More details continue to emerge about Valve's upcoming TV-friendly gaming PC, code-named Piston.

A report over at CNET offers some additional details about the recent partnership between Valve and Xi3. A company representative shared details about the specs of the upcoming box -- a project that is being called Piston among its developers. Xi3's plans for the system will be a step up from its current 7 series of PCs. That means at the very least we can expect similar or better specs. The 7 series includes quad core processing chips that run up to 3.2 GHz, and AMD's 383 core Radeon HD 7660G graphics core. The 7 series also supports up to 8 GB of RAM, among other features. Check out the original CNET story for full details. 

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Today Valve and hardware partner Xi3 announced they will showcase a new "development stage computer system" this week at CES. The press release didn't share the PC specifications, but it will be optimized for Big Picture mode and be housed in one of Xi3's modular systems like the one shown above (most likely with a different array of ports). This chassis is roughly the size of a grapefruit and is built to mount on the back of displays.

"Today marks the beginning of a new era for Xi3," said Xi3 CEO Jason A. Sullivan in a press release. "This new development stage product will allow users to take full-advantage of their large high-definition TV displays for an amazing computer game experience. As a result, this new system could provide access to thousands of gaming titles through an integrated system that exceeds the capabilities of leading game consoles, but can fit in the palm of your hand."

You can read the entire press release here.