For the price of an Xbox One, iBuyPower will sell you a Steam Machine

[Scorpus]

We've already seen Valve's prototype Steam Machine with high-end internals, but system-builder iBuyPower is preparing something a little more modest. For the price of an Xbox One ($499), starting in 2014 the company will sell you a Steam Machine in a glossy white case, complete with a customizable light bar in the center.

More important than the case, which incidentally is smaller than an Xbox One but larger than a PlayStation 4, is the hardware inside. iBuyPower hasn't revealed a great deal of information about the system's specifications, but we do know it'll pack a multi-core AMD CPU and a $180 AMD Radeon R9 270 graphics card, alongside Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a 500 GB hard drive.

Running the Linux-based Steam OS, iBuyPower claims compatible games will run at 60 frames per second with a resolution of 1080p. There's no mention of what settings it will run games at, but at least it will compete on the performance-front with both new consoles.

iBuyPower won't be the only company releasing Steam Machines in 2014, with more announcements set to occur at CES 2014 in January. It's unknown if Valve's own Steam Machine - packing an Intel Core i7 CPU and Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 GPU - will make it to the market, but there are sure to be other manufacturers releasing high-end Machines of their own.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/54814-for-the-price-of-an-xbox-one-ibuypower-will-sell-you-a-steam-machine.html

 

[Guest]

People are complaining of android fragmentation.
with 'mainstream' xbox and ps iterations, steam box is becoming the third wheel.
and gamers with OCD will now have to buy all the three 'game boxes' in addition to their standard windows OS gaming platform.
if successful, steam box will become the new android of the gaming business.

 

[cliffordcooley]

and gamers with OCD will now have to buy all the three 'game boxes' in addition to their standard windows OS gaming platform.

Hahaha, are you sure thats not idiocy instead of OCD?

 

[Fbarnett]

I think if they were 1st this would of worked but I think being third will make this die a slow death

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

I think if they were 1st this would of worked but I think being third will make this die a slow death

Although I couldn't care less I wouldn't be so sure.

 

[Forg0t2]

I think if they were 1st this would of worked but I think being third will make this die a slow death

I'm not so sure,... The problem with playstation and Xbox is that it only provides a coverage among their console. This is not the case in valve's idea. It would give me the possibility to stream my pc to the television but can also take over all the entertainment systems that xbox and playstation have. I'm not forced to buy a console because I can use Steam Os on computers already present in my house which would give me the possibility to check out what it is and how good it works. I would than already participate in increasing Valve's potential. All I eventually need to buy is the controller that I can connect to the cheap *** PC that I use for streaming from My Ultimate Gaming PC somewhere upstairs. Nearly costs me anything with 1080p graphics (At least thats what they claim by being able to stream) and enjoy full capabilities.

Playstation offers me a same kind of thing but with the PLaystation Vita. So I can stream my PS4 on my vita. I would be forced to buy both for full capabilities which costs me another fortune,...

 

[ET3D]

This looks pretty good to me. A gaming PC for $500, especially if it includes the controller in the price, is good value, especially for a small one.

 

[GhostRyder]

Well honestly, I dont see enough of a point to these steam machines to be more useful than just a good ol PC or a game system. Its too much of a hybrid that I just feel wont take of mostly because I feel the timing is not that great and the marketing is a bit poor. I mean listing the internals of some of these machines, you could just build a gaming rig with the same specs, throw windows and download steam, then be able to play more games.

I dont know for sure because they are not available yet/have not seem much on them other than reports and talk. But I feel that based on what im understanding, these things are just going to be a slightly neutered computer because of the new OS.

If were comparing it to the PS4 and Xbox ONE, personally I prefer having a console over the steam machine. I have both and a gaming rig and honestly, the consoles may have their limitations, but with a steam machine, the specs are going to vary so optimization will of course be very key to the success. A console will be alot easier to optimize because you know what you have to work with, hence why game developers can push console with dated specs well beyong what people believe they can do. Having multiple setups just means that steam machines will be harder for optimising so we will not see true performance in those machines.

Just my thoughts.

 

[Polaco]

Well, AMD consoles chips has been specially tunned for their needs so they drain until the last performance drop of the chip. I wonder how much could cost a Steam machine that can deliver similar performance?

