Steam Machine Tear Down

I'm pretty sure these are for the beta winners to keep, so it was bound to happen.
 
Actually, this type of behavior is encouraged.


From Valve's FAQ:

Will beta testers be allowed to share info about their experience and post pictures and opinions online?

Yes, that really is the whole point. The input from testers should come in many forms: bug reports, forum posts, concept art, 3D prints, haikus, and also very publicly stated opinions.
 
I really want that controller. I will probably never build a steam box or run SteamOS (my PC gotta help pay the bills), but I LOVE that controller.
 
schizrade said:
I really want that controller. I will probably never build a steam box or run SteamOS (my PC gotta help pay the bills), but I LOVE that controller.
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Comes down to how fast SteamOS is and how large the performance gains are in games. If it is significant enough I'll get a second SSD for SteamOS, with Windows 8 boot times and hopefully quick SteamOS boot times, it won't be a big deal at all.
 
And it's still smaller* than a Xbox One, and you can replace the hard drive. Ha. :D

Had to.

*I don't really know.
 
What are the specs on this again? Or are these beta testers getting the ultra high end premium level ones and what the end user will get is significantly more ... "cheaper"
 
That's a nice HTPC case and it's obvious that a lot of thought has been put into it. I like how the CPU, PSU, and video card are thermally isolated from each other. It makes upgrades a little more involved, but people who buy these probably aren't going to crack them open that often.
 
sfsuphysics said:
What are the specs on this again? Or are these beta testers getting the ultra high end premium level ones and what the end user will get is significantly more ... "cheaper"
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I'm curious as well.

It's an interesting concept to consoles. Open-source console, if you will. If they build a nice OS and can get some game companies behind it, it might become a player. I'm not talking about just playing "PC" released games, but those optimized for the SteamOS.

I think they need to get some form of low-level (does Linux do this already?) access to the GFX hardware for the developers (ie: Mantle, etc). The modular design they have allows them to release cheaper models that can be "upgraded". The games could auto-detect the hardware and adjust to pre-programmed (by the game-developer) graphic settings.
 
So it's either a beginner PC or a console on steroids.

But it still doesn't have 8GB of GDDR POWER. Checkmate PC gamers!
 
If it really picks up steam, and we have many games for linux. Then you can dump windows and go linux. Games is the main reason I still use windows.

It would be awesome to watch MS miss the boat again for games like they did for mobile.
 
lack of space for an optical drive is going to make this a non starter for a lot of people. Need the ability to play BR in a living room device.
 
sfsuphysics said:
What are the specs on this again? Or are these beta testers getting the ultra high end premium level ones and what the end user will get is significantly more ... "cheaper"
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I don't think they've settled on one configuration (just my thoughts), from what I've heard there are going to be multiple tiers of systems from low to high end with any mix of Intel/AMD/Nvidia components. And since it's basically a pc, you can upgrade the components as you please.
 
I'm all for games on unix. Windows gaming has been a big headache.

Just tested putting Linux Mint 16 x64 on a USB key and it runs so beautiful.

PS4 is working really well too running on variant of FreeBSD.
 
Valve should sell the chassis from a store front, I'd love to do a Mini ITX build in that thing.
 
rudy said:
lack of space for an optical drive is going to make this a non starter for a lot of people. Need the ability to play BR in a living room device.
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I really don't think that is the case for the vast majority of people.

Certainly YMMV, but I've used my Bluray player purchased over two years ago exactly thrice. I ripped all my DVDs and BDs, re-encoded and stream whatever I want to watch from my WDTVLive Hub. ODs are effectively dead when you can have easily three times the storage on a thumb drive on your keychain that can be plugged into damn near any modern piece of equipment for consumption.

Then add Netflix, Amazon and Hulu streaming into it... who really needs ODDs anymore? Videophiles that absolutely must display exactly 1080 vertical pixels on a plasma? That's maybe what, .001% of the market?

