Alienware will stick to its words of releasing a Steam Machine by end of this year even though Valve has announced a 2015 launch of its SteamOS as it fine tunes the working of its controller.
The Steam Machine from Alienware won’t be running SteamOS though, but instead will be powered by Windows and will use Steam to launch games, the company announced at E3 2014.
Alienware Alpha will be launched as a living room PC and will pack impressive specifications that will appeal to all gamers.
The basic model of Alienware Alpha will be powered by Intel ‘Haswell’ based Intel Core i3, 4GB RAM, 500GB SATA 3 HDD, 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0, HDMI out with support for uncompressed eight-channel audio and 4K content, 2xUSB 3.0, 2xUSB 2.0. The best feature of the Alienware Alpha Steam Machine is the custom-built NVIDIA “Maxwell” based graphics processing unit (GPU) with 2GB dedicated GDDR5 high-speed memory.
Those who are willing to pay more can go for an Intel Core i5 or an Core i7 powered Steam Machine with 8GB RAM and 1TB or 2TB HDD, among other improved features. The machine supports wireless Xbox 360 controller.
Looking at the conditions, there is no one to blame for this move – neither Alienware nor Valve. Alienware, as we said earlier, wants its customers to get what it promised earlier this year – even though with a little modification; and Valve on the other hand wants to ensure that it delivers SteamOS only after its ‘novel’ Steam controller has been thoroughly tested and devoid of any bugs.
Alienware Alpha will cost $549 and upwards, a little costly than anticipated, and interested buyers can reserve their Steam Machine when the pre-order opens up. The machines are expected to ship out just before Christmas.
