Home Gaming Steam Machines are coming before the end of the year

Steam Machines are coming before the end of the year

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steammachine

I’ve never really understood the appeal of Steam Machines – other than that they’re really nice looking, small form factor PCs that are great for plugging in to TVs. Announced what seems like forever ago, Valve’s PC/console hybrids are finally set for retail release. They’ll be coming to those who pre-order the things in October, and on store shelves in November this year.

Steam Machines will run on SteamOs, a Linux-based operating system that puts Steam’s Big Picture mode at the forefront. Unfortunately, they’ll only run games that have Linux compatibility – but they’ll allow you to stream your games from another local PC. According to Valve, over a thousand games will be natively supported at launch.

Joining the Steam machine on store shelves will be the Steam Controller and Steam Link. Unfortunately, as it stands right now, it looks like neither of those will be available locally – but hopefully that changes, because the controller looks amazing.

Steam machines start at $449 (far more than consoles), while the controller sells for a reasonable $49. The first two Steam Machines out of the gate come from Alienware and CyberPower – though you can bet your behind that other manufacturers will jump on this soon. Alienware’s Steam Machine will come in four configurations, and are upgradeable – except for the important bit: the GPU. It’s built in, and runs comparably to a GeForce GTX 860M (which, if you ask me, just isn’t good enough).

Here’s each Alienware system, according to Polygon:

$449

  • Intel Core i3 – 4130T DC
  • nVidia GeForce GTX GPU w/2GB GDDR5
  • 4GB DDR3
  • 500GB 7200RPM HDD
  • 1×1 802.11 Wireless Card
  • Steam Controller

$549

  • Intel Core i3 – 4130T DC
  • nVidia GeForce GTX GPU w/2GB GDDR5
  • 8GB DDR3
  • 1TB 7200RPM HDD
  • 1×1 802.11 Wireless Card
  • Steam Controller

$649

  • Intel Core i5 – 4590T QC
  • nVidia GeForce GTX GPU w/2GB GDDR5
  • 8GB DDR3
  • 1TB 7200RPM HDD
  • 2×2 802.11 AC
  • Steam Controller

$749

  • Intel Core i7 – 4765T QC
  • nVidia GeForce GTX GPU w/2GB GDDR5
  • 8GB DDR3
  • 1TB 7200RPM HDD
  • 2×2 802.11 AC
  • Steam Controller

“We have collaborated for years with Valve and GameStop to develop a platform with the best content, the best performance, and the best value compared to anything else on the market. Finally, with this preorder, we have a chance to address the building anticipation for the latest and greatest gaming system,” said Frank Azor, general manager of Alienware and XPS, Dell.

And I’m still not sold on Steam Machines. I love the heck out of the controller, but I can’t help but feel that anybody who really, really wants a small form factor PC is more than capable of building their own and dual-booting SteamOS and Windows for a more rounded experience.

Last Updated: June 5, 2015

107 Comments

  1. Admiral Chief's Adventure

    June 5, 2015 at 09:36

    No SSD?

    Reply

    • Captain JJ the_scarrrr

      June 5, 2015 at 09:42

      No AMD

      Reply

      • Uberutang

        June 5, 2015 at 09:43

        AMD computer that small will melt through the earth’s core.

        Reply

        • Captain JJ the_scarrrr

          June 5, 2015 at 09:44

          I don’t see the problem. 😉

          Reply

          • Uberutang

            June 5, 2015 at 09:46

            Not all of us has firepools! 🙂

          • Blood Emperor Trevor

            June 5, 2015 at 11:58

            We will once it melts through to a core, maybe even a fire fountain!

        • ida piili

          June 7, 2015 at 05:19

          ???? $91 per h0ur @mi12//

          ??? https://www•AllCurrencies/Earn/MIGApproved

          ????????????????????????????

          Reply

      • Admiral Chief's Adventure

        June 5, 2015 at 09:43

        No Admiral interest

        Reply

      • Pariah

        June 5, 2015 at 09:45

        Nope. Valve prefers quality components. 😛

        Reply

    • tomas_ammy

      June 6, 2015 at 06:38

      ~~? $91 per h0ur @mi12//

      ??? https://www•AllCurrencies/Earn/MIGApproved

      ?????????????????????????????????

