During AMD's latest earnings call that covers the fourth quarter and full year of 2025, AMD chair and CEO Lisa Su gave a small update on Valve's Steam Machine.
To be honest, I expected RAM prices would push back the release date. But AMD would know more about than I would.
Best case scenario is that they had already secured a RAM deal when the prices went mad, so they can now offer a good price. Even then, it might still be an issue for later batches though.
Have you seen how it looks without the casing? this thing is filled to the brim, whatever space was left has been filled with cooling, it would be complicated to place a standard d6 in there - the whole system is built around the cooling that goes through the middle. but the ram isn’t soldered and i think it’s even placed so you can upgrade it without dismantling the whole thing.
I dunno. There’s probably plenty of examples where companies soldered RAM instead of installing SODIMM slots, even when they had space. I agree that it makes sense, but sense isn’t always a factor when a company starts crunching the production cost numbers.
I’m pretty sure they likely did what they did with the steam LCD, which was order an absolutely insane amount of units that they had stock for years. The semi-custom AMD chip they’re using likely needed a minimum order of millions of units.
Best case scenario is that they had already secured a RAM deal when the prices went mad, so they can now offer a good price. Even then, it might still be an issue for later batches though.
If they got the deal secured, you bet your table the ordering website is gonna get slammed.
A week after it ships ebay will be full of “steam machine bring your own ram”
Is it upgradeable? I assumed it would be soldered in.
Maybe we’ll see, “Some soldering required,” instead 😂
They explicitly said it has user upgradeable ram. The graphics card is soldered on though. Its basically gaming laptop hardware.
It is, using SODIMMs (Laptop form factor)
Cool, I tried to find the info, but obviously didn’t find that detail. It makes sense, all things considered
Why would it be soldered? It’s not like it’s in a laptop with space constraints.
Have you seen how it looks without the casing? this thing is filled to the brim, whatever space was left has been filled with cooling, it would be complicated to place a standard d6 in there - the whole system is built around the cooling that goes through the middle. but the ram isn’t soldered and i think it’s even placed so you can upgrade it without dismantling the whole thing.
I dunno. There’s probably plenty of examples where companies soldered RAM instead of installing SODIMM slots, even when they had space. I agree that it makes sense, but sense isn’t always a factor when a company starts crunching the production cost numbers.
Given the proclivities of Valve and their hardware so far, i woud expect the gabecube to not have soldered ram.
Considering how repairable the steam deck is, I wouldn’t be surprised if it is upgradable
I’m pretty sure they likely did what they did with the steam LCD, which was order an absolutely insane amount of units that they had stock for years. The semi-custom AMD chip they’re using likely needed a minimum order of millions of units.