Steam Machines fitted with a range of Nvidia cards and Intel CPUs

Valve has shared the specifications of the 300 prototype Steam Machines that it will be sending to beta-testers. The publisher has opted for Nvidia cards only combined with Intel-CPU’s, making the Steambox the first ‘console’ without any AMD hardware in it.  Nvidia has been working on improving it’s videocard-drivers in collaboration with Valve.  Then again, AMD’s move to introduce Mantle might shake things up a little as well. Right now, Valve is betting on Nvidia though, which could make sense for testing as well, because feedback won’t be muddied by having two different videocard-suppliers, running different drivers.

Steam Machine specifications

Valve intends to release three different Steam Machine’s, ranging from entry-level to high-end PCs. The slowest Steam Machine prototype will be equipped with an unknown Core i3 and a GTX 660. The Core i3 CPU will most likely be a Core i3 4130, 4330, or 4340. The only differences between these CPUs is a modest change in clockspeed and slightly faster integrated graphics.

The next step up is a Core i5 4570 most likely paired with a GTX 760. We’re guessing that the GTX 780 and GTX Titan will only be paired with Intel’s fastest Haswell CPU, the Core i7-4770. Each and every system comes with 16GB ofRAM and a 1TB HDD/8GB SSD-hybrid.  A 450W gold PSU will be powering these machines.

Valve is simply testing several types of machines, but in the end anybody could build their own Steambox. A Core i3 CPU with a GTX 660 videocard and all the other necessary components can be purchased on Newegg.com for a little over $600.  Except for the fact that you’d have to buy a Steam Controller, the lowest-end Steam Machine is not that much more expensive then a PS4.

Obviously all Steam machines will come with SteamOS installed and will include a Steam Controller. We’re not quite sure how Valve intends to solve the problem of having only a very few available gaming-titles that currently support Linux. Basically, you’d need a Windows PC streaming the games to your Steam Machine to make it work. But that would defeat the whole purpose of Steam Machines geared up with high-end videocards and CPUs. As of right now, the Steam Machines aren’t quite finished yet, but Valve should be sharing a picture of them soon.