With the new Steam Machine priced at more than double a PlayStation 5, Valve has given gamers the option to build their own version using standard PC hardware, potentially for less money.
Valve says that, beginning with the SteamOS 3.8 release, users can create their own Steam Machine using whatever PC components they choose. SteamOS 3.8.10 launched last week with several updates, including improved compatibility with newer Intel and AMD platforms. Alongside those improvements, Valve is officially encouraging users to install SteamOS on their own desktop PCs.
In an interview with The Verge, Valve developer Pierre-Loup Griffais said the company has been improving SteamOS to make it more compatible with desktop hardware. This work also includes future support for Nvidia graphics cards.
Griffais said Valve has “a growing team” working on Nvidia driver support and is collaborating closely with Nvidia. While he noted that Nvidia support is unlikely to arrive this year, he said it is “certainly something that we’re working on in the background.”
Although it has been possible to install SteamOS on custom hardware for some time, compatibility has mostly been limited to AMD-based systems. The installation process has also required using a Steam Deck recovery image, making it more complicated than installing most Linux distributions. Running SteamOS on Intel or Nvidia hardware has been difficult so far.
According to Griffais, Valve is working to improve compatibility, with the long-term goal of allowing SteamOS to run on a wide range of gaming PC hardware, including systems powered by Nvidia graphics.
For now, Griffais said SteamOS already provides a “good experience” for console-style gaming PCs connected to a television. He explained that users with a PC connected to a TV and using a single storage drive, without a dual-boot setup, can install SteamOS and get an experience that is very similar to using a docked Steam Deck or a Steam Machine.
He noted that there are still some limitations, including the lack of HDMI-CEC support, but said the core SteamOS experience is already available. This includes the SteamOS graphics driver and shader precompilation features.
Griffais also said SteamOS does not yet provide an easy way to dual-boot alongside Windows or another operating system. However, he said Valve envisions a future where SteamOS can be installed more easily on desktop PCs while coexisting with another operating system.
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