Valve describes just how brutal RAM negotiations are in 2026

Valve 描述了 2026 年内存谈判的残酷现状

Valve’s Steam Machine finally has a price: a whopping $1,049 for the 512GB configuration or $1,349 for the 2TB version. And those are without bundled controllers, which drive up the cost more. Valve 的 Steam Machine 终于公布了价格：512GB 版本高达 1,049 美元，2TB 版本则为 1,349 美元。而且这些价格还不包含捆绑的手柄，那会进一步推高成本。

The prices are so high in part because Valve isn’t subsidizing the hardware, and the company has already indicated that the component crisis forced it to reconsider its initial pricing plans. In an interview with the YouTube channel Gamers Nexus, Valve engineers discussed the reality of sourcing RAM in 2026, with take-it-or-leave-it prices as memory and other components remain in short supply, from only a few vendors like Samsung, Micron, and SK Hynix. 价格如此之高，部分原因是 Valve 没有对硬件进行补贴，且该公司此前已表示，零部件危机迫使其重新考虑了最初的定价计划。在接受 YouTube 频道 Gamers Nexus 采访时，Valve 的工程师讨论了 2026 年采购内存的现实情况：由于内存和其他组件供应持续短缺，且仅有三星、美光和 SK 海力士等少数供应商，他们只能接受对方给出的“不买就拉倒”的定价。

Here’s the relevant portion, starting at 12:48 in Gamers Nexus’s Steam Machine review: 以下是 Gamers Nexus 的 Steam Machine 评测中 12:48 开始的相关片段：

Gamers Nexus: Were you able to lock in contracts for memory with the suppliers directly or did you have to jump through a bunch of hoops? Gamers Nexus：你们能够直接与供应商签订内存合同，还是必须经历重重困难？

Valve’s Pierre-Loup Griffais: Look, there’s no contracts. There’s nothing. Those guys… they give us a price every month or something and they say, ‘you can buy that many,’ and it’s yes or no. And if we say no, then they never talk to us again. Valve 的 Pierre-Loup Griffais：听着，根本没有合同。什么都没有。那些家伙……他们每个月左右给我们一个价格，然后说：“你们可以买这么多”，要么接受，要么拒绝。如果我们说不，他们就再也不会理我们了。

Valve, of course, isn’t the only company in a bind over memory shortages, as the crunch is forcing many hardware makers to make significant pricing changes. Even Apple CEO Tim Cook is warning of incoming price hikes for iPhones, Macs, and other devices. And the RAM crunch isn’t projected to get better anytime soon. 当然，Valve 并不是唯一一家因内存短缺而陷入困境的公司，这种紧缺局面正迫使许多硬件制造商做出重大的价格调整。甚至连苹果公司首席执行官蒂姆·库克（Tim Cook）也警告称，iPhone、Mac 和其他设备即将涨价。而且，内存短缺问题预计短期内不会好转。

The supply situation is rough enough that Valve will be shipping Steam Machines with either one stick of 16GB of RAM or two sticks of 8GB of RAM. How many sticks come inside a given Steam Machine depends “on the supply that we can secure,” Griffais says. According to Gamers Nexus, “dual channel will objectively perform better than single channel,” but Valve’s Yazan Aldehayyat says that in the company’s tests, having one stick or two doesn’t make “any measurable difference” while playing games. 供应情况非常严峻，以至于 Valve 在出货 Steam Machine 时，将根据“我们能确保的供应量”来决定是配备一根 16GB 内存条还是两根 8GB 内存条。Griffais 表示，具体配备多少根内存条取决于供应情况。据 Gamers Nexus 称，“双通道在客观上表现会优于单通道”，但 Valve 的 Yazan Aldehayyat 表示，在公司的测试中，一根或两根内存条在玩游戏时并没有“任何可测量的差异”。

Valve hasn’t shared its original planned price for the Steam Machine. But the recent price increases to the Steam Deck OLED — up $240 for the 512GB version, and up $300 for the 1TB version — “should give you a ballpark estimate of how much the Steam Machine’s target had moved,” according to an Aftermath interview with Valve. Subtracting those same price hikes from the current Steam Machine prices nets out at theoretical original prices of $809 for the 512GB model and $1,049 for the 2TB model. Those prices are still high, but not as tough to swallow as what Valve officially revealed today. Valve 尚未透露其最初为 Steam Machine 规划的价格。但据 Aftermath 对 Valve 的采访显示，近期 Steam Deck OLED 的价格上涨（512GB 版本上涨 240 美元，1TB 版本上涨 300 美元）“应该能让你大致估算出 Steam Machine 的目标价格变动了多少”。从当前的 Steam Machine 价格中减去同样的涨幅，得出的理论原始价格分别为 512GB 型号 809 美元和 2TB 型号 1,049 美元。这些价格依然很高，但比起 Valve 今天正式公布的价格，还是更容易让人接受一些。