If you're interested in this box, you really should get the Alienware Alpha with Windows instead.
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Updated with video review!
We’ve been looking forward to Valve’s Steam Machine initiative for a long time, mostly because Valve has never really failed us in the past. Well, there’s a first time for everything, and unfortunately, we have to acknowledge that Valve has made a misstep here.
At the frontlines of the initiative is Alienware ’s little 2.1x7.8x7.8-inch box. If the system looks familiar, it’s because it’s largely the same small PC as the company’s Alpha system we reviewed earlier this year. It’s still super sexy, portable, and has the same ports. The biggest difference here is that the Steam Machine version uses Linux (with Steam’s Big Picture Mode overlay on top) instead of Windows.
Also, instead of coming with an Xbox controller, the Steam Machine comes with Valve’s new Steam Controller , which has a steep learning curve, but let’s you play every single game on Steam and allows you to easily navigate Valve’s 10-foot UI.
Steam Machine video review
Here's what we think the Steam Machine will cost now that Valve's admitted 'limited availability and growing prices' have forced it to change plans
Steam Controller re-review: A fresh look at Valve's flawed but influential 10-year-old controller
Our particular Steam Machine is running the same mobile graphics card that its Alienware Alpha counterpart uses—essentially a variant of Nvidia’s 860M GPU. The system does offer some much-needed enhancements, which include Intel’s 3GHz Core i5-4950 quad-core CPU, 8GB of RAM, and a 7,200rpm hard drive. Conversely, our Alpha came with an i3 processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 5,200rpm HDD.
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