5 ms·

Basically just a small form PC. Pretty much every component that will be messed with is just an off-the-shelf part. Not really any surprises here, but it's nice

Basically just a small form PC. Pretty much every component that will be messed with is just an off-the-shelf part. Not really any surprises here, but it's nice that it's all confirmed.

User1398 13y ago
Thankfully, no proprietary HPU (hat processing unit).
- pekk 13y ago
  You will need one to mine Valve's hatcoins
  - User1398 13y ago
    Although we're joking, I wonder if Bitcoin would be far more successful if it originated within a platform like Steam. Let's say Steam replaced their wallet with Hatcoins. They allow users to add Hatcoins from their bank account, send Hatcoins to other users, purchase hats, and Steam games at a 2% discount if using Hatcoins during 2014. Valve runs the main Hatcoin exchange, and you'll have millions of people using the currency within a year. If I run a gaming site, I could start accepting Hatcoin donations or subscriptions, since they're already popular with gamers. Or, I could pay for servers using Hatcoins, buy Minecraft items with Hatcoins, Humble Bundles, games from GreenManGaming and GamersGate, etc. It seems like they would have something that Bitcoin doesn't, a lively economy and marketplace to add stability.
    - macrael 13y ago
      This reminds me of Microsoft Points et al which I find incredibly annoying. It's much friendlier to ask me to pay for things in the currency I use for everything else in my life.
      - Loughla 13y ago
        That was my thought. Pushing a new electronic currency in a locked-in environment such as steam comes across as a bit too company town and company store for my tastes.
      - wyager 13y ago
        No reason not to support multiple currencies, of course.
    - timje1 13y ago
      I don't think steam has that many users - if I remember correctly, steam numbers are dwarfed by WoW / LoL (PC) and console shooter numbers. You'd be better off introducing a Call of Duty Coin... Call them Dogtags or something.
      - kevinh 13y ago
        Steam generally has around 3.5 to 6 million concurrent users at any time. Dota 2 usually pulls around 500k users. You can check Steam user counts here (http://store.steampowered.com/stats/ http://store.steampowered.com/stats/). Not sure how console user bases stack up, but that's a pretty wide base.
      - venomsnake 13y ago
        Depends if you define 60 000 000 as many. Wow had 12M at its peak. And there is huge overlap. LoL gamers and WoW are subset of steam users.
    - KaoruAoiShiho 13y ago
      tencent already tried this before it was banned by the government.
    - officemonkey 13y ago
      I would definitely sell off my TF2 hat collection if I could legitimately buy something else with the proceeds (even if it was only other Steam games.)
      - ANTSANTS 13y ago
        You can? http://steamcommunity.com/market/ http://steamcommunity.com/market/ Most hats aren't saleable on the market, but you can trade the hats for keys, which you can sell for about $2.25 a pop.
        officemonkey 13y ago
        Yeah, the trading shit for other shit meta-game doesn't interest me at all.
        ANTSANTS 13y ago
        Me neither, I'm just saying this "sell your virtual hat collection to pay for video games" future is already here.
pmjordan 13y ago
Over the years, I've tried a few times to design a gaming capable PC that would easily fit in a suitcase and not make as much noise as a 747. I never found cases with a form factor like that with internal power supplies, and which will fit, power and cool a mid-to-high range (~€180) graphics card. The other components are easy of course. I'd be happy to be proven wrong, because I'm definitely in the market for something like this. More than 50% of my gaming time happens when I take time off - which usually means I'm visiting family for a few weeks, and taking anything bigger than this on a plane or train is not realistic. I was hoping Thunderbolt might solve the problem with external GPUs, but right now that seems more trouble than it's worth.
- nitrogen 13y ago
  You could try building a custom PC into a hard-shell travel case. I believe there are also ITX or micro ATX cases that can accommodate a 400+ watt PSU for powering a GPU in that range.
  - pmjordan 13y ago
    You could try building a custom PC into a hard-shell travel case. I tried that, many years ago. I'll be the first to admit I'm not especially good at working metal, so it was somewhat crude. Keeping everything safely in place inside, and ensuring sufficient thermal flow ended up too much of a challenge for me. The thing only ran stably when I left it open, and eventually a heatsink came loose during travel. Might be easier with today's more efficient/better designed components, and with a bit of hindsight. Still, very much a major project. I believe there are also ITX or micro ATX cases that can accommodate a 400+ watt PSU for powering a GPU in that range. Every 6-12 months I review the market on these. You can indeed get ITX cases which will take a graphics card. Generally, the form factor is the "cube" kind (well, square-ish front face), around 20x22x35cm. (~15 litres) I find this much harder to transport safely (e.g. by packing clothes around it in a suitcase) than the flat, "VCR-shaped" arrangement, with the graphics card on a 90° riser. The ones on the market also tend to waste space on optical drives, multiple hard drive bays, etc. and often have external PSUs (not necessarily a bad thing, but often they don't make the case any smaller). The Steam Machine prototypes are apparently only around 7.5x31x31cm. That's less than 8 litres, including the PSU. Last time I looked into this was in Spring, so maybe things have improved since then. Specific suggestions welcome.
bitwize 13y ago
"All right. What have we got? A computer! Not a surprise, actually. To be expected, to be honest. Check that off the list: computer identified. Tick."

