[SOLVED] could you use an amd fx 8800p for a steam box?

[Vogner16]

Im thinking of steam machines and amd's new merlins falcon r series imbedded apu's and nocided they have an fx8800p version with ddr4 support. that would have some serious gaming power, but as imbedded would not be sold to public. im thinking if I was to get a dev board from a local supplier I know could I get it to run a steam box that plays games well and is super cheap? Imbedded apu steam machine has all the promices of cheap and fast meaning this could really be a money maker for like a refreshed cheaper model alienware alpha. I could see these sell for Xbone prices and be basicly as fast. eh? thoughts?

 

[jaguarskx]

You can use any APU / CPU to build a Steam Machine which is basically a PC with Steam OS. An Intel Atom CPU could be used if you wanted to do so.

I do not know how well the FX-8800p's CPU performance compares to whatever is in the Xbox One, but the integrated Radeon R7 (Carrizo) is not very powerful. Based on where Notebookcheck.net ranks that iGPU sole on specs and no actual benchmarks whatsoever at the moment, it is a little better than a nVidia 930m mobile GPU. That would be a lot less powerful than whatever integrated iGPU the Xbox One uses.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-R7-Carrizo-Benchmarks.144288.0.html


Dell's website states that the Alienware Alpha uses a "Custom-built NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX GPU 2GB GDDR5". I would guess whatever that GPU is it would be more powerful than the Radeon R7 (Carrizo) iGPU.

My advice is to wait and see how well Steam machines are being accepted by the general public and if possible research how well the Alpha is selling. If there is a large percentage of Alphas selling then perhaps there is a market for a less expensive and less powerful Steam Machine, but you will be going up against a well known name brand.

 

[Vogner16]

the igpu in the xbone is roughly 700 spu's and an 8 core jaguar cpu clocked at 1.6 I believe. with a more optimized os to keep that low cpu perf irrelivent.
fx 8800p (im thinking the imbedded R series apu with ddr4) has 512 spu's and faster ram. giving it what I see as slightly slower but comparable overall perf to that on a xbone when much higher cpu perf is included as 8800p is a 4 core at 2.0 and on a better uarch (excavator). if priced lower than a xbone (as it should cost less to build than retail of xbone) do you think there's a market?

EDIT: I know the gpu in alpha is faster (860m) but alpha is much more expensive.

 

[jaguarskx]

You will have to wait and see if there is a market for Steam Machines. I don't follow that scene since I do not like using controllers. The last time I held a controller in my hands (excluding the time when people challenged me to a boxing match using a Wii at a house party) was when Halo 2 was released for the Xbox.

If the Alpha does use a custom GTX 860m, then there needs to be a significant enough price difference with your proposed machine to justify dropping down to accepting iGPU performance.

 

[Vogner16]

understood.

I do think your in the small portion of gamers who don't use controllers as the keyboard is a typing tool adapted to gaming and requires a desk while the xbox controller etc. are gaming controllers designed to fit you hand and give you control over a simulated persons walking and actions as well as to be adapted for driving type games.

It is a lot of what your used to, but the majority of gamers and PC gamers even I feel prefer to use a controller due to its increased sensitivity in rotation and movement with joysticks compared to that of keys on the PC. This is my big problem with steam controller as it is trying to get keyboard people to switch to a controller essentially being another adaption device instead of simply a good controller for a gaming OS. that's a different point.

I guess I will have to do some research on merlins falcon SoC apu's to see if I can get adequate performance and what the cost for such a device would be. I know that this apu would have far less power draw than a alienware alpha or a xbone. so that's an idea.

btw. any idea on the cost for a dev board? I can get a quote if not then put all the data price to perf etc...

EDIT: spelling errors

 

[jaguarskx]

I am not saying I am in the majority or minority of gamers.

I am saying that you should wait to find out how well gamers in general accept Steam Machines. It could be an awesome platform, but if a lot of gamers do not accept it, then it does not matter how awesome it is because sale are going to be very low.

Before jumping into Steam Machine craze with both feet, you should do as much research as you can before devoting too much money into it. Like don't produce thousands of your own Steam Machines before finding out how well other Steam Machines are selling. I don't know how much a dev board costs and I don't know where you can get the info except for may from Valve themselves.

I saw the following video a few days ago regarding the Steam Controller. It starts off with Steam's warning not to use the Steam Controller for CSGO on of the most popular FPS games on Steam. The controller is not for all games another example is Cities: Skyline that is later on in the video. It works fine up until you want to type with the controller. I guess an update could resolve the issue though.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVt1bRG17J0