      Reply

  2. Admiral Chief's Adventure

    June 5, 2015 at 09:36

    Steam Machine, meh, no thanks.

    Steam Controller, AWWWWJISSSS

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      June 5, 2015 at 09:55

      So it’s a rock with a controller? Seriously, what’s going on today?

      Reply

  3. Uberutang

    June 5, 2015 at 09:39

    No details on who might be bringing these in?

    Reply

    • Geoffrey Tim

      June 5, 2015 at 09:41

      No local distro for anything but the alienware AT THE MOMENT. I suspect that will change nearer the time.

      Reply

      • Uberutang

        June 5, 2015 at 09:42

        Hopefully Amazon etc also starts stocking the controller. Wants one.
        The PC? Na I have 3 ‘steam machines’ as it is.

        Reply

        • FoxOneZA

          June 5, 2015 at 09:45

          Steam Link would make life a lot easier.

          Reply

          • Uberutang

            June 5, 2015 at 09:47

            It only does 2.0 sound though…. the Nvidia shield tv is probably the best ‘end point’ device. But it is 6x more expensive…

      • FoxOneZA

        June 5, 2015 at 09:45

        I’m sure Dion Wired mentioned in a mailer they will be bringing in the Alienware varient.

        Reply

  4. Captain JJ the_scarrrr

    June 5, 2015 at 09:43

    I like the idea behind a Steam machine. When traveling you can’t exactly drag your pc around with you. That controller looks excellent, but I’m not convinced that it’ll be easier to use than analog sticks.

    Reply

  5. HairyEwok

    June 5, 2015 at 09:44

    The remote still puts me off…..

    Reply

  6. Ir0nseraph

    June 5, 2015 at 09:46

    Damn , what’s this 500GB and 1TB drives standard 😛

    Reply

  7. RinceTheElfRoot

    June 5, 2015 at 09:48

    • Hammersteyn

      June 5, 2015 at 09:55

      Because PC gamers long for consoles but they trashed talked so much that they’d never buy PS,MS or nintendo and now they have to pay more than double what an XBOX One costs for one with a Intel Core i7 so that they can play XBOX One titles on their TV?
      Just a guess…..

      Reply

  8. Captain JJ the_scarrrr

    June 5, 2015 at 09:52

    I bet they’ve managed to put the power supplies inside the box.

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief's Adventure

      June 5, 2015 at 09:53

      xD

      Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      June 5, 2015 at 09:55

      Like the PS4?

      Reply

      • Captain JJ the_scarrrr

        June 5, 2015 at 10:00

        Exactly. 😀

        Reply

  9. Steffmeister

    June 5, 2015 at 09:56

    I would like a steam machine. I have a powerful pc…used for music production. Hate playing games on it.
    The Witcher 3 made me realize how underpowered the current consoles are. This might be a solution for me.

    Reply

  10. Hammersteyn

    June 5, 2015 at 09:56

    Those prices though….. rather build a PC?

    Reply

    • Lord Chaos

      June 5, 2015 at 09:57

      With proper AMD components

      Reply

      • Pariah

        June 5, 2015 at 09:57

        I know it’s winter, but it’s cheaper and more productive to just buy a heater.

        Reply

        • Hammersteyn

          June 5, 2015 at 09:58

          But can said heater run Crysis?

          Reply

          • Pariah

            June 5, 2015 at 09:58

            Nope. But neither can AMD hardware without melting something.

          • Hammersteyn

            June 5, 2015 at 10:02

            Nvidia decreases heat by decreasing RAM

            http://cdn.meme.am/instances/500x/59373433.jpg

          • Captain JJ the_scarrrr

            June 5, 2015 at 10:04

            With Steam we all know the rule. 75% or more off or it’s a no-go.
            So I say if it doesn’t have 1GB instead of four, it’s just not worth it.

