Handheld AMD Powered Steam Machine For $299?

Awesome! It would be a day one purchase for me, long as it's well built and comfortable to use. Perfect for indie/older games and can just stream more demanding titles.
 
I have a 6" screen on my Nexus 6 and personally I think it's too small. So 5" would be a deal breaker for me as far as gaming goes.

The 720p is super smart tho, not a very demanding resolution and games run very well at this rez. At 5" 720p will let you see some of the detail.

A lot of great PC games really really .... really need a mouse / keyboard. I can see this being a major hurdle for a lot of people.
 
Deathroned said:
AMD FTW where is Prime1(Green Squad Captain) and his squadmates KickAssCop and crew
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I think we have enough of AMD vs nVidia stuff here, lets not turn this into another one of those threads.

The main point here is handheld Steam machine, IMO. Because that's what determine the library of games that will be available.
 
Umm...It would be great but many games today are like 15-20GB. That 32GB is no where near enough storage.
 
@Hornet, relax. Honestly, don't start anything.

Comparisons are going to just naturally happen

I am pretty sure mods will step in if need be like they always do.
 
It is very difficult for me to understand the allure of 5" screens...;)
 
This is very nice, and a pretty good price point. Can't wait for reviews!
 
In for 1.. where do I pay?

I used my Winbook tablet with an Xbox 360 controller and had an absolute blast.. this is exactly what I'm looking for.. I could only play older games
Prince of Persia, Sands of Time worked great on the intel chip, imagine the games could play on an AMD APU :)

@ the 32Gb limit, hopefully it would include an SD card expansion (that is what I used on my winbook w/32gb)..
 
32GB doesn't seem too unreasonable IMO. It might be too small for larger, more demanding games... but the types of games that would run reasonably well on an APU are likely going to fall in closer to a few GB (if that).

SixFootDuo said:
A lot of great PC games really really .... really need a mouse / keyboard. I can see this being a major hurdle for a lot of people.
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It looks like it's integrating the steam controller into the design, so input shouldn't be a big deal
 
Meh, if I'm not even willing to move my gaming away from my ergonomically perfect desk, in front of my monitors with my keyboard and mouse to my livingroom, I sure as hell will not do it on any mobile device.

To me there is one place, and one place only for games.

Sitting upright at my desk, using a proper monitor, keyboard and mouse, and wearing headphones.

I will never play any game in the Livingroom, I will never play any game on any mobile platform. Period.
 
I'd pick one up. I can think of tons of games in my library that would be perfect on something like this.
 
I like the concept, but I always hated that Steam Controller design. It's compact, and that's about all it has going for it :(

Gave me REAL D-PADS and analog nubs. Put an Xbox One style controller on it, and they can take my money already :D
 
Stoly said:
So... AMD shield portable.
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Except with PC games on an open source OS. So everything opposite of what Nvidia's Shields are. Also not a tablet which is an improvement.

Joseph F said:
Can it run Crysis?
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Probably on very low settings but so would Nvidia's shield.

LurkerLito said:
Umm...It would be great but many games today are like 15-20GB. That 32GB is no where near enough storage.
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Probably 32GB internal but hopefully there's a SD card slot where you could load games onto them and swap them out if needed.
 
Hornet said:
I think we have enough of AMD vs nVidia stuff here, lets not turn this into another one of those threads.

The main point here is handheld Steam machine, IMO. Because that's what determine the library of games that will be available.
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yea they always start those battles we just get popcorn and drinks and watch the comments
 
I think it's pretty underpowered, but my hope is that people see it as a streaming device first, portable machine 2nd.

There are lots of games that would work well with it, and for the more demanding stuff, you can run it at 1080p+ on your desktop then downsample and stream the 720p video to the device.
 
d_stilgar said:
I think it's pretty underpowered, but my hope is that people see it as a streaming device first, portable machine 2nd.
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Hard to tell if it's underpowered that you couldn't play games native. The specs I read are Jaguar-based CPU with GCN-based Radeon graphics which is very generic. That could mean PS4/Xbone or laptop CPU running at 1Ghz. But portable Streaming is still bad, at least in Murica. Rather deal with lower fps than to deal with disconnection and lag.
 
Ashbringer said:
Hard to tell if it's underpowered that you couldn't play games native. The specs I read are Jaguar-based CPU with GCN-based Radeon graphics which is very generic. That could mean PS4/Xbone or laptop CPU running at 1Ghz. But portable Streaming is still bad, at least in Murica. Rather deal with lower fps than to deal with disconnection and lag.
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Just based on its size, and the need for heat dissipation, we can probably say with some certainty that it won't be a screamer.

