Steam Machines - Prototype Details

[Gloomy]

http://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamuniverse#announcements/detail/2145128928746175450

I was right about the Nvidia GPUs

Was not expecting them to go this hard though... I mean [redacted], 780s and Titans?

Warning issued for inappropriate language.
-- stahlhart

 

[ShintaiDK]

I am surprised. I thought it was 300 of those crappy Piston Xi3.

But valve likes gaming performance it seems!

Nice, I should have gone to the beta then...lol.

 

[Elfear]

Looks like it's just the 300 prototypes that will come exclusively with Nvidia GPU's.

I just saw the controller for this the other day and I'm interested in trying it out.

 

[96Firebird]

Hmm, I'm surprised they are only going with a 450W PSU.

 

[Aikouka]

Hmm, I'm surprised they are only going with a 450W PSU.

Eh, most people put PSUs in their PCs that have way too much capacity for their actual needs. I have an 860W PSU, and according to my UPS, I haven't ever gone over 400W with my i7-4770k + 2x 680s and that includes two 27" monitors that use around 110W combined. It's amazing what happens when you don't run Furmark on machines as a way of gauging real-life power consumption.

 

[Gloomy]

Looks like it's just the 300 prototypes that will come exclusively with Nvidia GPU's.

I just saw the controller for this the other day and I'm interested in trying it out.

It's probably not just prototypes. AMD's Linux drivers are a tragedy... I really can't see anyone releasing AMD+Linux anything in their current state. End-users are free to make the mistake of installing AMD in their Steamboxen though, I guess. :|

 

[JAG87]

Lol, so how much would these cost retail.....

 

[Gikaseixas]

Given the different classes of cards and cpus, looks like they want to test and find out the best compromise for the recommended specs.

 

[blackened23]

So did anyone ever think a "steam machine" would compete with consoles? I can't wait for those 2000$ steam boxes to fly off shelves while the 400$ PS4 collects dust.

 

[eyeofcore]

Valve is failing or they are get some greens to get persuaded to use pathetic cards from nVidia... If this are going to be specs, most people will be turned off by either performance or price.

Warning issued for trolling.
-- stahlhart

Response to moderator;
How I am trolling by expressing my own personal opinion so is by your logic trolling an expression of an person expressing its own >>personal<< opinion if that is your comprehension like any average fanboy thus you probably don't see the issue in yourself.

Moderator callouts are also a violation of forum posting guidelines. Review them before you dig an even deeper hole for yourself.
-- stahlhart

 

[smackababy]

So did anyone ever think a "steam machine" would compete with consoles? I can't wait for those 2000$ steam boxes to fly off shelves while the 400$ PS4 collects dust.

But... but... but think of all the savings you're going to have from buying games on Steam? Eventually, it will even out right?

 

[Stuka87]

I am extremely surprised that they are nVidia GPU's, being that the linux development community cannot stand nVidia because of their closed source drivers. Yes they have an open source one, but its junk.

This also means that the Steam Box will not be able to reap the advantages of console ports that utilize Mantle.

As for them using Titans and such, just how much are they going to charge for these? I cannot think of anybody that is going to pay $1500 bucks for what is essentially a console.

 

[thilanliyan]

Retail Steam boxes will be able to be configured any way you like correct?

 

[bystander36]

I am extremely surprised that they are nVidia GPU's, being that the linux development community cannot stand nVidia because of their closed source drivers. Yes they have an open source one, but its junk.

This also means that the Steam Box will not be able to reap the advantages of console ports that utilize Mantle.

As for them using Titans and such, just how much are they going to charge for these? I cannot think of anybody that is going to pay $1500 bucks for what is essentially a console.

Keep in mind, this is not for the Linux crowd, but for the console/PC gaming crowd.

 

[Gloomy]

These are just a beta test. Steamboxes will more than likely be along the lines of Alienware X51s, without the Alienware tax...

I expect something like:

Basic-tier
PC streaming only, multimedia apps and such, using Tegra or really low end PC hardware. Basically a Steam set top box, hitting the sub-200 dollar market.

Normal tier
Streaming and gaming, with i3s and up to about GTX750 (I expect this will end up being similar to a 660, which is why Valve is sending prototypes out with this card)

Better Tier
Basically i5s and i7s with 760s and up


...or something. I really fancy a low end model myself.

 

[Unoid]

blackened and smackbaby trolling a news thread....?

