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Valve's initial Steam Machine performance figures were centred around 60fps gameplay at 4K with upscaling, but further conversations have shed more light on why those figures were chosen - and it's now clear that native 1440p is arguably true sweet spot of the machine.
In our interview with Valve ahead of launch, Steam Machine architect Yazan Aldehayyat explained that the 4K 60fps figure was designed to reassure less technical users that, "yes, it does work with a 4K TV". That's something the Steam Deck was only capable of in a small proportion of games, due to its mobile nature and integrated graphics, so naturally the more powerful Steam Machine is a better fit.
SteamOS developer Pierre-Loup Griffais said that, after testing a huge number of games that didn't run well enough on Steam Deck to be Verified, 4K 60fps with FSR upscaling is a reasonable target for a "big portion of the catalogue", though admittedly performance may be in more of a 50-60fps range where VRR can clean up any small frame-rate dips.
In our Steam Machine game testing, native 1440p with optimised settings emerged as a preferential target for these more demanding titles, balancing the need to stay GPU-limited (in order to have fairly flat frame-times) and keep performance in a reasonable window. Dropping further down the resolution ladder can boost frame-rates higher, but becoming CPU-limited can provoke more noticeable frame-time disruption and is therefore worth avoiding. FSR 3 upscaling can swing the balance from being GPU limited to CPU limited, so opting for a native presentation may make more sense here than it does on other hardware - a rarity in today's upscaling-first world.
Aldehayyat underscored that this sort of performance tweaking, which requires some level of technical understanding, ought to be less necessary as Steam Machine is "in the wild", as game developers will be able to create Steam Machine specific configurations that deliver a good balance of fidelity and performance out of the box. This is one of the biggest advantages to having a fixed platform versus a standard PC, and we've already seen a good amount of developers provide useful Steam Deck presets for games that have seen updates since the Valve handheld was launched.
It'll be fascinating to see what kind of narrative emerges once the Steam Machine starts reaching users, as there are countless comparisons to be made with Steam Deck, other gaming handhelds, games consoles and DIY small form factor PCs.
What games are you looking to play on Steam Machine? Let me know in the comments below. We've also got a poll above about what you display you plan on pairing with the Steam Machine, which also ought to provide useful data for our future testing.