PC Steam machine great spec for price *doubters were wrong

I remember a lot of people were having doubts it wasn't going be that good at a price of 500 dollars but one of the first steam prototypes from iBuyerPower that has better hardware than next gen is for that much money. That could means other will have a similar price for entry with that kind of hardware since they are obviously working some kind of deal with the hardware manufacturer.

Looks like some people were skeptical at first about the price since it was from a third party source but if iBuyerPower has one for that price rest assured Valve will offer something great for the money.

But how do we eat candy?

there are 6 threads on this, pc is a hot topic. most gamers and games for a reason.

True some did not believe the steam machines will be much for that amount. I even made a thread on this and some said we weren't going get much out of it.

Don't we just know the GPU? what are the other specs? and what is the performance on Steam OS, and how many big name titles will be available for it?

@CroidX:

Pretty much this I can't even imagine what the higher tier ones will cost probably something damn good for that much money.

@lostrib:

We know the CPU will be multicore not sure what it is at this moment but a fair amount of CPU current and older can outdo the next gen ones so it could easily be better as I do not believe they will put a very weak CPU that will bottleneck it. Also it comes with a 500 gb harddrive and wifi so that's all we know but no way will they release the thing with a crappy PSU that's just suicide.

Valve said many big game developers will be working on AAA title for the OS and as far as we know there games run better on it due to lower access.

Can't we install window OS to play any games not on the steamOS?

@lostrib:

multi core AMD

500GB harddrive

comes with its wifi and blueray

I'm confident when valve said there will be many big developers working for the steamOS they haven't given a reason not to doubt them.

@TheFadeForever: the only reason not to doubt them is because they're Valve. There are reasons aplenty to doubt.

@Basinboy:

They have a good track record and aren't dishonest like other publishers and we seen time and time again that they are faithful to their users.

By the time those machines are on sale, the hardware inside them will cost even less to buy and use to build a system yourself.

@TheFadeForever: there's a sizable difference between making software and selling hardware, especially when the overall product is much more than just a box. Valve is selling an idea, a promise to both consumers and developers at this point. There's no guarantee they can build it into a viable gaming option - but the model has some significant advantages unmatched by competitors

Pretty terrible price for what you are getting. Predicting dead on arrival.

Um how so?

This thread isn't about X-Boner

@Basinboy:

They worked with publishers before with some good results in the software that promise seems like it will deliver well long as Valve is careful

Or I could build/buy a HTPC that can run actual steam client, and play a couple thousand other games on the TV that aren't on steam, not to mention do hundreds of other things for about the same price.

This thing is a waste, the vast majority of its sales will be to PC fanboys that already use steam.

Consoles will still beat it to death in the living room because most people don't care about steambox. They want a wiiu, ps3, ps4, xbox 360 or a xbox one and be able to play all of the big name cross platform stuff on with a well established online community and play a myriad of indie games on them also. Moms and dads don't know what it is and wont buy it, most kids want a real console, the rest like me wont really care because they already have a PC and consoles.

you can install windows on it

Sounds like an interesting device - I will keep an eye on it. Especially since my computer is getting a little old these days.

All my friends are getting this instead of Xbone. They want a gamer machine, not a cabalbox

Lol, you don't have friends

@TheFadeForever: Keep your fingers crossed. I like the idea, but can it appeal to the mass gaming populace without exclusive titles? And can they get the modding community to support SteamOS to provide their platform with content?

same.

this way we can easily switch between ps4 and pc games while in the living room.

One minute killzone the other minute starcraftII or planetside2

Well thats the problem if you wanna stay cost effective, you use a weak ass cpu since PC games generally underutilize cpu... and how much ram does it have, can it even run windows?

until we get full specs, its probably garbage.

@Basinboy:

It can be marketed as a cheap entry gaming PC so people interested in playing on the PC don't have to dish out as much cash at start. Offering affordable experience without the high up front cost. Valve has been big supporters in modding and have a sizable modding community for their games that can be played on the SteamOS which is a start.

@BeardMaster:

Yes it can run windows and there no indication it will be a weak cpu giving that next gen console are using low end ones already which can be beaten by much older CPU.

Without full specs its a crapshoot though, and with the ps4 and xbox one coming in at cost. They gotta make profit somewhere, unfortunately there is just no room for profit unless they cheap out on everything besides the gpu. Which would also explain why full specs arent available.

@BeardMaster:

Its a prototype they will reveal more later its not like SONY and Microsoft gave the full specs when they first revealed there console. Ram is cheap so that's not a big concern and next gen console already have weak CPU that can be beaten by older lesser cores that don't cost as much it can easily have a better one just like the GPU.

They made deals with the hardware manufacture using off the self parts

@BeardMaster:

There using off the self parts for these steam machines similar on how console are built it will cost them less to build.

RAM aint cheap, in fact its incredibly expensive due to the chinese plant that burnt down but produced like 40% of the world's RAM. Has doubled in cost over the past year.

Simply put these consoles are manufactured basically at cost, if ibuypower is trying to sell steam boxes and make a profit with a more expensive gpu, they have to be cutting costs somewhere... and that somewhere is likely everything besides the gpu. Which is why they only tell you the GPU, and dont tell you any other specs.

You don't know what you are talking about.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/29tAI

CPU: AMD FX-4130 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($79.99 @ Newegg)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($29.99 @ Newegg)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($52.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Toshiba 500GB 2.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($50.68 @ SuperBiiz)

Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 270 2GB Video Card ($182.98 @ SuperBiiz)

Case: HEC Enterprise MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($9.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: CoolMax 600W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($19.99 @ Microcenter)

Total: $426.61 (Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.) (Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-27 02:14 EST-0500)

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The above parts are retail prices and each part has a profit margin.

