First Look at The Steam Machine Prototype (It’s Kind of Awesome)

Updated: November 5, 2013

Engadget recently reported on getting a first look at the prototype Steam Machines that will be shipping off later this year.

These 300 prototypes are not representative of the final third party products to be released early next year, but offer a balanced level of performance between what those later versions should offer. The system they saw included an intel i7 CPU and a GTX 780 GPU, just a step below the more powerful systems hinted at including those utilizing GTX Titans.

The insides of the prototype are for the most part the same as a standard gaming PC, only lacking an optical drive due to Steam’s emphasis on digital games or in house streaming. While for the most part it looks the part of a gaming PC, the SteamOS makes it much more similar to a living room console, with an interface and controls nearly identical to Steam Big Picture.

From what can be told thus far, the system is entirely focused on bringing PC games to the living room and little else, with current prototypes lacking any kind of additional multimedia features or even file browsing within the system, though of course none of what’s been seen is 100% indicative of the final planned product. As of right now the key features shown off include the interface, the ability to web browse, and of course using the Steam Controller to show off Valve’s new spin on something that has kept to fairly rigid tradition on current game consoles. This is just an early hint as to what the system is capable of, and it’ll be very interesting to see how things will play out once we get closer to its actual launch some time next year.

Via: Engadget

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Zander. Banana

cant wait!
Helpful Dude

Do you think we’ll be able to instal other OS on it?
- http://www.psihonaut.info/ Psihonaut
  
  I think yes
- JasonZ
  
  Why would you do that?
  - HelloHi
    
    Unless you’ve been living under a rock, it runs on a Linux based OS and not a lot of Steam games can run on it.
    - jtrier1
      
      it runs on STEAM OS, meaning STEAM created it just for their console. Yes, its linux based, but it was created for the sole purpose of playing steam games.
      - scoobydooby
        
        well. most “steam” games are for windows. sooo. yeah
      - Miljenko Šuflaj
        
        Well most “steam devs” are going to port it to Linux for more profit. sooo. yeah
      - RobertD
        
        well to summarize everything up. im getting it.
  - Helpful Dude
    
    Mainly because a SteamBox has such a beastly hardware, and come on, I am going to check out Steam OS first and then decide if I like it. Damn a Titan and a beefy CPU ? And i can’t even use it’s full potential, i mean, what if i want to edit my gameplay? Or record it?
    - JasonZ
      
      So yeah.. the money you will spend on this.You can build it on your own, or even better. And there u can surely install any OS u want.
      - jota87r
        
        You can install any OS on it. that was confirmed so many time ago
- Joe Robinson
  
  It did say in the Q&A that once you have it your free to do what you wish with the device, so long as it has a USB port on release you must be able to.
- jota87r
  
  Valve has said many times that owners will be able to install any OS on it.
Bèl Hàs Sên

price man
James Edmonds

it
Looks
Awesome!
But how much will they cost? I think that will be the decider on whether it will silence the peasants.
Joe Wingett

Can’t help but think it would be so much nicer with an R9-290x. Come on, price, anyone?
- Nadefrenzy
  
  Are you stupid? 290x will get bottlenecked to 3/4 of its power potential due to the poor cooling in that chassis.
  - Joe Wingett
    
    Nah, the in a similar way that the i7 won’t overheat due to heat being exhausted from the chassis, the blower fan will push all of the heat away from the case. Sure, it’s noisy, but at the same time you get more power at a lower cost.
    On a serious note, a lot of people have concerns over the heat of the 290x, which you guys should realise is irrelevant, you aren’t going to be losing performance in your build or suffering overheat problems due to it, unless you’re trying to put one with the blower vent blocked in a mini-itx case.
    - Nadefrenzy
      
      An overclocked GTX 780, whilst still being quieter and running cooler, beats out a 290X. Why on earth would they want to use the inefficient 290X?
      
