Valve and Xi3 show off "Piston" Steam Box prototype at CES

Mobile graphics cards are getting up there in performance while driving down power consumption, so I wouldn't be surprised.

An AMD APU kicks the HD4000 to the curb in terms of graphics. We are after all comparing mobile processors form both sides. The Mac Mini uses a mobile i5 which matches or just about beats the APU in CPU power but would fall well short of the GPU power of the APU (almost 50% ahead). An APU would actually be able to handle 720p @45fps at medium settings in most games (console level).

If you are talking gaming and graphics performance of CPUs with integrated GPUs, then you will very seldom have better performance on the HD4000 side of the equation. That is the one arena that the AMD APUs still manage to dominate, when compared side-by-side to similar tier Intel processors. The AMD solution typically wins in cost and power efficiency as well. However, once you put a discrete GPU into the mix, and remove your reliance on the HD4000, the balance starts skewing quickly towards Intel on gaming and graphics performance.

It STARTS at $999 and UP TO 1TB SSD.

You arent going to get into the console market selling a console for $1000.price is why people BUY consoles in the first place.

while a 4000 WONT have suprior performance to an APU, not in the slightest (my A6-3400M I a 400 DOLLAR laptop can give better performance than my bros 4000 in his desktop) I agree it is incredibly pointless to buy this if it costs upwards of 500 bucks...

If the price is right, then it could work. If it sells for more than a high end gaming PC that someone can just cobble together, then this won't make sense, especially since it has a separate OS which won't let you run other non-game apps and programs.

Actually Gabe Newell confirmed that Piston is not going to be Valve's Steam box and it is going to be something completely different:

http://www.examiner.com/article/valve-shows-steam-based-set-top-box-at-ces

Yah, Gabe and Valve in general are all over the map lately on comments regarding the Steam Box topic. My take on the whole deal is that this is essentially "A" Steam capable box, not "THE" Steam Box. Other comments from Valve make it sound more like they are taking a Google/Android like approach to the concept, allowing 3rd party manufacturers to build hardware that fits their "Steam Box Spec" or something to that effect. If they do release an actual Valve Steam Box, it sounds like it would be similar to Google's Nexus line, one in a crowd of similar products, maybe used as a reference design.

To be fair the price was a complete made up number based on a similiar product the company makes . The price hasn't been announced yet , but I agree with you.

That's were I worry for valve though , MS and sony take huge losses to bring out a console and there new ones are round the corner. Valve is a very profitable company doing brilliantly but even they can't afford those type of losses for long term gain . Though who knows maybe the new consoles won't be made at such a loss.

I love valve and hope they do well but I just worry it will struggle with 2 new console's coming on the horizon.

I feel the same on this one. It's why I think the smartest move for Valve would be to spec out the Steam Box and leave it to 3rd party manufacturers to build them - just like Google and Android phones or Google TV. They can partner up and make a Valve branded system, but they would honestly be better off letting the hardware manufacturers do what they do best, and concentrating on the Steam platform and enhancements or exclusives that will draw people to the concept.

I think the real problem will be perception and adoption for something like a Steam Box. There is a major conceptual difference between true consoles (which have hardware locked in and then maintain those specs for very long life cycles) and a PC-centric system (which is in a constant state of upgrade & flux). Xbox 360 games today will run on a 360 console purchased in 2005, but the same can't be said for all new PC games running on 2005 era PCs. And, while there is a huge number of existing Steam users to draw from, convincing those users to lock into a standardized hardware set could be a steep uphill climb for Valve. PC gamers are used to staying on the front edge of tech, and lording the performance superiority over the consoles. Not sure how the dynamic will work out if a Steam Box becomes just another console...

This seems pretty cool, but I'll reserve my judgment, at least towards gaming since the price/performance ratio especially on the higher end models could be a problem. But for non-gaming uses, this could be great.

Microsoft and Sony usually sell their consoles at a loss in the beginning, they then recoup the cost down the road by charging more for games (e.g. console tax) and refining the production process as parts get cheaper. Nintendo seems to be the only one that sells hardware at a profit from the get go, but they make sacrifices elsewhere. Seeing as how Valve is quite successful with their service, it wouldn't surprise me if they did sell whatever hardware they finally settle on for a loss, similar to how Amazon is treating the Kindle to get consumers hooked on the service they provide. My biggest concern for Valve or any 3rd party manufacturer would be overcoming the perception of a closed standardized system. As Vrmithrax points out, that's what makes desktops so special, it'll be interesting to see how they tackle this issue.