Is THIS the SteamBox?

L

LeviathanZERO

Supreme [H]ardness
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Dec 20, 2003
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Forget e3, it's all about bombs dropped at CES this year.

Valve just unvieled a modular box thats optimized for Steam.
http://www.polygon.com/2013/1/7/384...-modular-computer-optimized-for-steam-and-big

The part that sounds funny is this:
Xi3 today announced "an investment from Valve Corporation" and a "new development stage computer game system," which is being showcased at both the Xi3 and Valve booths at CES this week.
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An investment?
Sound interesting. Valve is selling licenses and not making any of the boxes? Sounds like that might be the case (Or not. Everything is vague right now).
Xi3 says this new product is "housed in the uniquely shaped, grapefruit-size Xi3 Modular Computer chassis," pictured above; however, specifics like branding and ports are likely to change.
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This could be close, or could be far away. Details are very slim at the moment. I couldn't get much else out of that.

UPDATE: Interview with Gabe (thx Wrecklusive)
http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/8/3852144/gabe-newell-interview-steam-box-future-of-gaming
We've heard lots of rumors about the Steam Box, including that Valve's own hardware would be "tightly controlled." Can you tell us more about Valve's own hardware effort?

The way we sort of think of it is sort of "Good, Better," or "Best." So, Good are like these very low-cost streaming solutions that you’re going to see that are using Miracast or Grid. I think we’re talking about in-home solutions where you’ve got low latency. "Better" is to have a dedicated CPU and GPU and that’s the one that’s going to be controlled. Not because our goal is to control it; it’s been surprisingly difficult when we say to people "don’t put an optical media drive in there" and they put an optical media drive in there and you’re like "that makes it hotter, that makes it more expensive, and it makes the box bigger." Go ahead. You can always sell the Best box, and those are just whatever those guys want to manufacture. [Valve's position is]: let's build a thing that’s quiet and focuses on high performance and quiet and appropriate form factors.
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lol we were just messing with one of there boxes here in my office. they were trying to get us to use them at our company.

there local here to us.
 
Serious? Haha! Is someone from your company attending CES?
You mean this happened recently? You're talking about Xi3, right?
 
Last I checked those things were running a super slow AMD dual core with 780 chipset integrated graphics. Valve is going to face some serious challenges if they are forced to limit a large chunk of their gaming library to the Steam Box simply because it doesn't have the CPU or Graphics capable of running a bunch of games.

Now if they sold different levels of the box (maybe one with a quad core), they all had some sort of external graphics module (maybe had a laptop class graphics card in it), and Steam Big Picture mode and market would auto-detect what hardware the box was running on and would warn people before they purchased certain games, then they might be onto something truly great. It wouldn't win over hardcore enthusiasts, but could win over many of the console crowd and average joes.
 
There is one with a trinity apu by the looks of it. Handles steam titles I guess anyway.
 
"Today marks the beginning of a new era for Xi3," said Jason A. Sullivan, founder, president and CEO of Xi3."

LMFAO. Like anyone cares about Xi3.
 
Based on current specs for these things I just don't see how Valva or Xi3 plans to accomplish anything near PC gaming level hardware.

Especially for a comfortable price point. I mean, sure things are cheaper in bulk, but this isn't a Sony or Microsoft product. Those have meat behind their names, most console gamer's probably don't even know who Valve is or what Steam is.

Hmmm...guess we'll find out in the coming days!
 
Well, don't think I'll be replacing my PC anytime soon for this device, but I don't believe that's what Valve's going after here. With that said, I do want to see this device succeed and hope its openness (or at least more openness) will force console manufacturers to rethink their own closed platforms.

And really hope Valve takes a cut in hardware costs to price this thing competitively against MS and Sony's consoles.
 
That looks more like a raspberry pi clone than what Valve is aiming for with its Steam box
 
I doubt that's the Steambox. Perhaps they are knocking around with prototype's but with those specs , its nothing Valve should proud of.
 
Guys, you might want to read deeper into this if your basing it off specs they announced ages ago for their lowest priced model. Xi3 isn't just going to sell one low-end model. They plan to have a much more powerful one as well but they haven't mentioned specs or price.
 
CaptNumbNutz said:
Last I checked those things were running a super slow AMD dual core with 780 chipset integrated graphics. Valve is going to face some serious challenges if they are forced to limit a large chunk of their gaming library to the Steam Box simply because it doesn't have the CPU or Graphics capable of running a bunch of games.

