Steam Unveils Steam Machine Prototype Details

When it comes to PC gaming the Steam Machine could very well be the most exciting development in quite some time. After all, it’s bringing the PC to an area it’s not normally known for dominating in, the living room TV, and it’s promising to marry both the power and flexibility of a PC with the ease of use of a console. Until this time, though, we’ve had no real idea about what the Steam Machines will be built with.

Valve has answered that question with a blog post in their Steam Universe group. For the 300 prototypes that Valve is sending off, they’re looking at testing out the machine that “a significant percentage of Steam users would actually want to purchase – those who want plenty of performance in a high-end living room package.” Here are the specs they’ll be using:

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 GDDR5 (GPU)
Storage: 1TB/8GB Hybrid SSHD
Power Supply: Internal 450w 80Plus Gold
Dimensions: approx. 12 x 12.4 x 2.9 in high

Woah. NVidia Titan’s?! i7’s?! As awesome as it might be to get one of those machines, I have to say that those systems are not going to be cheap for anybody. Luckily, unlike actual consoles, Valve says that “(a)part from the custom enclosure, anyone can go and build exactly the same machine by shopping for components and assembling it themselves. And we expect that at least a few people will do just that.” And since it’s just going to be running their new SteamOS, you’ll know that your personal “Steam Machine” will work just like an official one. So really, while you can spend the money to make up your own Steam Machine, there’s just one component you can’t buy off the shelf quite yet: Steam’s custom controller.