Even the Steam Controller, which replaces the traditional dual-analog sticks with two large touchpads, can be purchased separately and used in games on a Windows PC (although with varying degrees of success). There's also not much you can do with the Steam OS version of this hardware that you can't do with the Windows version. All Steam Machine configurations include one Steam Controller.Īs a gaming experience built around Valve's deep library of PC games, a new style of game controller and a console-like interface, there are parts of the Steam Machine experience that feel very familiar, while other parts have a learning curve that may be too steep for casual gamers. For $649 or £579 and up, you can step up to an Intel Core i5 or Core i7 processor. For $549 or £499, you'll double the RAM to 8GB and the hard drive to 1TB.
#Alienware os with mouse series
(The Alpha originally shipped with a slower 5,400rpm hard drive, but as of October 13, Alienware said that it will use the same 7,200rpm hard drive in both versions.) The biggest difference, besides the operating system, is that the Windows version includes a standard Xbox 360 controller rather than the Steam Machine's fancy new gamepad.Ī series of upgraded Steam Machine configurations are also available. The base model for each starts with an Intel Core i3 processor, 500GB of storage and a custom Nvidia graphics chip that closely matches the performance of the mainstream GeForce 860M card.
Nvidia also offers similar functionality through its Shield products.īoth versions of this Alienware product offer essentially identical hardware. Valve is also selling a standalone Steam Link interface for $50 if you're only interested in porting your existing gaming PC's signal to your TV. Go wireless on either end, and the experience suffers. The Steam Link functionality works well if you have both ends (the separate gaming PC and the device connected to your TV) directly wired via ethernet cable. The system can also "stream" other PC games if you have a gaming laptop or desktop elsewhere on your home network - but if you already have a killer gaming rig, then you might not be in the market for a Steam Machine in the first place. To be fair, though, that's about 975 more launch titles than you'd find on other recent gaming system launches. For such a PC-like experience, the game selection is quite limited, supporting about 1,000 games, versus the 4,500-plus available to Windows gamers on Steam. It's a laudable concept, but one that raises some tough questions - not all of which have been satisfactorily answered by this final retail version of the hardware and the still-evolving operating system software.
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