SteamBox, will it really pack a punch?

omegageneralm

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Can a box so small really deliver an experience as good as current high end Gaming?
 
Can a box so small really deliver an experience as good as current high end Gaming?
I know the reply is late, but have you seen the specs of some of these boxes?

The Xi3 base model Piston will be running an AMD "quad core Trinity 3.2GHz" CPU (presumably the A8 5500, but not confirmed), AMD Radeon 7000-series GPU, 8GB RAM and an 128GB SSD.
RoundsDownRange's base model IMPACT will have an Intel i7 4770K CPU, custom Nvidia GTX 680 (made by EVGA), 8GB RAM and 32GB SSD + 500GB mechanical.
 
I know the reply is late, but have you seen the specs of some of these boxes?

The Xi3 base model Piston will be running an AMD "quad core Trinity 3.2GHz" CPU (presumably the A8 5500, but not confirmed), AMD Radeon 7000-series GPU, 8GB RAM and an 128GB SSD.
RoundsDownRange's base model IMPACT will have an Intel i7 4770K CPU, custom Nvidia GTX 680 (made by EVGA), 8GB RAM and 32GB SSD + 500GB mechanical.

I bet the prices reflect it too mate, Surely we are just better sticking as we are, I mean its just a PC in a smaller box it will be good don't get me wrong but from what I can gather the whole purpose is for big picture mode I currently have 350+ games on steam but not even 10% show in big picture mode when I change to it I know that's not going to be the same for everyone but there just aren't that many games that support it, My opinion so far from my limited knowledge about the steambox save your money and buy a very good lappy and stick it under the TV wire it with hdmi and set steam to boot on start in big picture mode you will still be able to play games at full spec and save a couple of hundred quid in the process, I bought a median laptop at christmas for about £450 and I've yet to find a game I can't play at full spec. Just my opinion/rant lol.
 
I bet the prices reflect it too mate, Surely we are just better sticking as we are, I mean its just a PC in a smaller box it will be good don't get me wrong but from what I can gather the whole purpose is for big picture mode I currently have 350+ games on steam but not even 10% show in big picture mode when I change to it I know that's not going to be the same for everyone but there just aren't that many games that support it, My opinion so far from my limited knowledge about the steambox save your money and buy a very good lappy and stick it under the TV wire it with hdmi and set steam to boot on start in big picture mode you will still be able to play games at full spec and save a couple of hundred quid in the process, I bought a median laptop at christmas for about £450 and I've yet to find a game I can't play at full spec. Just my opinion/rant lol.

Why even bother a lappy, you can get a small case PC with a decent video card for under £500.
 
Just build an itx system, use the bit fenix prodigy case it makes a perfect small system that can still fit a powerful system inside including full length gtx card :)
 
I bet the prices reflect it too mate, Surely we are just better sticking as we are, I mean its just a PC in a smaller box it will be good don't get me wrong but from what I can gather the whole purpose is for big picture mode I currently have 350+ games on steam but not even 10% show in big picture mode when I change to it I know that's not going to be the same for everyone but there just aren't that many games that support it, My opinion so far from my limited knowledge about the steambox save your money and buy a very good lappy and stick it under the TV wire it with hdmi and set steam to boot on start in big picture mode you will still be able to play games at full spec and save a couple of hundred quid in the process, I bought a median laptop at christmas for about £450 and I've yet to find a game I can't play at full spec. Just my opinion/rant lol.
True, but the question was about performance, not price ;)
 
I know the reply is late, but have you seen the specs of some of these boxes?

The Xi3 base model Piston will be running an AMD "quad core Trinity 3.2GHz" CPU (presumably the A8 5500, but not confirmed), AMD Radeon 7000-series GPU, 8GB RAM and an 128GB SSD.
RoundsDownRange's base model IMPACT will have an Intel i7 4770K CPU, custom Nvidia GTX 680 (made by EVGA), 8GB RAM and 32GB SSD + 500GB mechanical.

Some follow ups to this:

  • The operating system, SteamOS, will be released free of charge. However, launch date is not yet available.
  • SteamBox has been rebranded as Steam Machine prior to launch, and will be sold on a good, better, best hardware structure.
  • Plus Valve intends for SteamOS and Steam Machine "consoles" to be able to stream from the owners gaming rig to the connected TV - basically creating an ad hoc, OnLive-esque system over your local network. Details are pending, so minimum spec is not yet known.
 
I would imagine that you will need a .ac Wifi setup for your average HD PC gaming rig setup. G/N won't cut it IMHO.
 
Performance will likely be dependent on which model is purchased. Prices are ranging from $500 - $1500. They spec out better than XB1 and PS4. Don't know how upgradable they will be.
 
I wonder if steambox will sell as much as current ps4 or xbox one.

As often happens in the run-up-to, and 18+ months after, the launch of a new gen of consoles, PC game sales are on the wane. The console platform has been king for most casual gamers for more than a decade (and many PC gamers also own at least one console platform).

But the PC hardware market has been in decline for longer. Casual users, and even some power users, are making the switch to laptops and tablets.

Also Steam Machines will be produced by a number of different manufacturers (many of whom were at CES 2014), so you'd have to combine the figures from the 13 different manufacturing partners. But this ignores that the OS is available for those who want to build their own Steam Machine. So it's likely we'll never know, unless Valve release figures showing the number of Steam OS devices.
 
The quality of the available software will determine its success - if you can really play PC games on this with all the customisation of controls and teh use of a keyboard it could be a game breaker !
 
i am looking forward to seeing how the steam box compares with my xb1 i like steam just hoping the branch out will be a great one
 
I think the most important thing about the steam box will be how it integrates other streaming services such as netflix, if it integrates at all
 
I like the idea of the steambox/machine. something I can connect to my tv and have it almost insteantly ready to play a game when the mood takes me. I have had a PS3 in the past and spent a lot of money in the store, which is waste now the PS4 is out and not backwards compaitble.

My PS3 died (it was an old one that was soft modded too).

So I turned to steam for my games and now have just over 650 of them. I've been through 3 PC's since I started and each time I could still play my games.

I am assuming that games will be installed locally (as they are now) as I wasnt too impressed with onlive streaming when I tried it through my pc, but it was when it had just started.
 
... I am assuming that games will be installed locally (as they are now) as I wasnt too impressed with onlive streaming when I tried it through my pc, but it was when it had just started.
That will depend on whether you go for a Machine or the Link...

The Steam Link plugs into your TV, and you then stream from your gaming rig, across your LAN/WLAN, to your Link.

On the other hand, a Steam Machine is a standalone PC of varying hardware, running SteamOS (if bought from the Steam Store), but that can run Windows and other x86/x64 operating systems. Should you be unhappy with the graphics performance in a particular game, SteamOS will still allow you to stream from your gaming rig to your Steam Machine.
 
I wonder if it would be worth purchasing this over a console, mainly for offline gaming?
 
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