Now if they sold different levels of the box (maybe one with a quad core), they all had some sort of external graphics module (maybe had a laptop class graphics card in it), and Steam Big Picture mode and market would auto-detect what hardware the box was running on and would warn people before they purchased certain games, then they might be onto something truly great. It wouldn't win over hardcore enthusiasts, but could win over many of the console crowd and average joes.
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you're looking at a much cheaper entry level unit built for completely different purposes, like light load business class workstations or somesuch. the hardware that this piston htpc is supposedly based on is a much beefier quad core/3 ghz version with 8 gigs ram and at least a 384 shader gpu.

their site is probably getting hammered by the tech blog circlejerk and reddit, could not get it to load but here are some better specs. piston is based on the X7A model, they claim a $500 price point for the 64GB base, upgradable to a $1k/1TB version.
 
So from what I can gathered, Valve's version is still in development and will be based on their X7A model.

This was the spec for the X7A from google
The X7A Modular Computer targets gamers, engineers and power users with its Xi3 chassis which measures a mere 4.27” x 3.656” x 3.656”, subsisting on just 40 watts of power, while carrying a quad-core 64-bit, x86-based 32nm processor running at up to 3.2GHz underneath the hood accompanied by up to 8GB RAM, a 64GB to 1TB SSD, a trio of display ports, four eSATAp 3.0 ports, four USB 3.0 ports, four USB 2.0 ports, an 1Gb Ethernet port, and three audio ports.
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Would be interesting to see what GPU they choose.
 
Hornet said:
So from what I can gathered, Valve's version is still in development and will be based on their X7A model.

This was the spec for the X7A from google


Would be interesting to see what GPU they choose.
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Well seeing as how the full factor is so small on top of the company using AMD in the past its most likely going to be Trinity with its full on die GPU unless they are waiting for Richland. Who knows when that is coming to desktop however. I'm not excited for this at all unless its cheap.
 
Now if they sold different levels of the box (maybe one with a quad core)
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This mentality needs to go away quicker than DLC.

The appeal of a console is: I turn it on and I play my games. I don't have to worry if I have a powerful enough proc, I don't need to worry about the GPU -- if my console can play the game, I'm going to receive a good experience.

If I have to fiddle with it and upgrade graphics cards, or buy a higher end console to get a better experience -- I might as well game on my PC and completely ignore this product.

One product, one experience. Optional components should not impact performance -- may larger hard drives, more included cables, built in wireless...
 
Demon10000 said:
This mentality needs to go away quicker than DLC.

The appeal of a console is: I turn it on and I play my games. I don't have to worry if I have a powerful enough proc, I don't need to worry about the GPU -- if my console can play the game, I'm going to receive a good experience.

If I have to fiddle with it and upgrade graphics cards, or buy a higher end console to get a better experience -- I might as well game on my PC and completely ignore this product.

One product, one experience. Optional components should not impact performance -- may larger hard drives, more included cables, built in wireless...
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We live on a planet where all game requirements are not created equally. People like playing on higher graphic settings. So what's so bad about having different tiers?
 
NickJames said:
We live on a planet where all game requirements are not created equally. People like playing on higher graphic settings. So what's so bad about having different tiers?
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On a console/hardware side it means that your limited to what games you can play. In other words, you better hope grandma doesn't think she is getting a deal by buying the cheap one that wont play half the games on Steam.

The valve box looks worthless, at what has been shown the only people who think its a good thing are the die hard valve fanbois.

Edit: It will be even worse if the different tiers play all games at different resolutions, low settings on most games look worse then consoles, that would be a real step forward for gaming:rolleyes:
 
mas said:
... supposedly based on is a much beefier quad core/3 ghz version with 8 gigs ram and at least a 384 shader gpu.

their site is probably getting hammered by the tech blog circlejerk and reddit, could not get it to load but here are some better specs. piston is based on the X7A model, they claim a $500 price point for the 64GB base, upgradable to a $1k/1TB version.
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Removed USB storage comment due to eSATA support

The X7A on the other hand is meant to be a workhorse and gaming machine. Specs include a quad core processor running at up to 3.2GHz, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, up to 1TB of solid state storage, and a GPU with at least 384 shaders. This machine will support triple monitor configurations and will use around 40 Watts. Rear I/O includes four USB 3.0, four USB 2.0, four eSATA, and one Gigabit Ethernet port. This machine will allegedly be capable of playing the latest games, including Crysis 2. It has an expected shipping date of early 2013 and with prices starting at $1,000.
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From your link, what's above would be interesting at $500, but not $1000.
 
