Xi3 Unveils Valve-Backed "Piston" Gaming PC

[EmperorSubcutaneous]

After the Wii, you'd think people would put more thought into the names they give their gadgets.

Well, it's not like gamers wouldn't be able to tweak any other name into something unflattering anyway.

 

[cerebus23]

Yeah that $1000 dollars included a TB of SSD, which is about $1000 on it's own retail, a more sensible !TB of mechanical 2.5 inch 7200rpm HDD would put this probably closer to $400.

we are slowly coming into a next console cycle also, in a few years crysis 1 and 2 will not look so great next to xbox 720 and ps4 games. add to that the increasing relevence of tablets and whatnot into the console gaming area.

Seems to me that should look to pull a sony, sell the hardware at a loss, make up the net with games sales on your steam service. steam has the advantage of even pulling in more per game sale than sony did.

the modular thing looks nice, depends how easy it is to do and how much the upgrades cost, but that little detail there gives it some light down the road, the whole package running on 40 watts is impressive but how long will that psu hold up when these boxes needed upgraded to keep up with the competition.

but one overlooked factor how many gamers have huge libraries of games on steam, and how would a portable box that plays all their current steam games wo breaking a sweat benefit them? assuming you can tie you steam account to your little box, then it stands to reason that your steam will be on your little box and any games you buy on it would show up on your pc also. this maybe the angle valve is looking at, with expanding their consumer base secondary.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

*looks at specs*

Okay, so it's going to use an AMD A10-4600M Laptop APU (#cores, CPU speed, #shader cores all match and TDP under 40W). Big fucking whoop.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

the whole package running on 40 watts is impressive

Considering that the most likely culprit for CPU and GPU in this thing is an AMD laptop APU, it's really really not impressive.

 

[rodneyy]

as ever the problem with people is they are crap with money and are alot more willing to buy something that is cheap at the start and then costs alot for games than buy something expensive at start and then save in the long tearm.

it might help if there is more you can do on it. not just games but the whole multi media package. also you dont know how large a run will be made and the profit/loss margins on each sale. it might be it does not matter if they only sell a small ammount.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

The GTX-560 is a capable card

Yes but the HD 7660G is not and if my suspicions on it using an APU are right (and the model), then that's what the Piston will have.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Ok for those who are getting confused:
- this is not a console, it is a tiny PC
- all the stuff you need to do to run things on PC you still need to do
- this costs about the same as a normal PC would
- this will be less flexible
- these things are upgradeable to 1TB, but the entry point of $500 only comes with 16GB

This isn't some magic dust in a box just some standard components packed tight.

 

[Hoplon]

Seems to me that should look to pull a sony, sell the hardware at a loss, make up the net with games sales on your steam service. steam has the advantage of even pulling in more per game sale than sony did.

Seems to me Sony had a shit storm with that.

Also, lets be clear, he's doing that hardware down compared to current PC's (looks like it's an AMD A10 [http://www.amd.com/uk/products/desktop/processors/a-series/Pages/a-series-model-number-comparison.aspx]) compared to current gen consoles it might as well be a Cray main frame.

Even the next gen consoles will be barely on par with this and this will have a fraction of the dev costs since no dev kits needed at 1500 a pop or what ever ridiculous figure it is.

 

[sneakypenguin]

Why is it so hard for people to come up with good ideas... 1000 dollars min for a tiny pc with old hardware, only perk being that its tiny...

 

[Furism]

Any console is a "tiny PC." A tablet is a "tiny PC." Your smartphone is a "tiny PC." All these devices are more powerful than any PC from 10 years ago, for a fraction of the size. A PC doesn't have to be x86 or running Windows. A MacBook is a personal computer regardless of what Apple wants you to believe.

Also, this won't cost $1000. Mass-scale economies and costs absorption by Valve (who's freaking rich) will drive the price down. Should I remind people that for years Microsoft was losing money for each console they sold? They make money on the license fees for the games, not on the hardware.

The problem I foresee is the cooling. You can't have a powerful GPU if you can't cool it properly. If you want to cool it properly you need active cooling (fans, for instance). But this makes noise, and you don't want noise in your living room. The form factor will also be a problem for the cooling: you need smaller fans, which need to spin faster than large ones for the same amount of air flow. Smaller fans spinning fast are much noisier than their opposite.

This means the device will be either noisy, or not as powerful as it could be. Which is not necessarily a problem, since it'll have to run at 1080p max (maximum resolution for TV sets until 4K really takes off) - while on a PC the resolution can be 30-50% or more higher. Also you are father from the screen in your living room than when in front of your PC, so details matter less.

I'm very excited by this nevertheless. I only hope I can use my regular Steam library on it, so I can choose to play games on my PC or on my "Piston" console.

 

[viking97]

If this turns out to be good. . . Goddam man, that would be amazing. The ability to play any pc game anywhere in the house, and take it somewhere as easily as i can pack a laptop? (besides the moniter i guess) hell to the yes.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

This means the device will be either noisy, or not as powerful as it could be.

It's a 40W unit, so that means laptop components. All the listed specs match up to a system running an AMD A10-4600M Laptop APU.

Also, if you take a gander at an exploded view of the X7A, one of the sides is basically a mid-sized (probably 120-140mm) fan... and I hope they meshed the intake grill or dust build up will quickly become a problem.

In other words, depending on your criteria, it will be both noisy and underpowered (and it will probably run hot anyway).

 

[Scrythe]

I didn't even know that we're at the point where SSD's go up that high.

I googled around, and discovered that Newegg has one up for $2499

I'm pretty sure this is just clever or sloppy writing on someone's part, unless Valve discovered some kind of dark sorcery that allows them to produce cheap and commercially viable 1TB SSD's that can turn a profit when bundled in a $1000 machine.