongside 8GB of dedicated VRAM.
In the video, the YouTuber confirmed the system was running SteamOS 3.8.14. To maximize gaming performance, they allocated 96 GB of the Ryzen AI Max+ 395's shared memory as VRAM, leaving the remaining 31 GB available as system memory.
To evaluate gaming performance, ETA Prime disabled all upscaling and tested Shadow of the Tomb Raider at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K using the Very High preset with native rendering. Across all three resolutions, the AMD mini PC running SteamOS consistently outperformed the Steam Machine.
At 1080p, it averaged 138 FPS compared to 118 FPS on the Steam Machine, a 17% lead. The gap widened slightly at 1440p, with the Ryzen system delivering 103 FPS versus 86 FPS.
The largest improvement came at 4K, where the mini PC reached 62 FPS, 41% ahead of the Steam Machine's 44 FPS.
ETA Prime also benchmarked Cyberpunk 2077 using the Ultra preset with native rendering and no upscaling.
Once again, the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 mini PC maintained a clear lead over the Steam Machine at every resolution tested. At 1080p, it averaged 84 FPS compared to 74 FPS on the Steam Machine, a 14% improvement.
The gap widened slightly at 1440p, where the Ryzen system reached 52 FPS versus 45 FPS. The most significant difference came at 4K, with the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 delivering 27 FPS compared to the Steam Machine's 18 FPS, representing a 50% performance advantage.
Lastly, they also tested Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered at the Very High preset using native rendering without FSR. At 1080p, the AMD mini-PC averaged 72 FPS compared to 58 FPS on the Steam Machine, a 24% improvement.
At 1440p, the lead narrowed slightly, with the Ryzen system delivering 56 FPS versus 48 FPS, a 17% advantage. At 4K, the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 maintained a 23% lead, reaching 32 FPS compared to the Steam Machine's 26 FPS.
With so much better performance, the next question that arises is how much this particular AMD mini PC costs. The answer is that it will set you back around $3,999. For comparison, the Steam Machine starts at $1,049. So, it makes little to no sense to shell out an extra $2,950 for the performance gains we just saw.
What you can do instead is opt for the GMKtec EVO-X2 AI Mini PC, which features the same Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor, for around $1,999 on Amazon. The only major caveat is that this configuration comes with 64 GB of LPDDR5X memory, meaning you will not be able to allocate 96 GB of VRAM as ETA Prime did in the video.
Even so, dedicating more than 32 GB as VRAM is unlikely to have a significant impact on gaming performance, as no current consumer-grade GPU offers more than 32 GB of VRAM.
ETA Prime also tested more games like Crimson Desert, Forza Horizon 6, Elden Ring, Doom: The Dark Ages, and Marvel's Spider-Man 2 on the AMD mini-PC, you can watch the full in-depth testing video linked below.
And do let me know if you would shell out almost $951 extra for a better 'Steam Machine.'
Add as a preferred source on Google
