Steam Deck is a handheld PC with its own screen and battery; Steam Machine is a more powerful box for your TV or monitor. Both run the same SteamOS with the same game library. Steam Deck OLED costs €779 or €919, Steam Machine starts at €1,039 without a controller, and as of 12 November 2026 Steam Machine is waitlist-only. Below we compare specs, performance and TV play so you can work out which one fits you. Status as of 12 November 2026.
The difference in one sentence
Steam Deck goes with you to the sofa, on the train or to the TV, while Steam Machine stays at home with your TV or monitor and, according to Valve, offers over six times the performance.
Comparison table
| Steam Deck OLED | Steam Machine | |
|---|---|---|
| Steam price, EU (12 Nov 2026) | €779 (512GB), €919 (1TB) | €1,039 (512GB), €1,359 (2TB); with controller €1,108 / €1,428 |
| CPU | Zen 2, 4 cores / 8 threads, 2.4–3.5GHz | Zen 4, 6 cores / 12 threads, up to 4.8GHz |
| GPU | RDNA 2, 8 CUs, 1.6GHz | RDNA 3, 28 CUs |
| Memory | 16GB LPDDR5 (shared by CPU and GPU) | 16GB DDR5 + 8GB GDDR6 |
| Screen and battery | built-in screen and battery | no screen, needs a TV or monitor |
| Controls | built in | controller, or mouse and keyboard |
| Verified bar | 30 FPS at 800p | 30 FPS at 1080p |
| OS | SteamOS 3 | SteamOS 3 |
Prices include VAT. In the UK, Steam Machine launched at £879 to £1,208, in the US at $1,049 to $1,428. The full breakdown is in our guides to Steam Machine price and Steam Deck price, and the complete hardware table is in the Steam Machine specs.
Performance: what “six times” means
Valve says Steam Machine has over six times the horsepower of Steam Deck. You can see the gap on paper: six Zen 4 cores instead of four Zen 2 cores, an RDNA 3 GPU with 28 CUs instead of 8, and 8GB of dedicated graphics memory on top.
It also shows in how Valve rates games. A Verified game has to hold 30 FPS at 800p on default settings on Deck, and 30 FPS at 1080p on Steam Machine. Steam Machine’s default game resolution is 1080p.
In their testing, Tom’s Hardware and PC Games concluded that with newer demanding games Steam Machine is realistically a 1080p to 1440p machine, and that it manages 4K in older games or with FSR. In their view the components sit closer to the lower end of current gaming PCs.
Playing on a TV: docked Deck or Machine
You can connect Steam Deck to a TV and play on the big screen. Tom’s Hardware’s take is that if you have been hooking your Deck up to the TV and want more performance, Steam Machine gives you a noticeably better picture at the same settings.
Valve describes Steam Machine as made for the living room or the desk. It has HDMI 2.0 with HDMI CEC, DisplayPort 1.4 and a built-in adapter for the new Steam Controller. How to connect Deck to a TV and how its microSD works is covered in our dock and microSD guide.
What they share
- SteamOS 3 and the same interface. If you know Deck or Big Picture, you will feel at home on Steam Machine.
- The same library. After you sign in, every game you own on Steam shows up, and purchases from other devices carry over.
- Steam Cloud. A game you started on Deck can be continued on Steam Machine.
- microSD. A card with games from Steam Deck goes straight into Steam Machine and the games are ready to play.
- Compatibility ratings. Both use Verified, Playable, Unsupported and Unknown. The Deck and Steam Machine ratings are independent for each game, but every game Verified for Deck is guaranteed to be Verified for Steam Machine.
How games are tested and where you find the badge is explained in our guides to Steam Machine Verified and Steam Deck Verified.
What about a gaming PC with Big Picture?
If you already have a gaming PC, the Steam Machine interface will not be new to you. According to Tom’s Hardware, it is the same interface as on Deck and in Big Picture. Performance-wise, Tom’s Hardware and PC Games place Steam Machine closer to the lower end of current gaming PCs.
SteamOS is also not limited to Valve hardware. Officially it powers Steam Deck, Steam Machine, Steam Frame and the Lenovo Legion Go S. SteamOS 3.8 and later can be installed on your own PC too, though for now only with AMD graphics.
Who should buy which
- You want to play handheld and on the go: Steam Machine cannot do that, so Deck is the only option here.
- You mostly play on the TV and a docked Deck is not powerful enough: this is exactly the case where Tom’s Hardware describes Steam Machine as a clear step up in picture quality.
- You are on a budget: as of 12 November 2026, Deck OLED is €260 cheaper than the cheapest Steam Machine, and Steam Machine also needs a controller or a mouse and keyboard.
- You want it now: as of 12 November 2026 you can only join the Steam Machine waitlist, and Valve has given no date for it.
For everything else about the new machine, see our Steam Machine overview. Everything about the handheld is in our Steam Deck guides.
Join our Discord to ask Deck owners whether they would switch to Steam Machine: Discord GamersTogether.
FAQ
Over six times, according to Valve. It has a 6-core Zen 4 CPU instead of a 4-core Zen 2, and an RDNA 3 GPU with 28 CUs instead of an RDNA 2 GPU with 8 CUs.
Yes. You have the same library, and every game Verified for Steam Deck is guaranteed to be Verified for Steam Machine. You can also insert a microSD card with games from Deck directly.
For games with Steam Cloud, yes. A game you started on Deck can be continued on Steam Machine.
Steam Deck. As of 12 November 2026, Deck OLED costs €779 or €919, while Steam Machine starts at €1,039 without a controller.
You need a gamepad, or a mouse and keyboard. Unlike Deck, Steam Machine has no built-in controls.
Information verified on 12 November 2026. We keep prices and the waitlist status up to date. More guides are in our Steam Machine section.