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A modular system is pretty interesting, but I have some concerns over conventional systems:

a) not even one internal space for a 2.5" storage device

b) what happens if the bus interconnects get overwhelmed between the motherboard and daughterboards? ala- AGP and PCI-X

c) we really need actual info on whats in there


Otherwise I think it's a good idea, but it needs some proof to the pudding, and I think VALVe is either going to make it or break it (it being Xi3).
 
from the last few days, im honestly seriously disappointed with 2013,lol (tech related that is), no new gpus on the green side, rehashes on the red side, a somehow greener WII U controller, everything trying to make "the cloud" work, this... , is it me or is the tech world a mess at the moment
 
Demon10000 said:
This mentality needs to go away quicker than DLC.

The appeal of a console is: I turn it on and I play my games. I don't have to worry if I have a powerful enough proc, I don't need to worry about the GPU -- if my console can play the game, I'm going to receive a good experience.

If I have to fiddle with it and upgrade graphics cards, or buy a higher end console to get a better experience -- I might as well game on my PC and completely ignore this product.

One product, one experience. Optional components should not impact performance -- may larger hard drives, more included cables, built in wireless...
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So buy a damn console then. :mad:
 
dyzophoria said:
from the last few days, im honestly seriously disappointed with 2013,lol (tech related that is), no new gpus on the green side, rehashes on the red side, a somehow greener WII U controller, everything trying to make "the cloud" work, this... , is it me or is the tech world a mess at the moment
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When everybody and their mother wants tablets to dick around on facebook and play 1990's shareware quality games, what does one expect?
 
dyzophoria said:
is it me or
Click to expand...
It's you. The tech world isn't more or less "a mess" then it always is. Maybe it seems like the predicted on-going progression towards chaos is something to be concerned about, but it isn't IMO. You can either join in on the process, let it take over like a gentle grey cloud of submission, or, like some folks apparently seem to do lately: go out kicking and screaming like a child. Whichever path you choose, in the end you will die or end up in another form maybe unrecognizable to your current reality. My only hope is you try and enjoy the time you have left. Anything less would be tragic.
 
darkstarcow said:
The valve box looks worthless, at what has been shown the only people who think its a good thing are the die hard valve fanbois.
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The point of this machine isn't to replace gaming PCs but an extension to bring them over to the TV screen. For those who don't wanna go through the expensive and tedious process of creating and setting up a HTPC.

If this machine was $300 or less then Microsoft and Sony are in for a lot of trouble.
Edit: It will be even worse if the different tiers play all games at different resolutions, low settings on most games look worse then consoles, that would be a real step forward for gaming:rolleyes:
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You over estimate what current game consoles can do for graphics. Pretty much any cheap AMD Fusion chip can do far more in graphics then the PS3 and 360 can do, combined.

Also there will most likely be tiers, and that's a good thing. Rather then watching gaming hardware age over a period of 5-6 years, there can be updates. Prices of old machines drop to affordable levels while new machines take their place.

Also unlike 360 and PS3, your game library will move along with it. Who knows if PS4 and 720 will even have backwards compatibility. Microsoft even removed online multi player from Halo on original Xbox. Yet how long has Counter Strike been running, the original Half Life mod?

Lets say they even do create tiers, like
AMD Fusion dual core = $300
AMD Fusion Quad core - $400
Intel i7 based = $500

Who cares cause these aren't game consoles. This is how PC gaming has been working forever. Eventually the Fusion quad core will be $300 and they'll put something even better in it's place.

If you don't like it then go ahead and build your own. Get the hardware yourself and install Ubuntu on it with Steam, or even Windows. Cause like I said these aren't game consoles.
 
I have a A8-3870 based box hooked to my television, trying to game on it on anything higher then medium settings is not fun.

So you are left with a low powered computer that cant play COMPUTER games on more then medium settings at best, and more likely low settings if you want smooth frame rates.

If you want console level graphics, buy a console, but saying the Steam box is an extension to PC gaming by providing console level graphics on a television is laughable.
 
Seems it uses the R-Series embedded APU... They list a Vantage "E" Score of 13046 (from an OLD AMD Slide Show)... That places it on par with an A8-3850... The CPU is Quad Core 2nd gen Bulldozer, the GPU is HD7000 based... Should play most games at medium settings... The Specs they give seems to fit the A10-4600M... Passmark lists it at 3193 (CPU Score), so think high end gaming laptop in terms of performance... The GPU is 7660G passmark score if 658, about 50% better then the Intel HD4000... Seems like a reasonable system if the cost is low enough...
Think Console version of a PC... Buy a new one every 4-5 years...
 
