Steam Machine Prototype Details and Specs

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The specs for the Steam Machine protypes have been revealed and they are downright impressive. According the announcement, some machines will have an Intel i7-4770 paired up with a GTX Ttian, 16GB of DDR3 1600Mhz and a 1TB/8GB Hybrid SSHD. :eek:

The 300 prototype units will ship with the following components:
  • GPU: some units with NVidia Titan, some GTX780, some GTX760, and some GTX660
  • CPU: some boxes with Intel : i7-4770, some i5-4570, and some i3
  • RAM: 16GB DDR3-1600 (CPU), 3GB DDR5 (GPU)
  • Storage: 1TB/8GB Hybrid SSHD
  • Power Supply: Internal 450w 80Plus Gold
  • Dimensions: approx. 12 x 12.4 x 2.9 in high
 
The specs for the Steam Machine protypes have been revealed and they are downright impressive. According the announcement, some machines will have an Intel i7-4770 paired up with a GTX Ttian, 16GB of DDR3 1600Mhz and a 1TB/8GB Hybrid SSHD. :eek:

This is really impressive! :eek:
 
Ummmm so double the Ps3 price if not more then....funny i dont see the market for it if they are going to be that expensive.
 
Day one, baby.

::looks down at PC::

Oh, nevermind.
 
Ummmm so double the Ps3 price if not more then....funny i dont see the market for it if they are going to be that expensive.

At the top end. Yes, if you want to compare the flagship to a junky poobutt console, it's expensive.
 
impressive specs even for the lower end units.... now what is the cost????
 
I just built almost the exact PC in mini ITX for my steambox

So maybe soon I'll have two of them *crosses fingers*

I love my custom steambox
 
if they have a nice case where i can stick what i want into it it will work
 
Interesting that they are fronting Nvida GPUs. I guess AMD doesn't have everyone's dick in the bag.
 
But it runs Linux, because Linux is the future of gaming!

I don't understand such beefy specs? Why on earth if you are going to run SteamOS, which is supposedly highly optimized for games would you need such high end parts? Who are they trying to target with this? So many questions... :(
 
Ummmm so double the Ps3 price if not more then....funny i dont see the market for it if they are going to be that expensive.

Yea I don't think these Steam machines are going for $400. By installing Linux they avoid $100 then they would from a typical PC. If they went with AMD GPU+CPU then it would have been believably cheaper. But Intel + Nvidia is a winning Linux combo, but very expensive.

The i3 machine with the NVidia GTX660 will cost at least $600-$700.
The i5 with with the GTX780 will cost $1000-$1200.
The i7 with Nvidia Titan will easily go for $2000.

Unless Valve pulled some crazy deals with hardware manufacturers, then I don't see any of this hardware being competitive with Xbone or PS4. Though I'd love to be proven wrong. The only way to get $400-$500 pricing is to use AMD fusion type processors, much like what you see in consoles.
 
I don't understand such beefy specs? Why on earth if you are going to run SteamOS, which is supposedly highly optimized for games would you need such high end parts? Who are they trying to target with this? So many questions..

Exactly one would think they would have some lowerend hardware to push out to beta as well because im sorry if this is the specs of what they will be releasing i might as well build my own this year on the cheap, you dont need a titan and totl intel cpu to push 1080p resolution...
 
im afraid of the price given those specs

Some of those configurations will be more cost effective than others ... if it has full PC functionality and a large hard drive it might lend itself to displacing the DVR STB market (in cooperation with Cable companies who could subsidize part of the cost) ... the fact they are testing configurations exclusively using NVidia and Intel could mean they have arranged considerations from both companies (lower pricing) for exclusive access

If they are willing to sell at cost or a loss (the way most consoles start out) they could be in the high end tablet price range for the lower configurations and the low end SFF PC for the higher configurations ... if they could get a cable company supporter the prices could go even lower ... let's see which configurations come out of testing ... to support 1080P gaming they don't need the highest configurations ... to support 4K gaming it will take a lot more horsepower ;)
 
Interesting that they are fronting Nvida GPUs. I guess AMD doesn't have everyone's dick in the bag.

Makes sense, since Nvidia is the king on Linux. AMD though has crappy drivers. So crappy, that most AMD owners prefer to use Open Source drivers. Cause the performance isn't so much of a gap.

Nvidia though uses the same code in their Windows drivers as they do for Linux. The open source drivers have a reclocking issue, but you don't use Nvidia on Linux with open source. You use their drivers. Even the Dolphin developers had something to say, and they Nvidia drivers thumbs up. Everything else was meh, or shit.

