Steam Machine has an unexpected compromise that reduces performance. Given its high price, this is food for thought

We recently wrote about how the Steam Machine turned out to be more expensive than many wished, and that memory shortages were to blame. Now it turns out that the cost-saving measures have affected not only the price but also the performance. A new benchmark has confirmed that the decision to equip the device with a single RAM module costs a significant chunk of performance.

What the benchmark showed

Valve surprised buyers by shipping the Steam Machine with a single 16GB DDR5 module instead of a pair of smaller ones. As a result, the machine runs in a slower single-channel mode. While the company claimed that the performance loss would be negligible, tests by Gamers Nexus tell a different story.

The most significant drop was shown in 7-Zip compression, where the dual-channel configuration achieved a 19% higher score. Some games also suffered. Baldur’s Gate 3 at 1080p lost around 15% of its average frame rate in single-channel mode, and The Outer Worlds 2 saw a similar drop of just under 15%. Gamers Nexus’s conclusion was unequivocal — Valve significantly throttled the processor with this compromise.

Why a single module hurts so much

A bit of technical explanation. Dual-channel mode works by the system reading data from two memory modules simultaneously, thereby doubling memory bandwidth. With a single module, you lose this advantage. For the Steam Machine, it hurts even more because it has integrated graphics that share system memory with the processor — and graphics are particularly sensitive to a lack of bandwidth.

But before you panic, it’s important to put the numbers into context. That 19% is a worst-case scenario from a demanding computational task, not a typical state. Many games perform much better — titles like Black Myth: Wukong or Starfield, which are more graphically intensive, will barely feel the difference. So, the actual impact depends heavily on the specific game. Let’s remember that the entire compromise is due to the ongoing memory price crisis, which we wrote about separately:

Can anything be done about it?

The good news for DIY enthusiasts is that the memory in the Steam Machine is replaceable. While testers couldn’t get the machine to run with two 8GB modules, after adding a second 16GB module (i.e., 32 GB in dual-channel), everything worked as it should. So, theoretically, you can get dual-channel mode yourself — but it costs extra money and requires tinkering inside.

In any case, Valve promises that once memory prices drop, it will switch to a pair of 8GB modules, and will reportedly notify buyers of the specification change in advance. However, according to Micron’s CEO, the memory shortage may not improve until around 2030, so we’ll have to wait for that. Let’s remember that the Steam Machine is sold in the Czech Republic via Steam starting from 1,039 euros (around 25,500 CZK) — and for that price, many would expect dual-channel memory as standard. A complete overview of the price and performance can be found in our article:

Would such a compromise bother you, or would you simply upgrade the memory yourself?

Sources: Notebookcheck, Gamers Nexus