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Dell set to introduce beefed up Steam Machines

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According to PCWorld who spoke with Chris Sutphen, the senior marketing manager at Alienware, Dell are pushing out two new Steam Machine models.

QuoteA new Alienware Steam Machine priced at $749 will have the Intel quad-core Core i5 chip based on the Skylake architecture, Nvidia's GTX 960 GPU, 8GB of DDR4 memory, a 500GB hard drive and 802.11ac Wi-Fi.

For more horsepower, a $899 Steam Machine will be loaded with a Skylake-based Intel Core i7 chip, an Nvidia GTX 960 GPU, 8GB DDR4 DRAM, a 1TB hard drive and 802.11ac Wi-Fi.


The original cheaper Steam Machine will continue to be sold too.

I see this as a good sign, a sign of Dell's faith in the platform. Also, they wouldn't be introducing new models if the original didn't sell enough to be worth continuing to the point of adding more models. You could argue the opposite though, if it didn't sell enough they are trying higher models to see if people bite.

Another interesting quote from the article is this Alienware's Chris:
QuoteWe expect the SteamOS catalog to strengthen at the end of year


Going to be a fun year. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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31 comments
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Pecisk Jun 13, 2016
If their Steam Machines wouldn't sell, they wouldn't do beefed up versions, period.

QuoteYou could argue the opposite though, if it didn't sell enough they are trying higher models to see if people bite.

Maybe in some alternative universe. Dell doesn't think Steam Machines are stinker, period.

edit: also they are only OEM who knows how to market and sell Ubuntu OEM.


Last edited by Pecisk on 13 June 2016 at 10:39 pm UTC
opera Jun 13, 2016
Finally some good news on Steam machines! I think a new model with a nvidia gtx 1060 by the end of the year would be pretty decent and could sell pretty well in the christmas season. Also good to hear that last quote.
cRaZy-bisCuiT Jun 13, 2016
Finally a 1070 Steam Mashine would be nice. The 960 was only half of the 970's. It's the same with 10xx. :/ And for 800 € I'd like to have a xx70!


Last edited by cRaZy-bisCuiT on 13 June 2016 at 11:09 pm UTC
Creak Jun 13, 2016
I'd really like to have an AMD RX480 Alienware SteamMachine.

With proper tweaks, it could be a pretty good machine for very nice price. Remember that AMD has always been the best for consoles (both XBox One and PS4 have an HD 7000 series GPU!)
bubous Jun 13, 2016
why one intel i7 CPU?
have to improve the GPU and not the CPU, Steam Machine is to games....and i5 is sufficient.
EKRboi Jun 13, 2016
It is indeed cool that they are making new models, but I'm a little confused by the "For more horsepower" model that is $150 more.

As far as gaming goes the user will likely see VERY little difference as far as performance from the two models. IMO it would have made MUCH more sense to keep the i5 in the "upgraded" model but use the extra $150 to put in a GTX970 to go with the 1tb HDD. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


Last edited by EKRboi on 13 June 2016 at 11:31 pm UTC
Uncleivan Jun 13, 2016
"Dead in the water" lal

Today i experienced something that i wasnt used to in a very long time.

Im a strategy fan and i had to choose between master of orion and stellaris ; both are AAA titles and both are on linux stellaris won but im not used to having to choose ; in the old days there was one game to pickup not a multitude of them and thats a good indicator linux is in the good path.

Kiss my ass ars technica and mocosoft! Long live Linux!
Nyamiou Jun 14, 2016
You forget to quote the part where they say that they will make a Steam Machine with AMD GPU later this year. It could be interesting, especially we could have cheaper Steam Machines. But obviously they have to wait for AMD drivers to be ready.

Also from an interview of the general manager Frank Azor of Alienware by Polygon (http://www.polygon.com/e3/2016/6/13/11874994/alienwares-new-steam-machine-backpack-vr) :
QuoteThe Steam Machine has done well, but it didn’t meet the expectations that we all thought it had, we lost a lot of momentum at launch. A lot of the big titles didn’t come over. The gamepad didn’t have as many games optimized for it as we would have liked when it came out. It’s been a very slow ramp up.

QuoteThe demand dropped for a new operating system, but we still sell it and we’re still investing in it.

So Steam Machines are definitely still alive and Alienware is still invested in making it a success.


Last edited by Nyamiou on 14 June 2016 at 1:10 am UTC
ElectricPrism Jun 14, 2016
Quoting: cRaZy-bisCuiTFinally a 1070 Steam Mashine would be nice. The 960 was only half of the 970's. It's the same with 10xx. :/ And for 800 € I'd like to have a xx70!

Considering the GPU looks to be soldered to the motherboard I think it probably is more economical to have 1 motherboard for both products.

The CPU on the other hand is replaceable and WINE games are much heavier on the CPU, so in the event that there are wine wraps they'll run better on the i7 no doubt.

I think you also have to take into account that this is a pretty small gaming console box. Even with my Mini ITX motherboard my standard ATX PSU makes my case huge at minimum in the Corsair 380T.

You're paying for the Alienware name, the compactness and portability, and the future success of Steam vs PS4/XBONE/Nintendo/WindowsPC

I would also like to see some AMDGPU Polaris 4XX Steam Machines by the end of the year. The open driver makes it increasingly appealing. I may be crazy enough to get one of these when I get some extra cash to complete my living room gaming experience.
Kimyrielle Jun 14, 2016
Quoting: Uncleivan"Dead in the water" lal

Today i experienced something that i wasnt used to in a very long time.

Im a strategy fan and i had to choose between master of orion and stellaris ; both are AAA titles and both are on linux stellaris won but im not used to having to choose ; in the old days there was one game to pickup not a multitude of them and thats a good indicator linux is in the good path.

Kiss my ass ars technica and mocosoft! Long live Linux!

Haha, seriously! Two years ago, I backed pretty much every Kickstarter pledging Linux support. Even if I didn't really care for the game. But just to show support to the platform and the (few) devs who chose to support it. Now? I can't remotely buy every Linux game that interests me with any hope to have enough time to play them all. The equivalent of first world problems! :D
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