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Some Valve Steam Machine Prototypes Coming With NVidia Titans
Valve has just revealed new details about the specs for the prototype Steam Machines. These beta devices are decked out with some pretty powerful innards.
Valve will be shipping out 300 prototypes with the following specifications:
- GPU: some units with NVidia Titan, some GTX780, some GTX760, and some GTX660
- CPU: some boxes with Intel: i7-4770, some i5-4570, and some i3
- RAM: 16GB DDR3-1600 (CPU), 3GB DDR5 (GPU)
- Storage: 1TB/8GB Hybrid SSHD
- Power Supply: Internal 450w 80Plus Gold
- Dimensions: approx. 12 x 12.4 x 2.9 in high
A cursory check on Newegg.com reveals that the video cards start as low as $200 with the GTX660, but go up as high as about $1,000 for the Titan. The i3 is about $110, the i5-4570 is about $200, and the i7-4770 is about $300.
Assuming that the top video cards are paired with the top processors, the price range for the Steam Machines specified above are about $610 to $1,600 before the cost of the case. The mid-range model (assuming an i5 paired with the two middle tier graphics cards) would be between $750 - $1,250.
"In the future we'll talk about how Steam will help customers understand the differences between machines, hardware strengths and weaknesses, and upgrade decisions," a post on Valve's Steam website states.
[Source: Valve]
Our Take
I'm interested to see how Valve approaches communicating the benefits and differences in the different machines to those gamers that aren't currently embedded in PC gaming. I'm also confused by some of the other statements in the post, specifically the part in which Valve says that the prototypes are not meant to replace high-end gaming PCs.
I understand that gamers who already have great rigs might want to use a Steam Machine for streaming, but if a machine with a Titan and i7-4770 isn't meant to rival a gaming PC, then what exactly is the hook?
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