So based on those off the self component whats the total value of the box? about 1000$?
Steam Machine Teardown
31–40 of 128 posts
Re: Steam Machine Teardown
#32What the hell is a 32 bit processor doing on a simple button/light daughterboard?
Cortex-M0 is often cheaper in volume than the 8-bit stalwarts, so why not?
Re: Steam Machine Teardown
#33Why would ifixit knock off a point due to a full PC in a small form factor being a tight fit? Doesn't seem to make any sense.
It's not just the tight fit, it's that without knowing/remembering the proper cable routing you might not be able to get everything to fit back in the case after taking it apart.
Re: Steam Machine Teardown
#34What the hell is a 32 bit processor doing on a simple button/light daughterboard?
It's not exactly 32 bit and comes with an onboard USB controller so it was probably a pretty economical option.
Re: Steam Machine Teardown
#35What the hell is a 32 bit processor doing on a simple button/light daughterboard?
They're dirt fucking cheap, is why. Last I looked, $0.80 a piece. Why screw around with an 8-bit AVR when it's more expensive and you're plugged into the wall and don't care about power?
(Oh, and I'll add a tradeoff: the chips are cheap, but they are not as easy to get up and running as an AVR. Programmers and a bunch of Windows software seems to be required; I've given up every time I've tried to use one :)
Re: Steam Machine Teardown
#36The pc hardware is the least interesting part. What really matters is how well the controller works with PC gamers and is the OS good enough for a TV.
Re: Steam Machine Teardown
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
You will need one to mine Valve's hatcoins
Although we're joking, I wonder if Bitcoin would be far more successful if it originated within a platform like Steam. Let's say Steam replaced their wallet with Hatcoins. They allow users to add Hatcoins from their bank account, send Hatcoins to other users, purchase hats, and Steam games at a 2% discount if using Hatcoins during 2014. Valve runs the main Hatcoin exchange, and you'll have millions of people using th…
I don't think steam has that many users - if I remember correctly, steam numbers are dwarfed by WoW / LoL (PC) and console shooter numbers.
You'd be better off introducing a Call of Duty Coin... Call them Dogtags or something.
Re: Steam Machine Teardown
#38What the hell is a 32 bit processor doing on a simple button/light daughterboard?
It's a $1.50 MCU at low volume which probably has off the shelf USB drivers. Why would you build-cost-optimize a prototype for a product you never plan to mass produce? Choosing the path with lowest engineering cost is almost always the correct solution in such a situation.
Re: Steam Machine Teardown
#39So based on those off the self component whats the total value of the box? about 1000$?
Roughly $1300 according to the article.
Re: Steam Machine Teardown
#40So based on those off the self component whats the total value of the box? about 1000$?
Hard to say, since each beta box comes with different goodies:
"The 300 prototype units will ship with the following components: 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 GDDR5 (GPU) Storage: 1TB/8GB Hybrid SSHD Power Supply: Internal 450w 80Plus Gold Dimensions: approx. 12 x 12.4 x 2.9 in high"