Its got a 1TB SSD in it! They are over $1000 on there own!
Valve Backed PC to Appear at CES 2013
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Its got a 1TB SSD in it! They are over $1000 on there own!
Up to 1Tb storage, I didn't see any mention it was an SSD.
Looks like an interesting concept, though I'm unsure on how many people will choose this over a console.
Also not that that is a starting price of under $1000, suggesting that will be the cheapest option.
I seriously don't think they know what they want this thing to be. Its a gaming PC designed for Steam, yet can run 3 HD monitors...? Who has 3 TVs in their living room.
Its just a company who have built a funky SFF case who are desperately trying to find a market to sell it in.
If that price is correct then it's close to £600.
With response times and specifications/restrictions of televisions I'm not sure, (if money was no object) that I'd really want to play on my living room TV.
I bust out the PS3 from time to time but I don't get the same satisfaction out of it, personally.
With response times and specifications/restrictions of televisions I'm not sure, (if money was no object) that I'd really want to play on my living room TV.
I bust out the PS3 from time to time but I don't get the same satisfaction out of it, personally.
Hmmn, well in that case I say its too expensive.
The running 3 monitors thing would probably just be because their using standard graphics cards, which have 3 outputs and are all capable of powering 3 monitors (even if they can't handle games across all 3), cheaper to include the extra ports than engineer their removal.
The running 3 monitors thing would probably just be because their using standard graphics cards, which have 3 outputs and are all capable of powering 3 monitors (even if they can't handle games across all 3), cheaper to include the extra ports than engineer their removal.
See I'm the other way round. I play a lot of things like Dirt and F1 on my PC that I would much rather play on my 40" TV. My Gaming PC is far superior to my consoles, even though some components are really old. I'm seriously considering running a 15m HDMI cable to my living room TV and using a wireless 360 pad to play my games on my TV.
So a Steam box is right up my street.
But this thing just... doesn't make sense. I could make something far more powerful for less money, and be able to easily upgrade it in the future. The mobo is custom, although the RAM and cPU will be interchangeable. There is no mention of an upgradable GPU though, as I expect its a custom build onboard thing.
Theres just so much stuff from the X7A concept that is not needed in the Piston concept. Drop 2 of the 3 video outputs, drop the mass of eSATA and USB ports. Free up the space inside for a proper mobile graphics card that can be upgraded and they might be onto something.
As it stands, it looks like its $1000 (at least) for a semi decent desktop PC squashed into a funky looking small case. Nothing more, and most definitely not optimised for gaming.
Remember, this is not a box that has been designed from the ground up to be a Steam gaming PC. Its a small PC concept that they have stuck some Piston stickers on.
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With it being modular it's a winner if down the line there is some really advanced GPU parts for it (3rd party competition?). Maybe a slow starter out of the blocks but could be make consoles look foolish in 5 years time in performance and value.
Obviously cutting edge is always going to be bigger form factor. Higher resolutions/graphics etc
Obviously cutting edge is always going to be bigger form factor. Higher resolutions/graphics etc
There is no confirmation that the GPU will be upgradable. I know that 'no information' doesn't mean 'no', but they have confirmed that the CPU and the RAM will be upgradable, so its intriguing that they have chosen to not comment on the GPU, especially as this is meant to be a gaming PC.
Note however that the OFFICIAL spec hasn't been announced at all. They've just shown off the Piston cases, and all we know is that it has a Quad core in there.
The spec and price that is being touted around is from the Kickstarter project.
What the actual Steam Box's hardware will contain, and it's price is as yet unknown.
It's obviously the same case and will be similar internals, but I highly doubt they'll be a 1TB SSD in it, nor will Valve try to sell it for $1000.
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They have confirmed that the internals of the Piston are the same as the X7A, but as the Piston is still in development that may change, your right.
They are pretty open about the price point though, and no matter what anyone says, $1000 is still a lot of money.
The HDMI option would be much cheaper!
Exactly! I was actually really looking forward to a Linux based streamlined mini PC designed to run nothing but Steam that would be a few hundred quid that I could connect up to my TV. This has bummed me out a bit.
Y splitter from my graphics card so my monitor and TV are mirrored (to avoid having to fiddle around with monitor settings every time I wanted to play on the TV), wireless 360 pad and a wireless headset and your off. The only reason I haven't done this is because the GF wont let me run cables around the house
.A massively overpriced mini PC that has the graphics power of an off the shelf basic PC, no thanks.
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If you can't upgrade the gpu (some sort of mobile/low power one) then it's a miss
If this is a "Steam Box" It won't be the only one so I wouldn't read too deeply into the price etc as I'm sure their will be sub $600-500 units that can play any modern game at a reasonable res/settings but wouldn't be very future proof 
I think anything that is going to tickle out standard of gameplay is about to cost £500-700, think of a high spec PC in a tiny form factory its found to have some high pricing around it! There shall be cheaper options as well which I would have thought would cover the £100-300 spectrum (£100 maybe to rival Ouya playing basic Indie games only/classics), I'm not sure how easy it is for Valve to control access to Steam on which games will work for each system.
I think anything that is going to tickle out standard of gameplay is about to cost £500-700, think of a high spec PC in a tiny form factory its found to have some high pricing around it! There shall be cheaper options as well which I would have thought would cover the £100-300 spectrum (£100 maybe to rival Ouya playing basic Indie games only/classics), I'm not sure how easy it is for Valve to control access to Steam on which games will work for each system.
If they can sell them cheaply enough I'd imagine these will be more popular than Raspberry Pi just as non-Steam miniature PC's, releasing a version with a conventional hard drive rather than a 1TB SSD should take a huge chunk off of the price.
I said low pricepoint, turns out its not that low
Valve will most likely do what console manufacturers do, subsidise the cost of the console.
Work with Nvidia and adapt the Tegra 4 so it can be placed in a small modular pc that can fit in a box
......wait.
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