In the past week or so, Valve started sending out the prototype of its Steam Machine console-like gaming PCs. These devices are early versions of what Valve hopes to eventually sell to consumers. To help test out the prototypes, the company sent out 300 Steam Machines to 300 Steam members, and repair site iFixit was lucky enough to grab one.
In a fully detailed teardown of the Steam Machine, iFixit opened up the Linux-based PC to have a good, long look under the hood. The repair site found that the box’s components total up to $1,300.
The Steam Machines highlights include a 1TB solid-state storage drive from Seagate, a Zotac GeForce GTX 780 videocard, and a Mini-ITX motherboard. These machines also include 16GB RAM and a 450W power supply. Valve packs all of that into a box that looks a bit like an ’90s-era VCR.
Check out a few images from iFixit’s teardown and check the site for its in-depth look inside Valve’s first gaming hardware:
Valve’s Steam Machine is something new for the company. The devices will use the company’s recently release SteamOS, which is a Linux-based operating system the company designed specifically for gaming on a TV, not a computer monitor.
Of course, Valve is making SteamOS open source, which means that any hardware company can make a Steam Machine. One of the reasons Valve is introducing these prototypes is to give its hardware partners an idea of what it expects from other PCs using the “Steam Machine” name.