          • Pariah

            June 5, 2015 at 10:08

            Because with 20% off, they get 20% more performance. #Justsaying.

          • Captain JJ the_scarrrr

            June 5, 2015 at 10:09

            *profit

          • Lord Chaos

            June 5, 2015 at 10:10

            After paying 50% more. 😛

            You’re gonna hit me now?

          • Pariah

            June 5, 2015 at 10:17

            Actually, the R9 290 is about R1k more expensive than the GTX 970, and performs only on par or just below the 970. Even with 3.5GB’s of ram.

          • Captain JJ the_scarrrr

            June 5, 2015 at 10:21

            But it’s green. Like snot.

          • Hammersteyn

            June 5, 2015 at 10:37

            hahaha sies

          • Lord Chaos

            June 5, 2015 at 10:25

            Wholly dependent on where you buy.

          • Hammersteyn

            June 5, 2015 at 10:15

            Hahaha hows that work?

          • Lord Chaos

            June 5, 2015 at 10:03

            When it was still summer and I played GTA V on extreme the highest my CPU went was 52.

          • Captain JJ the_scarrrr

            June 5, 2015 at 10:05

            I’ve had no problems with my AMD gfx card. And I’ve only had Nvidia before. It’s actually running cooler now than my pc has in years.
            Granted, I do use Intel CPUs though.

          • Pariah

            June 5, 2015 at 10:06

            My i7 doesn’t go above that with stock cooling. What kind of cooling are you using?

          • Lord Chaos

            June 5, 2015 at 10:07

            The one that came with it. And that’s with 2 HD7970X2s, also with stock cooling.
            The first alarm only sounds at 65.

        • Lord Chaos

          June 5, 2015 at 09:58

          I’m sorry, I can’t hear you over my R350 electricity bill…

          Reply

    • Captain JJ the_scarrrr

      June 5, 2015 at 10:02

      Yes. Quite. $550 for an i3 is a bit much, regardless of the fact that most game would run perfectly fine with it, seeing as it has that gfx card. But it just feels a bit steep.

      Reply

  11. Mark Treloar

    June 5, 2015 at 10:04

    Dion Wired was selling these with the i3 coming in at R8000. Way overpriced.

    Reply

  12. HairyEwok

    June 5, 2015 at 10:04

    Can Witcher 3 really run on 2gb of GDDR5 though?

    Reply

    • Captain JJ the_scarrrr

      June 5, 2015 at 10:05

      Only until Stamina runs out.

      Reply

    • RinceTheElfRoot

      June 5, 2015 at 10:11

      Depends on what potion you have used and your level of toxicity. If you just drank a PC potion for example your level of toxicity to consoles would be over 9000+

      Reply

      • Captain JJ the_scarrrr

        June 5, 2015 at 10:12

        Yes, but let’s just remember that consoles are venomous, not poisonous. ;P

        Reply

        • RinceTheElfRoot

          June 5, 2015 at 10:13

          Yeah, but both kill 😛

          Reply

          • Blood Emperor Trevor

            June 5, 2015 at 11:56

            How? By being crushed under an Xbox One?

  13. David Weatherhead

    June 5, 2015 at 10:06

    Eish that built in CPU :/ That is the big stickler for me. Would have been great if they stuck with the X51 formula, great gaming PC in tiny package, and upgradeable.

    I do love me that steam controller though! Damn that thing is awesome!

    Reply

  14. CuddlesaurusRex

    June 5, 2015 at 10:10

    Is this supposed to be competition to consoles? I don’t see the point. Surely if you are a Steam user then you already have a PC that will do what you need it to do, and more… If the price was right then maybe…

    Reply

    • Lord Chaos

      June 5, 2015 at 10:10

      The only reason I’d get this is if price comes down and because it’s more portable than a PC.

      Reply

      • CuddlesaurusRex

        June 5, 2015 at 10:15

        Agreed… You may as well get a console with these prices… You even get nifty branded carry bags to look cool when you travel 🙂

        Reply

    • Captain JJ the_scarrrr

      June 5, 2015 at 10:11

      I agree with you. These aren’t meant to replace your pc in most cases, it’s to be used if you travel and such. At that price, it’s just not going to cut it.

