I preordered my Controller+Link bundle just a few minutes ago. In my excitement, I didn't realize that I paid roughly $16 in shipping and handling, but they didn't mention how fast the shipping method was. If you preorder at Gamestop, you get 1 day shipping for $11. Has anyone been able to find out what method of shipping Valve will use?
I pre-ordered the Steam controller ($60 CAD) and EB Games was charging $5 for the 10-business day shipping, and $9 for the 1-2 business day shipping in Canada.
Also, has anyone noticed that the Alienware steam machines come with a "high performance NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX GPU 2GB GDDR5"? That is not going to go over well with the target audience for these machines. Anyone know what GPU it actually is?
Provided there's no changes from the Alienware Alpha, its a GM107 based GTX 860M+, or an overclocked mobile chip that is very close to the GTX 750Ti in performance. It's a very capable GPU that's faster than the consoles and the Alpha has been very popular as a Windows HTPC/light gaming machine and offers a ton of bang for the buck at $400 on sale (includes socketed i3, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, wireless 360 controller+reciver).
Personally, I am hoping that the Alpha/Steambox get updated to a GTX 960 (GM206 based) chip sometime this year as that would give it a bump in gaming capabilities, as well as some important HTPC features like HVEC and HDMI 2.0 support.
That's right, it is essentially equivalent to a 750Ti.
I agree regarding the 960-- that is really the minimum GPU requirement for me to consider purchasing one. And note that's the 960, not the 960M-- the 960M is also too slow.
Remember that manufacturer's like Alienware/Zotac/Falcon Northwest, any of the PC building companies order directly from the manufacturer's that they use. So they direct order CPU's from Intel (or whoever Intel uses for their distribution), same with nVidia, AMD, and any other part's manufacturers.
When we as people order from retailers, we have to pay for the retailer's (Newegg/Amazon) profit margin as well as the manufacturer's price.
Newegg is also a wholesale distributor (Ingram Micro), and their wholesale 1 piece prices are about the same as their retail prices. Intel doesn't sell direct in low quantities.
It really comes down to volume more than anything, rather than distribution. If you buy 1000 of something you get it cheaper.
I think it's got 32 ROPs though rather than 16, which means it has more fill rate even than the PS4, and more than double the Xbox One.
It's not the highest end thing ever, but it's not a joke either, and runs today's games fine. The specs are good for the price.
Hopefully they'll keep selling the Alpha with Windows too, although I guess they give you somewhat of a discount without it if you want to buy your own copy.
500$ for low end, 1k for mid-range and and 5k for high end?!?!
i dont see how this gonna be a success with such crappy hardware compared to the price point where you can build a better PC for the price, also taking into consideration XB1 and PS4 prices. and ofcourse no windows OS, that leaves it with less games.
Yes, you can actually already do that with the SteamOS beta, off course their install solution isn't the easiest for your average consumer (but you shouldn't be one if your on anandtech), as it's mostly a solution targeted at OEM, who mostly just dd the whole thing unto the disk from a master image file.
lol Valve Time, good one. Hopefully they've given up on SteamOS, DX12 is going to make it irrelevant, soon enough. Maybe they can refocus on a Valve software people actually want like UE3.
Still, I do credit Valve/Steam for one nice thing to come out of the whole failed SteamOS project, Steam Boxes. Ironically, they make fantastic Windows gaming PCs!
Not really, you can stream from any machine running steam on windows or OSX too, not just linux. And windows has several orders of magnitude more games.
Probably embedded linux running on an ARM system on a chip. Certainly not the same steamOS as is being positioned on steam machines, intended for real intel CPUs, etc. That would not be cost effective at fifty bucks.
I'm still pissed they traded in a d-pad for an analog stick. I realize modern console players are used to it, but we already have two analog inputs in the touch pads. The digital d-pad would have been great for emulators and indie games made in the style of classic games. It turned it from a definite buy to meh, maybe later.
Just install Windows on them. Valve, nor any OEM forbid You. Some even will sell You same hw with Win preloaded. Ofc. for Win10 You will way a bit (though, shorter then for SteamOS)
Aieee!!! ALL of the item prices in the article are wrong! I wondered why Valve were charging $99 for Steam Link + controller when you could buy them separately for $98 (according to this article!).
The controller is $49.99. It is not $49. You can say $49.99 or round it to $50.
