Ironman273 Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 This is Valve's Steam Machine prototype and SteamOS (hands-on)By Ben Gilbert posted Nov 4th, 2013 at 10:40 AM Take a good hard look at Valve's Steam Machine, because it's the last time you'll see it. Er, something like that. Only 300 of the metal beast above will ship to beta testers, and then Valve says it's cutting off its own supply of Steam Machines. "We're really building this as a test platform, and there are many machines that are gonna be made by third-parties. They're the ones that will be available commercially in 2014," Valve designer Greg Coomer told Engadget. Those machines will be revealed at next January's CES, as well as partners and more information (fingers crossed for pricing!). Coomer expects a "good array of options, optimized for different features" in the Steam Machines lineup -- everything from a low-end, inexpensive streaming box to an Intel i7/GeForce Titan GPU-powered supercomputer. The machine above was somewhere in between, with an Intel i7 CPU and a GTX 780 GPU housed in its snug chassis. All the parts in the prototype were swappable, and the only standard it's missing internally is an optical drive (presumably unnecessary if you're running SteamOS and downloading all your games digitally, right?). Read More: Engadget Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astra.Xtreme Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 So the fan on the GPU is aimed down? What a terrible design... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisj1968 Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 I would expect this system would gain steam, no pun intended. With the system as powerful as they day say it is, this is a pretty decent start. I'm not sure about the Nvidia choice, not knocking Nvidia because I favor AMD but with a lot of Nvidia users here having issues with their cards for one reason or other. But I'll reserve any bad comments until the system becomes a mainstream system and bugs/kinks are worked out. as for unseating the other console makers, I wouldn't expect that nor desire that.competition and choice ALWAYS favors the consumer to keep prices in check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lingwo Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 So the fan on the GPU is aimed down? What a terrible design... Looking at the layout on the back. That is where the PSU is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleNeutrino Veteran Posted November 4, 2013 Veteran Share Posted November 4, 2013 So the fan on the GPU is aimed down? What a terrible design... the fan on the GPU sucks air in and pushes it out the back of the device. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Norris Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 It's early obviously so things can change, but so far not terribly impressed with what I'm reading as an out-of-the-box experience. Basically a PC that's been fairly neutered in what it can do software wise and fairly lacking at that, and if I'm buying what's being billed as a console I don't want to have to rely on another PC to do the work for the majority of the titles. (IE, what's the point, buy a PC or one of the other consoles, no compromises.) If the hardware's priced decently though, add an optical drive and let me slap on Windows or full Linux distro.. I'd be interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dead.cell Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 So the fan on the GPU is aimed down? What a terrible design... I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure they're not just sticking parts together willy nilly wherever they want. :ermm: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisj1968 Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 @ Max, this system isn't meant to be a full entertainment center al-a' xbox360 or xbox one etc. This is solely meant to play steam games off a custom OS. seriously strictly a gaming system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threetonesun Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 @ Max, this system isn't meant to be a full entertainment center al-a' xbox360 or xbox one etc. This is solely meant to play steam games off a custom OS. seriously strictly a gaming system. That's not true, Steam OS supports streaming movies and music from other PCs (and one would assume its own hard drive). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lingwo Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 @ Max, this system isn't meant to be a full entertainment center al-a' xbox360 or xbox one etc. This is solely meant to play steam games off a custom OS. seriously strictly a gaming system. The steam box will be more of an entertainment system than a 360, PS4, XB1, PS4 will ever be. Due to its open nature. Raa 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corrosive23 Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 So the fan on the GPU is aimed down? What a terrible design...yeah, like 99 percent of all gpu fans. Raa, Semtex, Draken and 1 other 4 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Norris Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 The steam box will be more of an entertainment system than a 360, PS4, XB1, PS4 will ever be. Due to its open nature. Without even base level support for media playback, streaming options (Netflix, Hulu, etc.), and a relatively limited list of games supported natively..No media at all, very limited gaming with the majority requiring help from a Windows based PC... Just my opinion, but if I wanted to be entertained, I'd pick any one of those options you mentioned before buying this, the only way I'd consider it is if I could replace SteamOS with something that let me do everything. Two units doing some things, one unit doing everything and saving money on top of it. Easy choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nagisan Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 So the fan on the GPU is aimed down? What a terrible