Recently, IGN was invited to conduct a hands-on trial of Valve's upcoming new console, Steam Machine, and conduct real-machine testing of a number of popular games. Overall, the device is capable of running most contemporary games at 4K resolution, but the image quality still needs to be appropriately reduced in some works using Unreal 5.
According to IGN's on-site experience, the SteamOS version adopted by V has been greatly improved compared to the early days of SteamOS, and can run most Windows games through the Proton compatibility layer. IGN tested a number of different types of works in the trial, including games such as "Cyberpunk 2077" and "Silent Hill F".
IGN reported that "Cyberpunk 2077" runs "smoothly and stably" on the Steam Machine under Ultra image quality and FSR (Performance Mode) enabled. Even with ray tracing turned on, the overall frame rate still maintains good playability without significant fluctuations. IGN said that if it is mainly designed for a large-screen experience in the living room, the device's performance in highly open-world works such as "Cyberpunk 2077" "exceeds expectations."
IGN also mentioned that the performance of Steam Machine is not fully capable of 4K output in all situations. In "Silent Hill F", the default setting is 4K+Ultra+TSR, the frame rate is only about 15–20FPS, and the experience is obviously affected. But when the image quality is adjusted to 1440p+medium quality+FSR, the game runs smoothly again. This also means that for some Unreal 5 games, users need to make an appropriate trade-off between image quality and performance.
IGN believes that Steam Machine is positioned as a "living room upgrade product for Steam Deck users" rather than for high-end DIY players.
IGN pointed out in the summary that the actual performance of Steam Machine is consistent with the general direction promoted by V Agency, that is, "most games can run normally at 4K resolution combined with FSR." However, since it is still a PC in nature, some games may require players to adjust the image quality.
IGN believes that as the Steam Deck Verified verification system is extended to Steam Machine, more games may automatically apply adaptation settings in the future to improve the convenience of living room use.