Summary
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SteamOS is important: Valve’s operating system and updates allow others to build and customize Steam Machines.
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Meta PC’s Steamroller ships with SteamOS, standard PC parts, and runs AAA titles at high frame rates.
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If SteamOS becomes mainstream, builders can forgo Windows licenses and get about $100 off prebuilt PCs.
When the Steam Engine arrived, everyone was understandably focused on equipment and price. After all, the Steam Machine will live and die by how powerful it is and how expensive it is, so people were very interested in both elements.
However, there is one thing that people tend to overlook, and that is the software. Valve has confirmed that the Steam Machine will run on SteamOS and will receive updates that allow other people to build their own Steam Machines at home. Well, one company has already taken the initiative and released a gaming PC pre-built with SteamOS, and it could shake up how we approach high-end PCs as a whole.
Steamroller is a gaming PC that comes pre-built with SteamOS by default
Yes, this happened before the Steam Machine was even launched
The PC in question is appropriately named Steamroller from Meta PCs. It’s a bit more expensive than the entry-level Steam Machine, so it’s clearly not trying to undercut Valve’s offering, but it looks like the extra money is going towards designing a PC that you can upgrade over time:
META PCs STEAMROLLER is a 1080p SteamOS gaming desktop powered by AMD Radeon RX 7600 and AMD Ryzen 5 9600X, built as an upgradable alternative to Steam Machine. It runs CS2, Cyberpunk 2077, Elden Ring, and Baldur’s Gate 3 at high frame rates, and because it uses standard desktop parts, you can change the GPU, add RAM, or expand storage whenever you want.
What is interesting about this list is the concept of manufacturers selling computers with SteamOS pre-installed. If Valve manages to make SteamOS the de facto OS of choice for gamers, PC makers will naturally use it over Windows. And if that if that happens, prebuilt gaming PCs could cost about $100 less than the asking price because the builder no longer has to pay for a Windows 11 license. We’ve already seen some handhelds come with a cheaper SteamOS variant, so it’s not too far-fetched to think the same could happen on PCs.