Why on earth did they even showcase that unit as something to be proud of. Do only casual gamers goto E3 now? Perhaps they are happy a new tiny PC can run bejeweled.
 
Valve/Gabe said there would be multiple hardware partners, as well as their own Valve specific hardware. This is one of many.
Gabe to Kotaku said:
Newell said he's expecting a lot of different companies to release these types of packages—"We'll do it but we also think other people will as well," he told me—and that Valve's hardware might not be as open-source or as malleable as your average computer.

"Well certainly our hardware will be a very controlled environment," he said. "If you want more flexibility, you can always buy a more general purpose PC. For people who want a more turnkey solution, that's what some people are really gonna want for their living room.
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Surely you all haven't forgotten that so soon!?
 
I got a feeling this may not be the "Steambox".

Where is the Valve press on this? All the info seems to be coming out of Xi3. I get that Valve is not known for being forthcoming with information - about anything - ever, but if they're showing this thing off at their booth and this is the hardware they've publicly talked about in the past then the cat's out of the bag and they'd make some kind of official statement about it.

It doesn't jive with me that the the thing they've called in the past "our tightly controlled hardware" is now "someone else's modular hardware."

Gabe said "We'll [release our own hardware] but we also think other people will as well." in the kotaku interview. Maybe Xi3 is just one of those "other people." Xi3 beat valve to the punch because they're just rebadging an existing product - which Valve coincidentally has helped to fund.
 
I'm definitely not confident that this is the "Steambox".

My guess is that it's another PC-based gaming device, like Ouya, and the hardware developer wants to run primarily Steam on it and that's the only reason Valve is being mentioned.
 
This isn't the Steambox, what they showed was the product they used in their previous Kickstarter project.
 
This is indeed a big day for Xi3. They were a kickstarter project than failed to get enough funding. So Valve cash will help them a lot.

They have a cool looking box, but appear to have terrible bang/buck.

It looks like they have 3 models.

X3A: Entry
Starting price $500.
1.6GHz AMD dual core ??

X5A: Middle
Unknown price, but spec sheet available.
xi3.org/data_sheet_5a_final-print.pdf
1.8GHz Athlon X2 3400E with AMD 780E chipset integrated HD3200 graphics

X7A: Performance
Starting price $999
3.2GHz AMD quad core ??

Given how dismal the actual specs are for the X5A, I don't think too many folks would be interested in anything by the X7A and it still seems grossly overpriced for performance. I assume $999 only gets integrated graphics, since that is the Starting price.
 
Snowdog said:
Given how dismal the actual specs are for the X5A, I don't think too many folks would be interested in anything by the X7A and it still seems grossly overpriced for performance. I assume $999 only gets integrated graphics, since that is the Starting price.
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:eek:

Holy crap!
 
I will say this. Like Michael over at Phoronix, the Xi3 here does not match up with any of the information that we are currently aware of over Valve's own device plans.
 
From the failed kickstarter:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/262476727/xi3-help-us-usher-in-the-post-pc-era

The X7A Modular Computer from Xi3

As we envision our new X7A Modular Computer, we see it powered by a new Quad-Core 64-bit, x86-based processor running at up to 3.2GHz, integrated with up to 384 graphics shader cores, and 8GB of DDR3 RAM

So I am certain that this is integrated graphics only. But not only that but $999, likely doesn't even get you a top end trinity. But a lower clocked, lower shader part. Not mentioned above, but your $999 also gets you 64GB of SSD, and a Linux OS. Yikes.

Very cool box. Very ridiculously priced for what you get.
 
LeviathanZERO said:
Serious? Haha! Is someone from your company attending CES?
You mean this happened recently? You're talking about Xi3, right?
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no there local company to us here. and we have over 3000 computers in my company and they wanted us to use these then the other builder that we use.

there nothing special.
 
odditory said:
"Today marks the beginning of a new era for Xi3," said Jason A. Sullivan, founder, president and CEO of Xi3."

LMFAO. Like anyone cares about Xi3.
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We do now! Valve doesnt make a move without a 5 year plan in place. This will be big.
 
NickJames said:
People like playing on higher graphic settings. So what's so bad about having different tiers?
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Right; people have no interest in playing on lower graphic settings. To back that statement up, I offer the Wii. Great games, fantastic console, but it isn't taken seriously.

face2palm said:
So buy a damn console then.
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It is a console, and I haven't seen anything that would make me want to purchase it yet.
 
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