outunderthestars
Banned
Maybe you should wait until tomorrow and actually find out the specs and pricing?
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Valve and Xi3 announce Steam-based mini-PC
- Thread starter ToyMachine228
- Start date
Maybe you should wait until tomorrow and actually find out the specs and pricing?
Its pretty damn small.
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This isn't for me....when I build my pc (definitely in the new few months) I want power above everything else. But for people not so concerned with that this is pretty awesome.
And no, I don't think this is the Steambox.
Er, I think the word modular is being misused here. Any regular desktop PC is modular. The video card is a module. The CPU. The hard drives. The PSU. etc etc
The Abominable Snowman
Member
Linux for >=1K???
No Thanks!
No Thanks!
outunderthestars
Banned
They've been selling various models of that design for two years now. The design will be the same. Its the specs that up for change.
USB ports.
Felix Lighter
Member
If you use the Steam service on your better PC, I don't know if Valve would care.
ShinobiFist
Banned
Exactly, people are overreacting as usual. People are already assuming you can't install another OS as well.
outunderthestars
Banned
I like this idea.
I dont know really. I think Newell saw this Xi3 project and got a lightbulb above his head.
My prediction: the gamer versions of Xi3 will have a Steam logo somewhere and have Steam preinstalled. Nothing more to it.
You do realize steam is a digital platform? An optical drive is pointless and would drive up the price of the unit even if its only a buck.
Uh, Steamworks games can come as retail versions.
That's not really what I meant. Sure Windows will receive support, and I'd imagine that all the games that are made for Mac/Linux will also support Windows for the mid-term future. But this last 10-15 years has seen MS push the DirectX platform massively, and that is, in part, a reason for the success of the Xbox 360. Developers who rely on DirectX will have a hard time coping with other platforms, though.
The two things I want to see are:
1) machines that need less power to run (this will mean affordability also)
2) more cross-platform development
Sapphire Dreams
Member
So this is Steambox, not what I expected...
Yea because there are loads of those right? Optical drive is pointless on a steambox.
outunderthestars
Banned
PC games are still sold on discs?
Not trying to be funny, I honestly did not know that this was still a thing.
I don't think anyone thinks this is THE Steambox, but as a product this fails miserably. It highlights all of the perceived problems with PC gaming.
Worrying about which games will work and which won't
Making the platform look super expensive for comparable graphics to consoles
Putting the onus on the consumer to take apart and upgrade
ANY Steambox should be a showcase for how affordable and simple PC gaming can be.
crazyjah2003
Member
First post nails it. This thing does not look like what
It is a horrible day when both Nvidia and Valve end up entering the console race with things I will not go anywhere near.
What happened to everybody owning a 3d tv? Why do Valve, Nvidia, and Sony Vita reject 3d when other branches of those companies are pushing 3d? Most games are 3d compatible as well? I don't own a 3D tv yet, but my current one is from 2003; any sensible TV purchase now is 3d. With this thing obviously not geared towards performance, I cannot imagine picking one up now to put alongside my future TV as I was hoping I would be able to.
I must hope Sony and Microsoft pick it up; Instant buy when next gen 3d support is announced.
My soul will be healed in the morning by Monolith Pokeblade
You are right. Maybe I shouldn't phrase this in the way of PC's. But what about consoles? Typically you can't really upgrade parts for it. At most you can only buy peripherals for them. What if you could upgrade your console like you would a PC?
Yeah the as posted design and specs will not be the steambox. It is a really cool design though, problem is it was highly overpriced for the power level, which is to be expected from a low volume custom pcb layout. With valves money behind them they could turn that idea into all kinds of neat stuff.
I was just responding to the request for a build, it does have a case btw, that APEX link is to a case with a 250watt PSU. you could build that today and have an ugly steambox running linux right now... This news isn't bad at all and I would certainly take a richland APU, as they are also designed with the 384shader AMD GPUs in mind.
As for custom parts, of course it's going to cost more, but much less than the $1000 they were looking for, still mass producing the unit I proposed would bring the price down $100 easy, even more with another motherboard (they are around 50) of course you are looking at different connectors with the steambox, but that could be applied to some of the savings.
$300 is completely possible for them and what they do with the motherboard is cut it up and module-ize it.