And if there's developers that I trust to listen to, it's the authors behind Dolphin emulator. Cause their emulator supports certain hardware technology that most games won't for years to come.
 
That's better than 99.9% of serious PC's out there. I *really* hope I get in on that beta now.
 
Consoles are typically sold at a loss so it's not really fair to compare a PS3 and this. That being said, it'll be hard for Steam to significantly subsidize the cost of hardware if people can turn around and install whatever OS they want on it.
 
For the sake of clarity, these are all prototypes of the "high-end" version of the Steam Machine. The actual final version of the high-end Steam Machine will probably be a single combo of those various parts depending on feedback from the beta testers. So there's no guarantee the final box will have a Titan.

They haven't released any info yet on what the low- and mid-end boxes will be spec'd.
 
I think someone at Valve is on crack if they think even half of those specs are needed...
 
Yea I don't think these Steam machines are going for $400. By installing Linux they avoid $100 then they would from a typical PC. If they went with AMD GPU+CPU then it would have been believably cheaper. But Intel + Nvidia is a winning Linux combo, but very expensive.

The i3 machine with the NVidia GTX660 will cost at least $600-$700.
The i5 with with the GTX780 will cost $1000-$1200.
The i7 with Nvidia Titan will easily go for $2000.

Unless Valve pulled some crazy deals with hardware manufacturers, then I don't see any of this hardware being competitive with Xbone or PS4. Though I'd love to be proven wrong. The only way to get $400-$500 pricing is to use AMD fusion type processors, much like what you see in consoles.

I am not sure they necessarily need to be in the 400-500 price range to succeed ... the consoles are unlikely to displace STBs but a linux based SFF PC could actually replace the STB ... for cable companies wanting to increase their high speed internet subscribers and protect their cable subscription and streaming models they might be willing to partner with Valve to subsidize the cost for their own subscribers ... Valve could also pull an Amazon and sell at cost or a slight loss (and make their money back on the software) ... we'll see how testing goes ... they won't need to ship the high end configurations for 1080P gaming anyway ... it won't be until 4K gaming advances they will need to worry about i7/Titan or i7/SLI configurations (they can test it in the beta but that is more of a forward looking configuration) :cool:
 
The way I see the whole SteamOS/Box is as a "pro" console.
But at the same time, the main selling point for me is backward compatibility.
I see games on SteamOS to be playable regardless of CPU/OS upgrades/changes.
 
I am not sure they necessarily need to be in the 400-500 price range to succeed ...
Well yes and no. That really depends on what you mean by success. Valve doesn't care if Steam boxes outsell consoles, they just offer these for individuals who want to game on a PC but don't want to go through the trouble to set one up.

On the other hand it'll never sell anywhere near as well as PS4 or Xbone.
the consoles are unlikely to displace STBs but a linux based SFF PC could actually replace the STB ... for cable companies wanting to increase their high speed internet subscribers and protect their cable subscription and streaming models they might be willing to partner with Valve to subsidize the cost for their own subscribers ...
Yea I doubt that will ever happen. I also doubt that customers will want it to happen.
Valve could also pull an Amazon and sell at cost or a slight loss (and make their money back on the software) ... we'll see how testing goes ... they won't need to ship the high end configurations for 1080P gaming anyway ... it won't be until 4K gaming advances they will need to worry about i7/Titan or i7/SLI configurations (they can test it in the beta but that is more of a forward looking configuration) :cool:

They could do this, but they'd have to sell for no profit or a loss. Which I doubt they'll do.
 
Maybe I've missed something which has been covered already, but can you simply build your own rig and install the Steam OS on it?
 
450w PSU? good luck running titan and a core i7 on that one.

Valve is not going the cheap route, but if you want to showcase a STEAMBox, this is the way to go.

I think Valve needs an entry level box, something with say a corei3 and a 650Ti boost that can go for 350~400 bucks.
 
450w PSU? good luck running titan and a core i7 on that one.

Valve is not going the cheap route, but if you want to showcase a STEAMBox, this is the way to go.

I think Valve needs an entry level box, something with say a corei3 and a 650Ti boost that can go for 350~400 bucks.

I run that exact pc with a 780 and a corsair h80 on a 450w PSU. Its not ridiculous. If you're not overclocking or plugging in 500 usb devices, 450w is fine.
 
So then speculation about the AMD Mantle API connection to Valve/Steambox/Steambox can be laid to rest.
 
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