 

[ShintaiDK]

Retail Steam boxes will be able to be configured any way you like correct?

Correct. As such there is no specific hardware. Its just a PC with (Insert random parts) and SteamOS.

 

[Bateluer]

It's probably not just prototypes. AMD's Linux drivers are a tragedy... I really can't see anyone releasing AMD+Linux anything in their current state. End-users are free to make the mistake of installing AMD in their Steamboxen though, I guess. :|

AMD has a good opportunity to get in the ground floor of a potential major money making product here. Might be time they get their Linux drivers up to par.

So did anyone ever think a "steam machine" would compete with consoles? I can't wait for those 2000$ steam boxes to fly off shelves while the 400$ PS4 collects dust.

These are prototype models to showcase the platform and its capabilities when freed from all restrictions. A 2000 dollar Steam box will not be competing with a 400 dollar PS4, but the 300-500 dollar Steamboxes will.

 

[Sohaltang]

Eh, most people put PSUs in their PCs that have way too much capacity for their actual needs. I have an 860W PSU, and according to my UPS, I haven't ever gone over 400W with my i7-4770k + 2x 680s and that includes two 27" monitors that use around 110W combined. It's amazing what happens when you don't run Furmark on machines as a way of gauging real-life power consumption.

So you PC pulls 290 watts??? The cards pull 200 watts each. Im lost. My machine is OC'd and I know AMD GPU's is not as efficient. Its pretty common to see 600 watts from just my PC.

 

[Grooveriding]

Only the lowest tier streaming steam box will have static hardware. The guess is that it will use some sort of mobile SoC. The middle and best tier will be completely open to any hardware setup and will constitute being a Steambox by running SteamOS.

I think it makes sense for them to have just used one vendor's cards for these beta test machines. Keeps things consistent on the driver front and in terms of gauging performance relative to different tiers of cards in the machines.

 

[tviceman]

I'm guessing Valve is using gtx780's and Titan's because the first retail steam machines they make and sell will have 20nm Maxwell GPU's that provide that level of performance at a lower cost. This is just a beta and I think they are smart enough to know $1000 machines will not fly off the shelf.

Anyways, just as I alluded to in the other thread when I was arguing with Vulgar about Mantle's future significance, Valve is going with Nvidia. Why? Because Nvidia can provide a higher level of support and has a more mature software / driver team.

 

[ShintaiDK]

I'm guessing Valve is using gtx780's and Titan's because the first retail steam machines they make and sell will have 20nm Maxwell GPU's that provide that level of performance at a lower cost. This is just a beta and I think they are smart enough to know $1000 machines will not fly off the shelf.

Anyways, just as I alluded to in the other thread when I was arguing with Vulgar about Mantle's future significance, Valve is going with Nvidia. Why? Because Nvidia can provide a higher level of support and has a more mature software / driver team.

You seem to have completely missed that a SteamMachine is just a PC (random parts) with SteamOS.

But there wont be any Mantle support in SteamOS. It rotates around OpenGL.

 

[toyota]

Eh, most people put PSUs in their PCs that have way too much capacity for their actual needs. I have an 860W PSU, and according to my UPS, I haven't ever gone over 400W with my i7-4770k + 2x 680s and that includes two 27" monitors that use around 110W combined. It's amazing what happens when you don't run Furmark on machines as a way of gauging real-life power consumption.

so your ridiculous claim is that your pc itself has never pulled more than 290 watts at the wall with 4770 and 680 sli? thats a load of crap as even my dinky pc hits near that in some demanding games.

EDIT: yeah you are really full of it because I just checked Crysis 3 and even just sitting still with no action I was just over 300 watts at the wall. your system would have to pull at least 125-150 watts more than mine under heavy load.

 

[DarkKnightDude]

Why the hell would they be priced at 1k USD? They're not going to sell at all.

 

[Lonyo]

Why the hell would they be priced at 1k USD? They're not going to sell at all.

They are Linux PCs... they will be priced as Linux PCs are priced. And Linux PCs already exist, for example Alienware sell some ubuntu PCs.

There is nothing special about "Steam boxes".
They will be priced at whatever they are priced at, probably from $500 to $5,000 or more.
Basically people who make PCs will make "Steam boxes", aka PCs with a flavour of Linux on them. Just like they already do.
AMAZING!

And they will cover a variety of price points, just like existing PCs, including existing PCs with Linux, do.
They are PCs. With Linux.