NeoGAF

Originally Posted by Durante

Because neither the FreeBSD nor the Windows NT kernel are hard real-time capable. Unless you mean to imply that they were changed to such a significant extent, at which point I would put the burden of proof on the one making the claim.

Honestly, I really do wonder why it's even relevant whether or not they are. The purported "OS overhead" advantages you want to argue for are completely orthogonal to whether or not the OS and its scheduler are real-time capable. In fact, if anything the constraints imposed by being required to fulfill hard real-time constraints probably induce additional overhead in general day-to-day performance. Since these consoles aren't running the brakes on a car or navigating a space shuttle, I don't see why you would use a real-time OS.

My assumption for why you brought it up is because you probably think "RTOS" sounds good.

Well- FreeBSD is very easy to make real time OS- there are POSIX ext available,but most likely, Sony will modify kernel, like they did on ps3, to the point it does not look like BSD kernel but is preemptible.You can also use multi-core real-time scheduler to get real time os in something like BSD.

Originally Posted by koryuken

I call bullshit. That thing will not run ARMA III all settings maxed 1080P/60FPS. If we are talking low settings, fuck that....

Fortunately for you PC games typically have more than two settings of "110% Uber awesomeness mode" and "Graphics so ugly you'd rather lick the mud off of your boots". I'd also posture that if you had spent any amount of time playing a PC game you'd already know that so just keep spouting off since we know what you're trying to do here..

Originally Posted by koryuken

I call bullshit. That thing will not run ARMA III all settings maxed 1080P/60FPS. If we are talking low settings, fuck that....

I don't think there is an object on earth that can do that with Arma III, certainly not playing the most popular open-world multiplayer modes.

Originally Posted by Nozem

This is pretty cool. I would like:

• 100% hassle-free downloading and installing of games.
• No necessary tinkering with settings to play games in 1080p60.
• Good 3rd party support. Not just Valve and indie games, but also 3rd party AAA games.
• If I don't like the controller I want to be able to use a traditional one (DS4 via USB?).

If those points are covered, I'm in. $500 is fine.

Downloading and installing is already pretty much hassle-free with Steam. I don't know if they'll have automatic settings to target a certain resolution or framerate, but that would probably be a good idea.

I would think the 360 controller would still work like it does in Steam now, at least.

Originally Posted by animlboogy

I don't think there is an object on earth that can do that with Arma III, certainly not playing the most popular open-world multiplayer modes.

Pretty damn close though ;)

these things either need to be amazing or horrible. No one benefits from an average prebuilt pc.

Originally Posted by Fried Food

these things either need to be amazing or horrible. No one benefits from an average prebuilt pc.

I wouldn't say that, lots of people would very much like an average, easy to use and inexpensive PC.

I'm surprised there are so many uninformed gamers in this thread... Sure they purport to being able to run every SteamOS game not every steam game. I mean it is a Steam Box so considering it will be just Linux titles I totally see it running all of those easily at 1080/60p. Just sayin.

Originally Posted by Fried Food

these things either need to be amazing or horrible. No one benefits from an average prebuilt pc.

At $500 with those specs they do.

Originally Posted by Heratiki

I'm surprised there are so many uninformed gamers in this thread... Sure they purport to being able to run every SteamOS game not every steam game. I mean it is a Steam Box so considering it will be just Linux titles I totally see it running all of those easily at 1080/60p. Just sayin.

Considering Metro: Last Light is one of those titles, it's at least worth asking the question.

Originally Posted by animlboogy

Considering Metro: Last Light is one of those titles, it's at least worth asking the question.

I don't think a 270 can reach 60 fps in Metro, unless SteamOS really is much more efficient than Windows. Maybe if you drop detail settings a couple of notches.

Did people forget you'll be able to just install Windows on all Steam Machines if you want to? So yes, theoretically you could play Titanfall on this thing, and probably get really good performance out of it too. Having to pay for Windows depends on whether or not you already own a Windows installation.

And no matter what you think or what they say about being able to run games at 1080p/60fps, for a $500 pre-built PC those specs look really damn good.

Originally Posted by RedSwirl

Did people forget you'll be able to just install Windows on all Steam Machines if you want to?

