New Steam Machine Benchmarks Fall Short of PS5 and Budget PCs

The newly released Steam Machine gaming platform is struggling to deliver acceptable framerates in current graphics-heavy titles, according to recent benchmarks. Early testing shows the console falling short of standard console targets and even budget gaming setups. Optimization difficulties and hardware utilization issues seem to limit the device’s potential in demanding scenes.

In Cyberpunk 2077 running at 1440p resolution with medium settings and ray tracing, the console averages only 28 frames per second. The performance dips even lower in Black Myth: Wukong, where the display rate falls to 20 frames per second at very high settings. Testing with Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora on the ultra preset yields a similar result of just 21 frames per second.

Also read: PS5 Pro Release Date, Price, and Specifications

This performance gap makes the console a tough sell compared to Sony’s hardware, especially amid recent PlayStation 5 Slim pricing changes. Even in Alan Wake 2, the console averages only 31 frames per second, which represents roughly 51 percent of its 60-frame target. The lack of gameplay smoothness and stability remains noticeable throughout heavy action sequences.

The retail price for the new Steam Machine starts at $1,049, which has drawn criticism from testing groups. Industry analysts point out that gamers can build a custom desktop for a similar budget of $1,049. An alternative setup, like a recently spotted RTX 5060 Ti gaming PC deal, provides significantly higher frame rates and more consistent rendering times in modern titles.

Source: Play4Index on Twitter