Steam Link is also $49.99.
It's disappointing to see such transparent marketing being supported and parroted by Anandtech. The most egregious example, I think, is "with Falcon Northwest quoting $4999 for what will be their top-end Tiki." - $4999! Why would any intelligent human say that? It's $5,000. Just say $5,000. That's how rounding works.
It makes me worry how many other simple, basic marketing ploys have permeated Anandtech articles.
He does have a point though. This is why we have that stupid 99.99 crap. At first glance it makes the price look lower than it really is. It should not be encouraged.
It's been that way FOREVER get over it. If you can't figure out it has a .99 tacked on you're an idiot. Seriously you're bitching about 1.98 which everyone, including you, knew was there.
I'm pretty interested in the Link... It's been ages since I had any desire for an HTPC, or any sort of PC in the living room, but I wouldn't mind revisiting couch gaming... It's been over a decade ands a half since I bought a console too.
Kinda curious whether the controller will be worth the outlay, $50 for just the box isn't much of a risk tho... Tempted but still leaning towards waiting on reviews. I could easily hard wire it tho, the desktop and one HT component already are...
Honestly... I really do hope that this fails BIG time. I still cannot get over Gabe slagging off Windows 8 WHILE, at the same time, planning to offer applications vis his store. Competition, Gabe, can be a good thing.
" I still cannot get over Gabe slagging off Windows 8 WHILE, at the same time, planning to offer applications vis his store." No the reason he is doing his own is because of windows 8 and his fear they are going to want 30% of Steam Sales if they force Window apps to be bought from the Windows store like Apple does. Well at least that's what he claims.
Note that Apple doesn't force applications to be purchased from their store on OS X. Though you will want a developer certificate if you want them to install without a fuss.
Their streaming box seriously only has a 100Mb NIC on it? I didn't even know they made motherboards that werent 10/100/1000 anymore. Especially in a box focused on local network streaming...
I'm sorry, but every time I look at these they just feel more and more like sucker boxes. Overpriced, underpowered, gimmicky junkware.
100Mb wired is beyond stupid. I know people are claiming that the compressed streaming doesn't require higher than that. But still, what's a 1Gb NIC cost these days, maybe 1-2 dollars more than the 100Mb one? Such a stupid decision.
So, other than compressed streaming, what other task would you consider using the Link for that requires more network bandwidth?
100mbps is more than sufficient for a 60FPS 4k stream. This device only supports 1080p. So, for something with zero benefit, you want them to spend $2 more on a $49.99 device? That's 4% of the MSRP! Such a stupid opinion.
Or you know, don't include the network cable in the box since most people have one already anyway. There's your 4% and then some. Such a stupid human being.
Don't assume that most people are like you. It's a pretty common logical fallacy, because it's a really easy trap to fall into. A lot of people don't have an extra network cable laying around.
Also, when designing a product to go into mass production, usually even 0.1% difference in the net cost of the device between options is analyzed for cost/benefit. Gigabit offers no benefit to this device, other than as something to put into the specs as a marketing gimmick.
So, let's address your proposed hypothetical change: Don't include a network cable, which may be useful for some buyers. Instead, upgrade the wired network interface, which will not benefit any buyers.
When taking that into consideration, which is the better choice?
Network cable can be purchased by end user if required anywhere and cheaply. NIC is built in, so you're stuck with what they give you forever. I'd rather have the things that are out of my control taken care of up front by the manufacturer. That's the better choice.
You might have a point, except they include an 802.11ac wireless chipset. 802.11n can provide over 100mbps of bandwidth. So why spend the extra money on a more expensive wireless chipset?
Really, the sensible thing would have been to have two versions of the Link: one with 1Gbps Ethernet only, the other with AC wireless. Including both in the same box when the majority of people are only going to ever use one or the other is what's stupid.
Wireless has high packet loss and latency compared to wired connections. I'd choose wired over 802.11ac any day of the week. Yes, even if the wired is only 100Mb.
I'm just assuming now that one would want to play games on one's Steam Machine. Would you not want to by and download full games on it?
Lets just say you live in Sweden, like I do, where 100Mbit broadband connection is the norm and a lot of ppl. even has 250Mbit. And 1Gbit is becoming more and more common, with some cities implementing it in their core "city net" which a majority of the inhabitants are hooked up to.
