Digital Storm, CyberPowerPC unveil Steam Machines at dramatically different price points

[Russ Boswell]

Digital Storm has announced its anticipated Steam Machine at this year's Consumer Electronics Show. The Bolt II was teased/unveiled last December, and boasts some unique features like an enhanced thermal design, dual booting (Windows/Steam OS) and a 240mm liquid cooling system. Pair that with perforated vents and the Bolt II has “double the cooling power of its closest competitor,” according to Digital Storm. All of this is wrapped up in a small, form-factor, jet-black casing with a bright red badge.

The machine will be upgradeable and customizable, with Digital Storm focusing on the “high end” of PC gaming. According to the company, it doesn't plan on “competing with console pricing.” Bolt II will have a starting price of $1899, well out of range of any console-based products. This particular system is geared towards gamers who want the “best possible gaming experience, and who are looking for a PC capable of playing any title on their new 4k display.”

For those of you who were hopeful to find a Steam-machine that was priced closer to consoles, this one's for you. CyberPowerPC's Steam Box is hopeful to compete with consoles at a price point of $499. Their latest creation will come packaged with a 3.9GHz AMD A6-6400K processor, and feature AMD Radeon R9 270 discrete graphics. A 500GB HDD and 8GB of RAM round out the specs for this anticipated custom-design.

CyberPowerPC plans to roll out its Steam Machine sometime in the second half of 2014, but Digital Storm expects to have their creation on store shelves by the end of January.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/55231-digital-storm-cyberpowerpc-unveil-steam-machines-at-dramatically-different-price-points.html

 

[oldikes]

I like cyberpowers offering for its price. I also like the design.

 

[Burty117]

Hhhhmmm, I've been a little harsh on Valve with there "Steam Machine" Initiative, I've always thought to myself "Developers won't want to port there games to Linux also" but Valve seem to be getting quite a few hardware partners on board, this is probably good news, Now If only they can start convincing me (and I'd assume gamers as well) that developers are going to really take Steam OS seriously and code their games for it, I might even use Steam OS. Which is something for Microsoft to worry about.

 

[oldikes]

The hardware part is doing well, its the software part thats yet to be seen and the most worrying IMO.

 

[Ranger12]

“double the cooling power of its closest competitor,”

Can they be any more ambiguous?

 

[Forg0t2]

Hhhhmmm, I've been a little harsh on Valve with there "Steam Machine" Initiative, I've always thought to myself "Developers won't want to port there games to Linux also" but Valve seem to be getting quite a few hardware partners on board, this is probably good news, Now If only they can start convincing me (and I'd assume gamers as well) that developers are going to really take Steam OS seriously and code their games for it, I might even use Steam OS. Which is something for Microsoft to worry about.

I think Steam OS will startup with lower rated games. Triple A titles are already under a lot of pressure and are really boxed in in their movements towards new ideas and concepts. I however think this is no problem at all since it will give the lesser known titles a fair chance of proving them in this market and even become triple A. I've seen some games which I would rather play than some triple A titles. I took Steam OS seriously from the beginning because I'm one of the enthousiasts that can program things myself and do some development which this OS and hardware allow me to. Microsoft is getting boxed in because Apple is slightly winning the harts of engineers that use them for designing while Steam OS is planning on taking over the entertainment market.

 

[Nima304]

These are beautiful specifications for the price. If I didn't know how to build a computer myself, I'd definitely be considering this for my next build.

 

[Forg0t2]

These are beautiful specifications for the price. If I didn't know how to build a computer myself, I'd definitely be considering this for my next build.

But you will probably buy the Asrock with 22 sATA ports and 4 way SLI Geforce 780

 

[Scavengers]

I cant help but wonder how long it will take before we see operating system exclusives.

"Available on Steam OS only"
"Only on Microsoft Windows"

A dual boot Steam OS\Windows box is a perfect solution.

Dave

 

[Camikazi]

I cant help but wonder how long it will take before we see operating system exclusives.

"Available on Steam OS only"
"Only on Microsoft Windows"

A dual boot Steam OS\Windows box is a perfect solution.

Dave

Already happens, there are quite a few Windows only games and a few Linux (Steam OS) only games. It's nothing new the only thing is until now it was only really known to those who game on PCs, now the mainstream will know of it.

 

[Forg0t2]

Im more curious about how Microsoft will take a stand in these new developments if Steam OS's database increases, meaning more games and tools, to make Linux interesting enough for gamers to drop out on windows...