The first batch of Steam Machines are up for pre-order
Valve's plan to move PC gaming to the living room is one step closer to realization as the first wave of Steam Machines are now up for pre-order.
The Steam Controller and the Steam Link are the only pieces of hardware that Valve are directly responsible for.
Despite being delayed for a while, it finally seems like Steam Machines are really going to be a reality come Q4 2015, November 10 to be exact. The first pre-orders for the initial wave of Steam Machines are already up, with Alienware and Syber Gaming touting their individual offerings on their respective websites. There's even an incentive for pre-ordering, as customers who pre-order get their machines about a month earlier, on October 16.
Alienware's Steam Machine might already be familiar to you if you've kept up with what the company's been doing. That's right, Alienware's updating their Alienware Alpha to use Steam OS and branding it as a Steam Machine. We've talked about the history of the Alpha previously, so hit the link to find out more about the machine's story.
Anyways, Alienware's splitting their eggs into two baskets and offering the Alienware Alpha as two different products. The Alienware Alpha line will still continue on as before, but they will also be offering a different version of the Alpha called the Alienware Steam Machine. Both machines will look the same, though the Alienware Steam Machine will have the Steam logo on it.
Other than the obvious Steam logo, the Alienware Steam Machine will look the same as an Alienware Alpha.
Alienware looks at it as offering their customers options. Steam Machines will be running Steam OS primarily and as a Linux based OS, not all games are playable on it, which is why the Alienware Alpha still exists.
The Alienware Steam Machine will come bundled with a Steam Controller and Steam OS, while the Alpha remains unchanged, coming with an Xbox 360 controller and a Windows OS. The Alienware Steam Machine will also have similar hardware to the Alpha, including the embedded GPU. Only the CPU, RAM, HDD (or SSD) and wireless cards can be upgraded and customized.
The Alienware Steam Machines will come in various configurations, with the base system going US$449.99 and premium configuration going for US$749.99. Like normal notebooks or desktops, the different configurations all sport different hardware, though none come with an SSD.
Alienware also has a handy FAQ detailing their new machine if you're still confused.
The other company that announced their Steam Machine is Syber, a division of Cyberpower PC.
Syber's Steam Machines come in black or white.
Unlike Alienware, Syber only has three different configurations of their Steam Machine. The base configuration will retail at US$499, with high-end models at US$729 and US$1,419. Also unlike the Alienware Steam Machines, Syber's machines all use generic hardware, which should make upgrading in the future much easier. Take a look at the machines' specs below.
Here's a look at the basic differences between the three versions.
Syber's machines also don't come with a free Steam Controller, so you're going to need to fork out another US$50 for it. It's interesting to note that neither Alienware nor Syber offer Steam Machines with SSD storage.
Expect more announcements from other companies soon, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Source: Polygon
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