design... *looks inside every computer I've ever built* I guess all motherboards must be designed terribly....I've yet to see one where the fan of the GPU is facing upwards. Phouchg 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon H Supervisor Posted November 4, 2013 Supervisor Share Posted November 4, 2013 No media at all, very limited gaming with the majority requiring help from a Windows based PC... Just my opinion, but if I wanted to be entertained, I'd pick any one of those options you mentioned before buying this, the only way I'd consider it is if I could replace SteamOS with something that let me do everything. Two units doing some things, one unit doing everything and saving money on top of it. Easy choice. it's still a prototype. how do you know things won't change (both hardware & software wise) by the time the final product is complete? answer: you don't. so don't be too judgmental on a prototype product Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Norris Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 it's still a prototype. how do you know things won't change (both hardware & software wise) by the time the final product is complete? answer: you don't. so don't be too judgmental on a prototype productYea.. kinda like what I said in my first post, thanks. medhunter and Brandon H 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lamp0 Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 It's early obviously so things can change, but so far not terribly impressed with what I'm reading as an out-of-the-box experience. Basically a PC that's been fairly neutered in what it can do software wise and fairly lacking at that, and if I'm buying what's being billed as a console I don't want to have to rely on another PC to do the work for the majority of the titles. (IE, what's the point, buy a PC or one of the other consoles, no compromises.) If the hardware's priced decently though, add an optical drive and let me slap on Windows or full Linux distro.. I'd be interested. Though it's not supposed a PC in the the living room, it's supposed Steam in the living room. I mean, like you said it's early days yet but it's not going to be aimed at everyone either, you may have no use for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astra.Xtreme Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 *looks inside every computer I've ever built* I guess all motherboards must be designed terribly....I've yet to see one where the fan of the GPU is facing upwards. Clearly you've never built a media/htpc PC... Pulling air from an unvented/small volume area of a PC case is a really dumb idea... Not to mention the PSU is directly below it. Guess where the GPU is pulling its air from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisj1968 Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 The steam box will be more of an entertainment system than a 360, PS4, XB1, PS4 will ever be. Due to its open nature. on steam right now.. I can't view videos through steam. only videos I do see are in the store to view in game play when purchasing. But I see no video netflix style on steam... yet. Give it time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalint Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 Yeesh tight fit! Imagine trying to plug in the cables for the graphics card in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phouchg Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 *looks inside every computer I've ever built* I guess all motherboards must be designed terribly....I've yet to see one where the fan of the GPU is facing upwards. Some Lenovo pre-built gaming systems have it flipped turned upside down, for instance http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/desktops/erazer/x-series/x700/ . However, it's not a proper application since all GPU fans I've seen work as intake, moving colder air from below over the heatsink and pushing it out, well, somewhere. Astra seems to enjoy discrediting Steambox engineers at system building level, which is rather strange agenda, if I may say so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeChipshop Member Posted November 4, 2013 Member Share Posted November 4, 2013 So the fan on the GPU is aimed down? What a terrible design... Are you in some way insinuating that Valve don't know anything about computers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astra.Xtreme Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 Are you in some way insinuating that Valve don't know anything about computers? Um... where did I say that?... If anything, their designers don't have a firm grasp of thermodynamics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeChipshop Member Posted November 4, 2013 Member Share Posted November 4, 2013 Um... where did I say that?... If anything, their designers don't have a firm grasp of thermodynamics. The word 'Insinuated' is very apt to your reply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astra.Xtreme Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 The word 'Insinuated' is very apt to your reply. When I said "If anything, their designers don't have a firm grasp of thermodynamics.", it should have been pretty clear for you.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeChipshop Member Posted November 4, 2013 Member Share Posted November 4, 2013 When I said "If anything, their designers don't have a firm grasp of thermodynamics.", it should have been pretty clear for you.... Yup that makes little sense but to stay on topic... ...it looks to me like the machine is powered by a SFX PSU at the front which runs its kettle lead to an extension under the graphics card. It looks like the graphics card has its own thermal chamber, and the graphics card gets plenty of air because that whole side of the machine is vented. If that's not simple enough, basically... Valve knows thermodynamics. Your average 8 year old knows what's shown is fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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