Basically just a small form PC. Pretty much every component that will be messed with is just an off-the-shelf part. Not really any surprises here, but it's nice that it's all confirmed.

User1398 13y ago

Thankfully, no proprietary HPU (hat processing unit).

pekk 13y ago
You will need one to mine Valve's hatcoins
- User1398 13y ago
  Although we're joking, I wonder if Bitcoin would be far more successful if it originated within a platform like Steam. Let's say Steam replaced their wallet with Hatcoins. They allow users to add Hatcoins from their bank account, send Hatcoins to other users, purchase hats, and Steam games at a 2% discount if using Hatcoins during 2014. Valve runs the main Hatcoin exchange, and you'll have millions of people using the currency within a year. If I run a gaming site, I could start accepting Hatcoin donations or subscriptions, since they're already popular with gamers. Or, I could pay for servers using Hatcoins, buy Minecraft items with Hatcoins, Humble Bundles, games from GreenManGaming and GamersGate, etc. It seems like they would have something that Bitcoin doesn't, a lively economy and marketplace to add stability.
  - macrael 13y ago
    This reminds me of Microsoft Points et al which I find incredibly annoying. It's much friendlier to ask me to pay for things in the currency I use for everything else in my life.
    - Loughla 13y ago
      That was my thought. Pushing a new electronic currency in a locked-in environment such as steam comes across as a bit too company town and company store for my tastes.
    - wyager 13y ago
      No reason not to support multiple currencies, of course.
  - timje1 13y ago
    I don't think steam has that many users - if I remember correctly, steam numbers are dwarfed by WoW / LoL (PC) and console shooter numbers. You'd be better off introducing a Call of Duty Coin... Call them Dogtags or something.
    - kevinh 13y ago
      Steam generally has around 3.5 to 6 million concurrent users at any time. Dota 2 usually pulls around 500k users. You can check Steam user counts here (http://store.steampowered.com/stats/ http://store.steampowered.com/stats/). Not sure how console user bases stack up, but that's a pretty wide base.
    - venomsnake 13y ago
      Depends if you define 60 000 000 as many. Wow had 12M at its peak. And there is huge overlap. LoL gamers and WoW are subset of steam users.
  - KaoruAoiShiho 13y ago
    tencent already tried this before it was banned by the government.
  - officemonkey 13y ago
    I would definitely sell off my TF2 hat collection if I could legitimately buy something else with the proceeds (even if it was only other Steam games.)
    - ANTSANTS 13y ago
      You can? http://steamcommunity.com/market/ http://steamcommunity.com/market/ Most hats aren't saleable on the market, but you can trade the hats for keys, which you can sell for about $2.25 a pop.
      - officemonkey 13y ago
        Yeah, the trading shit for other shit meta-game doesn't interest me at all.
        ANTSANTS 13y ago
        Me neither, I'm just saying this "sell your virtual hat collection to pay for video games" future is already here.

pmjordan 13y ago

Over the years, I've tried a few times to design a gaming capable PC that would easily fit in a suitcase and not make as much noise as a 747. I never found cases with a form factor like that with internal power supplies, and which will fit, power and cool a mid-to-high range (~€180) graphics card. The other components are easy of course. I'd be happy to be proven wrong, because I'm definitely in the market for something like this. More than 50% of my gaming time happens when I take time off - which usually means I'm visiting family for a few weeks, and taking anything bigger than this on a plane or train is not realistic. I was hoping Thunderbolt might solve the problem with external GPUs, but right now that seems more trouble than it's worth.

nitrogen 13y ago
You could try building a custom PC into a hard-shell travel case. I believe there are also ITX or micro ATX cases that can accommodate a 400+ watt PSU for powering a GPU in that range.
- pmjordan 13y ago
  You could try building a custom PC into a hard-shell travel case. I tried that, many years ago. I'll be the first to admit I'm not especially good at working metal, so it was somewhat crude. Keeping everything safely in place inside, and ensuring sufficient thermal flow ended up too much of a challenge for me. The thing only ran stably when I left it open, and eventually a heatsink came loose during travel. Might be easier with today's more efficient/better designed components, and with a bit of hindsight. Still, very much a major project. I believe there are also ITX or micro ATX cases that can accommodate a 400+ watt PSU for powering a GPU in that range. Every 6-12 months I review the market on these. You can indeed get ITX cases which will take a graphics card. Generally, the form factor is the "cube" kind (well, square-ish front face), around 20x22x35cm. (~15 litres) I find this much harder to transport safely (e.g. by packing clothes around it in a suitcase) than the flat, "VCR-shaped" arrangement, with the graphics card on a 90° riser. The ones on the market also tend to waste space on optical drives, multiple hard drive bays, etc. and often have external PSUs (not necessarily a bad thing, but often they don't make the case any smaller). The Steam Machine prototypes are apparently only around 7.5x31x31cm. That's less than 8 litres, including the PSU. Last time I looked into this was in Spring, so maybe things have improved since then. Specific suggestions welcome.

bitwize 13y ago

"All right. What have we got? A computer! Not a surprise, actually. To be expected, to be honest. Check that off the list: computer identified. Tick."