Even the little "7 watt at the wall for the entire system" Intel Broadwell dual core Celeron's, need a fan that spins up (sometimes quite loudly), at least judging by my Asus Chromeboxes.

I question what kind of power will be provided by something like this, especially since (and I'm not trying to start a flame war here) AMD's CPU's tend to have lower performance/watt than Intel's and their GPU's lower performance per watt than Nvidia's.
 
Joseph F said:
Can it run Crysis?
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It has a ~1GHz dual core Temash SoC with single channel memory and a 225MHz (6W version) to 300MHz (9W version) GPU. A similar desktop GPU (HD 8210 vs 9W version's HD 8210E) with dual channel memory is in the same class as the old (slow) Bay Trail Atom graphics, mostly because it's been clocked so low. Basically it will run Crysis about as well as a 1.6-1.8GHz Bay Tray Atom, which is to say it won't run Crysis. :p

I really don't understand this product at all. I wouldn't understand it if it used a higher end Cherry Trail SoC (2W quad core Atom x7-Z8700 w/16EU GPU and dual channel memory for example) either because that's still not going to be a very good experience. It would be better than a Temash SoC, but still sub-low end.
 
I love AMD but, if it is like most of there other recent releases, it will never see the light of day. :(
 
If this pans out, it would be well worth the price of admission. A dedicated little Steam Machine that's easy on the wallet and can be carted around with you? Sign me up.
 
Deathroned said:
AMD FTW where is Prime1(Green Squad Captain) and his squadmates KickAssCop and crew
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Deathroned said:
yea they always start those battles we just get popcorn and drinks and watch the comments
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They haven't even posted here yet. You are the one starting this battle by calling them out making you no better than them.

It really is pathetic there is enough people around here holding a grudge they can't allow a thread to happen without this mindless back and forth bullshit.
 
5" and 32GB are kind of small for my taste but if they price it competitively it'll be a hit being able to play full PC games in the same form factor as phones. They can then release a beefier follow up model with 8" and 64/128GB options.
 
Konig-Wolf said:
If this pans out, it would be well worth the price of admission.
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It it had the best ~4-5W x86 SoC available and sold at the same price, which it wouldn't, it would still be a relatively sub-low end PC gaming device.

What this device is getting (~1GHz Temash CPU, 225-300MHz iGPU hobbled by single channel memory) has a far slower CPU and GPU, which makes it usable only for non-demanding older games or very low requirements (casual) games.
 
Ashbringer said:
Hard to tell if it's underpowered that you couldn't play games native. The specs I read are Jaguar-based CPU with GCN-based Radeon graphics which is very generic. That could mean PS4/Xbone or laptop CPU running at 1Ghz. But portable Streaming is still bad, at least in Murica. Rather deal with lower fps than to deal with disconnection and lag.
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I sincerely doubt this will even come close to PS4/XBone cpu levels. You have to remember, this is a handheld with zero room for a heatsink. However, it is likely still Jaguar based.

At most, they might be able to do a 10w tdp or less. I'm guessing it maybe one of the R or G series APU's with 2 cores and sub par graphics. The sub 5w A4-1200 or the GX-210JA fit the bill nicely. Both are dual core 1.0ghz with HD8180 graphics at 225mhz and 128 GPU cores.

Ideally, this would be some ARM architecture chip for better thermals and power savings. However, I have no idea how they would run any games on Steam regardless if it was Windows or some variant of Linux.
 
d_stilgar said:
I think it's pretty underpowered, but my hope is that people see it as a streaming device first, portable machine 2nd.

There are lots of games that would work well with it, and for the more demanding stuff, you can run it at 1080p+ on your desktop then downsample and stream the 720p video to the device.
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I don't think it would sell well as a streaming device, as we already have other streaming devices. But as a handheld "gaming PC", that would really set it apart, and it may even be the best selling Steam machine. I personally love that idea myself, being able to take my PC gaming with me when I travel.

But yeah, it's experience will be decided by how powerful it is. Mobile gaming is always a trade off in terms of quality. Look at 3DS, it's graphics are like PS1 era stuff, although it does have this 3D gimmick. But still, low graphics quality traded off for mobility.

If the tradeoff is just right, I think it will be a useful device. Also depends on the games I guess. I doubt we'll be playing Witcher 3 on it. But older games may run at a acceptable rate.
 
I had the original Nvidia Shield and even though it worked very well, I just don't care for playing on a handheld.

Now I have the Shield Tablet and the 8" screen is large enough that it's not bad to play on if you can position it right and you use the controller, but it's still better on the TV.
 