Apparently.

That Nvidia Geforce Experience. Click a button for optimal settings. Oh, but this is an AMD GPU.

Originally Posted by A_Gorilla

Am I the only one getting a 3DO vibe from the Steambox?

Wouldn't Alienware be closer?

Originally Posted by RedSwirl

Did people forget you'll be able to just install Windows on all Steam Machines if you want to? So yes, theoretically you could play Titanfall on this thing, and probably get really good performance out of it too. Having to pay for Windows depends on whether or not you already own a Windows installation.

And no matter what you think or what they say about being able to run games at 1080p/60fps, for a $500 pre-built PC those specs look really damn good.

yeah even if you just want to load windows and use it as a normal gaming pc it appears to be a pretty good deal

All steam boxs will have the same 16 gigs of ram and you can upgrade CPU and gpu

Originally Posted by Rayge

That Nvidia Geforce Experience. Click a button for optimal settings. Oh, but this is an AMD GPU.

LMAO thinking Geforce Experience actually puts optimal settings on. Every single game I have tried it with I've been able to enable additional effects/turn sliders up without negatively impacting my performance. The settings it expected me to play Battlefield 4 on were a joke, why low texture detail when ramping it up barely affected the framerate at all?

With all the comparing between PC and console going on, has there yet been a proper thread comparing console performance in multi-plat games vs PCs with similar (or worse) GPUs?

Originally Posted by TucoBenedictoPacifico

...Ehr?
Why?

To fuel the fire.

Originally Posted by alexandros

I don't think a 270 can reach 60 fps in Metro, unless SteamOS really is much more efficient than Windows. Maybe if you drop detail settings a couple of notches.

I heard Last Light Linux version doesn't even have proper settings only one slider :lol

Originally Posted by Rayge

That Nvidia Geforce Experience. Click a button for optimal settings. Oh, but this is an AMD GPU.

AMD will have their own solution for that.

Originally Posted by tazz3

All steam boxs will have the same 16 gigs of ram and you can upgrade CPU and gpu

Those are Valve's prototypes.

Originally Posted by ashecitism

I heard Last Light Linux version doesn't even have proper settings only one slider :lol

yep

Originally Posted by ashecitism

AMD will have their own solution for that.

Not only that, Valve is working on its own Steam-integrated solution that will inform gamers about hardware requirements for games.

Originally Posted by Rayge

That Nvidia Geforce Experience. Click a button for optimal settings. Oh, but this is an AMD GPU.

You are welcome

http://raptr.com/amd

Originally Posted by tazz3

All steam boxs will have the same 16 gigs of ram and you can upgrade CPU and gpu

where did you read that?

Edit: ^^^^^^ The high end PC market is also growing and desktops are doing better than laptops growth wise.

Originally Posted by alexandros

I don't think a 270 can reach 60 fps in Metro, unless SteamOS really is much more efficient than Windows. Maybe if you drop detail settings a couple of notches.

Metro Last Light is really demanding though with AFAIK a ton of light sources.
At very high with AAA which is analytical (not ideal) AA, 16xAF and 1080p in managed 40fps with playable dips so a couple of notches down should make it 60fps. The 7870 is a 270.

The 270 is also more powerful than the PS4 GPU so with a decent CPU this could be a great competitor.

Originally Posted by alexandros

I don't think a 270 can reach 60 fps in Metro, unless SteamOS really is much more efficient than Windows. Maybe if you drop detail settings a couple of notches.

Yea, but the 270 probably hardly works on Linux anyway... As of right now, anyway.

I trust that AMD will sort out any remaining issues within the next few months. They understand that Steam Machines are very important, I'm positive they will not hand out an easy victory to Nvidia.

wrong thread

Originally Posted by Mobius and pet octopus

wrong thread

Lol

Edit: yep this thread about totally different news is basically the same a few pages in as the other PC-related news thread today. Honestly I have to admit trying to put a stop to the repeated spurious arguments that show up in every single PC thread is probabky just contributing to shifting them up further. Sorry bruhs.

I like the fact that it uses white. Especially in an electronics industry that black electronics are so normal. Even the Steam UI is black, and I would really like a skin in pastel pink. It would be nice if Valve made more colours available for Steam.

