[KitGuru] Zotac unveils Steam Machine with Intel ‘Skylake’, GeForce GTX 970M graphics

[RussianSensation]

One of the more interesting Steam machines to me so far based on the small form factor.

1. 4x HDMI 2.0 ports
2. 970M on MXM module
3. Core i5/i7 Skylake CPU
4. 8GB DDR3
5. 64GB M.2 SSD + 1TB 2.5" HDD
6. 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, dual Gigabit Ethernet, at least 2x USB 3.0 ports, a card reader.
7. Will come pre-loaded with Valve Software’s SteamOS

Pricing has not been announced yet.

Source

Surprisingly, 970M is still only 38% faster than an R7 265 and just 26% faster than an R9 270, meaning the GPU horsepower has not moved dramatically in a small form factor from the time when PS4's design was finalized in the summer of 2013. Still, this bodes well for Nintendo's next generation console as it already means the tech is available to make a console more powerful than a PS4 inside a small box. Just unfortunate though that PS4/XB1 where launched during a total stagnation in the GPU performance landscape of being stuck on 28nm node which ultimately limited the top GPU speed at 100W TDP.

I think Valve is making a mistake by offering too many Steam machines though. It would be better just to design a $500-600 "PC console" and go head on against the PS4/XB1 since the Steam store infrastructure is already there. Instead for the console gamers the Steam machine concept will seem way too confusing as they won't even know where to start and which Steam machine is worth buying.

 

[ShintaiDK]

Already here:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2423253

And a sneak peak here:
http://techreport.com/news/27927/a-peek-inside-zotac-console-killer-steam-machine

CPU is a 35W part.

 

[RussianSensation]

Already here:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2423253

And a sneak peak here:
http://techreport.com/news/27927/a-peek-inside-zotac-console-killer-steam-machine

CPU is a 35W part.

Thanks!

Sorry didn't see that other thread.

 

[raghu78]

One of the more interesting Steam machines to me so far.

1. 4x HDMI 2.0 ports
2. 970M on MXM module
3. Core i5/i7 Skylake CPU
4. 8GB DDR3
5. 64GB M.2 SSD + 1TB 2.5" HDD
6. 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, dual Gigabit Ethernet, a card reader.
7. Will come pre-loaded with Valve Software’s SteamOS

Pricing has not been announced yet.

Source

Wish Sony/MS delayed their consoles and this was the 'PS4' at $599.

Thats a very naive view. Technology is always progressing at a rapid pace. This machine is launching 2 years after the consoles. I could also say that a 14nm AMD semi-custom APU with 8 Zen cores at 2 Ghz and 2560 GCN 2.0 sp by late 2016 with 16GB 2nd gen HBM and 512 GB/s bandwidth using 2 HBM memory stacks (both 8 Hi) as unified system memory would be even more impressive and more power efficient. See how we can keep playing this game.

The APU is always better than a discrete CPU and GPU as the latency for CPU/GPU communication is much lower and it opens up a lot of possibilities for game engine programmers and game designers. Simply put AMD has the better architecture.

Sony and MS are most likely to come up with next gen consoles by 2018 - 2020. If both Sony and Microsoft wait for 10nm the next gen consoles with 16 or 32 GB HBM and 1 TB/s bandwidth will be extremely powerful. :thumbsup:

 

[Black Octagon]

I'd buy that for a dollar

 

[frozentundra123456]

Thats a very naive view. Technology is always progressing at a rapid pace. This machine is launching 2 years after the consoles. I could also say that a 14nm AMD semi-custom APU with 8 Zen cores at 2 Ghz and 2560 GCN 2.0 sp by late 2016 with 16GB 2nd gen HBM and 512 GB/s bandwidth using 2 HBM memory stacks (both 8 Hi) as unified system memory would be even more impressive and more power efficient. See how we can keep playing this game.

The APU is always better than a discrete CPU and GPU as the latency for CPU/GPU communication is much lower and it opens up a lot of possibilities for game engine programmers and game designers. Simply put AMD has the better architecture.

Sony and MS are most likely to come up with next gen consoles by 2018 - 2020. If both Sony and Microsoft wait for 10nm the next gen consoles with 16 or 32 GB HBM and 1 TB/s bandwidth will be extremely powerful. :thumbsup:

Your imaginary Zen box is very impressive. Too bad it doesnt exist.

 

[KingstonU]

Your imaginary Zen box is very impressive. Too bad it doesnt exist.

I think he was purpously describing a setup which doesn't yet exist but might be not too far around the corner. As is there is always something better not too far around the corner.

 

[exar333]

This is too much hardware and too $$$ to be Steam-OS only. Reminds me of the $1500 Chromebooks you can buy. Great hardware, but when you are spending $800+ you really can benefit from a copy of Windows to dual-boot with.

 

[Dankk]

I think Valve is making a mistake by offering too many Steam machines though. It would be better just to design a $500-600 "PC console" and go head on against the PS4/XB1 since the Steam store infrastructure is already there. Instead for the console gamers the Steam machine concept will seem way too confusing as they won't even know where to start and which Steam machine is worth buying.

