Is THIS the SteamBox?

Any word on a "steam live" subscription?

Something that would allow us to play all games on steam :D (or reasonable limits like 2-3 big games per month)
 
I get this isn't a production unit of any sort, but seriously... why in the world would one need 4 powered eSata ports?

The nVidia Shield thing looks a bit more compelling with it's mobile capabilities and I keep seeing this screenshot of it running Steam.
 
Snowdog said:
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.
Click to expand...

I don't see the point of such a device. Are they saying that this will be more user friendly to open and upgrade than a traditional desktop? I find that hard to believe. I would think if they managed to make such a modular, easy to use computer that size they would have been able to do that with laptops years ago.

And they claim desktops can't be upgraded (they claim they have to be replaced). :rolleyes: So they're telling us a computer that is slower than your average laptop will be able to last 5-7 years? Because you can upgrade it (like you can with desktops)? What if new hardware gets larger? That might require a new case, ect.

Essentially, they created a Mac-mini or whatever they are called. Plenty of other companies offer similar computers.
 
Demon10000 said:
Right; people have no interest in playing on lower graphic settings.
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You just said that, even though lots of people or playing on consoles where the bar is set so high... :D
 
Druneau said:
Any word on a "steam live" subscription?

Something that would allow us to play all games on steam :D (or reasonable limits like 2-3 big games per month)
Click to expand...

Don't give them any ideas... Steam Live Subscription is all we need with Steam Premium DLC Subscription...

I'm fine with buying and owning my games with no subscriptions.
 
What I hope Valve does to enable the 3rd party hardware is create the 'Steam Linux' distro that they can preload on the box and a set of hardware performance levels that the average joe can look at to know if he'll be happy with. Say Basic, Maximum and Maximum 3D for example. They could really just come out with one level at the start. You could spec the levels based on CPU/GPU/RAM/HD requirements or pick a set of games that you have to hit different performance level on.
 
Flogger23m said:
What if new hardware gets larger?
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LMAO really?... sorry I just had to laugh at such an absurd question.

that's exactly what they're saying, some better pics in their follow up link show what the pop out modules will look like (scroll the gallery at the bottom). remember it's still just a prototype, but they seem to have solid designs based on their kickstarter projects. you're drawing false conclusions here with notebooks, they're not upgradable because they don't want them to be, not because it hasn't been technically feasible, that's really what makes this such a big deal.

conventional mobile and console makers want complete control over the life cycle of their own products, always with clearly planned obsolesence for the next one, then "the big push" where they have to sell the idea of buying a new one, and trick people into paying for backwards compatibility that they can just cycle out of production. look at the clusterfuck ps3 launch, that set sony back a pretty penny from their delusions of grandeur. things that valve does not give a single fuck about, while Xi3 is a turnkey system designer, not in the business of acquiring captive gaming markets. seems like a smart move, if they had gone with a more well established mfg that had no real intention of doing anything new or risky, it would end up being just another console.
 
Wait when were pc's not modular and easy to upgrade, if you know how to do this
qVLDd.jpg

you are 80% there on upgrading your pc, just post on a forum like this so people will tell you what to buy and you can be as ignorant as you want about what's in your pc.
 
Valve is responding to questions about the company's Steambox plans, the Xi3 sighting and its plans (or lack thereof) for 2013.

"Yes, Valve will be at the show to meet with hardware and content developers in our booth space. Many PCs optimized for Steam and Big Picture will be shipping later this year. We are bringing some of these as well as some custom HW prototypes to our CES meetings." We saw one such example of a PC optimized for use with Steam's Big Picture Mode last night in Xi3's Piston modular PC -- the first of many of these setups we expect to see in 2013. Valve continued, "These custom prototypes are low-cost, high performance designs for the living room that also incorporate Steam and Big Picture. We will be sharing more information to the press and public in the coming months."
Click to expand...
 
TroubleMagnet said:
What I hope Valve does to enable the 3rd party hardware is create the 'Steam Linux' distro that they can preload on the box and a set of hardware performance levels that the average joe can look at to know if he'll be happy with. Say Basic, Maximum and Maximum 3D for example. They could really just come out with one level at the start. You could spec the levels based on CPU/GPU/RAM/HD requirements or pick a set of games that you have to hit different performance level on.
Click to expand...

