If you’re not already aware, Valve is creating it’s own hardware to run Steam to try and create the ultimate gaming experience.
This hardware is just a prototype and the final product isn’t due until 2014, but 300 lucky Steam users will get to beta test the system sometime this year. Currently, there are no images of the prototype hardware but in a recent post from the company they have provided us with some pretty serious specs.
Here are the specifications for Valve’s 300 prototypes:
- 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 in high
As a hardware platform, the Steam ecosystem will change over time, so any upgrades will be at each user’s discretion. In the future we’ll talk about how Steam will help customers understand the differences between machines, hardware strengths and weaknesses, and upgrade decisions.
We aren’t quite ready to post a picture of our prototype – just because they’re not finished enough. Before they ship we’ll let you know what the prototype looks like. And we expect people to redesign the machine, too. Both from a technical perspective, deciding on different components, and from an industrial design perspective, changing the enclosure in interesting ways.”