 

[Chazz]

and gamers with OCD will now have to buy all the three 'game boxes' in addition to their standard windows OS gaming platform.

Hahaha, are you sure thats not idiocy instead of OCD?

I wouldn't call you a true gamer if you did otherwise. Gamers say **** exclusives and play every good game there is regardless of platform. I'm a bit older now and don't have the time so I've resigned to PC gaming.

But give me the time, and I will have all of the systems. You guys throw poo at the different companies to justify your choice just like back when I was younger. You guys can come to my house if you want to play something that isn't in your walled garden.

If I had chose just one(for example PS1/2), I'd have missed goldeneye, Zelda(s), Metroid, panzer dragoon saga, the joys of having 4 people over and just pulling an all nighter. It's not called OCD or idiocy. It's called a hobby.

While some are out there bashing Microsoft or Sony or Nintendo, there are others out there that let the games decide, not their misguided faith in a corporation.

 

[m4a4]

See, the good thing about consoles is that they have a standard hardware. These things would just be another form of desktop PC without any real optimizations to take advantage of the hardware beyond maybe a few niche titles...

 

[Guest]

With Android, the fragmentation refers to the distribution of software updates. What exactly is being "fragmented" here?

Linux and Windows are already designed to work across a much larger variety of hardware configurations than the Steam Machines will represent, and its been working that way for decades.

 

[gamoniac]

Already have a PC, there is no need for anther one just to make Steam rich. Besides, it is unlikely that steam can get low-metal access to the graphic card like XB1 and PS4 can. Keep in mind SteamOS has to support all kinds of graphic cards - AMD, NVidia, and different models. I just don't see it happening.

 

[Trillionsin]

SteamOS is going to be free. I plan on setting up a dual-boot system with Steam OS and Windows. No money will be spent.... why the debate?

 

[howzz1854]

It's gonna take a lot for someone to replace my current HTPC setup. I was looking into the Xb1 the other day to see what kind of open source format support it could take on, but apparently no MKV, and no Lossless support. it'll be nice to have one box that'll do blu-ray, MKV (with lossless decoding, and subtitle), TV, DVR, Netflix, and games. as much as MS and SONY advertise their console to be media centric, at their current offering, they still have miles to go to become a true HTPC. If steam box can come out and meet all the above requirements, I am sold. I'll be the first to disassemble my current HTPC and put it to use on somewhere else.

 

[Guest]

Good thing mantle is coming to the pc soon to give that same level of optimization, but way better. The new consoles can only handle 10,000 draws per frame where mantle will bring over 100,000 draws per frame. This is a huge factor to take into account. Those draws per frame are basically how many objects can be drawn on the frame. So while your looking at a single image of flat soda bottles and flat everything. On pc those same objects will be drawn in 3d.

 

[Guest]

If steam box can come out and meet all the above requirements, I am sold. I'll be the first to disassemble my current HTPC and put it to use on somewhere else.

You wouldn't even need to take apart your HTPC. Just toss SteamOS onto it as a second boot option and you're good to go.

In my understanding, all a SteamBox really is, is just a system with SteamOS on it. The ones that Vendors are selling just have a Custom case, designed to fit in with your living room setup.

You could build your own system and stick it in a huge tower for all it'd matter. As long as it's a system running SteamOS and is powerful enough to play a few games, it's a SteamBox.

At least, that's my take on things.

 

[Guest]

FULL TOWER would be completely out of place in living room. These steamy boxes however are quite living room firendly. And dont forget the investment in nopise prevention, its quite difficult for the lone user to do, but spread that design cost over thousands of steam box,s and ???. Expect to see the linux installed base climbing to over 7%, the magic number where they get to kick Pears ***.

 

[Forg0t2]

Well, AMD consoles chips has been specially tunned for their needs so they drain until the last performance drop of the chip. I wonder how much could cost a Steam machine that can deliver similar performance?

For Valve it is not about competing with the Xbox or the PS4 but to get rid of the "closed system" by providing a free linux based Os than can run machines like Xbox and PS4 with "Open Source" making it possible to do some tweaking and programming urself on a console like machine. They've always said that it is not about selling the hardware but to create an environment where people can make their own technological discoveries and developments without a huge giant like Sony or Microsoft holding you back with unreachable parts of source code.