It's an outmoded form factor that only remained relevant by pushing the limits of streaming due to the extreme bandwidth required of the new format.
 
Normal people do not rip and re-encode. The MAIN point of the steambox is to gain access to normal people in the living room. Not to give tech savvy people who want to hack together a system something that they can already do and have been doing with HTPCs for over a decade.

For the time being blu ray is a major part of that living room equipment. I assure you that people who want to use BR are way way more than .001% of the market. Even MS who hates sony needed BR "playback" capabilities. It is not the job of valve to tell people what they should not want, valve is not apple. Also BR sales have been increasing over time they are not dead. Do we need it? Nope, but since when have video gaming systems been about need lol?
 
I think SteamOS's media center capabilities are limited right now, so makes sense not to include an internal player in the Beta testing product. More than likely there'll be 3rd party manufacturers who will include one once it goes to release.
 
RealityCrunch said:
I think SteamOS's media center capabilities are limited right now, so makes sense not to include an internal player in the Beta testing product. More than likely there'll be 3rd party manufacturers who will include one once it goes to release.
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The beta testing unit is a custom piece of hardware I am pretty sure that they don't just throw up a 300 unit custom case if they aren't planning on it being something close to their final hardware. Even if they leave the BR out they need space for it for the future, this indicates they have no interest in adding one.
 
In reality they probably are not going to take them back. Also IMO if you beta test hardware the least they can do is give it to you in the end. I mean its not like they are otherwise paying you to do their footwork for them. I don't consider that entitled at all.
 
rudy said:
In reality they probably are not going to take them back. Also IMO if you beta test hardware the least they can do is give it to you in the end. I mean its not like they are otherwise paying you to do their footwork for them. I don't consider that entitled at all.
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You get access to something before everyone else does. Your "payment" is the early access. No one forces you to beta test a product, so they do not have to give you anything.
 
bucketlist said:
Call that a teardown?
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No shit.

I want to know the specs.

I know there's a video card and such......but what model, what memory, what MB, etc.

Teardown fail.

Im guessing a Titan though, pretty sweet for the living room!!!:D
 
rudy said:
The beta testing unit is a custom piece of hardware I am pretty sure that they don't just throw up a 300 unit custom case if they aren't planning on it being something close to their final hardware. Even if they leave the BR out they need space for it for the future, this indicates they have no interest in adding one.
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Well, Steam will have no final hardware as they won't be making any Steam Boxes. There's the beta product they've built now, and the rest will be up to 3rd parties.
 
Again, that is ugliest fucking controller on the planet.
 
mi7chy said:
I'm all for games on unix. Windows gaming has been a big headache.

Just tested putting Linux Mint 16 x64 on a USB key and it runs so beautiful.

PS4 is working really well too running on variant of FreeBSD.
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If you think gaming on windows is a headache...have you been keeping track of the hilarity of the Linux graphics stack over the years?
 
Skripka said:
If you think gaming on windows is a headache...have you been keeping track of the hilarity of the Linux graphics stack over the years?
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Gaming on Windows a headache...*fires up a game in 2 seconds*...wait whut is he on, I want some of it! :p
 
xIronCrossx said:
You get access to something before everyone else does. Your "payment" is the early access. No one forces you to beta test a product, so they do not have to give you anything.
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No they don't have to, but as he said they probably will.

I beta tested the first drobo NAS box... They let us keep them and even offered a discount on a retail version if we traded it in. It was a beta after all and changed for retail.

What are they going to do with a used beta version... clean it up with 409 re-box it and send it out as a new retail product?
 
dandirk said:
No they don't have to, but as he said they probably will.

I beta tested the first drobo NAS box... They let us keep them and even offered a discount on a retail version if we traded it in. It was a beta after all and changed for retail.

What are they going to do with a used beta version... clean it up with 409 re-box it and send it out as a new retail product?
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I know, I expect them to let the beta testers keep it too. But, they don't have to, that is the point I tried to make :)
 
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