Zotac Announces A Proper Steam Machine With SteamOS (Updated)

Now it’s getting even more interesting! Zotac has announced a proper Steam Machine with SteamOS.

It doesn't have the most inspiring name with “ZOTAC Steam Machine SN970”, you would think they could come up with something vastly more interesting than that.

QuoteWe 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.

I am pleased they are going with Nvidia, as I can only imagine the backlash of having an AMD GPU with Catalyst powering it.

QuoteEach unit comes with a Steam controller to give users better control in action and storage also comes included in the form of a 64GB M.2 SSD and a 2.5” 1TB HDD. Equipped with 802.11ac wireless, you can enjoy a blazing fast connection to the network for a smooth gaming experience.

Looks like it will be an SSD for SteamOS, and the 1TB HDD for the games. That's a pretty good idea to make sure SteamOS itself is as smooth as possible.

QuoteValve's much anticipated SteamOS now brings you the full Steam platform experience along with many innovations. Pre-loaded with the ZOTAC Steam Machine, the unit will boot up the OS when it is powered on for the first time, saving precious gaming time. Some of the innovations brought by the SteamOS are in-home streaming, multimedia playback, and library sharing capabilities; making the unit living room-friendly for the entire family.

Looks like a sweet little box, and some pretty powerful components should make it a winner! This could be the one we will take a look at, as it's certainly ticking all the right boxes for me.

See the official page on Zotac’s website.

Update, Official specifications:
- Price: $999 (holy cow!)
- 6th Gen Intel Processor, i3 5010U
- NVIDIA GeForce® GTX 970M 3GB GDDR5
- 8GB DDR3 SODIMM
- 64GB M.2 SSD
- 1 x HDMI in
- 2D/3D NVIDIA Surround
- Dual Gigabit Ethernet
- 4 x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0
- 1 x 2.5” 1TB HDD
- 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0
- Mic-In, Stereo Out
- SD/SDHC/SDXC Card Reader

With a rather high price, I seriously don't expect many people to be buying one. I get that there's supposed to be a range of devices, but if they honestly want to gain any traction, they should be going for as low as possible while being powerful. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.