Pre-order your Steam Machine now and get it nearly a month early

Shawn Knight

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It looks as though Valve’s Steam Machines are finally coming to life. Starting today, interested parties can pre-order an official Steam Machine from Alienware or CyberPower PC with prices starting at $449 and $499, respectively. Here’s what your hard-earned money will get you.

The entry-level Alienware Steam Machine may look familiar; that’s because it’s essentially the same Alpha system we reviewed late last year. That means you’re looking at a dual-core Intel Core i3 processor 4GB of RAM and a GeForce 860M GPU. Fortunately, the slow 500GB 5400RPM hard drive has been upgraded to a 7200RPM model.

The only difference is that the Steam Machine version comes with a Steam Controller and SteamOS. There’s also a beefier model with a Core i7, 8GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive for $749.99.

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CyberPower PC (under its Syber divison) also has a trio of Steam Machines up for pre-order. Pricing starts at $499 for an Intel Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB HDD and a GeForce GTX 750 graphics card and tops out at $1,419 (an odd figure) which will buy you a Core i7 chip, 16GB of memory, a 1TB hard drive and a GeForce GTX 980.

Also available for pre-order is the Steam Controller and the Steam Link, both of which will set you back $49.

The benefit of pre-ordering now is that you’ll be able to start playing on October 16 while everyone else will have to wait until the public release on November 10.

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I get right on that. Wait, nevermind. I already have a machine that destroys that steam machine.
 
I'm very tempted to pre-order the Steam Link and Steam Controller, see if it's any good for the front room.
Thing is, they mention what specs it outputs video (1080p 60fps) but it doesn't say what audio it can output (currently Steam Stream is limited to stereo) which puts me off it a bit. I want full 5.1 decoding built-in so I can stream to my main TV without forking over money for a HTPC build AND still use my surround sound!
 
Ugh no. I've have far more interesting & pertinent things to waste that kind of money on. If it cost $30 I might have looked at it.
 
I'm very tempted to pre-order the Steam Link and Steam Controller, see if it's any good for the front room.
Thing is, they mention what specs it outputs video (1080p 60fps) but it doesn't say what audio it can output (currently Steam Stream is limited to stereo) which puts me off it a bit. I want full 5.1 decoding built-in so I can stream to my main TV without forking over money for a HTPC build AND still use my surround sound!
That's been my interest too. I've been tempted for a long time to get a wireless HDMI receiver so I could play a bit in my bedroom for the few games I'd use a controller in anyways. But as far as those go, they're shoddy in streaming games, so I'm curious how Link will turn out to be.

With the improvements out there are to be met, I don't think you'll get higher than stereo anytime soon though.
 
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