This the not the Steambox, think of it like android gaming as opposed to console gaming. There's going to be lots of different devices that run with Steam, Valve's Steambox will be one of them.
Well, Valve said several key players were entering the living room PC business over the next couple of years. Wait for a model that suits your needs or maybe a USB disc drive.
But pc gaming is not affordable compared to consoles.
outunderthestars
Banned
First post nails it. This thing does not look like whatwas promisedI imagined it would be at all. I expected a Kepler-Steam box with TRFXMSSGAA.
It is a horrible day when both Nvidia and Valve end up entering the console race with things I will not go anywhere near.
What happened to everybody owning a 3d tv? Why do Valve, Nvidia, and Sony Vita reject 3d when other branches of those companies are pushing 3d? Most games are 3d compatible as well? I don't own a 3D tv yet, but my current one is from 2003; any sensible TV purchase now is 3d. With this thing obviously not geared towards performance, I cannot imagine picking one up now to put alongside my future TV as I was hoping I would be able to.
I must hope Sony and Microsoft pick it up; Instant buy when next gen 3d support is announced.
My soul will be healed in the morning by Monolith Pokeblade
People bought the tv's. Used the 3D feature once or twice, then had no desire to ever use it again.
Dead Prince
Banned
please be cloud based
Yes. Although, they're getting hard to find. If you ask at Gamestop, you might find that they have some of the more popular PC games available stashed behind the counter. Borderlands 2 and BLOPS2 would be safe bets imho. Also, Microcenter, being an actual dedicated PC store, has an entire store section devoted to games on DVD. And Amazon obviously.
As to why -- there are still people who don't have decent broadband, and even if you do, your basic cable or DSL service might be less than ideal for downloading 30gigs worth of Max Payne 3 in a reasonable amount of time, in which case it might actually take you less time to have the physical game shipped.
^^ mass production and volume discounts from the suppliers should allow them to reduce the price substantially.
I also wouldn't expect any of their current designs to end up as the steambox, but that kind of clever electronics packaging experience would be useful for Valve as they design a console type system.
The cost savings I've had via Steam/GMG sales tells me otherwise.
Sure my initial hardware investment is greater, but I'm willing to bet that I'm still ahead when the games price differential is taken into account.
For $500 you could build a video game PC that plays games that will look similar to what we are all waiting on Microsoft and Sony to show us.
THIS is Valve's advantage.
PigSpeakers
Member
How do they fit a whole steam engine in there?
Yeah, it's exactly what I'm thinking. $300 for steambox with those specs would be pretty interesting... but yeah for $1000 like some people are saying is completely crazy.
grimshawish
Banned
Why would anyone wish for such a thing?
Why would anyone needs Valve for such a thing...
:/
outunderthestars
Banned
So twice as much as a console then?
Reallink
Member
Well like everyone else, I was hoping Steambox would be a GPU-upgraded Alienware X51 sold at or near cost with whatever Valve's take on a controller might be. Probably a redesigned transforming Razer Hydra or something with Leap. Seems we're instead getting a ridiculously overprice Ouya and will have to be happy about it.
You think the next Xbox or Playstation will be $250
It's called Piston. Some pics of the lil' Steam Box right here, y'all.
http://www.polygon.com/2013/1/7/384...-modular-computer-optimized-for-steam-and-big
http://www.polygon.com/2013/1/7/384...-modular-computer-optimized-for-steam-and-big
darkside31337
Tomodachi wa Mahou
Xi3 wouldn't discuss price for Piston, but commented that the Steam Box is built after its "performance level" X7A offering, which is priced at $999. Xi3 declined to comment on what would differentiate Piston hardware-wise from a standard X7A.
http://www.polygon.com/2013/1/7/3849284/piston-valve-steam-box-xi3
:/
http://www.polygon.com/2013/1/7/3849284/piston-valve-steam-box-xi3
:/
I don't really see the problem tbh. If this is the direction the steambox is going you could probably have the best of both worlds and have the option to add a hdd and have your library on an external hdd instead of in the cloud
grimshawish
Banned
Piston? Defoes THE Steam box I think then.
Yes there are tons. Almost every non Ubisoft/EA big PC game from last 3 years.
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