News Zotax SN970: GTX970M + Skylake Mini PC

They are early with the introduction but it looks like a nice small gaming machine. Much better then the Alpha of GR8.
I do wonder that the dimension are.

http://www.legitreviews.com/zotac-steam-machine-takes-pc-gaming-beyond-computer_159389

The ultimate unboxing

“The ZOTAC Steam Machine is the first in the foray of PC gaming away from the desk, and we have dedicated our efforts in designing the perfect gaming system that will define the next generation. We are equipping the ZOTAC Steam Machine with Intel’s 6th generation CPU and a discrete GTX level graphics card with NVIDIA’s latest Maxwell GPU to provide gamers the means for an incredible visual experience. Each component is carefully selected and tested to ensure the greatest optimization, and we will strive to ensure users game with the best,” reveals an excited Jacky Huang, Director of Product Management, ZOTAC International.

 

[iFreilicht]

What an amazing machine! I'd love to know the dimensions and price of this thing.

 

[jeshikat]

Extrapolating from the HDMI ports on the back gives:

~225mm wide x ~215mm deep x ~54mm tall = ~2.6L

 

[fusionxr]

Aren't mxm modules really expensive? This is a real game changer for steam machines, I can't wait to see a teardown of this.

 

[QinX]

They didn't mention it is an MXM module, chances are they made their own PCB, like the Alpha en GR8.
Also I scaled the image, the size should be even smaller 20cm*19cm*4.8cm=~1.8L
The Gigabyte Brix 760 was 1.2L but it had a desktop GTX760 in it that made the system scream and throttle under load. With the 80W of the GTX970M and Skylake this could be a winner. But Skylake is far away still, I wonder why they haven't done it with a Haswell CPU and release it sooner.

 

[fusionxr]

But it says "Gtx 970m mxm graphics". I guess they made it upgradeable.

 

[QinX]

But it says "Gtx 970m mxm graphics". I guess they made it upgradeable.

If this is an indication for the "upgradibility" I'll pass.
http://www.eurocom.com/ec/vgas(1)ec

 

[rawr]

http://store.steampowered.com/sale/steam_machines

Prices for all steam machines here. Zotac's is $999, so not too bad.

 

[fusionxr]

http://store.steampowered.com/sale/steam_machines
Prices for all steam machines here. Zotac's is $999, so not too bad.

Thats actually quite reasonable tbh. The cheapest 970 itx build I could do went over 700gbp.
I noticed this too:

Power gaming with Nvidia
The ZOTAC Steam Machine comes equipped with a GeForce GTX970M. With 3 GB of memory and a vast array of Maxwell exclusive technology, the full PC experience in ultra high settings will be delivered to you. Realistic light through VXGI, real life texture quality through MFAA, and 4K on a HD screen through Dynamic Super Resolution will breathe life into your living room.

Are they saying that because of the whole 3.5gb issue?

 

[QinX]

Thats actually quite reasonable tbh. The cheapest 970 itx build I could do went over 700gbp.
I noticed this too:

Are they saying that because of the whole 3.5gb issue?

You are reading incorrectly it is is an GTX970M, the mobile version. It's worse then the GTX960. It has 60% of GTX970 performance.

 

[fusionxr]

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvidia-geforce-maxwell-mobile-gtx-970m-gtx-980m,27833.html
Looked at the specs and benchmarks, you're absolutely right. I didnt realise how bad the mobile versions actually were. I take back what I said about it being reasonable.

 

[rawr]

Obviously price to performance it's not the best (and was never really going to be). The value in this for me is the custom components, which allows it to be very small.

A concern I have with this is really the thermals; the last time we had something like this was Gigabyte's Brix 760, which had atrocious cooling, and was also really loud.

However, my doubts on the success of the "steam machine" initiative remain.

 

[PlayfulPhoenix]

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvidia-geforce-maxwell-mobile-gtx-970m-gtx-980m,27833.html
Looked at the specs and benchmarks, you're absolutely right. I didnt realise how bad the mobile versions actually were. I take back what I said about it being reasonable.

They aren't "bad" for what they are - mobile GPUs are incredibly energy and heat-constrained. Maxwell has brought some of the most significant improvements to mobile graphics in some time, in fact. But to put it in a desktop form factor is an exercise in setting up customers for disappointment, since it sets up the expectation for desktop-class graphics performance to match.

However, my doubts on the success of the "steam machine" initiative remain.

My only confusion surrounds who the audience is - Steam machines that are significantly more capable than consoles will cost much more, so it's not something a budget-minded person will want. And most people who spend a lot of money on gaming computers either already have expensive towers, or couldn't fit what they want to in the constraints of a LRPC, or prefer keyboard/mouse controls, so they wouldn't want this either.

If someone who's keen to get one of these could elaborate on why, in fact, that would be helpful

 

[rawr]

I think it was a stupid idea for valve to let partners to release whatever config they want. A strong point of consoles is that there's no choice (apart from Xbox vs PS); everyone buys the same console, there's no tough decision to make.

I thought it was a mistake for valve to have all these partners in the first place, an even bigger one to have options from $500 to $5000.
Their target market is people who have/would like to have a console. These people typically are not familiar with PCs and what specs decide better performance. What will likely happen is that these people will look at the more expensive ones and deduce that the cheapest are simply not worth going for, when in fact the cheapest ones are really more than sufficient for some decent gaming. But then they don't want to splash out on the expensive ones, and so no steam machines will be sold.

Hopefully I'm just being really cynical, and this does take off. But at this early stage, we'll just have to wait and see.

 

[QinX]

In the end it is all going to depend on how well the SteamOS is fleshed out to give the console UI experience.
Together with that and the fact that is runs OpenGL only(Linux) the support for games has to pick up. I have high hopes for the DirectX12 counterpart, Vulkan to succeed in bringer games beyond Windows and have them optimized like they are with consoles.