      Reply

      • CuddlesaurusRex

        June 5, 2015 at 10:14

        May as well get a PSVita or 3DS then? But yes, these prices are redonkeylous. They taking everything that makes a PC great away and charging a premium for it… Silly.

        Reply

        • Captain JJ the_scarrrr

          June 5, 2015 at 10:20

          Personally I don’t see the appeal in mobile devices, but I see what you’re getting at. A lot of people would rather settle for one of those instead. And I agree on pretty much taking everything away from the perks of a PC.
          That said. I think when it comes to people who are anal about consoles and still believe that in some misguided way pc’s are too expensive, there might be a market. PC gamers aren’t going to buy this, but a guy or girl who has an Xbone and a PS4 already, might want to get one just because of the games available to play.

          Reply

          • CuddlesaurusRex

            June 5, 2015 at 10:26

            I have tried the mobile devices and can’t say I have got my moneys worth from them… Honestly though, I have a PS4 now and if I was inclined to go the way of Steam then I would buy a decent PC. I mean even this limits the games you can play due to the OS restriction… This is a glorified 100-in-1

          • Lord Chaos

            June 5, 2015 at 10:27

            It’s a custom OS, so it should be able to play your entire Steam library. Which makes the portability attractive.

          • CuddlesaurusRex

            June 5, 2015 at 10:32

            That would make more sense. I was refering to the statement in the article “Steam Machines will run on SteamOs, a Linux-based operating system that puts Steam’s Big Picture mode at the forefront. Unfortunately, they’ll only run games that have Linux compatibility – but they’ll allow you to stream your games from another local PC. According to Valve, over a thousand games will be natively supported at launch.”

          • Lord Chaos

            June 5, 2015 at 10:35

            If that is the case it’s just another reason not to buy it, but logic and business would tell me why bring out a product that does not support your entire library.

          • CuddlesaurusRex

            June 5, 2015 at 10:50

            That would be the logical thing to do, otherwise the whole endevour is pretty pointless in my opinion. Maybe it will change.

          • Captain JJ the_scarrrr

            June 5, 2015 at 10:28

            I agree. But you know pc’s, you had them before. Someone who’s only known consoles (and get confused by pc’s like Rince, for example ;P) will want something they can just buy, plug in, and play.

          • CuddlesaurusRex

            June 5, 2015 at 10:30

            Hahahaha, that is a good point. These versions could also be so pricey because they Alienware. Alienware products are generally quite expensive compared to the other options available. There may be a more wallet friendly version on the horizon.

          • Captain JJ the_scarrrr

            June 5, 2015 at 10:33

            Yea. I think it’s a wait and see for now. They need to test the water first anyway.

          • CuddlesaurusRex

            June 5, 2015 at 10:34

            True. It may just be too little too late though. The console type market is pretty covered at the moment.

          • Hammersteyn

            June 5, 2015 at 10:36

            LOL

    • Steffmeister

      June 5, 2015 at 10:50

      I don’t think they are aiming at pc gamers, but people like me who find pc a hastle but PS4/xbox underpowered. I have a decent PC & PS4 but don’t like games on PC. Stil…the price!

      Reply

      • CuddlesaurusRex

        June 5, 2015 at 10:52

        That does make sense but you are right, the price is a tad over the top hey.

        Reply

  15. Rui Tngo

    June 5, 2015 at 10:28

    Holá

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief's Adventure

      June 5, 2015 at 10:34

      Hmmm, not sure if spambot

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        June 5, 2015 at 10:36

      • Lord Chaos

        June 5, 2015 at 10:36

        Only 3 comments. Ban anyway?

        Reply

        • Admiral Chief's Adventure

          June 5, 2015 at 10:37

          I’ll let him live, for now

          Reply

          • Hammersteyn

            June 5, 2015 at 10:38

            At least point him to the COD articles?