Unfortunately I have to agree. This was pretty much the consensus over on /r/games when Valve made all of the big hardware announcements last week.

If a consumer is interested in getting into PC gaming, not only will the more expensive hardware put them off, but they will also be massively confused by all the different configurations they can buy. And there's literally at least a dozen Steam Machines listed over on Steam's page. Not consumer-friendly at all for someone who simply wants to buy a system and forget about it. Consoles still have the advantage in terms of convenience. You buy a PS4, you know it's going to play all of your PS4 games. Steam Machines still require the consumer to do some research.

Sure, for the more technically-inclined among us, it will be nice to have a variety of choices with different specs and different capabilities. Right? Oh, wait, except most people who understand PC hardware specs are usually the same people who will recognize the fact that building your own PC is a better value anyway, so they will go that route instead.

So these pre-built Steam machines don't appeal to PC enthusiasts, and they're going to have a hard time appealing to PC newcomers as well. So who are they targeted toward? The only thing I can think of is the small cross-section of people who are somewhat knowledgeable in PC hardware and are also willing to spend an extra few hundred bucks for a small-form-factor pre-built.

 

[xthetenth]

They should really figure out a way to make picking a steam machine based on a user's needs quick and easy because otherwise they're trying to sell console gamers what PC enthusiasts think console gamers should want. The work of speccing something out is fun to some but a chore to others.

Fill out a ~5 question thing for your requirements and then get a nice scrollable list of the machines and how much better they do than a console in the top games you listed. Pick three to five and start scrolling through and seeing that this machine will do 45 frames per second at 1080p compared to the consoles' 30 at 900p for $500, and you'll have spent as much total as a console user when you've bought 15 games because you buy on sales. Or go big and get one for $1000 and get over 60 fps at 1080p, and break even in 50 games because you wait for big sales. Make it simple, show what the product can do rather than what the product's made from.

 

[Lonyo]

They should really figure out a way to make picking a steam machine based on a user's needs quick and easy because otherwise they're trying to sell console gamers what PC enthusiasts think console gamers should want. The work of speccing something out is fun to some but a chore to others.

Fill out a ~5 question thing for your requirements and then get a nice scrollable list of the machines and how much better they do than a console in the top games you listed. Pick three to five and start scrolling through and seeing that this machine will do 45 frames per second at 1080p compared to the consoles' 30 at 900p for $500, and you'll have spent as much total as a console user when you've bought 15 games because you buy on sales. Or go big and get one for $1000 and get over 60 fps at 1080p, and break even in 50 games because you wait for big sales. Make it simple, show what the product can do rather than what the product's made from.

That won't work very well though, because Valve are trying to offload the hardware side, and they won't want to be seen favouring some manufacturers over others. The more partners they have the more difficult to offer any kind of filter, and the more choice and confusion you get.

Valve only want to push Linux gaming so that their near monopoly of taking a 30% cut of games sold digitally is kept and to try and prevent MS with their Windows store from ever stopping them. They haven't invested in the hardware side because they don't want to have to deal with it, they just want to protect themselves as they are now.

Hence they make use of current PC manufacturers with the promise of free advertising to encourage them to release the exact same hardware they already have, but without Windows on it. There's no need, in Valve's eyes, to go through with any QC, much like with Steam. It's a like 'em high approach.

I would assume that Valve will try and integrate auto-settings with games though (as many games already have, and NV and AMD are already sorting out) to optimise the settings/performance for each system without users having to faff about, but that doesn't mean you get good graphics every time, it means you just don't have to play with settings to make the game playable. Rather different to what the console prospect will always be, which is a set level of performance guaranteed. But that's the inherent "flaw" with going with off the shelf PCs from a basket of manufacturers, no control over what gets made, and it's just going to be like the traditional gaming PC market, only on a smaller scale and with Linux, meaning a smaller selection of games. For the majority of people, it's not going to be any better than things now.

 

[Red Hawk]

Thats a very naive view.

Yeah. For one, I read that the price of this Steam Machine is going to be $999, so if it was a console, it wouldn't be brought down to $599 either way. And I don't think Sony was interested in making a $599 console to begin with. Releasing the PS3 at $599 bit them in the ass big time back in '06, and that was before the recession. Even Microsoft did poorly enough with releasing the Xbox One at $499 that they had to drop the Kinect so they could lower the price and compete with the PS4.

Price issues aside, I don't think it would have made any sense to delay the 8th generation consoles any longer. You can always delay products while waiting for new technology to come along; that's a goal line you'll never cross. The 7th console generation was already one of if not the longest on record. It was time for new consoles. As it stands, the 8th generation consoles were a big leap over the 7 year old 7th generation consoles.

 

[TheUnk]

I'm just happy it has 4x HDMI ports.

 

[tviceman]

I'd rather buy this case: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1799326 and put together what would likely be an overall faster gaming setup at the same price and not sacrifice size (i.e. not being larger). I know the A4 isn't aesthetically cool like the zotac steam machine, but seriously fitting a full sized graphics card into a 7.25 liter case and having great ventilation is absurdly awesome.