Summary
Steam Machine delayed by RAM shortages; third parties like Playnix fill the void now.
Playnix ships high-end specs: Ryzen 5, RDNA4 9060 XT, 16GB RAM, NVMe, WiFi6E, HDMI2.1/DP2.1
Price $1,139 — steep versus expected sub-$1,000 Steam Machine, but sales are reportedly strong.
The Steam Machine is in a weird place right now. We know it’s a real thing, and we kind of know what it’ll do, but we don’t know how much it will cost or when it will release. This is largely because of the RAM crisis that struck close to when Valve intended to ship its new batch of hardware, including the Steam Machine.
This delay has given people the chance to make their own take on the Steam Machine, but not everyone ends up selling what they’ve made. Playnix has just done the latter, and it’s a bit pricey.
Related
The Steam Machine has been delayed, and it’s going to cost you more
A double-dose of bad news.
The Playnix Console is a Steam Machine competitor you can buy right now
If you can stomach the price
As spotted by VideoCardz, the Playnix Console is an attempt to out-Steam Machine the Steam Machine before Valve’s console can even release. The pricing situation is pretty interesting; Playnix claims that consoles are produced as batches. and that each console in a batch will have a price batch based on “the actual price of components (especially RAM) at the time of manufacturing.”
Here’s what you’re getting if you decide to grab one for yourself:
Measurements: 320 x 247 x 64 mm / 12.6 x 9.7 x 2.5 inches
OS – PlaynixOS ( arch based )
CPU – Ryzen 5 – 6 cores 3.5Ghz 65W TDP
Cooling: Noctua & Thermalright fans
RAM – 16GB DDR4 3200MT/s Dual Channel
GPU – Radeon RDNA4 with 32CUs 150W TDP ( 9060 XT )
VRAM: 16GB GDDR6
SSD – NVME + Another free NVME Slot for expanding your storage
Network – Wifi 6E & Bluetooth 5
IO: 2x USB 3.0 + 4x USB 2.0 + 1x USB C 3.1 + 1x Gigabit Ethernet + 1x HDMI 2.1 with HDR 4K 120hz / 8K 60hz support + 1x DisplayPort 2.1 with HDR 4K 120hz / 8K 60hz support
PSU – Flex 600W
As for the price, this batch is being sold at a pretty steep $1,139. Given how people are holding out for the Steam Machine to cost under four digits, the Playnix may be a little too pricey for some. We’ll have to wait and see how much the Steam Machine will cost before we can judge if the Playnix will be a proper competitor, but for now, the sales for the console are apparently quite good.