Now lets say I'm a hard working man, I have a couple of kids and not many hours in the week that I can do some gaming on. Lets say it's late Friday night and the misses and the kids are asleep, I have maybe 2-3 hours of gaming to do. I turn on my Steam Machine, which I haven't been able to use for 2 weeks and search for new games. Ahaa I want to download and play Battlefield 4! Oooh it's a 60GB download in total. Lets see, I have an SSD in my Steam Machine, but my 100Mb conection will top out at 12.5MByte/s which means around 1h and 5 minutes to download the game, that would take away 33-50% of my possible gaming time. Naah too long, lets find another game... Oh the Witcher 3 I want to play that. Wait it's a 35GB download... damn. Wait I've wanted to play Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor for a while, lets get that, I've heard its really good. Gaah 35GB...! I want to play something now.
Hmm if the Steam Machince had a 1Gbit network card I've could have downloaded these games in 4-7 mins. And I just bought this machine, the games are going to be bigger next year probably, wow I wish they spent those 2$ extra on a Gigabit card as I guess the broadband's and infrastructure becomes better around the world each year and I assume they don't think I will upgrade my Steam Machine each year.
Now maybe I'm totally mistaken and the Steam Machine will only be for streaming, never downloading anything onto it, and then you can just ignore this comment.
Yes, you are mistaken. The previous posters are talking about the optional Steam Link device, not the (various) Steam Machines.
Each Steam Machine will have a different setup, but I'd say most will have a 10/100/1000 network card in them, so your dilly of a pickle will never be realised.
Well, without Valve releasing something like Half-Life 3, Portal 3, or Left 4 Dead 3 on Steam Machines as an exclusive (or at least Linux-only) I don't know how well these machines will sell.
Sure, enthusiasts will buy them, and I'm considering getting one myself if they release one with some AMD parts inside, but the general population at large doesn't have much of a reason to get these over a PS4, imho.
More complexity, less consistency in hardware, and not necessarily more power either.
Personally, I'm interested in the ultra compacts, since they will run windows and I prefer them over gaming laptops.
I looked at Alienware Alpha and Asus GR8, but was not satisfied with their GPU or ease of upgrading storage, so the Zotac SNC970 was a nice addition to the lineup.
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kmkonkler - Thursday, June 4, 2015 - link
I preordered my Controller+Link bundle just a few minutes ago. In my excitement, I didn't realize that I paid roughly $16 in shipping and handling, but they didn't mention how fast the shipping method was. If you preorder at Gamestop, you get 1 day shipping for $11. Has anyone been able to find out what method of shipping Valve will use?Guspaz - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
I pre-ordered the Steam controller ($60 CAD) and EB Games was charging $5 for the 10-business day shipping, and $9 for the 1-2 business day shipping in Canada.kmkonkler - Thursday, June 4, 2015 - link
Also, has anyone noticed that the Alienware steam machines come with a "high performance NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX GPU 2GB GDDR5"? That is not going to go over well with the target audience for these machines. Anyone know what GPU it actually is?chizow - Thursday, June 4, 2015 - link
Provided there's no changes from the Alienware Alpha, its a GM107 based GTX 860M+, or an overclocked mobile chip that is very close to the GTX 750Ti in performance. It's a very capable GPU that's faster than the consoles and the Alpha has been very popular as a Windows HTPC/light gaming machine and offers a ton of bang for the buck at $400 on sale (includes socketed i3, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, wireless 360 controller+reciver).Personally, I am hoping that the Alpha/Steambox get updated to a GTX 960 (GM206 based) chip sometime this year as that would give it a bump in gaming capabilities, as well as some important HTPC features like HVEC and HDMI 2.0 support.
schizoide - Thursday, June 4, 2015 - link
That's right, it is essentially equivalent to a 750Ti.I agree regarding the 960-- that is really the minimum GPU requirement for me to consider purchasing one. And note that's the 960, not the 960M-- the 960M is also too slow.
