It’s Steam Machine Time: CyberPowerPC, iBuyPower, Origin, And Zotac
(Pictured: A total bummer)
We’re thankfully done waiting to see what boutique gaming PC builders would come up with to run Valve’s SteamOS. We already got a whiff of Digital Storm’s cooking, and here are several more.
CyberPowerPC Steam Machine
CyberPowerPC has Steam Machines built on both AMD and Intel platforms, with “several configurations” for each that will be fully customizable. The CyberPowerPC Steam A (starts at $499) is an AMD affair, rocking an AMD A6-6400K (3.9GHz) processor and an AMD Radeon R9 270 (2GB) graphics card. The Intel version ($699) has a Core i3-4330 (3.5GHz) with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 (2GB).
Both systems offer a 500GB SATA 3Gbps (7200rpm) HDD, 8GB of DDR3-1600MHz RAM, miniITX motherboard with built-in WiFi and Bluetooth, and the same chassis. They’ll also ship with a Steam Controller.
iBuypower SBX Steam Machine
iBuypower’s black-with-glowing-green (or white-with-glowing-yellow) SBX Steam Machine is similar to CyberPowerPC’s options in that it’s dedicated specifically to SteamOS as opposed to doubling as a Windows/SteamOS system, and it also comes in AMD and Intel flavors. The company, however, didn’t provide much in the way of exact specifications, although iBuypower did say that it will cost $499 and ship with a Steam controller.
Above: Origin PC Chronos Steam Machine; below: SLI version, interior
Taking a completely different approach, Origin PC’s Steam Machines will be fully tricked-out high-end affairs. Origin wasn’t precise on the specifications, but the company made it clear that users will be able to configure their systems high-end components from the usual suspects, a combination of SSD and HDD storage, Origin’s Frostbyte CPU liquid cooling, and factory overclocking.
The Origin PC Chronos Steam Machine will have two versions, a standard (up to 6TB of total storage) and an SLI (up to 14TB). The latter will boast up to dual NVIDIA Titan GPUs in SLI, and both will dual-boot SteamOS and Windows and ship with the Steam Controller.
Zotac Zbox Steam Machine
Zotac, for its part, doesn’t appear to have nailed things down on the SteamOS front yet. Its Steam Machine will be called the Zotac Zbox Steam Machine. Launching sometime in Q2 2014, it will offer Intel processors and NVIDIA GTX GPUs and will come bundled with a Steam Controller, but that’s all the company has divulged in terms of specifications. The chassis will be similar to what we’ve come to expect from Zotac. There’s no word on pricing.
Although there are some details yet to be revealed, it’s clear that Steam Machines will be available in a variety of configurations and at myriad price points, from $499 dedicated consoles to beastly dual-boot rigs.
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