Use pcpartspicker.com to add other items.

@BeardMaster:

Like someone said they are using off the self parts they do not need to cut back by giving weak hardware they will sell it more and build for less

SteamOS doesn't run with DirectX/WDDM. Have you read AMD's APU13 dev summit on $hit is PC's Direct3D/WDDM with CPU multi-threading?

I know exactly what im talking about, ibuypower always sells their pre built rigs at a premium to self built rigs. Find a single ibuypower rig, then compare the equivalent self built rig cost. They arent selling hardware to break even.

Not to mention it includes the cost of a controller.

EDIT: and not to mention alot of the crap you listed doesnt actually add up, i assume its after rebate stuff. Rebate scams dont work on a steambox tho. Since you probably know the rebate scams and how one third of purchasers dont turn in the rebate or fill it out incorrectly, which is why PC parts have a heavy rebate emphasis.

My selected parts includes profit margins. iBuyPower's ASP (asking price) is higher than my selected parts.

Again, without the rebate scams, which allow lower sales prices than usual.

But even just checking your memory, looks to be $77 on newegg (and thats actually slower memory).

You should really include links.

EDIT: NM saw the part picker link, but yea yur memory is sold out bro. Thats the inherent flaw of using firesales during black friday week *results not typical.

Rebates are not scams. As for memory, I'm using 8GB DDR3 1600 Mhz memory on my Mini-ITX box that includes Intel Core i5-2500K with AMD Radeon HD R9-290.

1866Mhz DDR3 is faster than my LAN party box's main memory. For the cost vs performance, I don't see going beyond 1600 Mhz as a requirement for PS4 beating box (i.e. it's CPU has access to main memory via ~20 GB/s pipe) and the main focus should be with the GPU and it's VRAM.

My other rig has 16 GB DDR3 at 2133Mhz and it's crossfired with 7970-925Mhz and 7950-900Mhz".

I'll most likely upgrade my Mini-ITX box, but there's very little need for it.

Rebates are scams in that there is a reason they offer rebates vs just reduced prices.

Companies expect profit off people that dont submit the rebates, fill them out incorrectly, or dont cash the rebate check.

and yea see the edit, i was recently trying to build my friend a new PC, and i noticed the memory costs were not even close to what you had budgeted. The memory you listed is sold out and unavailable to purchase, far cheaper than any memory i was able to find. I assume its because of some black friday sale that sold out quickly.

Not to mention the mobo you have only supports slow ass 1333 memory well below either console, so that ram is getting bottlenecked by the mobo. And it doesnt have a single usb 3.0 port.

Im sorry but consoles are selling at near cost, simple logic dictates its impossible for you to match performance while maintaining a healthy profit margin, which companies creating steam boxes require.

Sorry but yur shit PC build isnt gonna compete with consoles, can try your tricks on other consolites, but as a lifelong PC gamer, i know garbage components when i see em.

You may not like rebates, they are not scams. Please prove they are scams. As for the links, click on http://pcpartpicker.com/p/29tAI

For the 1866Mhz memory models, there are other alternatives close to $52.99 price range. refer to http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/memory/#z=8192&sort=a10&s=301600,301866,302000,302133,302400,302600,302666,302800,302933,303000

G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory = $54.99 , http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f32133c10d8gxm As of my posting's date and time, it's in stock.

MSI FM2-A55M-E33 = $29.99 http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-motherboard-fm2a55me33 This mobo supports DDR3-1066/1333/1600/1866.

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Note that PS4's CPU is limited to 20 GB/s access to main memory. http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/154924-secrets-of-the-ps4-heavily-modified-radeon-supercharged-apu-design/2 Most of PS4's memory bandwidth is geared towards the GPU.

For the CPU side, PC's a dual channel DDR3-1333Mhz with 10GB/s x 2 = 20 GB/s would cover it. Like the PS4, R9-270 would carry most of the system bandwidth. R9-270's 2 GB GDDR5 VRAM is big enough for streaming data without being gimped like X1's 32 MB ESRAM.

The iBuyPower's Steam box wasn't designed to target top PC benchmarking scores , but targeted to deliver real 1080p gaming and beat PS4..

Please note that certain cows talks about being out-of- stock as a badge of honour.

Your $hit post doesn't compete with the following

1. actual capabilities of PS4's CPU's 20 GB/s access to memory.

2. downclock 1333Mhz memory bus with a real fat out-of-order X86 CPU. In terms practical results (i.e. frame rates and resolution), my LAN party PC with Intel Core i5-2500K (overclock disabled) + down clock 1333 Mhz memory with Radeon HD 7950-900Mhz beats X1 and PS4.

Any PC worth it's salt has the capability emulate a lesser PCs disprove $hit your claims.

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PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/29xMb Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/29xMb/by_merchant/ Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/29xMb/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 740 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($74.99 @ Newegg)

Motherboard: MSI FM2-A55M-E33 Micro ATX FM2 Motherboard ($29.99 @ Newegg)

Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($52.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Toshiba 500GB 2.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($50.68 @ SuperBiiz)

Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 270 2GB Video Card ($182.98 @ SuperBiiz)

Case: HEC Enterprise MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($9.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: CoolMax 600W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($19.99 @ Microcenter)

Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $434.60 (Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.) (Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-27 06:53 EST-0500)

It has enough margin between $434.60 to $499 for other items e.g. controller.

I don't see X1 or PS4's component quality being superior to the above PC build.

Well... Valve can not do worse than MS, can they XD If MS managed to sell 1M of their awful 720p 500$ consoles then Valve can double that for sure.

As i stated before, as far as they kick Microsoft out of the industry, i am fine. We need companies who bring value to gaming, not pollute it with greed mentality