SteamMachine

The specs for the initial reference Steam Machines from Valve included just Intel and NVidia hardware. That, quite naturally, threw some who prefer AMD’s hardware off – thinking that Valve had some sort of shady deals in place, or a clear preference for the hardware they hadn’t pledged their lives to. In today’s non-news, Valve has clarified, saying that yes, AMD steam Machines are on the way.“Last week, we posted some technical specs of our first wave of Steam Machine prototypes,” said Valve spokesman Doug Lombardi. “Although the graphics hardware that we’ve selected for the first wave of prototypes is a variety of NVidia cards, that is not an indication that Steam Machines are NVidia-only. In 2014, there will be Steam Machines commercially available with graphics hardware made by AMD, NVidia, and Intel. Valve has worked closely together with all three of these companies on optimizing their hardware for SteamOS, and will continue to do so into the foreseeable future.”

So why is this non-news? Valve had already stated that people could build their own Steam Machines – and precluding AMD would be a stupid thing indeed. And we know that Valve is not quite that stupid. More interesting is the prospect of a Steam Machine running Intel graphics hardware.

Why would anybody want that?

I am really keen to see how well a game, using bleeding edge PC hardware and optimised for SteamOS, will run. If Pc developers are able to access the hardware at a low enough level without too much OS overhead, they could end up making consoles look quite silly indeed.

Thanks to EK for the tip.

Last Updated: October 10, 2013

1.1
was reviewed on PC

27 Comments

  1. Bob the Zealot

    October 10, 2013 at 12:05

    Admiral, why don’t you come over to the Nvidia/Intel side of the PC? Search your soul, you know it to be true.

    Reply

    • Weanerdog

      October 10, 2013 at 14:09

      He couldn’t get a second mortgage on the soul.

      Reply

  2. Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

    October 10, 2013 at 12:07

    Intel graphics? What gamer!? Although considering it will be running OpenGL and not DirectX, I guess intel graphics could handle the demand.

    Reply

    • TiMsTeR1033

      October 10, 2013 at 12:13

      Perhaps…

      Reply

      • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

        October 10, 2013 at 12:15

        Well they will have to use OpenGL coz DirectX is a Microsoft exclusive tech that has to run on a windows environment

        Reply

        • TiMsTeR1033

          October 10, 2013 at 12:31

          I never knew that! I always wondered sometimes, why think was linux ran games in openGL.. Or maybe was something else.

          Reply

          • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

            October 10, 2013 at 12:32

            Linux uses openGL. Wine has some DX9 emulation but not the best.

            So yeah, Linux does indeed use OpenGL

          • Bamm Gabriana

            October 11, 2013 at 07:53

            Linux can run DirectX via Wine.

    • Wesley Fick

      October 10, 2013 at 12:17

      Iris Pro and the HD4600 GPU are actually potent enough for 720p and low-medium settings with stable and playable framerates. And seeing as Iris Pro will be popping up everywhere as it gets cheaper, its only a matter of time before budget buyers, system builders and developers start taking it into account.

      Reply

      • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

        October 10, 2013 at 12:20

        Precisely. And OpenGL isn’t as demanding as DX. So the intel chips graphics should be strong enough 🙂

        Reply

    • Devourer of Small Bunnies

      October 10, 2013 at 12:18

      Dude, get this, Watch Dogs will run on intels HD5200 iris. I think theyre catching up tbh

      Reply

    • Kromas

      October 10, 2013 at 12:32

      Mantle FTW!

      Reply

  3. Devourer of Small Bunnies

    October 10, 2013 at 12:18

    Im interested to see how these will be modular especially considering their size. Are we looking at getting steam machine ports/slots/adapters?

    I have a million questions in all honesty..

    Reply

  4. ALKi1234

    October 10, 2013 at 12:24

    Lets be realistic about one thing before we get ahead of ourselves. Your going to pay a shait load of money for a steam box…..in south africa at least.

    Reply

    • Weanerdog

      October 10, 2013 at 14:11

      Why would it be any more expensive than any comparable PC? and the OS is free.

      Reply

      • ALKi1234

        October 10, 2013 at 14:24

        All i’m saying don’t get your hopes up. it’s going to be expensive. i would rather ask a friend in the US to import one. They said the entry level one is going for $500 or something like that. Realistically that would translate to R7500-R8000. just imagine the top of the range system.

        Reply

  5. Admiral Chief of Rivia

    October 10, 2013 at 12:24

    Yes, this tip is from me. AMD FTW

    Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      October 10, 2013 at 12:25

      Erwinning tip!

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief of Rivia

        October 10, 2013 at 12:25

        Awwww yea!

        Reply

  6. Johan Fourie

    October 10, 2013 at 12:45

    Groovy.

    Reply

  7. Gavin Mannion

    October 10, 2013 at 12:57

    I’m pretty sure that’s a high powered washer not a steam machine….

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief of Rivia

      October 10, 2013 at 13:20

      Yes, AMD is high powered.

      Reply

  8. Uberutang

    October 10, 2013 at 13:20

    Not going to work unless AMD gives some mad linux driver support.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Check Also

God of War Heads to PC Available January 14, 2022

Sony has been making moves in the PC market for a couple of years by re-releasing some of …