Valve Software’s inability to ship SteamOS and Steam Controller this year has upset many gaming PC makers, who hoped to boost their sales with new systems designed specifically for living rooms. Apparently, many companies now launch what was supposed to be Steam Machines as console-like gaming PCs with Microsoft Corp.’s Windows 8.1 operating system.
CyberPowerPC on Wednesday introduced its Syber Vapor compact PC gaming systems that come equipped with Logitech F710 controllers as well as small wireless QWERTY keyboards. The systems are designed for the living rooms and come with pre-installed Steam video game distribution system that supports Big Picture technology to play on large-screen TVs. Exact specifications of the PCs are listed below.
The Syber Vapor systems are based on off-the-shelf PC components, such as microprocessors, graphics cards, hard drives, memory modules and so on. Therefore, they can be easily upgraded in order to play the latest games in the future. All Syber Vapor systems come in similar stylish cases and feature everything that a gamer needs, including HDMI 1.4 and headphone outputs, 802.11ac/g/n Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet and so on.
While the Syber Vapor PCs are not exactly Steam Machines, but since they pack powerful hardware, they should enable high-quality gaming experience. Moreover, since the Syber Vapor systems run Windows 8.1, they are also compatible with all major gaming libraries, including Steam, UPlay, Battle.net, Origin and the Windows Games Library.
CyberPowerPC offers three base versions of the Syber Vapor gaming systems: Syber Vapor A for £499.99 (inc VAT), Syber Vapor I for £599.99 (inc VAT) as well as Syber Vapor Extreme for £1249.99 (inc VAT), but it is possible to configure a custom system at the company’s web-site. The PC gaming consoles can be pre-ordered at www.sybergaming.co.uk.
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KitGuru Says: While Valve Software is gearing up to offer a decent entertainment platform for the living room with video games, music, video and other services, PC makers simply create systems that offer similar functionality as Valve’s Steam Machines without Valve. While the overall experience is naturally not really integrated, if PC makers will manage to make it right, then the fate of Steam Machines will probably be pretty blurry.
Looks pretty good imo. Tho I’ll always be a desktop gamer.
Looks pretty good imo. Tho I’ll always be a desktop gamer.
Uh but these are PCs… >.<
There isn’t a reason why you couldn’t use this on a desk… Its just runs windows… Add keyboard and mouse bam
The mi-tier one would make a great STREAMING pc I Rate!
Hook it up to the beast pc in the bedroom (if you have one), tinker with some
controller friendly software (XBMC etc and you have a great device…..
Wait, no blu-ra drive may just kill it’s HTPC vibe!
I thought the whole point of the steam machines was that they had standard specs like consoles. If they are gonna be customisable etc, then the whole point of it is kinda…..pointless.
Lol, idiot.
damn I mean custom desktop PC’s hahaha.
lol, i mean custom desktop PC’s.
Athlon and 270 on a 250 watt PSU?
There needs to be something between the 1 and the extreme- i5 with maybe the ITX 970GTX that was announced the other day.
The more PC based consoles that flood the market means that consoles might actually be replaced. I welcome that with open arms if it means developers are gonna pull their fingers out their respective arses and make games properly
Noob Question…so is this a pc? i mean can i run programs in it? like photoshop,eclipse e.t.c??
The whole point of Steam Machines is to put a console style pc in the living room. Valve never said there would be set specifications.
As the article says, it runs Windows 8.1 which can run any program you want. It is just a desktop PC, but with a smaller form factor so you can have it sitting below your TV in the front room.
Not exactly, with so many configurations and set ups, all it will probably do is confuse the hell out of mainstream consumers and then in the end they’ll just go back to choosing either the XBox, PS or Wii. Similar to like what happened with the cellphone market. Unless Valve take the lead and come up with a way to simplify things, this market won’t flourish at all! Openness of the PC can be an amazing thing, but only to people who know whats going on, otherwise it’s a big detriment!
Maybe not pointless but very confusing. TO people who frequent sites like this and know how to deal with their PCs, it’s cool, to the average console user, all this stuff is not gonna make sense and they’ll get over it
I know, that’s impressive.
No i don’t think they will. What about when they discover the steam OS is Linux? That should be funny.
lol this is true. What I should have said is I like my full tower and the ability to add and change, both it and the internals.