ASUS announces the GR8S Steam Machine

[HEXUS]

The Steam Store now contains a plethora of Steam Machines to choose from.

Read more.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

By the time November comes there will be newer generation CPU and GPUs. Hopefully the specs will be updated by then lol!!

[MercutioUK]

It seems a little... silly to have this complete free for all on the spec front from a "steam machine". We're basically talking ANY pc with it's upgrade options severely lacking in a none PC looking box with a steamOS.

They'd do much better narrowing it down to something like a high/medium/low grade machine with a specific spec. Manufacturers could make their version of "steam basic" special in ways other than the spec, publishers and developers could tune their games to run on a low number of specific platforms and could even have a nice, easy UI inside games tuned to run really nicely against those exact spec machines. The "normal" PC crowd would then generally group around each of the specs, economies of scale would kick in and stuff would hopefully be cheaper.

As it is, steam machines are a gimmicky PC without the benefits.

[nitro912gr]

I didn't see much steam machines with AMD APUs, this is weird because I have seen some with intel APUs and while cpu wise are better and cooler the gpu part is not exactly what I could call gaming cpu, like the gigabyte joke... I mean brix...

Since those APUs are good enough for gaming on their own I was expecting some entry level models with them.

[CustardInc]

It doesn't specify mobile components... that's promising

[krazy_olie]

Pretty much any sff is now called a steam box.

Seeing as a load of them are using the rvz01 like I do I guess that means I have a steam box too.
RVZ02 will be more compact and easier to build in, though less flexible on the cooling front.

[Jim - ASUS]

It doesn't specify mobile components... that's promising

The GR8 is a full-blown PC, the trick is in working it into a smaller case than might be possible via self-building methods and adequately cooling it!

[AlexKitch]

Although I personally quite like the appearance, I don't think the Red colouring will help sell the machine to people who want to put this thing under their TV.

There's a good reason why console manufacturers tend to stick to Black and White. This thing (although much sleeker than a lot of Steam machines) is still going to stick out like a sore thumb.

Edit:

Probably being a bit too fussy. It looks great, the Red probably wont bother too many people. I'd like to see more neutrally-styled Steam machines though.

[shaithis]

I didn't see much steam machines with AMD APUs, this is weird because I have seen some with intel APUs and while cpu wise are better and cooler the gpu part is not exactly what I could call gaming cpu, like the gigabyte joke... I mean brix...

Since those APUs are good enough for gaming on their own I was expecting some entry level models with them.

That probably has a lot to do with the fact they are pushing "SteamOS" which is Linux, which doesn't have very good AMD drivers........

[DanceswithUnix]

I didn't see much steam machines with AMD APUs, this is weird because I have seen some with intel APUs and while cpu wise are better and cooler the gpu part is not exactly what I could call gaming cpu, like the gigabyte joke... I mean brix...

Since those APUs are good enough for gaming on their own I was expecting some entry level models with them.

That needs Linux drivers from AMD that are decent. They keep promising better drivers, but they never seem to turn up.

Now, because the available documentation on how to program Intel graphics hardware was good, Valve have implemented Vulkan graphics for Intel. Recent Intel hardware has a lot of transistors dedicated to graphics (over half, just like AMD) so it might be a reasonable choice.

[Spud1]

As it is, steam machines are a gimmicky PC without the benefits.

This is exactly it We've had high power, silent SFF PCs that look good for years now, so "steam machines" are just marketing. A wonderful example of marketing, but still, nothing special. Surely it must be a tiny market of either:

A) People with too much money, so will just buy it because it's there
B) People who don't want to build a PC or get involved in maintenance, but want one suitable for the living room (and 99% of these people should just buy an Xbox One or PS4)

Techies/Tinkerers would likely build their own, be happy with a standard (silent) tower in the living room or just use Shield or another streaming tech. Or (crazy thought) keep using their PC at their desk. FPS and RTS games are orders of magnitude better with a keyboard/mouse anyway..

IMHO they would have done better by keeping the label "Steam Machine" (or whatever) as being a Valve only product, and then setting up a certification programme instead that offered grades of low/med/high, or similar.

[cps1974]

these things are for folk too lazy / not confident enough to build their own PC, fair play and good luck to those that go for it

this Asus starts @ 699 USD, now for the UK you can expect it (not unreasonably) to be in the region of £600-£699. the starting model has a 9 series card (960?) if it's a 960, building your own is a no brainer (for me), if the starting model has a 970 it's worth a look - and will you be able to upgrade components yourself as you go? mobo, ram, cpu, gpu upgrades doubt it

[sam_cat]

IMHO they would have done better by keeping the label "Steam Machine" (or whatever) as being a Valve only product, and then setting up a certification programme instead that offered grades of low/med/high, or similar.

This. And add a 'year' to the certification, so Steam Machine - High (2015)..
This allows evolution year by year without worries of either a 3 year old High not being able to run the game well, or adding new tiers causing confusion (Low, Medium, High, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Uber, Ultra etc etc...)

This way software could specify a minimum of Medium (2015) is required.. if you are on a Medium (2017) you know you will be okay. If you are on Medium (2014) then you have chosen to take the risk.


Does need careful thinking however they do it, it MUST be clear to avoid any issues later.

[DanceswithUnix]

B) People who don't want to build a PC or get involved in maintenance, but want one suitable for the living room (and 99% of these people should just buy an Xbox One or PS4)

You could extend that argument to say that people who want an Xbox One should just buy a PS4.

[plexabit]

It seems a little... silly to have this complete free for all on the spec front from a "steam machine". We're basically talking ANY pc with it's upgrade options severely lacking in a none PC looking box with a steamOS.

They'd do much better narrowing it down to something like a high/medium/low grade machine with a specific spec...

As it is, steam machines are a gimmicky PC without the benefits.

Agreed. IMO, a Steam Machine shouldn't be a full-blown PC... A mobile/desktop CPU married to a mid-to-high mobile NVIDIA GPU. For example:

CPU: 4690K (or a mobile 4700HQ
GPU: 950M-980M (these would get pretty expensive...but they could be the removable variety)

The rest could be a mobile setup...you could even probably go for full-size RAM sticks as well, one or two 2.5" easy-swap HD slots, etc.

This could make for a relatively thin, power-sipping setup. Yes, the price would be quite high for its performance once you get into 970s/80s...so you could just put this model as the "slim pro" next to the normal GR8 with a desktop GPU.

[DanceswithUnix]

Yes, the price would be quite high for its performance once you get into 970s/80s...so you could just put this model as the "slim pro" next to the normal GR8 with a desktop GPU.

Options? That is kind of the point of it being a PC. Some will want cheap, some will want fast, some will want to be able to upgrade the graphics card in a couple of years.

Steam could do with their own benchmark tbh, then you could get a feel for price performance despite the free for all. The benchmark should be Vulkan based to give the platform a hefty nudge