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.
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.