Morawka - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
that graphics card is $150 right? Plus at least $100 for intel CPU, $50 HDD, $50 RAM.. not leaving much for magins.minijedimaster - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
The cheapest 960 on newegg is about $190. An i3 will generally go for about $120ish.Vynlovanth - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
Remember that manufacturer's like Alienware/Zotac/Falcon Northwest, any of the PC building companies order directly from the manufacturer's that they use. So they direct order CPU's from Intel (or whoever Intel uses for their distribution), same with nVidia, AMD, and any other part's manufacturers.When we as people order from retailers, we have to pay for the retailer's (Newegg/Amazon) profit margin as well as the manufacturer's price.
barleyguy - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
Newegg is also a wholesale distributor (Ingram Micro), and their wholesale 1 piece prices are about the same as their retail prices. Intel doesn't sell direct in low quantities.It really comes down to volume more than anything, rather than distribution. If you buy 1000 of something you get it cheaper.
tipoo - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
The 400 is the sale price that it's hit a few times, the regular price is a few hundred higher.Akrovah - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
Well to be fair I don't think a non "M" GPU would fit within the thermal constraints of the Alpha chassis.Wolfpup - Friday, June 12, 2015 - link
I think it's got 32 ROPs though rather than 16, which means it has more fill rate even than the PS4, and more than double the Xbox One.It's not the highest end thing ever, but it's not a joke either, and runs today's games fine. The specs are good for the price.
Hopefully they'll keep selling the Alpha with Windows too, although I guess they give you somewhat of a discount without it if you want to buy your own copy.
YazX_ - Thursday, June 4, 2015 - link
500$ for low end, 1k for mid-range and and 5k for high end?!?!i dont see how this gonna be a success with such crappy hardware compared to the price point where you can build a better PC for the price, also taking into consideration XB1 and PS4 prices. and ofcourse no windows OS, that leaves it with less games.
Margalus - Thursday, June 4, 2015 - link
That is falcon Northwest.. Look at Syber, it's about $700 for a decent mid range system 1400-1500 for a high end.Morawka - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
not in the alpha's form factor. $450 is a steal for a NUC like device with a Discrete GPUbarleyguy - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
The Zotac ZBOX EN-860 is almost identical specs in the same form factor. It goes for $499.savagemike - Thursday, June 4, 2015 - link
Will you just be able to build your own and use their Steam OS?chizow - Thursday, June 4, 2015 - link
Yes, that was one of the highlighted features of the first SteamOSiniudan - Thursday, June 4, 2015 - link
Yes, you can actually already do that with the SteamOS beta, off course their install solution isn't the easiest for your average consumer (but you shouldn't be one if your on anandtech), as it's mostly a solution targeted at OEM, who mostly just dd the whole thing unto the disk from a master image file.http://store.steampowered.com/steamos/buildyourown
iniudan - Thursday, June 4, 2015 - link
I meant easiest to customize, wish there was a edit button. =pchizow - Thursday, June 4, 2015 - link
lol Valve Time, good one. Hopefully they've given up on SteamOS, DX12 is going to make it irrelevant, soon enough. Maybe they can refocus on a Valve software people actually want like UE3.Still, I do credit Valve/Steam for one nice thing to come out of the whole failed SteamOS project, Steam Boxes. Ironically, they make fantastic Windows gaming PCs!
iniudan - Thursday, June 4, 2015 - link
Even if Steam Machine fail on the market as dedicated machine, SteamOS is still useful for the Steam Link.schizoide - Thursday, June 4, 2015 - link
Not really, you can stream from any machine running steam on windows or OSX too, not just linux. And windows has several orders of magnitude more games.iniudan - Thursday, June 4, 2015 - link
And which OS do you think run on the Steam Link itself ?schizoide - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
Probably embedded linux running on an ARM system on a chip. Certainly not the same steamOS as is being positioned on steam machines, intended for real intel CPUs, etc. That would not be cost effective at fifty bucks.icrf - Thursday, June 4, 2015 - link
I'm still pissed they traded in a d-pad for an analog stick. I realize modern console players are used to it, but we already have two analog inputs in the touch pads. The digital d-pad would have been great for emulators and indie games made in the style of classic games. It turned it from a definite buy to meh, maybe later.Morawka - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
use a different controller for those games. This controller is meant to be a solution for 90% of gamestipoo - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
The left trackpad may work for that, with its d-pad shape cutout.SpartanJet - Thursday, June 4, 2015 - link
I will take a fully capable Windows 10 machine than these piles of junk thanks.przemo_li - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
Just install Windows on them. Valve, nor any OEM forbid You. Some even will sell You same hw with Win preloaded. Ofc. for Win10 You will way a bit (though, shorter then for SteamOS)Then they will be "capable". :P
PenguinJim - Thursday, June 4, 2015 - link
Aieee!!! ALL of the item prices in the article are wrong! I wondered why Valve were charging $99 for Steam Link + controller when you could buy them separately for $98 (according to this article!).The controller is $49.99. It is not $49. You can say $49.99 or round it to $50.
