CES 2014 exhibitors are churning out Steam Machine models almost as fast as gimmicky iPhone accessories. Earlier today, we reported on Digital Storm's $1900 Bolt II Steam Machine , aimed at the highest end of the market. Now, CyberPowerPC revealed its own Steam Machine at a price point aimed directly at the Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
CyberPowerPC's Steam Machine will come in two pre-configured options: the Steam Machine A, starting at $499, and Steam Machine I, starting at $699. Both models can be customized further, just as you would any other rig you'd buy from CyberPowerPC.
The $499 Model A will get you the CyberPowerPC Steam Gaming Chassis, AMD Radeon R9 270 2GB GDDR5 video card, AMD A6-6400K 3.90 GHz processor, 500GB SATA-III 7200 RPM HDD for storage, 8GB DDR3 1600MHz dual channel memory RAM, mITX motherboard with 802.11 WiFi and Bluetooth, a Steam Controller, and pre-installed SteamOS.
The $699 Model I will upgrade the video card to an Nvdia GeForce GTX 760 2GB GDDR5, processor to an Intel Core i3-4330 3.50 Ghz, and motherboard to mITX with 802.11AC Wifi and Bluetooth.
CyberPowerPC has not revealed the size of the case, nor if and how you'd be able upgrade it after purchase. Of the Steam Machines so far, it seems most like iBuyPower's model , which includes similar parts and is also priced at $500.
To be fair, the price of both models isn't as competitive with Microsoft's and Sony's consoles as it may first appear. If you're trying to play a game that doesn't run natively on SteamOS—meaning the majority of games that are not compatible with Linux—you'll still need to steam it from another Windows computer.