      Lower cost? The 290x costs more than the GTX 780.
      - Joe Wingett
        
        Because to overclock beyond the bounds of ~5%, you need a custom cooler. And if you’re willing to put a custom cooler on a 780, you should be willing to do the same on a 290x. And yes, the 290x costs more than a 780. But it’s not vastly more expensive, and anyway – we were talking about the titan, not the 780.
        Besides, for stock clocks, the 290x beats the 780 hands down. It takes some pretty extreme overclocking to turn that around.
        Look, don’t mistake me for a fanboy of either, but as cost/performance goes, AMD have been winning hands down since the 90′s. It’s almost always been true that an intel/nVidia rig will have more performance, and it is still true that intel CPU’s are more powerful, but when it comes to graphics cards the 290x is undeniably the most powerful out there. Not to mention inefficient is completely the wrong word to use. Yes, the card runs hot, but so do nVidia’s latest offerings, and they throttle sooner.
        And an overclocked 780 runs a hell of a lot hotter and a ton louder than a 290x. If you can back up saying that it doesn’t, feel free to – stock coolers only, mind you, otherwise you can just wait a couple of weeks for the non-reference 290x’s to come out.
        Any reference design using a blower fan is loud, fact of life. Look at laptops – the blower fans in those sound like jet engines spinning up at the worst of times.
        
        It really depends what you want to do with a system. If you’re willing to overclock a card to the point it’ll burn out in a matter of months so that it can beat a card by it’s competitors, feel free. If you want a system that is dead silent, watercool. If you want performance, it comes at the cost of noise, or your bank statement.
        I’m only saying that for the extra little bit of money, it would be nicer to have the better card. And if we’re talking titans, for a 40% discount, it would be nice to have the better card.
      - tony
        
        tldr
- Abaddon
  
  The 290x costs more, runs at 95C and sounds like a jet engine.
Sheas

gosh i buyd a gaming pc a gtx 760 i7 3770K 16 gig ram +a 1080p ultra 27 inch monitor =1450€ and now a consol beats it -_- whats the price gone be
Jon Duke

Basically a PC in a small form factor, build your own.
bizcho

how do we know who is going to get them?
Lucas Samuel Sanchez Sirias

looks like hotter!!! in here
Miljenko Šuflaj

A huge “Fuck you” to Sony and Microsoft. Nintendo has it’s player base already with the Zelda and Mario, so they’re safe anyways.
- John Campos
  
  Sony and Microsoft have their player base too lol.
  - mati
    
    Yeah sure, the “i fucked your mum faggot” player base?
    - Frank Spijker
      
      Especially Sony lately. In the recent years they released incredible exclusives.
John Campos

I like it, I’m just worried you won’t have the versatility of a Windows PC. I want to use the PS4 and X1 controllers as well.
JH

I’d not buy the one pictured. Would be too noisy.
CatDealer89

So basically, this like a Playstation 10.
- Ryan Weckbacher
  
  More like a PC in a super mini itx case :3
  - Joe Robinson
    
    I think he means the same power as the PS10…
Alio

Sticking with my PC anyway, but this surely looks awesome. I love how they positioned the card so that it fits it quite nicely. Can’t wait on more details and prototype winners!
Martin

For everyones info, steam said they highly encourage the modifying of the system so you are free with what ever os you want and it will be at a good price because they are buying the gtx titans in bulk so they get a discount and therefore will be able to sell them for less. I would say around $700-800.
precadog

so its a itx setup with no windows os? wow cant wait………………………………….
Lucas Jackson

These things must be what visual sex looks like. XD
gaurang

how will this machine pump out the massive heat generated by the cpu and gpu..
- Dialated
  
  my thoughts exactly, I run a gtx. 770 and gotta keep the side off of my PC to keep temps down
BadassPc

Can you show what it look like back of Steam Machine.All so are able

up grad parts on Steam Machine like video card and hard drive or other parts of machine ?