Steam Machines are set to be all the rage this year, but if you'd prefer to purchase a normal gaming desktop instead, perhaps CyberpowerPC's Zeus Mini will entice you. The pre-built system is a small form factor (SFF) desktop with a Mini ITX motherboard inside, but don't let this fool you, as the top-end options pack some serious power.
The chassis for the Zeus mini is 11.2 cm wide, 33 cm tall and 44 cm deep, making its overall profile slightly larger (and a bit deeper) than Microsoft's Xbox One. CyberpowerPC claims the chassis comes with "extreme cooling performance", as it's actually possible to slot a 240mm closed-loop liquid cooling solution into the body.
The basic Zeus Mini system, which will set you back $599, comes with a 3.7 GHz AMD 'Kaveri' A10-7850K APU, utilizing the chip's integrated graphics for gaming, plus 8 GB of DDR3 RAM, a 500 GB hard drive and Windows 8.1 installed out of the box. The $1479 top-end system, on the other hand, is powered by an Intel 'Haswell' Core i7-4770K CPU, Nvidia GTX 780 GPU, 16 GB of RAM, and a 2 TB hard drive.
CyberpowerPC has even factored in the PC buyers who love to tinker and upgrade their systems: the Zeus Mini is completely upgradeable thanks to its use of standard PC parts. Everything from the CPU and GPU to the off-the-shelf mini-ITX motherboard and PSU can be swapped out later if you'd like to get more performance down the track.
Zeus Mini systems are set to ship on February 11, so head over to CyberpowerPC's website if you'd like to place an order.