The prototypes will be based on Nvidia GPUs and Intel CPUs.
The Steam Universe group page has been updated with the specs of Valve's prototypes being distributed to
300 testers later this month. Valve also explains the creation of its own hardware set given there will be plenty
of partners on board offering complete Steam Machines solutions. Valve designer Greg "Gregori" Coomer says
the company wanted to accomplish some specific design goals that in the past others weren't yet tackling.
"One of them was to combine high-end power with a living-room-
friendly form factor," he writes. "Another was to help us test living-
room scenarios on a box that's as open as possible. So for our
own first prototype Steam Machine (the one we're shipping to 300
Steam users), we've chosen to build something special."
That something special will feature units with either a Nvidia Titan,
GTX 780, GTX 760 or GTX 660 GPU. On the CPU front, some boxes
will have Intel's Core i7-4770, some with the Core i5-4750, and
some with Core i3 processors. Available RAM will be 16 GB
DDR3-1600 (CPU) and 3 GB DDR5 (GPU), and storage will be
provided by a hybrid SSHD with 1 TB for storage and 8 GB for cache. Power will be handled by an internal
450 watt 80 Plus Gold power supply.
As for the actual living-room friendly size, the prototype dimensions will be 12 x 12.4 x 2.9 inches. To put
that into perspective, the upcoming Xbox One will supposedly measure 10.86 x 13.18 x 2.96, making this
prototype roughly the same size.
"The prototype machine is a high-end, high-performance box, built out of off-the-shelf PC parts," Coomer
writes. "It is also fully upgradable, allowing any user to swap out the GPU, hard drive, CPU, even the
motherboard if you really want to. Apart 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. We'll also share the source CAD files for our enclosure, in case people want to
replicate it as well."
"And to be clear, this design is not meant to serve the needs of all of the tens of millions of Steam users. It
may, however, be the kind of 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," he adds. "Many others
would opt for machines that have been more carefully designed to cost less, or to be tiny, or super quiet, and
there will be Steam Machines that fit those descriptions."
From a hardware perspective, the Steam ecosystem will change over time, he says, thus any upgrades will be
at the owner's discretion. Later on the company will talk about how Steam will help customers understand
the differences between the machines, the strengths and weaknesses of hardware, and upgrade decisions.
The company also plans to release images of the prototypes before the units are shipped later on – they're
currently not ready for showcasing.
"The prototype we're talking about here is not meant to replace [a customer's current performance PC]," he
says. "Many of those users would like to have a way to bridge the gap into the living room without giving up
their existing hardware and without spending lots of money. We think that's a great goal, and we're working
on ways to use our in-home streaming technology to accomplish it - we'll talk more about that in the future."
Ouch! No AMD? Probably not given Nvidia's involvement with SteamOS and all this talk of "streaming" PC
games to the Linux-based machine. Also, did you notice all the Shield-friendly Kepler GPUs?