If they sold it with a Linux distro, it would have the same problem as the Windows 8 RT tablets. However much they advertized it would play a limited selection of games, people would buy them expecting to play all their Windows games, and not be able to, then they'd get pissed off and return it. Even if Valve make their games all Linux compatible, it's not going to be a full "Steam experience" without the default OS for Steam games.
 
Many PCs optimized for Steam and Big Picture will be shipping later this year
Click to expand...
Too bad steam and big picture aren't game engines, this was suppose to compete with next gen consoles? For those prices it doesn't even compete with pc's except being slightly simpler and less versitile.
 
Snowdog said:
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.
Click to expand...

HD 8790m has decent performance with 384 cores.
 
Novulux said:
HD 8790m has decent performance with 384 cores.
Click to expand...

That is a discrete part.

This is an integrated part and it looks like the top end you can get here is AMD Trinity mobile part with integrated graphics.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5831/amd-trinity-review-a10-4600m-a-new-hope/6

It is the fastest of mobile IGPs, but it isn't that much faster than Intels HD4000 IGP.

It doesn't look like you even get the top end Trinity mobile for $1000 starting price, as they say UP TO 384 shaders, implying that is the optional top end.

This is incredibly poor price/performance.
 
steam box isn't using the exact specs of any of those XA models....and AMD's newest APU's are "on the way to OEM's" already...betting it's using that one.
 
mas said:
LMAO really?... sorry I just had to laugh at such an absurd question.

that's exactly what they're saying, some better pics in their follow up link show what the pop out modules will look like (scroll the gallery at the bottom). remember it's still just a prototype, but they seem to have solid designs based on their kickstarter projects. you're drawing false conclusions here with notebooks, they're not upgradable because they don't want them to be, not because it hasn't been technically feasible, that's really what makes this such a big deal.

conventional mobile and console makers want complete control over the life cycle of their own products, always with clearly planned obsolesence for the next one, then "the big push" where they have to sell the idea of buying a new one, and trick people into paying for backwards compatibility that they can just cycle out of production. look at the clusterfuck ps3 launch, that set sony back a pretty penny from their delusions of grandeur. things that valve does not give a single fuck about, while Xi3 is a turnkey system designer, not in the business of acquiring captive gaming markets. seems like a smart move, if they had gone with a more well established mfg that had no real intention of doing anything new or risky, it would end up being just another console.
Click to expand...

I still don't see how that tiny little thing will be easier to upgrade than a desktop. I don't see how it will last as long either due to its size. Are you telling me you'll be able to fit a GTX660-680 level GPU in one of those things and have it be easy and quick to upgrade? If not I don't see the point. We already have laptops, PSPs, and tablets for lower end titles.

If they can manage to stick high end gaming desktop performance into a something the size of a DVD drive while being easily upgradable like a desktop (even if they claim it isn't) then I would be impressed. If it is another immobile device to play Android/iOS type games I would honestly rather get a tablet.
 
Godmachine said:
http://kotaku.com/5974204/valve-say..._source=Kotaku_Facebook&utm_medium=Socialflow


So there ya go. Just one of many possible prototypes. As predicted.
Click to expand...

exactly steambox will be glorified pcs with pre-loaded steam running on a linux distro, i said this months ago, only a matter of time before you start getting $100 LG shitboxes that run steam games on low settings, but hey average joe dosnt give a fuck about gfx or even a "playable" framerate (that is highly speculative) dosnt cost $300 and a yearly sub and all the games even major titles can be acquired dirt cheap.

You can just see this thing asking you when you turn them on for the first time what type of graphics would you like high, med, low, or auto.

only a matter of time before playstations and xbox and nintendo starts dying or has to change and start being a lot more open with their systems.
 
Acoustique said:
exactly steambox will be glorified pcs with pre-loaded steam running on a linux distro, i said this months ago, only a matter of time before you start getting $100 LG shitboxes that run steam games on low settings, but hey average joe dosnt give a fuck about gfx or even a "playable" framerate (that is highly speculative) dosnt cost $300 and a yearly sub and all the games even major titles can be acquired dirt cheap.
Click to expand...

That'd be my main concern too, companies throwing together steaming shitboxes dilluting the 'Steam' brand. It'd be similar to the effect low quality 3rd party software had in flooding the Wii market, except hardware.

Hopefully Valve will put some sort of 'minimum' requirement before manufacturers can use their 'Steambox' branding.
 
