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Valve and Xi3 announce Steam-based mini-PC
- Thread starter ToyMachine228
- Start date
Can Crusher
Banned
Is this true? A 8800Gt can play games like Assassins Creed 3 and the sorts?
Man that is incredible. My 3.5Ghz quad, 4Gb RAM, HD 6850 has a tough time with it.
Edit; I don't like playing on low settings though
Any $20 case you can find at Newegg
Samsung Spinpoint 380GB $60
Powercolor radeon 7850 2GB $185
Antec NeoEco 400w PSU $40
2x2GB DDR3 Ram $20
Core i3 CPU $120
Bluray drive $50
Under $500, all from Newegg and at consumer price.
I honestly dont think Steambox will be a single system. I think there will be multiple builds to fit peoples needs, smaller cheaper models for more casual gamers and then larger faster builds that are a bit more pricey.
The minute Valve throws a companion cube skin on this thing and have Glados communicating with you in the OS ala Siri you'll be getting one like the rest of us
Wow.
I'd buy one just to play Dota 2.
outunderthestars
Banned
Again, then please show me the manufacturers who don't. I am honestly interested in this because I am buying an X51 this winter otherwise.
So now I have to build it myself? What about the OS? motherboard? keyboard? Controller?
AlberichMX
Member
Vanilla Skyrim... someone knows if this works well with a modded Skyrim?
I H8 Memes
Member
I wonder why they even hired Jerri Ellsworth f they are just going to use someone elses hardware. Exactly what is she working on in their hardware lab?
Treemonkeys
Member
I'll be quite surprised if 'next gen' launch games look as good as Witcher 2 on my $500 PC. Especially when current gen consoles are all about flashy effects mixed with resolutions I was using in the 90's.
Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew
Banned
It is. It's a heavily modified old tech.
This is more of in between current and next gen. Running games at 720p at close to 60fps would be easily achieved by this device. 1080p and over would be sluggish.
that would depend on the mod.
PC gamers build their own.. its easy as snapping some pieces together.
The only people who buy premade Desktops just either have to much money to waste or are technologically impaired.
One of the great things about PC gaming is knowing also how to get inside the system and take care of it. Unlike consoles that just collect enough dust till they burn up.. and we dont have an option to stop it without voiding the lovely warranty.
chickdigger802
Banned
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/df-hardware-introducing-the-digital-foundry-pc
A decent build.
putting together a modern day pc is easy as butt. It's like legos.
grimshawish
Banned
I feel their just not focused enough and unwilling to change to best suit customers or the business.
Greenlight is a big part of my feelings on this.
Valve seem unwilling to put more beurocracy behind Steam to get it working better. Meanwhile the 'do what you want' culture is weirdly failing to see Steam employees bring new devs/games to Steam.
Other things as well. Am just not very happy with their direction, it seems more focused on vanity than anything else.
Anyway am easily ignored and slightly mad, just not feeling Steam much recently. Whilst Valve have let a franchise die and don't seem to be doing anything new recently.
The controller, among other things, presumably.
Your missing a motherboard to hold all those pieces together.
twinturbo2
butthurt Heat fan
As I asked earlier, can I hack this to run my Origin and GOG downloads? Serious question.
See, I think that's actually because they don't want to be a business in the traditional sense. They don't want to become dedicated to Steam or to be locked into caring just for that. I do think they should have a more direct approach and support the shit out of the platform, but it doesn't seem like something they intend to do.
They should set up a new branch called "Valve - Steam" which would dedicate itself to improving the platform and the client. They wouldn't have to split their workforce between games and Steam. Yesterday, one Valve employee commented on Reddit about why there wasn't a metagame for the 2012 Winter sale. What he said was that an event like requires a lot of preparation and that time is taken from other projects or more important tasks. It shouldn't have to become a choice between the games and the client. You should have a division of Valve that's dedicated and driven to create the best DD platform possible. The other "main" branch could sit back and release Half-Life 3 in 20 years and no one would mind.
outunderthestars
Banned
grimshawish
Banned
Its Linux so it would need to be Linux games unless you can install Windows. But yeah should be doable, see no reason as to why you couldn't. Unless modulation is an issue? But I don't believe it is.
chickdigger802
Banned
steambox comes with those?
I H8 Memes
Member
What are you talking about? They have had more output than ever over the last few years. L4D2, Portal 2, Dota 2, helping Hidden Path get CS:GO out, BPM, revamped community features, steamworks, new map editor for Portal 2, adding software and now even movies to Steam, the Dota 2 documentary, The International 1 and 2. Especially The International 2, by far the classiest thing to ever be associated with gaming, and to the viewer they pulled it off flawlessly. Even when there were technical difficulties they had a plan to fix it.
And in the meantime they have been working on Ricochet 2 ; ) as well as this Steambox thing. fuck man I dare any one of you to find a dev who's done more over the same amount of time. You wont. And a lot of them have far more employees than the 300 or so total at Valve.
twinturbo2
butthurt Heat fan
The day someone runs Origin games on Steam Box is the day I'm getting one.
outunderthestars
Banned
See, you view this as great, I view it as profoundly unpleasant. Just looking at the massive spreadsheet in the GAF PC build thread is enough to make me just go buy a pre-built PC.
