Valve has broken its silence on its forthcoming hardware line-up, offering new details on the Steam Frame and Steam Machine, as well as an answer for why it hasn't revealed pricing and a release date yet (hint: blame the RAMpocalypse). It has also dropped some information about the kind of performance we can expect on the Steam Machine.
"In our testing the majority of Steam titles play great at 4K 60 fps with FSR on Steam Machine," Valve writes in a new FAQ. "That said, there are some titles that currently require more upscaling than others, and it may be preferable to play at a lower framerate with VRR to maintain a 1080p internal resolution."
It continues: "In the meantime, we are working on HDMI VRR, investigating improved upscaling, and optimizing ray tracing performance in the driver, so we are approaching this from multiple angles."
That 4K at 60 fps goal isn't new: Valve engineer Yazan Aldehayyat told PC Gamer in November that "our benchmark has always been that it should have enough performance to play every game on Steam at 4K60 when you do some sort of upscaling like FSR."
That's a very ambitious goal, but it sounds like Valve is pretty determined to stick to it, not least because this is a living room PC and most living rooms have 4K TVs.
Valve also confirmed that both SSD and memory will be upgradable in the Steam Machine, and that third-parties will be free to create their own faceplates for the Steam Machine. "We plan to share faceplate CAD, specs, and details in the coming months, for customers and manufacturers to make their own," Valve said.
Valve had hoped to have revealed a price and release date for the Steam Machine (and the Steam Frame) by now, but memory and storage shortages have prevented it. Nevertheless, both are still scheduled to release in the first half of 2026.
