You can now run SteamOS on AMD and Intel graphics

[blastingcap]

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2084938/steamos-now-supports-amd-and-intel-graphics.html

 

[NTMBK]

Good stuff. Looking forward to seeing some nice Steamboxes running on integrated graphics; both Intel and AMD have some pretty powerful APUs coming out.

 

[frozentundra123456]

Read further down the article, and apparently it destroys your windows install unless you install it on a separate drive!!! Nice!!!

 

[Qwertilot]

That's almost certainly a beta thing and they'll put a proper installer - as per tons of Linux distributions - in at some stage. Those are very happy as dual boot systems.

If they don't then I'm sure people will do it for them.
(there's currently a disclaimer about installing it yourself not really being entirely reccomended.).

I think they've already announced one intel IGP based one? That brix pro steam box. That's rather pricy of course because high powered intel IGP is for the moment.

 

[BrightCandle]

I think they should have specified a minimum graphics capability. They have exposed themselves to the general problem of the PC industry for typical user, paralysis by multitude of choice. Having very low performance graphics alongside high end solutions just means users need to know about graphics cards again. I just don't think Intel embedded or and embedded GPUs are really worth harming your brand with (steambox that is).

 

[NTMBK]

Read further down the article, and apparently it destroys your windows install unless you install it on a separate drive!!! Nice!!!

It's a beta of a new Linux distro. Don't install it unless you're prepared for the consequences.

 

[NTMBK]

I think they should have specified a minimum graphics capability. They have exposed themselves to the general problem of the PC industry for typical user, paralysis by multitude of choice. Having very low performance graphics alongside high end solutions just means users need to know about graphics cards again. I just don't think Intel embedded or and embedded GPUs are really worth harming your brand with (steambox that is).

Broadwell GT4e (assuming they actually ship it) will be pretty close to the consoles in performance, so I don't think that is a worry. Not to mention that this is meant to run on a 720p or 1080p television 10' away- graphics settings won't need to be as high as they are on a 1440p monitor 1.5' from your face. And the tradeoff for integrated graphics is a much smaller, more compact device- see the Brix with Iris Pro. So long as it is priced appropriately I don't see a problem.

 

[greatnoob]

I think they should just scrap Intel's IGPs all together, the driver support is terrible and even if Intel decided to provide anything but their current mediocre drivers you'd be better off buying a discrete graphics card that can actually be upgraded without the need to spend another $250+ wastefully replacing the CPU for more graphics "oomf" (read: as fast as a low end mobile GPU). Also if I'm not mistaken, the Iris Pro is only available on laptops so performance wise it doesn't seem good for gaming at all.

The AMD APUs though, fits in perfectly with the PC-and-lounge gaming aspect, you won't be wasting money on a GTX 760 + while the box just sits there in your lounge. A mid range graphics card seems reasonable for the lounge since you won't actually be using the Steam Box as a PC considering most people would be hooking the thing on a 40"+ display.

 

[Phynaz]

I think they should just scrap Intel's IGPs all together

Yeah, because they will want to eliminate 75% of their potential market.

 

[greatnoob]

Yeah, because they will want to eliminate 75% of their potential market.

Actually a portion of the market are people like myself who own a mid range notebook who occasionally play games theyve purachased on Steam, yet prefer to have a dedicated machine that can be plugged into a TV and integrates Steam purchases across devices(and all the other PC openness, like mods!).

From what I can gather, SteamBox and the underlying software is targeted at people who have ready invested in the platform (like me) but do not have the current hardware to enjoy the full arsenal of games on offer from Steam store and/or.. people who rather has a dedicated machine for gaming in the lounge.

And those people are not newbies to the hardware since they know a good Intel i5 wont compensate for the lackluster performance of an on-die Iris Pro and would rather invest that $300 cut on an AMD APU or opt for a cheap Pentium G3xx and use the savings on a dedicated 7750/70.

 

[ShintaiDK]

Actually a portion of the market are people like myself who own a mid range notebook who occasionally play games theyve purachased on Steam, yet prefer to have a dedicated machine that can be plugged into a TV and integrates Steam purchases across devices(and all the other PC openness, like mods!).

From what I can gather, SteamBox and the underlying software is targeted at people who have ready invested in the platform (like me) but do not have the current hardware to enjoy the full arsenal of games on offer from Steam store and/or.. people who rather has a dedicated machine for gaming in the lounge.

And those people are not newbies to the hardware since they know a good Intel i5 wont compensate for the lackluster performance of an on-die Iris Pro and would rather invest that $300 cut on an AMD APU or opt for a cheap Pentium G3xx and use the savings on a dedicated 7750/70.

Yet OEMs release steam machines with Iris Pro. Example is the Gigabyte Brix.

You are simply projecting your own requirements into everyone.

 

[Face2Face]

Yet OEMs release steam machines with Iris Pro. Example is the Gigabyte Brix.

I look forward to seeing what this little power sipping box (Brix) can do. Can't wait

 

[OCGuy]

Actually a portion of the market are people like myself who own a mid range notebook who occasionally play games theyve purachased on Steam, yet prefer to have a dedicated machine that can be plugged into a TV and integrates Steam purchases across devices(and all the other PC openness, like mods!).

From what I can gather, SteamBox and the underlying software is targeted at people who have ready invested in the platform (like me) but do not have the current hardware to enjoy the full arsenal of games on offer from Steam store and/or.. people who rather has a dedicated machine for gaming in the lounge.

And those people are not newbies to the hardware since they know a good Intel i5 wont compensate for the lackluster performance of an on-die Iris Pro and would rather invest that $300 cut on an AMD APU or opt for a cheap Pentium G3xx and use the savings on a dedicated 7750/70.

The market is going in the complete opposite direction. Intel commands the vast majority of graphics market share, and will continue to do so as time goes on.

 

[Enigmoid]

I think they should just scrap Intel's IGPs all together, the driver support is terrible and even if Intel decided to provide anything but their current mediocre drivers you'd be better off buying a discrete graphics card that can actually be upgraded without the need to spend another $250+ wastefully replacing the CPU for more graphics "oomf" (read: as fast as a low end mobile GPU). Also if I'm not mistaken, the Iris Pro is only available on laptops so performance wise it doesn't seem good for gaming at all.

The AMD APUs though, fits in perfectly with the PC-and-lounge gaming aspect, you won't be wasting money on a GTX 760 + while the box just sits there in your lounge. A mid range graphics card seems reasonable for the lounge since you won't actually be using the Steam Box as a PC considering most people would be hooking the thing on a 40"+ display.

Early versions of HD graphics sucked but current HD graphics (Haswell) are pretty good and the drivers are as good as, or better than AMD on mobile. AMD on mobile still has complete crap hybrid crossfire drivers (lower fps with crossfire enabled that disabled + massive stuttering) and if you read notebookcheck reviews and the like you often hear of lots of problems. Certain games don't run properly. Nvidia on mobile is generally good but I have had driver issues with them as well (most notably firefox had a flickering screen problem on my old 525m notebook on the nvidia gpu).

I have a nvidia optimus notebook and an AMD intel + 7730m notebook. The AMD graphics switching still does not work and no matter what I set it to I cannot get it to use the 7730m on certain games.