LurkerLito said:
Umm...It would be great but many games today are like 15-20GB. That 32GB is no where near enough storage.
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Not all steams games will be playable on all steam platforms. I cant play The Witcher 3 on my Steam powered Intel NUC. I play small games on it.
 
I don't honestly understand it's place. Are you only going to stream games to it on your couch so you can look at the 5" screen instead of the 50" in front of you? You couldn't install but maybe 1 or 2 games on it's 32gb dedicated space.

It's like a controller that wants to be a platform that wants to be a controller and so doesn't really fit into either category.
 
I think it (or something like it) would be pretty cool. I think it's funny that people are expecting it to play (locally/non-streaming) high-end PC games at high settings. There is a lot more to PC gaming than just the latest cutting edge AAA games. Something like that would obviously be better enjoyed at the desktop or in the living room. However, there are tons of classic games, indie games, mid-range or middle-aged AAA games and even (depending on how you access the host OS) possibly emulation to consider. Then, on top of that would be streaming as an extra I would think. Some people don't realize just how useful something like this until they're in a situation where it makes sense.

Yes, there are times when you might want to keep playing a game that you were playing on the living room TV, and then suddenly someone wants to watch their favorite show. Well, now you could keep playing it. This is the cool thing about the Wii U. I use the play-on-the-gamepad feature more than I play on the TV for this exact sort of reason. Or if I feel like going to bed, but am not ready to sleep, I can keep playing for a bit.

I don't think the main point of something like this is to compete with GHTPC or desktops. It's a supplemental product for those who might see some value in the situations it fits. It's just another option available. There doesn't even have to be a "good" reason for something like this either exactly. I have multiple laptops, multiple desktops, consoles, emulators, GHTPCs, etc. in my house. I can pretty much play anything I want in multiple rooms of the house. And you know, sometimes I choose my N3DS, and just flop down in a chair or my bed instead of playing everything else I have available to me at the time. That's not the greatest reason in the world to own something like that, but it suits me sometimes, so I do it.

I am curious about the exact hardware they're planning for this thing though.
 
Ars has more details in its coverage. This device doesn't have a release date other than "2016". The CPU used in it is referred to as "Steppe Eagle", which were the embedded G series processors released over a year ago. The best sub-10W models are:

GX-412HC – Quad core @ 1.2 GHz with 2MB L2 cache, and a GPU @ 300MHz. DDR3-1333 support. TDP: 7W
GX-212JC – Dual core @ 1.2 GHz with 1MB L2 cache, and a GPU @ 300MHz. DDR3-1333 support. TDP: 6W

Both include "R3E" GCN graphics and one of those is likely in the Smach Zero. The product may be vaporware to begin with, but even if released those specs suck for a Steam device. No joke, both of those are outclassed by 2W Cherry Trail Atom SoCs in CPU and GPU performance.
 
pxc said:
Ars has more details in its coverage. This device doesn't have a release date other than "2016". The CPU used in it is referred to as "Steppe Eagle", which were the embedded G series processors released over a year ago. The best sub-10W models are:

GX-412HC – Quad core @ 1.2 GHz with 2MB L2 cache, and a GPU @ 300MHz. DDR3-1333 support. TDP: 7W
GX-212JC – Dual core @ 1.2 GHz with 1MB L2 cache, and a GPU @ 300MHz. DDR3-1333 support. TDP: 6W

Both include "R3E" GCN graphics and one of those is likely in the Smach Zero. The product may be vaporware to begin with, but even if released those specs suck for a Steam device. No joke, both of those are outclassed by 2W Cherry Trail Atom SoCs in CPU and GPU performance.
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Thanks for the details. Yeah, those are a bit paltry. I could still see playing quite a few things on that hardware, but that definitely does limit the scope a bit more than I thought. Playing things like Axiom Verge, FEZ or Shovel Knight on this though wouldn't be any worse for that level of hardware, and are excellent games. It would be cool to see something a bit more powerful though.

The overall concept is sound. The implementation I suppose is the question. I can see even the above specs being useful, but definitely not for as wide a range as they could hit with higher ones.
 
We all know how great AMD support is under Linux, and how awesome touchpads are for gaming, shutupandtakemymoney.jpg! Seriously, the only reason people are excited for this vaporware device is because it has the word "Steam" affixed to it.

What games are you going to run on an embedded AMD CPU under Linux? This is basically a portable Papers Please device and you all are going nuts over it. In fact, it would struggle to even run that game. Not very [H]ard, in my opinion.
 
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