Valve's Steam Machines aren't expected to make their debut until January at CES 2014, but we've managed to catch early spyshots of a prototype from one of Valve's partners iBuyPower.
As previously reported, Steam Machines will come in various forms and various specs, but all will run SteamOS. The one we spied here is packs an AMD CPU with a discrete GPU. It will also have Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and at least a 500 GB HDD, with faster and larger options planned. While we weren't able to pose the machine next to anything else for scale, it's smaller than an Xbox One and even has an internal power supply. We're told this prototype is able to play all games at 1080p at 60fps, but obviously a lot of that depends on which game and its settings.
Currently the company has two prototypes: Gordon and Freeman. Both are identical save for the light bar around the middle. More specifically, Gordon has a blacked out area where the lighting is, and it's totally black when turned off, whereas Freeman is translucent/milky in that area.
Pricing has not yet been decided, but iBuyPower aims to have its Steam Machine be competitive against the PS4 and Xbox One.
Like all Steam Machines, it will pack Valve's innovative controller that seeks to be a replacement for the ever-loved keyboard and mouse combination.
The outside lighting is said to be customizable to user preference, or even disabled altogether, but all of this could change before launch. Stay tuned for all the details at CES 2014.
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Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