I'm not too fond of the overall shape, though. I hope this isn't a finalized design. As I even like the design of the white XBOX One much better than this.

At $500, though, this competes with the XBOX One. And that's exciting, particularly considering how well the XBOX One has sold. I would like this console-like system to do well in the console market. The market needs this kind of disruptive competition. It would also be good for PC gaming.

I already have several gaming PCs, but I might be even more interested in this than the XBOX One, depending on what software it gets.

If you buy this, would you be free to install Windows on it? Or is it a closed environment like on consoles?

The R270 is a HD7850 correct? Or is it 7870?

Originally Posted by Kiant

Pretty damn close though ;)

Excellent Youtube comment:

WOW, I wonder how good of a computer you would need to have to play that. My computer skips the video even when I pre-load it for about 30 seconds or so. My computer can handle Dead Island: Riptide on mid-low settings with no lag, so WTF?! lol

Don't care about the box, just give me the controller. Can't wait to test it.

Originally Posted by Blades64

If you buy this, would you be free to install Windows on it?

Yes.

Originally Posted by Blades64

If you buy this, would you be free to install Windows on it? Or is it a closed environment like on consoles?

Not only can you install windows on it, you can have both. And you can upgrade individual parts if you so desire.

Steam Machines with Intel's Iris integrated graphics should be even cheaper, right? I'd love to see a range of $249-299 Steam Machines targeted at the more casual market, as well as some $99 streaming Steam Machines that can still play indie games natively.

Originally Posted by MutonCommander

Steam Machines with Intel's Iris integrated graphics should be even cheaper, right? I'd love to see a range of $249-299 Steam Machines targeted at the more casual market, as well as some $99 streaming Steam Machines that can still play indie games natively.

The lowest chip with Iris Pro sells for $450 alone, so probably not.

Originally Posted by twofold

Amd's kaveri apu is launching in January, right? It'd be perfect for a low cost stream machine.

From what I remember, iris pro is rather expensive, so it won't be going into any low cost boxes any time soon.

Oh right, I forgot about Kaveri. True, it would be a great solution.

Originally Posted by strata8

The lowest chip with Iris Pro sells for $450 alone, so probably not.

Sure it's expensive now, but I believe Intel is going to equip more of their chips with Iris graphics so prices are bound to drop. I can see a chip being specifically designed for Steam Machines with a decent quad-core and the next version of Iris Pro for a good price. Intel doesn't have a problem with dropping prices to gain market share, they did this with their latest Atom chips to compete with ARM.

I wonder how these things would exist in countries that impose restrictions to dedicated gaming devices, as they're technically still PCs. I think that's where Valve's main focus should be, there's so many countries that could want a console-style experience but can't get one due to regional prices and restrictions. This being a hybrid of sorts could get around that, plus Valve have experience on regional pricing (their Russian efforts etc). They better act fast before tablets take over those markets.

Originally Posted by rudieboy77

The R270 is a HD7850 correct? Or is it 7870?

7870.

Originally Posted by Nzyme32

It is it's own card, and it is on par with the HD7870 for the most part http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...ks,3669-5.html

Edit to Clarify - The R9 270 performs better than the HD7870 in some games and is beaten in others by similar margins. A small overclock of the card has been shown to quite easily rectify this

It's not it's own card, it's a rebranded 7870 with a lower clock speed. Only phyiscal difference is that is uses one 6pin PCIe connector rather than two.

Originally Posted by PCH

Well- FreeBSD is very easy to make real time OS- there are POSIX ext available,but most likely, Sony will modify kernel, like they did on ps3, to the point it does not look like BSD kernel but is preemptible.You can also use multi-core real-time scheduler to get real time os in something like BSD.

No, just no.

Firstly, Real time operation systems are _slower_ than non-real time operation systems, so you don't want them in a game console.

Second, it's not "very easy" to make an OS "real time", and POSIX ext. is no help. The point of a real time OS is that it will always respond to requests within a set time limit. That's hard. The lower the time limit, the harder it gets.

But while a guaranteed response time is important when you're making medical gear, cars, satellites, etc, it's not something needed for games.