I’m on a computer from 2017, so a $1,049 living-room PC makes me look hard at what that money buys. Instead of just calling it expensive, I broke the price down. Here’s what works.

Look at what’s inside

Valve lists a six-core AMD Zen 4 processor, an RDNA 3 graphics chip with 28 compute units, 16GB of DDR5 and 8GB of graphics memory. That’s the 512GB model, and the 2TB version is $1,349.

Blame memory, not greed

Valve has said ongoing component shortages and higher memory prices pushed the price well above its original goal. It’s the same squeeze that makes any upgrade pricey for someone on an older machine like mine.

Add up the extras

The Steam Controller adds $79, so the 512GB bundle lands at $1,128. Price the whole setup, not just the box. In India it isn’t sold officially, so buying means a parallel import, which reports estimate at roughly ₹1,00,000 to ₹1,15,000 for the base model.

Compare it with building your own

Check what a similar parts list costs at today’s memory prices before you decide, since the answer changes week to week.

Decide where you’ll play

It’s a SteamOS living-room PC meant to run your Steam library on a TV. If you game at a desk, you’re paying for a shape you won’t use.

Overpriced or fair depends on where you play. The price is real, but so is the reason behind it.