I dont get what people want out of valve. People here, we make our own computers, we buy nice stuff, this isnt for us. The whole point of this device is for the people who cant make a computer and have no clue how anything works, it gives you the option of saying hey, to your technotard friend, just go buy this level 1 steam box. It will fit in your horribly designed entertainment center and it will work with your TV. You dont need to do anything but hook it up via HDMI.

Will it give them ultra high end graphics of quad 680s lol no. But as long as valve allows us the play with our big rigs along side the steam box people thats about as good as anything can get for PC gaming. A noob friendly device, and incoming standards for controllers and living room support. Heck I have not even seen a steam box but I am already thrilled with big picture on my HTPC.

This is game changing simply because for the first time in the entire history of PC gaming someone is finally going to fight for us. For me I am more impressed than ever, I had my fears valve would make some proprietary console, but now it is looking like they are going the way we should have all been dreaming. Just making nice prepackaged systems anyone can throw in their living room. Not trying to get into the loss leader proprietary BS market of consoles.
 
eagerly awaiting the sony & microsoft steambox in 10 - 15 years time after they throw in the towel. :D
 
rudy said:
I dont get what people want out of valve. People here, we make our own computers, we buy nice stuff, this isnt for us. The whole point of this device is for the people who cant make a computer and have no clue how anything works, it gives you the option of saying hey, to your technotard friend, just go buy this level 1 steam box. It will fit in your horribly designed entertainment center and it will work with your TV. You dont need to do anything but hook it up via HDMI.

Will it give them ultra high end graphics of quad 680s lol no. But as long as valve allows us the play with our big rigs along side the steam box people thats about as good as anything can get for PC gaming. A noob friendly device, and incoming standards for controllers and living room support. Heck I have not even seen a steam box but I am already thrilled with big picture on my HTPC.

This is game changing simply because for the first time in the entire history of PC gaming someone is finally going to fight for us. For me I am more impressed than ever, I had my fears valve would make some proprietary console, but now it is looking like they are going the way we should have all been dreaming. Just making nice prepackaged systems anyone can throw in their living room. Not trying to get into the loss leader proprietary BS market of consoles.
Click to expand...

Everything about this post is awesome, A+
 
This is one of those things where, if it were a viable concept, it would've already been done.

You can build (or buy) a helluva gaming/htpc system for a grand (less actually) and have it around the same size as an Xbox. I love SFF, but with quadcore/medium end graphics the passive or near passive cooling seems inadequate. What if you're on 1.5mbit broadband and you want to play a 16 gig game this week? There's no alternate delivery medium. What happens when you run out of internal storage? The myriad of eSATA and USB 3 ports implies external expandability, but what's the point of your compact gaming system if it ends up looking like an octopus? What do you do when next year's game plays like ass? 1080p it still a fairly demanding resolution to run this year's games on high settings at 60fps. What does this thing do, will it run Word? If not, you've spent a grand on a slower system that's less versatile than the PC you could've bought.

It's been dreamed up before and it didn't work then.
 
rudy said:
I dont get what people want out of valve. People here, we make our own computers, we buy nice stuff, this isnt for us. The whole point of this device is for the people who cant make a computer and have no clue how anything works, it gives you the option of saying hey, to your technotard friend, just go buy this level 1 steam box. It will fit in your horribly designed entertainment center and it will work with your TV. You dont need to do anything but hook it up via HDMI.

Will it give them ultra high end graphics of quad 680s lol no. But as long as valve allows us the play with our big rigs along side the steam box people thats about as good as anything can get for PC gaming. A noob friendly device, and incoming standards for controllers and living room support. Heck I have not even seen a steam box but I am already thrilled with big picture on my HTPC.

This is game changing simply because for the first time in the entire history of PC gaming someone is finally going to fight for us. For me I am more impressed than ever, I had my fears valve would make some proprietary console, but now it is looking like they are going the way we should have all been dreaming. Just making nice prepackaged systems anyone can throw in their living room. Not trying to get into the loss leader proprietary BS market of consoles.
Click to expand...

Because one more "console" with shitty graphics is the last thing PC gaming needs.
 
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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Your mentality is why Consoles haven't changed in 7 years and there's nothing pulling hardware to get better.

Should we just switching to iPhone 2 now? First gen androids weren't so hot either. But in handful of years, smartphones have matured into something pretty decent.
 
I don't think this is meant to replace a desktop gaming rig by any means. Its meant to allow PC games to compete with consoles in the living room. I would expect the low end model to be above current consoles and the high end model to be just above the next-gen consoles.