I was discussing the mythical "$500 kickass PC" that is so easy to find. Turns out you have to build it yourself out of the cheapest parts possible.
Skip the blu-ray drive for a motherboard, and buy a mouse/keyboard for 10 each and run a free linux distribution with steam! ;D
grimshawish
Banned
Yeah I think they need a new department to really back Steam.
Something needs to be done I feel. End of the day a business can function in the best pro-customer way. I'd probably consume much more on Steam if it were a bit better and with more dedicated support.
Atm it seems to be just random 'initiatives' like Big Picture as oppose to an overall focus.
vikingvessel
Member
The minute Valve throws a companion cube skin on this thing and have Glados communicating with you in the OS ala Siri you'll be getting one like the rest of us
My blind buy-in currently hovers at around $500, just for the elation of a sexy new device that plays nice with my Steam library.
If we are talking about Steambox then Linux is free, i assume it will just include a controller as a peripheral.
EagleBurnn
Banned
This is like when a girl says you're going to home base and you get a handjob.
XtremeXpider
Member
Horse Detective
Why the long case?
Another question that makes me want to bump mine...
I'm sorry to interrupt the specs discussion but I am trying to relieve confusion.
Its not complicated at all though.. seriously. Just check the fans and shit to see if theres any dust. Spray it off with a air can.
How is that so difficult?
People who are to scared to open their PC .. specially for minor upgrades and cleaning blow my mind. I can only imagine your 60 or something.
Really? Might as well build a PC. $350 tops for the "steambox"
MrCunningham
Member
Ahh, so it will be using a Mobile A10.... hmmm That would explain the lower power consumption.
It comes with Linux, doesn't it? But if there isn't anything in the Bios from preventing it from happening, you should be able to install windows on this device as well. It is an x86 64bit machine.
that's BS , and I have a very high end PC which I upgrade personally .
building PC is not "snapping some pieces Together ". Hardest part is to make sure crap is compatible and doing research prior. hell, adding water coolest to my CPU, GPU and RAM took hours of reading and making sure I won't screw my whole system. Clocking my CPU/GPU was also tedious as hell.
I love my PC but it was a lot of freaking work
outunderthestars
Banned
Sorry, I was talking about custom building a PC. Cleaning hardware isn't intimidating .
This is the point I am trying to make. PC enthusiasts like to exaggerate the ease and low prices of building your own pc.
Fair enough. I like to hope that the seemingly off hands approach of late is due to them being busy behind the scenes. We'll see.
ColonelColon
Member
Yeah, I want this too. I don't feel even remotely compelled to buy multiple PCs (one for my desktop and one for my entertainment center) rather than just upgrading my current desktop PC. I just want a convenient way to pipe video to my TV and quickly switch from one display to the other, and I want this device to function without perceptible input lag. Also, of course, I need a controller that won't lose connection when I'm not in the same room as the wireless receiver. I bought a long HDMI cable for the purpose of playing PC games via big picture mode on my new TV, but there are a number of issues (such as the wireless controller's lacking range) that are inhibiting me from using my TV as a display for my PC.
This depends largely on the specs of next gen consoles. Apparently, the next generation Agni's Philosophy demo from Square Enix ran in 1080p at 60 FPS on a single GTX 680 (source in this thread: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=502188). And while you certainly can't build a GTX 680 PC for $500 right now, next year's cards will be markedly more powerful. Last year's GTX 680 or Radeon 7970 will likely be matched or beaten by this year's GTX 760ti and Radeon 8870. Soon enough, it should be very affordable to have a PC that outperforms next generation consoles, especially if you already have a case, power supply, hard drive, memory, and motherboard.
outunderthestars
Banned
GravityMan
Member
Something tells me that this is not *THE* Steambox.
Yes, you have to build it yourself. Fortunately, this is a very easy and valuable skill; I've been doing it since I was in the single digits, and it's gotten a lot easier since then. If you're not interested in building it yourself (even though it's pretty easy) then you're probably just not all that interested in what PC gaming has to offer seeing as there is a particular bent towards tweaking and troubleshooting that many find attractive about the platform.
The motherboard omission was probably a mistake. Add $50 for some generic motherboard. These don't matter unless you're looking for very specific features; I bought a micro ATX motherboard manufactured by a company that no longer exists a few years ago and my friend is still using it.
As for the keyboard and the controller, it's pretty reasonable to assume that if you desire a controller, you probably already have one; there are also keyboards everywhere, and I suspect that you probably own at least one. Rubber dome technology literally hasn't gotten any better in the last decade or so, so nearly anything will do.
Meh but clocking and watercooling are more for the tech savy, most people including gamers dont even fool with that kinda stuff. Building a basic pc however is cake.
ShinobiFist
Banned
He is better of getting a X51 i5 than that. Like I mentioned before, Dell does constant deals on those units.
Those looks like my Xbox 360...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5dth5Q0dzU BF3 360 Metro... Missing quite a few effects...
The big difference I see is shadows and texture quality, but yes the 360 does a decent job of hiding these flaws... the real benefit is from linux using 100% of the systems resources for a game like this, which would mean stronger performance over the links I gave.
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