Steamroller is a great name.
I looked not long ago for a steamos iso… does that exist somewhere?
You are the man (or woman or whatever).
Thanks!!!
well that didn’t take very long
I have to ask, are META PCs affiliated in any way with Zuckerberg?
No. This company actually had a legal dispute with Meta when they rebranded from Facebook: https://www.the-sun.com/tech/3983498/facebook-meta-name-trademark-battle/
No, they are a completely separate company. They have a YouTube channel as well, and I find their YouTube Shorts videos quite entertaining and informative.
Yeah, unfortunate naming if you ask me. “Meta” is just tainted by the zuck now.

just a makeshift
I regret seeing this.
Look at how humanish he is.
I can’t see the size listed anywhere, this is just a mini itx junk box.
From what I can tell, the PC in the image is built in the Jonsbo D32 PRO MESH Black, which is listed as “D396×W207×H314mm”. However, the META PCs page says it’s built in the Jonsbo D32 Black, which doesn’t quite exist (the Jonsbo D32 models are PRO Black, PRO MESH Black, and STD Black). Thankfully, they are all the same size and the only differences are the side panel (mesh vs glass) and whether or not it has a moveable spine for variable spacing (PRO vs STD).
Though, the META PCs website should really be more specific in their specs list.
The steam machine from valve is just a small form factor junk box.
Seems fine for most gamers… As others have said, Steam don’t make much profit on it, and the hardware isn’t bad.
Not everyone is playing 4K titles with raytracing. And when you start considering how quickly the cost of games adds up, steam ends up cheaper fairly quickly (I can’t imagine buying 300 games on PS5 lol)
Yeah but it has the Steam logo on it. That’s worth $1000 by itself
From the comparison I saw valve is only making ~$71 per device which honestly isn’t that much of a premium for a pre-built mini pc
On the bottom of the page it says preorder: 1300 dollars
Ahh yes the standard volumetric measurement of dollars.
I’m on the reservation list for a Steam Machine and personally have no regrets, but I’m so happy these exist. I don’t think it has to be a big competition, but between not appealing to a mass audience and have limited stock, the Steam Machine may have inadvertently ushered in a prebuilt Linux PC revolution, and that’s a wonderful thing.
Yup, I was thinking the same thing, the more people that can get on the Linux train, the better.
Can we finally say it? Is the year of the Linux desktop finally upon us??
The year of the Linux desktop came and went honestly a while ago with kde 6 and proton hitting the scene.
Now it’s the year of the Linux pre built.
nah, it’s more like the year of the linux game console, if anything.
Neither the Steam Machine nor this Steamroller are consoles tho
Edit: grammar
I could however, plug the fucker into my TV and play games though.
something something quacks like a duck, swins like a duck, it’s a duck. The steam machine does
swim like a duckbehave like what is commonly referres to as a game console. The steamroller is debatable tho.The steam machine:
- Custom hardware
- Custom software and os
- Specifically designed to play games
- Has a dedicated controller
- Designed to work well with a living room TV (HDMI-CEC)
The only difference between the steam machine and other consoles is that it’s not locked down
The Steam Machine ain’t a typical PC either, at least that’s not the intention on how it is to be used. It’s kinda a PC-console hybrid.
*Neither
It feels so needlessly aggressive. Valve openly stated that there are alternatives to the Steam Machine, and they aren’t trying to own the market. Calling your prebuilt the “Steamroller” is kind of a dickhead move. That’s like Del Taco coming out with a deep friend taco shell and calling it “Fuck your Chalupa, bitch.”
ITT: People who have no idea how marketing and advertising work.
So I took it as rolling your own steam, not aggressive.
What’s the problem with it, exactly? As long as it lives up to its promise and is a better machine, why shouldn’t they market it as a better machine or make direct comparisons?
It’s not even saying the steam one is bad, just that it is better.
That’s like Del Taco coming out with a deep friend taco shell and calling it “Fuck your Chalupa, bitch.”
I would go to Del Taco right this moment if this were real.
That’s not really how I read it. Clearly they are leveraging vale products, (steam os) so include steam in the name. They probably want this name to evoke strength and power, so what’s something with steam in the name that is powerful? A steamroller.
I don’t think it is meant to roll steam!
They specifically advertise it as an “upgradable alternative to the Steam Machine”; with that in mind, assuming the name isn’t intended to evoke comparisons to Steam Machine is kind of ridiculous, no?
I’m getting some white knighty wiffs from this outrage over someone daring to compete with valve.
Outrage? We’re just discussing it, mate…
What about making a spherical system and calling it the Steamcube?
I think it would get massive amounts of free advertising. Not sure if it would sell because I wouldn’t want it.
I’m not sure I’d be able to order a “fuck your chalupa, bitch” with a straight face, but I’ll try.
They like it more when you giggle and order two
Eh, I see your point, but it feels pretty tongue-in-cheek to me. Steamroller is just a cool name that implies the thing is a workhorse.
Remember literally any PC can run steam and Linux. Steam machine is still just hardware.
The Steam Machine also still has the advantage of HDMI CEC. Since none of the GPU manufacturers seem to want to bother with even on cards with HDMI ports.
Or, theres only so many ways you can make a punny name on Steam OS.