Steam Link is also $49.99.
It's disappointing to see such transparent marketing being supported and parroted by Anandtech. The most egregious example, I think, is "with Falcon Northwest quoting $4999 for what will be their top-end Tiki." - $4999! Why would any intelligent human say that? It's $5,000. Just say $5,000. That's how rounding works.
It makes me worry how many other simple, basic marketing ploys have permeated Anandtech articles.
Wardrop - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
I don't think anyone other than you cares. Must be a top-notch article if this is the most outrageous thing you can nitpick out of it.PenguinJim - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
You're the first person I've seen arguing in favor of inaccuracies in articles! It's certainly given me something new to think about.But I pray you never get a job where mistakes matter!
minijedimaster - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
You're an idiot. Go troll somewhere else.Nagorak - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
He does have a point though. This is why we have that stupid 99.99 crap. At first glance it makes the price look lower than it really is. It should not be encouraged.piiman - Saturday, June 6, 2015 - link
It's been that way FOREVER get over it. If you can't figure out it has a .99 tacked on you're an idiot.Seriously you're bitching about 1.98 which everyone, including you, knew was there.
Impulses - Thursday, June 4, 2015 - link
I'm pretty interested in the Link... It's been ages since I had any desire for an HTPC, or any sort of PC in the living room, but I wouldn't mind revisiting couch gaming... It's been over a decade ands a half since I bought a console too.Kinda curious whether the controller will be worth the outlay, $50 for just the box isn't much of a risk tho... Tempted but still leaning towards waiting on reviews. I could easily hard wire it tho, the desktop and one HT component already are...
damianrobertjones - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
Honestly... I really do hope that this fails BIG time. I still cannot get over Gabe slagging off Windows 8 WHILE, at the same time, planning to offer applications vis his store. Competition, Gabe, can be a good thing.piiman - Saturday, June 6, 2015 - link
" I still cannot get over Gabe slagging off Windows 8 WHILE, at the same time, planning to offer applications vis his store."No the reason he is doing his own is because of windows 8 and his fear they are going to want 30% of Steam Sales if they force Window apps to be bought from the Windows store like Apple does. Well at least that's what he claims.
Ryan Smith - Saturday, June 6, 2015 - link
Note that Apple doesn't force applications to be purchased from their store on OS X. Though you will want a developer certificate if you want them to install without a fuss.Mushkins - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
Their streaming box seriously only has a 100Mb NIC on it? I didn't even know they made motherboards that werent 10/100/1000 anymore. Especially in a box focused on local network streaming...I'm sorry, but every time I look at these they just feel more and more like sucker boxes. Overpriced, underpowered, gimmicky junkware.
minijedimaster - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
100Mb wired is beyond stupid. I know people are claiming that the compressed streaming doesn't require higher than that. But still, what's a 1Gb NIC cost these days, maybe 1-2 dollars more than the 100Mb one? Such a stupid decision.Etsp - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
So, other than compressed streaming, what other task would you consider using the Link for that requires more network bandwidth?100mbps is more than sufficient for a 60FPS 4k stream. This device only supports 1080p. So, for something with zero benefit, you want them to spend $2 more on a $49.99 device? That's 4% of the MSRP! Such a stupid opinion.
minijedimaster - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
Or you know, don't include the network cable in the box since most people have one already anyway. There's your 4% and then some. Such a stupid human being.Etsp - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
Don't assume that most people are like you. It's a pretty common logical fallacy, because it's a really easy trap to fall into. A lot of people don't have an extra network cable laying around.Also, when designing a product to go into mass production, usually even 0.1% difference in the net cost of the device between options is analyzed for cost/benefit. Gigabit offers no benefit to this device, other than as something to put into the specs as a marketing gimmick.
So, let's address your proposed hypothetical change: Don't include a network cable, which may be useful for some buyers. Instead, upgrade the wired network interface, which will not benefit any buyers.
