Steam Machine Success and Longevity

[VoodooMouse]

(TLDR: Please make the Steam Machine upgradeable. No buying the Steam Machine 2, or Pro, or X, or whatever. Sell me an upgrade kit instead.)

Here's my thinking:

The Steam Machine already checks all the boxes to be an excellent console. To be the true console/PC hybrid of the future though, it needs the best parts of both worlds. It needs to be upgradeable like a PC.

My version of the "perfect picture" of this would be:

Right out of the box, the Steam Machine should have an extra slot for an additional NVMe drive (or just easy to switch out for a bigger one like on the steam deck). And maybe even an extra slot for adding RAM, and/or being able to switch those sticks out for more if we wish just like we would on a regular PC.

When it comes to upgrading the GPU or CPU, I don't want to be buying the Steam Machine 2. Instead, sell us an upgrade kit. Comes with or without tools, slot out the old GPU, slot in the new one.

Also, fun side suggestion:
Faceplates with working retro console controller ports.

[nullable]

It's not a console. It's a pc. The form factor will limit some upgrade options.

And you know, when a product is announced they've already made all the decisions and committed to them. Little late to be back seat driving or arm chair experting.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

It has an upgradable/removable m.2 and sodimm slots.

[Start_Running]

Originally posted by cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

It has an upgradable/removable m.2 and sodimm slots.

:nkCool:

So basically you can up the storage and the ram but not the gpu and cpu likely.
Fair enough. I mean even PC's have a hard limit as to how much uyou can upgrade.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Originally posted by Start_Running:

Originally posted by cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

It has an upgradable/removable m.2 and sodimm slots.

So basically you can up the storage and the ram but not the gpu and cpu likely.
Fair enough. I mean even PC's have a hard limit as to how much uyou can upgrade.

The other 2 are soldered on the pcb.

[Mad Scientist]

Don't expect to change the gpu or cpu, that psu will be rated for the hardware being used. mITX always has more limits compared to ATX or EATX as its made to save space or be portable.

[Ben Lubar]

My experience with CPUs is that I've never been able to upgrade one because the motherboard socket design has always changed by the time mine becomes outdated.

And there's no "GPU and CPU" as separate entities. It's one chip, called an APU (what Intel CPUs with integrated graphics should technically be called). You're not going to be able to jam an RTX in there.

Every extra socket they build into the internals of the machine and have to support means more cost. And most people aren't in the market for an incomplete computer, so that's extra cost with no benefit to the majority of customers.

[Crazy Tiger]

OP, a Steam Machine is like a laptop or a console. Limited upgrade options. You might ask yourself why consoles are how they are. Then understand that this is basically what Valve is aiming for.

It's a plug and play computer, not advanced hardware. It checks boxes for people who want convenience. The ones who want to upgrade stuff, they can do that to their own PC.