Steam Machine Prototype Tear Down on Video

Last week Valve released both SteamOS and the Steam Machine beta units to 300 lucky developers. Many of these are now sharing their joy online with screens and videos of unboxing, game testing and disassembling the unit. One such tester is YouTube user Corey Nelson who has posted a number of Steam Machine related videos over the past 48 hours.

In the first video, he reveals that the Steam Machine arrived in a wooden box. The device itself was secured in place on all sides by foam, and once the Steam Machine was removed, you could see the controller secured in padding underneath where the console/PC previously resided. Also included in the package was a booklet with basic instructions, the necessary cables to get him up and running, a Wi-Fi antenna, and a recovery USB key.

His following videos show the machine booting up, and playing games like Portal, Metro Last Light, and Left 4 Dead 2. He also provides an overview of the controller itself, revealing that it weighs only 7.2 ounces. The only markings on the device reside underneath, showing the model number and the Steam logo.

Later on he manages to take the machine apart, revealing a very compact design. First he removes the top, removes the panel placed on top of the graphics card, then points out the components such as the power supply, the CPU with a fan mounted on top, and so on. He doesn’t get very far into the disassembling, but at least we have a good idea where Valve and ODMs are going with the Steam Machine initiative.

Another Steam Machine tester on Reddit revealed the specs of his machine, reporting that it features a quad-core Intel i5-4570 CPU clocked up to 3.2 GHz, 16 GB of RAM, a GeForce GTX 780 GPU with 3 GB of VRAM, an ASRock Z87E-ITX motherboard, and a Silverstone ST455F power supple.

We’ve included the disassembly video below, but you can click here to see the whole library, from unboxing to using the controller in Windows.

TOPICS

Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.