When taking that into consideration, which is the better choice?
jwcalla - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
I didn't even realize they made 100Mbps NICs anymore. Did they get this from Bob's Outlet NICs or something?The bundled ethernet cable could be valuable... if it's long enough. If it isn't, it's dead weight.
I'm beginning to think overall that the device is too limited (in functionality) to be interesting though.
minijedimaster - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
Network cable can be purchased by end user if required anywhere and cheaply. NIC is built in, so you're stuck with what they give you forever. I'd rather have the things that are out of my control taken care of up front by the manufacturer. That's the better choice.kyuu - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
You might have a point, except they include an 802.11ac wireless chipset. 802.11n can provide over 100mbps of bandwidth. So why spend the extra money on a more expensive wireless chipset?Really, the sensible thing would have been to have two versions of the Link: one with 1Gbps Ethernet only, the other with AC wireless. Including both in the same box when the majority of people are only going to ever use one or the other is what's stupid.
minijedimaster - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
Wireless has high packet loss and latency compared to wired connections. I'd choose wired over 802.11ac any day of the week. Yes, even if the wired is only 100Mb.przemo_li - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
Why do You need more?4K should mean 20MB top!
Why do You need more?
minijedimaster - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
Yeah, so easy and low bandwidth. That's why they're only doing 1080p.minijedimaster - Friday, June 5, 2015 - link
Also, the realistic number for compressed 4k video streaming at 60fps is about 32Mbs. Just FYI.funkforce - Saturday, June 6, 2015 - link
Hello,I'm just assuming now that one would want to play games on one's Steam Machine.
Would you not want to by and download full games on it?
Lets just say you live in Sweden, like I do, where 100Mbit broadband connection is the norm and a lot of ppl. even has 250Mbit. And 1Gbit is becoming more and more common, with some cities implementing it in their core "city net" which a majority of the inhabitants are hooked up to.
Now lets say I'm a hard working man, I have a couple of kids and not many hours in the week that I can do some gaming on. Lets say it's late Friday night and the misses and the kids are asleep, I have maybe 2-3 hours of gaming to do. I turn on my Steam Machine, which I haven't been able to use for 2 weeks and search for new games. Ahaa I want to download and play Battlefield 4! Oooh it's a 60GB download in total. Lets see, I have an SSD in my Steam Machine, but my 100Mb conection will top out at 12.5MByte/s which means around 1h and 5 minutes to download the game, that would take away 33-50% of my possible gaming time.
Naah too long, lets find another game... Oh the Witcher 3 I want to play that. Wait it's a 35GB download... damn. Wait I've wanted to play Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor for a while, lets get that, I've heard its really good. Gaah 35GB...! I want to play something now.
Hmm if the Steam Machince had a 1Gbit network card I've could have downloaded these games in 4-7 mins. And I just bought this machine, the games are going to be bigger next year probably, wow I wish they spent those 2$ extra on a Gigabit card as I guess the broadband's and infrastructure becomes better around the world each year and I assume they don't think I will upgrade my Steam Machine each year.
Now maybe I'm totally mistaken and the Steam Machine will only be for streaming, never downloading anything onto it, and then you can just ignore this comment.
piiman - Saturday, June 6, 2015 - link
Plan ahead you can be spontaneous with your wife, unless you have to download her also. :-)Bladen - Saturday, June 6, 2015 - link
Yes, you are mistaken. The previous posters are talking about the optional Steam Link device, not the (various) Steam Machines.Each Steam Machine will have a different setup, but I'd say most will have a 10/100/1000 network card in them, so your dilly of a pickle will never be realised.
AS118 - Sunday, June 7, 2015 - link
Well, without Valve releasing something like Half-Life 3, Portal 3, or Left 4 Dead 3 on Steam Machines as an exclusive (or at least Linux-only) I don't know how well these machines will sell.Sure, enthusiasts will buy them, and I'm considering getting one myself if they release one with some AMD parts inside, but the general population at large doesn't have much of a reason to get these over a PS4, imho.
More complexity, less consistency in hardware, and not necessarily more power either.
meacupla - Sunday, June 7, 2015 - link
Personally, I'm interested in the ultra compacts, since they will run windows and I prefer them over gaming laptops.I looked at Alienware Alpha and Asus GR8, but was not satisfied with their GPU or ease of upgrading storage, so the Zotac SNC970 was a nice addition to the lineup.