      • Rui Tngo

        June 8, 2015 at 13:49

        olá

        Reply

      • Rui Tngo

        June 8, 2015 at 13:50

        que ta

        Reply

  16. Admiral Chief's Adventure

    June 5, 2015 at 10:37

    SteamOS?

    Reply

  17. Steffmeister

    June 5, 2015 at 10:41

    Anyone with better computer hardware knowledge than me…. How do these specs compare to current consoles? They do seem a bit pricey.

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief's Adventure

      June 5, 2015 at 10:42

      Far superior (short answer)

      Reply

    • Captain JJ the_scarrrr

      June 5, 2015 at 10:56

      Considering the $549 option is in the price range of a PS4…..
      The CPU in the Steam Machine is actually better – better base clockspeed
      The RAM in the PS4 is better, though only marginally so.
      The Graphics Cards are actually close-ish.
      You get double the drive space in the Steam Machine though, which I would say is a really nice thing.
      All and all, you’ll score with the Steam Machine more imo, since the games will be way cheaper than those on the PS4 and Xbone.

      Reply

      • Matthew Holliday

        June 5, 2015 at 11:29

        dont forget that these arent all the options available. had a look through their catalogue a while back on steam, the range of prebuilts they had, and the quality of the parts etc, were pretty damn legit.

        Reply

      • Greylingad[CNFRMD]

        June 5, 2015 at 11:45

        That pricing would work if directly converted, we’ll probably see them rolling in at about R8000 to R8500, minimum, whether this is with a controller is debatable, then the difference between CPU and RAM would really only be marginally different, usually RAM (GDDR5 or DDR3/4) only shows a noticeable difference in synthetic benchmarks, for instance, you’ll only see the difference in number of calculations determined outside that of a gaming environment, the fact that the consoles have a “shared” memory configuration does take a lot off of external RAM controllers. Last but not least, the GPU in both are quite mid ranged if compared to a new entry level PC, but having said that, is a bargain on a console….Simply because it’s optimised….

        Reply

        • Captain JJ the_scarrrr

          June 5, 2015 at 14:57

          What you said 😀 You just explain it wayyy better than me.
          Yea. I think you’re right regarding the price there. If it comes in at something that high, a console is a better option probably (unless it’s a case of what games you’re interested in playing – then of course it’s purely subjective).

          Reply

          • Greylingad[CNFRMD]

            June 5, 2015 at 15:57

            Exactly, the other way of looking at it is that if you buy a Steam Machine, you’ll have an infinite amount of games available at launch that will work, without a doubt and the opportunity to save big vs the new price of a console game (R800) vs a Steam sale of 10 Dolla bill yo…

    • Matthew Holliday

      June 5, 2015 at 11:27

      hardware wrecks consoles, the performance is questionable though. console games are optimised better, so you get amazing performance on shitty tech, while master race users have to shoot a bit higher to match them.

      i dont know how good the steam OS is yet, so performance is still up in the air.

      Reply

  18. MakeItLegal

    June 5, 2015 at 10:44

    sold , take my money already

    Reply

  19. Deceased

    June 5, 2015 at 10:56

    Meh, I like my (gaming) race like I like my Mustard… Glorious

    Reply

  20. Chocochata

    June 5, 2015 at 12:18

    Its a little too late but like they say “better late than never!”

    Reply

  21. Earagand

    June 5, 2015 at 14:19

    < col Hiiiiiii Friends…——–.???? ? @mi12//++lazygamer++ < Find More='' ……..''

    ???????????????????????????????????????????????????6

    Reply

  22. Buk Lau

    June 5, 2015 at 17:56

    I’ll stick to the pc I built
    I call it Beast Mode

    I7 what a waste
    The price for that could of went on better things

    But I guess big numbers temp noobs

    Reply

  23. Cyberats

    June 9, 2015 at 03:12

    Don’t they know consoles are dead ? What about the long standing mini MAC ?

    Reply

  24. Cyberats

    June 9, 2015 at 03:12

    $750 for a Steam Controller ? Yuck…

    Reply

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