Valve has released the specs for its upcoming Steam Machine prototypes, which will be available to a select group of beta testers before the end of the year.
The prototypes of the newly announced Steam Machine will ship to 300 Steam Universe community group members who qualify for the hardware beta before October 25.
For the first Steam Machine prototypes, Valve has opted to go for high-end components for those who want great performance out of their console.
“The prototype machine is a high-end, high-performance box, built out of off-the-shelf PC parts. It is also fully upgradable, allowing any users to swap out the GPU, hard drive, CPU, even the motherboard if you really want to”, reads the official Steam Community blog post from Valve’s Greg Coomer.
“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. Many other 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.”
Although Valve isn’t ready to show off the design of its Steam Machine prototype, it is ready to offer a collection of hardware components the console will contain:
“The 300 prototype units will ship with the following components:
- GPU: some units with Nvidia Titan, some GTX780, some GTX760, and some GTX660
- CPU: some boxes with Intel i7-4770, some i5-4570, and some i3
- RAM: 16GB DDR3-1600 (CPU), 3GB GDDR5 (GPU)
- Storage: 1TB/8GB Hybrid SSHD
- Power Supply: Internal 450w 80Plus Gold
- Dimensions: approx. 12 x 12.4 x 2.9-inches high”
Valve has also suggested it is working on a streaming solution for those Steam gamers who want a living room gaming experience, despite already owning a high-end PC.
“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.”
For a future blog post, expect Valve to reveal more about its recently unveiled Steam Controllers.
Next, read our pick of the best TVs of 2013.
