Those lucky Steam Machine beta participants are already getting their hands on, and subsequently taking apart, their new consoles.
Valve shipped out the beta Steam Machines last Friday, and some lucky participants have found themselves with an early Christmas present over the weekend. Being that the “console” is really just a PC disguised as a console, the first thing some people did was pull it apart to see just how all its innards fit inside the box.
Youtuber Corey Nelson is someone did just that, uploading his video of the Steam Machine tear-down for all to see. Right from the get-go, it’s pretty obvious that the machine is very tightly packed. That said, one of the key advantages of a PC is its limitless upgradiblity, and the Steam Machine certainly does not disappoint in that regard.
Both the HDD and the graphics card can be fairly easily removed and upgraded. There’s even room for a second 2.5” hard drive below the first one.
The other components seem to be a bit harder to get at, but Nelson comments that there are plenty of screws if you wish to pull the whole thing apart. Every component, possibly bar what appears to be a custom motherboard, should be replaceable.
For the record, these were the official specs Valve said the prototype Steam Machines would have:
- GPU: some units with NVidia Titan, some GTX780, some GTX760, and some GTX660
- CPU: some boxes with Intel : i7-4770, some i5-4570, and some i3
- RAM: 16GB DDR3-1600 (CPU), 3GB DDR5 (GPU)
- Storage: 1TB/8GB Hybrid SSHD
- Power Supply: Internal 450w 80Plus Gold
Nelson did not specify exactly which components his particular Steam Machine had.
Source: YouTube