But of course that doesnt allow for righteous indignity.
And unlike Nintendo switch, you can play games you bought 15 years ago… and use other stores or emulation
I love rebuying Minecraft every time I get a new console
Yeah. I have x copies now of no mans sky I’m fairly sure… And, I sold my PS5 and xbox ages ago
Don’t worry, I’m waiting to pay $40 of an old game Nintendo will release on the NSO. That k you Nintendo for making me pay for emulated old game again.
Yeah. I bought a bunch on my Wii. Then I got a Wii U and lost them
i didnt know that Meta started selling Linux PCS /j
1300 and only 16gb of ram and a GPU on par with a RTX 3060 / RX 6650 . Brutal.
I own Minisforum HX99g and it can be compared to SM and only costed me 800 eur 2 years ago. 6900hx and 6650m with 32gb ddr5.Today refurbished can go around 600eur.
Im probably going to have to die with my 3060ti
I’m babying my 3090 like its the last GPU on earth. Undervolted, TDP way down, clockspeed capped, fans RUNNING.
It will never see 420W again.
9070xt will run circles around it for $630 or so.
There’s certainly CPU options out there for high fps gaming on ddr4 rigs, I just feel bad for the guys still on ddr3 who can’t eat the extra ~400 needed for a proper rig nowadays.
Yeah. X3D 5000-series will outrun many DDR5 CPUs in games.
Meanwhile you can walk into microcenter and pick up a 7500x3d with a 5060 for $999
5060 aint fast either, but it’s way faster than a 7600. $300 will let you upgrade easily to 32GB of ram, or you could sell the 5060 (they seem to be about 300-320 for completed fleabay listings) and take the saved $300 and buy a 9070xt or something which are $630 at MC. 4k gaming for $1300. PSU is 650W and should work fine.
God I wish we had microcenter here. All the tech shops around the just sell overpriced prebuilts and peripherals
$300 will let you upgrade easily to 32GB of ram
Where ya buying ya ram? I haven’t seen any 32GB packs for less than $380
Not that it’s a bad thing, but did anyone ever offer something like Bazzite before?
OEMs were waiting for SteamOS because it shifts the OS support to Valve instead of DIY, but I wonder if anyone tried before SteamOS was ready.
Iirc there’s a pre built company that offers mint, but I haven’t seen anyone offer a gaming distro.
Bazzite itself has an OS image specifically for handled PCs, and even desktop Bazzite has an option to boot into game mode basically “Big Picture mode”
They’ve had this for a while
I think he means if OEMs actually sold hardware with Bazzite on it.
Bruz this is the real history that the steam machine release let loose.
Respect valve for it.
Yknow, other than the 16GB RAM (reasonable given the situation), this aint that bad, for similar specs (Ryzen 5 7600, RX 6750 XT), I paid 1100€ at most two years ago
Of course, the rest of the components also matter, as well as the VRAM difference, but could be worse anyhow
I think 16gb of ram is fine, especially on linux
I’ve never eaten into more than 10GB (including OS) with games. It’s not video editing.
7500x3d, 5060, similar specs other wise for 1k here at MC. I don’t think 1300 is a good deal.
Thats about what i’ve been saying… 200 dollars more, and you get a vastly superior product over the steam machine…Which seeing as the steam machine is a luxury good, and not a budget concious/performance per dollar build… I’m perfectly okay with suggestion spending an extra 200 dollars for something markedly superior.
Pretty sure Valve thinks the same. They’d rather their ‘consoles’ establish a performance floor than a ceiling. They don’t want to make hardware - they don’t want to make an OS, it’s just what’s required to compete with Microsoft (who’s actively threatening them since they announced the Windows Store for Windows 8 and Xbox game pass at the time)
and that performance floor is heavily reliant on FSR.
Which is bad for everyone. We’re already seeing games that need FSR even at 1080p because of shit optimization. We don’t need this normalized and set as a standard.
It’s still more powerful than 70% of computers running Steam, so what’s your point?
People really need to learn to read more than the first sentence
We’re already seeing games that need FSR even at 1080p because of shit optimization. We don’t need this normalized and set as a standard.
I did read it. That doesn’t mean it was anything more than you throwing it in because it vaguely sounds like you’re making a point
The Steam Machine is more powerful than 70% of systems on Steam. That means that those 70% of systems already need to do the same tricks to get similar performance. Valve isn’t normalizing anything.
If anything, it’s putting more pressure on devs to optimize for lower-end systems by giving them a “standard” system to target for optimization. We saw the same thing happen with the Steam Deck
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Most of us can get a vastly superior product than the Steam Machine for the cost of a Steam Machine.
Most of us, sure, but we’re not the target market, and it’ll be bulkier, it’ll require more work to set up, it’ll be louder or hotter, it’ll have to be optimised for gaming rather than games being optimised for it - it will trade all of the steam machine’s selling points for raw power.
Kinda weird that it has such similar specs, I would’ve expected they’d want to do something more differentiated
The size lets them use the specs to their full potential which differentiates it in terms of performance
The size lets them use the specs to their full potential
Is this due to heat build-up / airflow?
Yes but not by a ton. It’s also a similar price bracket. It’s just weirdly close.





















