Xi3's Piston Steambox Available to Pre-order, Starts at $900
It's not a question of if there's a Steambox on the horizon, but when and for how much. How does right now and under $1,000 float your boat? Xi3 Corporation is now accepting pre-orders for its "Piston Console" PC, otherwise known as the Steambox, or at least one version of it (with Valve playing it coy, it's entirely possible other PC makers might build their own versions of the Steambox).
The Piston starts at $1,000 though there's a $100 discount for anyone who places a pre-order between now and the end of SXSW 2013, which concludes on Sunday, March 17th. Xi3 is expecting these things to sell like hotcakes.
"Given the amount of awards, media attention and gamer interest the Piston Console has generated since it was unveiled at CES 2013 in January, we’ve become seriously concerned that we will not be able to meet the demand for Piston Consoles this year," said Jason A. Sullivan, founder, president and CEO of Xi3 Corporation. "That’s why we have decided to begin accepting pre-orders on our Piston Console, beginning today with the start of the SXSW Gaming Expo. Gaming Expo attendees will also get the benefit of being the first to see the Piston Console in action."
The $1,000 model ($900 on pre-order) comes with a 3.2GHz quad-core processor, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB solid state drive. Other specs, including the graphics chip, have not yet been revealed, though we know the system is derived from the X7A Modular (that system boasts a Radeon 7000 Series GPU). In terms of storage options, you can bump up to a 256GB SSD for an additional $340 or 512GB for $750.
So, anyone planning to pick up a Piston?
The Piston starts at $1,000 though there's a $100 discount for anyone who places a pre-order between now and the end of SXSW 2013, which concludes on Sunday, March 17th. Xi3 is expecting these things to sell like hotcakes.
"Given the amount of awards, media attention and gamer interest the Piston Console has generated since it was unveiled at CES 2013 in January, we’ve become seriously concerned that we will not be able to meet the demand for Piston Consoles this year," said Jason A. Sullivan, founder, president and CEO of Xi3 Corporation. "That’s why we have decided to begin accepting pre-orders on our Piston Console, beginning today with the start of the SXSW Gaming Expo. Gaming Expo attendees will also get the benefit of being the first to see the Piston Console in action."
The $1,000 model ($900 on pre-order) comes with a 3.2GHz quad-core processor, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB solid state drive. Other specs, including the graphics chip, have not yet been revealed, though we know the system is derived from the X7A Modular (that system boasts a Radeon 7000 Series GPU). In terms of storage options, you can bump up to a 256GB SSD for an additional $340 or 512GB for $750.
So, anyone planning to pick up a Piston?