But honestly I'm surprised these aren't just remote rendering boxes. Kind of like OnLive but inhouse. That way you buy one to play on the living room big screen. Done. And as you upgrade your gaming rig your experience through the rendering box improves too.
 
darkstarcow said:
Because one more "console" with shitty graphics is the last thing PC gaming needs.
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PC gaming needs to be more accessible, not high end hardwares.

No where is it written that anyone who wants to play PC games should spend on high end graphics, there will always be a need to make PC games able to run on entry level hardware, with or without Valvebox. Valvebox merely make PC gaming more accessible which is what PC gaming needs. No company is interested in making games for a group of minority who spend on expensive hardware.

Note: by accessible I mean in terms of how easy it is to set the hardware up and play a game of course, nothing to do with gameplay. Setting up a gaming rig, optimizing performance and troubleshooting issues with running games will always be something that's reserved for the enthusiast crowd.
 
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Hornet said:
PC gaming needs to be more accessible, not high end hardwares.

No where is it written that anyone who wants to play PC games should spend on high end graphics, there will always be a need to make PC games able to run on entry level hardware, with or without Valvebox. Valvebox merely make PC gaming more accessible which is what PC gaming needs. No company is interested in making games for a group of minority who spend on expensive hardware.

Note: by accessible I mean in terms of how easy it is to set the hardware up and play a game of course, nothing to do with gameplay. Setting up a gaming rig, optimizing performance and troubleshooting issues with running games will always be something that's reserved for the enthusiast crowd.
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I'll tell you one thing. $400, 500, or 600 for a graphics card has gotten silly. I will never pay more than $250 for a graphics card. And if that relegates me to console level graphics why not go to a console then anyway. Really PC graphics industry has gone into the ditch lately. And if anything is spoiling PC gaming, its going to be the PC graphics arena.
 
Flogger23m said:
I still don't see how that tiny little thing will be easier to upgrade than a desktop. I don't see how it will last as long either due to its size. Are you telling me you'll be able to fit a GTX660-680 level GPU in one of those things and have it be easy and quick to upgrade? If not I don't see the point. We already have laptops, PSPs, and tablets for lower end titles.

If they can manage to stick high end gaming desktop performance into a something the size of a DVD drive while being easily upgradable like a desktop (even if they claim it isn't) then I would be impressed. If it is another immobile device to play Android/iOS type games I would honestly rather get a tablet.
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It's the modular three piece motherboard form factor that makes the Xi3 a pure AMD device. Presently low power AMD Athlon processors with integrated AMD graphics, coming soon AMD APUs an a modularized FM2 motherboard. AMD because nothing else with decent graphics fits in a box that small.

However this could be a Linux running graphics powerhouse with the far greater performance per watt the Steamroller/GCN 2.0 Kaveri will be bringing to the table, which, according to AMD's newly updated roadmap, will be available in Q4 2013, making a Kaveri based Steam Box doable for a holiday release.

If the software is there and that's the sticking point. While an Xi3 Kaveri based Steam Box console would be amply powerful and physically doable, and would have a sky high wife acceptance factor with it's multiple color options, there's a massive amount of work to be done on the software end to make this work.

It's not meant to compete with high end gaming rigs, it's a console. That said the final hardware/software for the Steam Box automatically becomes the de facto standard, new games can specifically target that spec while current games can be ported with optimal preconfigured settings for 720/1080p. A serious gaming rig.
 
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psoomah said:
It's the modular three piece motherboard form factor that makes the Xi3 a pure AMD device. Presently low power AMD Athlon processors with integrated AMD graphics, coming soon AMD APUs an a modularized FM2 motherboard. AMD because nothing else with decent graphics fits in a box that small.
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Currently they only build using a 1.8GHz Athlon X2 3400E with AMD 780E chipset integrated HD3200 graphics.

Ivy Bridge HD4000 GPU is MUCH better than this. So it isn't just that AMD is the only thing. It is likely AMD is cheapest thing.

Really Xi3 is the PC equivalent of Mac Mini, using AMD parts and at a higher cost. Nothing to get excited about in the least.
 
This steambox thing is sounding more and more like vaporware. (Punny isn't it?)
Seriously, I read the recent Gabe article also and it just sounds like BS. Reminds me of when Trip Hawkins was talking up the M3 or whatever the successor to the 3d0 was supposed to be.

Also, what the Xi3 boxes lack in power they make up for with a high price tag. I would bet money that this never ever comes to light.
 
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