Steam Machine beta unboxed, torn down

The time has finally come.

At the start of this weekend, Valve shipped out 300 units of its much anticipated gaming console — Steam Machine (beta version) — to developers to give them a taste of the hottest beta of the year.

Luckily for us, those 300 developers have been busy: testing, unboxing, tearing down, and of course, playing. Even luckier for us those 300 developers have filmed their antics as reported by BGR, and we’ve compiled a collection of videos showcasing the Steam Machine (beta) in all its glory.

So let’s see what we’ve got.

The box, which was wooden for some mysterious reason, contained the following:

• The test console itself
• 1x Steam Controller
• an USB Steam OS recovery flash drive
• Removable Wi-Fi antenna module
• Cables and instruction manual

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXCbdn00pKY

YouTuber Corey Nelson’s unboxing of Steam MachineReddit user colbehr posted a lovely selection of pictures showing off the console’s components and the box’s goodies, as well as alluding to the specs, which were listed as follows:

• Intel i5-4570 3.2 ghz (4 cores)
• 15.6GB of RAM
• GeForce GTX 780 GPU with 3GB video memory
• ASRock Z87E-ITX motherboard (probable)
• SilverStone ST 455F PSU

Valve, which is most well known for creating the hit gaming franchise Half-Life and its dominant PC-gaming platform Steam, marks its first foray into console territory with Steam Machine.

Reddit user colbehr answered some questions on the post, and noted that the controller felt a ‘little buggy,’ as well as ‘a bit lighter than expected’ but he also notes the potential of the controller, especially given this is not a commercial release.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyaZHFyoLlg

Controller overviewColbehr also stated that the Steam Machine is practically silent whilst running.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC2go6LiDco

Portal on Steam MachineCorey Nelson’s teardown video reveals that the box potentially has space for a second hard drive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVkas2E3NAg

Steam Machine Teardown

For a full array of pictures be sure to check out steammachinebetatester’s tumblr and for more videos check out Corey Nelson’s YouTube channel.