Alienware Alpha Steam Machine Opinions?

[Etorpine]

I was just scrolling through Dells website, bored, and found this thing.

http://www.techspot.com/news/57713-alienware-alpha-pre-orders-go-live-will-bring-console-like-pc-gaming-to-living-rooms-by-november.html

Okay.. I'm a bit lost. This is supposed to play Steam games? The hardware in this thing isn't good at all. The standard model ships with 4GB's of RAM and an outdated Intel i3 dual core with a low clock, and the graphics card isn't even mentioned yet. Am I missing the point here, what's this thing going to accomplish? People are saying this thing is the next console, and that it will beat out consoles, but this thing couldn't max out some 2012 games let alone go next-gen.. Seriously guys, am I missing something? I'm perplexed by the idea of a steam machine, they're not powerful in any sense of the word and anybody who wanted to rig up their machine to the TV and wire up a controller already has that option.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE?

Even the highest end model isn't that great.

http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-alpha-steam-machine/pd?oc=dkcwa04&model_id=alienware-alpha-steam-machine

 

[bijanns]

Owning an Alienware I think it will be a nice product to fulfil the console gamer and the PC user at a good price.

 

[Etorpine]

I own an Alienware Aurora R4, and that thing looks like a tragedy. The included spec's aren't going to run newer games well at all. And when the full blown SteamOS drops, it's a torn up version of Linux with no file system or anything. I disagree, but I'm looking for opinions here so keep them coming.

 

[xhazardcfc]

It looks like the cat i ran over.

 

[Etorpine]

Well.

I figured you guys might have been interested in this to a point but I suppose not.

 

[Zachary Yeager]

Take a minute, and read this with an open mind.
I believe the Alienware Alpha(all tiers) has the potential to change the way we see console gaming.
For me at least, its not the power of the machine that makes it interesting, its the fact that its a set top console that has upgrade-ability, while not the most beefy of GPUs that custom 4gb they have is more than enough to play every game out right now and probably for a while to come so it being static isnt a big deal. For the low end fellas, 4gb of some semi slow RAM is easily swapped for 8gb of slightly faster RAM. With the same 6gb/s most modern motherboards get with an SSD to boot even the i3 powered machines should get decent frames on most games at 720p, with the i5/i7 models getting into 1080p and higher resolutions.
The only thing i really worry about is cooling it all off....

 

[Etorpine]

It's working with hardware that's on next-gen console level, with a horrible OS and no market to sell it to. I'm sorry but it's gonna flop like a fish along with all the other Steam Machines. Nobody is going to 'benefit' off buying one. It's basically an expensive console with Linux on it. It's gonna fail.

 

[CompTekUSA]

From what I could gather, because it has Linux on it, you can't play any windows games. So, say good bye to most of the popular games!

 

[Zachary Yeager]

The console OS is built off of Windows 8.1, not Linux. And as far as actual UI, I could care less how clunky it is as long as I can access certain games. The PlayStation has never had very good UI and look at how well it did. I could care less what all the menus look like as long as i can turn it on and be at least loading a game up within a minute or so of boot up. Also its not supposed to be a desktop computer, its a game console. How much UI do you really need?

 

[Etorpine]

Why limit yourself to a dumbed down PC when you could take the money you'd spend on the Steam Machine, add a few hundred more and build a MUCH better full blown PC. This thing is gonna fail, and fail hard. We can even start a betting pool, this is how confident I am in this thing blowing it.

 

[CompTekUSA]

The console OS is built off of Windows 8.1, not Linux. And as far as actual UI, I could care less how clunky it is as long as I can access certain games. The PlayStation has never had very good UI and look at how well it did. I could care less what all the menus look like as long as i can turn it on and be at least loading a game up within a minute or so of boot up. Also its not supposed to be a desktop computer, its a game console. How much UI do you really need?

This is from Steam's website:

"SteamOS Beta is the first public release of our Linux-based operating system. The base system draws from Debian 7, code named Debian Wheezy. Our work builds on top of the solid Debian core and optimizes it for a living room experience. Most of all, it is an open Linux platform that leaves you in full control. You can take charge of your system and install new software or content that you want."

 

[kellie moak]

It's working with hardware that's on next-gen console level, with a horrible OS and no market to sell it to. I'm sorry but it's gonna flop like a fish along with all the other Steam Machines.

 

[Laytonoid]

I preordered one because of how small it is. There is currently no way to make a custom computer that size with the graphics capability it has. It has a gtx 860m which is almost a GTX 750ti and the case is less then 8"x8"x2". It's like a Mac mini for gaming and is still somewhat upgradable. Tell me how to make a custom computer this powerful in that size of a case.. I could be wrong.

 

[GFink]

"Leveraging the GeForce GTX 750 Ti, based off NVIDIA’s newest Maxwell architecture, Alienware was able to increase the standard performance even further, customizing the GPU to run at speeds currently found in no other device." This came straight off of NVIDIA's GeForce website.

Ok, so it's like a beefed-up GTX 750 Ti, with the new Maxwell architecture, found in the new GTX 900 series. According to this video, the GPU isn't upgrade-able because it's wired to the motherboard. It is stated, however, that you can replace the CPU, RAM, and hard drive. It seems like it wouldn't be able to handle the 1080p/4K top-notch next-gen graphics though. I've also heard around some places that it's a "souped up Nvidia GTX 860M GPU."

According to GPUBoss, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M and the 750 Ti are pretty similar. Would be nice if they made it a 2-way SLI GPU, or let you have the ability to upgrade to, say, a GTX 770. With the CPU being dual-core, I think it can handle some pretty CPU-intensive games, too. Keep in mind this is the lowest-tier CPU from their choices, for it can go up to a quad-core Core i7.

Sources: http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/articles/alienware-alpha-purpose-built-for-your-living-room-with-maxwell-technology, http://game24.nvidia.com/maxwell/, http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/articles/maxwell-architecture-gtx-980-970, http://www.gamespot.com/videos/how-to-easily-upgrade-the-alienware-alpha/2300-6421859/, http://www.gamespot.com/articles/550-alienware-alpha-vs-ps4-and-xbox-one-graphics-c/1100-6422982/, http://gpuboss.com/gpus/GeForce-GTX-860M-vs-GeForce-GTX-750-Ti, http://cpuboss.com/cpu/Intel-Core-i3-4130T, http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-alpha/pd