Steam Machine beta unboxed, torn down

The time has finally come.

No ad to show here.

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.