News - iFixIt teardown of Steam Machine reveals $1,300 of parts

[HEXUS]

However Valve's prototype machines, sent out to lucky applicants, do vary.

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[sirtrouserpress]

I don't really know what I was expecting, but its just a pretty good gaming PC...
...and that's it. I guess I wanted it in the shape of a companion cube or something but, it just looks, well, normal.

[OilSheikh]

Still don't see a point to this.
A PC which can only do gaming is not going to win a lot of followers as people will jump on the far cheaper console bandwagon

[Otherhand]

Still don't see a point to this.
A PC which can only do gaming is not going to win a lot of followers as people will jump on the far cheaper console bandwagon

It could swing people who are put off PCs on the basis that they believe it's all too complicated and they'd be forever fixing problems. I have friends who have never owned PCs, only Macs and games consoles. Some of them are pretty disappointed by the lack of power of the PS4/WiiU/XBO class, but they've been very interested when I've shown them the Steam Machines. If Valve can find a way to make updates as unobtrusive as they are on other consoles (i.e. still pretty obtrusive on occasions, but at least make the updates of component drivers happen in secret), then this could win them a big chunk of the console market.

As for the PC customer, I think there are still advantages there. If they sell well and developers start to prioritise the Steam configurations, that could be a very good reason to buy one right there (or at least to model your build after their kit list, and use SteamOS for your gaming). And if the first range of Steam Machines don't tempt you, I wouldn't bet against the next family or the one after that becoming the only PC you own. I'd certainly like to have a little console-sized PC.

[mskhera1]

WoW, thats a bargain of the centry

[crossy]

Still don't see a point to this.
A PC which can only do gaming is not going to win a lot of followers as people will jump on the far cheaper console bandwagon

First off I'm going to second Otherhand's post (#4).

Secondly, this isn't a general purpose Personal Computer, it's a console. Okay, it uses PC parts, but then again, so do the XBone and PS4 - and yes, I know that the current Steam Machines seem to be priced at costs that seem to be approaching twice those "conventional" consoles, but remember it's early days. Valve have been consistent in saying that it's app spread is gaming and media playing that's it. But, since it's based on Linux, if someone wants to add other capabilities then they're not going to call in the lawyers.

Remember that there's nothing stopping someone else (Lenovo, Dell, etc) from raiding their parts bin, slapping on Valve's "free" OS and getting a foot in the "gaming console" market. And of course there's all those "back street" computer shops who can do something similar.

This is going to rise, (or fall - which I think more likely), on the support offered by the big publishers. For example, if next year's Call Of Duty was available then it's got a fighting chance, on the other hand if it's limited to Valve themselves and a couple of indy's then wave it bye bye.

[Bambooz]

Little mistake in the article. First it says it's an ASRock motherboard (with a link to the Z87E-ITX), but in the next part it magically turns into a ZOTAC board..

It looks kind of interesting, but I imagine cooling is going to be a nightmare. I don't see any intake for the GTX780 to directly pull fresh air from, apart from maybe the left side of the top cover, which isn't really ideal for a card with a 250W TDP..

[Lucio]

Pretty interested in the custom chassis used, looks a good size though I'd consider a lesser graphics card to keep the heat and noise down.

[kalniel]

As mentioned by Hexus, don't forget components do vary. This looks like the mid-upper range spec. I've also heard reports of an i7/titan build, and an i3/gtx660 build, so they're looking at capturing a range of performance information.

[Dooms]

They need a £400-500 range machine to compete with XBone/PS4 - As we have talked about in other threads it isn't hard to make up a machine in that price bracket that will play games at 1080@High settings which is on par or greater than the new consoles are doing.

[loyal986]

I like the Idea, I hate the price, I like the OS and I hate that its just an linux OS withought close to metal programming. Whatever you chose you loose, and you loose money. You enjoy in a warm room loosing time and loosing nerves trying to solve something someone did it for you, without contributing to nothing. And where we are heading? Lose some moments of your life and get depression. Instead save your moneys for a trip and you will enjoy things live. More better, save your money and give it to charity or to poor people and you know what? not a single game can warm your heart such as the face of a poor man in need for food when you give him money of food or help him with shellter. We all do have a brain, activate it, think, why are you here, living and eating and doing all these things that you could do well without them. I am a religios person and I find my heard calmed praying to my GOD. You should try it too and it doesent cost money...