"Context matters a lot": New Steam Machine CPU benchmark numbers are underwhelming, but they're far from the full picture

A Steam Machine with ports, overlaid by a graph with a downward sloping line against a beige background. — (Image credit: Valve | Edited with Gemini)

I feel like it's been years since Valve first announced its new Steam Machine; alas, it's only been about 7 months since we first saw the new gaming PC expected to take on living room consoles.

There has been plenty of discourse around the Steam Machine in that time, especially in regard to what pricing will look like, considering how expensive RAM and storage have become since Valve initially unveiled the device.

The latest leak, arriving earlier today via an X post from @Olrak29_ (via Videocardz), involves Geekbench 6 CPU scores for the Steam Machine's custom AMD 1772 processor.

New steam machine geekbench scores appearedhttps://t.co/bM6y48NfDK https://t.co/1R4rRFAdHBJune 16, 2026

These are actually not the first leaked Geekbench scores to appear online. In August 2025, some numbers showed up with the Steam Machine running on Windows.

What makes these new results particularly interesting is that they come from a system running Linux, presumably Valve's own SteamOS that's set to be the launch OS. As you can see, Valve's custom AMD chip actually performed better in Windows than in Linux, at least in a couple of instances.

Collection of Geekbench 6 CPU results for the Steam Machine running on Windows and on Linux. — Geekbench 6 Steam Machine CPU results for Linux on the left, Windows on the right. (Image credit: Geekbench)

If these results, whether in Windows or Linux, seem a bit wimpy, it's because they are.

We immediately injected the new Steam Machine Geekbench results into our CPU performance graph alongside gaming handhelds featuring the likes of AMD's Ryzen Z1/Z2 Extreme, Intel's Core Ultra 7 258V, and the custom AMD chip in the Steam Deck.

Presumed Steam Machine PC codenamed "Valve Fremont" benchmark score in Geekbench 6 highlighted alongside prominent handheld gaming PCs. — The Steam Machine's custom 1772 CPU isn't setting any records in Geekbench 6 when compared to gaming handhelds already on the market. (Image credit: Windows Central)

As you can see, the Steam Machine's custom AMD 1772 CPU isn't setting any records, falling firmly in the middle of the pack.

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Its best Geekbench 6 CPU results on Linux come out to a 2,334 single-core score and a 7,392 multi-core score. In comparison, the AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme in the Xbox Ally X hit a 2,813 single-core score and a 12,789 multi-core score in our testing.

This is but one synthetic benchmark test, and it's also only covering the CPU side, leaving the custom GPU's performance unknown.

What do the Steam Machine's new Geekbench CPU scores actually mean?

Steam Machine for 2026 — The new Steam Machine is still expected to arrive in 2026. (Image credit: Valve)

The Steam Machine's CPU is definitely trailing some chips that are already on the market, but context matters a lot in this scenario.

AMD's custom chip for the Steam Machine features 6 cores, 12 threads, and a boost clock up to 4.86GHz. The Z1/Z2 Extreme and Core Ultra 7 chips feature 8 cores running at a higher TDP, which makes a big difference, especially in compact devices.

So, yes, the Steam Machine might not have the strongest CPU power, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's going to perform worse than premium gaming handhelds.

Is the Steam Machine's perceived CPU performance gap a real issue?

The Steam Machine is expected to arrive with an RDNA 3 GPU featuring 8GB of VRAM. Unfortunately, I haven't yet seen any leaks in terms of the Steam Machine's GPU performance, but there are some hard facts to note.

The Steam Machine's GPU is a far cry from the integrated chips in gaming handhelds that share system memory, and it's very likely that the boosted GPU performance will completely annul any CPU deficit.

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Where the CPU performance gap will most likely be felt is in huge open-world games that require a ton of processing and physics calculations. In the same vein, games will be especially hard on the CPU when attempting to hit high frame rates at high resolutions.

Is there any cause for panic regarding the Steam Machine's CPU performance?

G-Man character from Half-Life holds a Steam Machine box PC — The Steam Machine held by the G-Man from Valve's Half-Life series. (Image credit: Valve | Getty Images)

I highly doubt that the Steam Machine's leaked CPU benchmark scores are anything to be concerned about.

The performance level could be felt in some edge cases where games are CPU-bound, but otherwise I expect the superior GPU to pull a ton of weight. This is especially true considering the Steam Machine is intended to be a living room device running on common TV resolutions and frame rates.

Valve has confirmed that its Steam Machine is still "shipping this summer" despite supply chain issues and rising hardware prices. There's still no word on pricing.

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Cale Hunt brings to Windows Central more than nine years of experience writing about PC gaming, Windows laptops, accessories, and beyond. If it runs Windows or in some way complements the hardware, there’s a good chance he knows about it, has written about it, or is already busy testing it.