Most of that will be available with SteamOS in general I assume, and also probably, with packages, on any Linux distro. Itās really only HDMI-CEC and wake on Bluetooth that are somewhat exclusive. I donāt know how hard it is to build/add HDMI-CEC into a computer, but maybe that isnāt even exclusive. Wake on Bluetooth, I assume, requires some special hardware to support it, which I donāt think will be available or easily added to other computers.
Sleep/resume, background updates, and efficiency/noise/heat are not hardware features.
Every computer has sleep/resume.
Background updates is a software-based idle mode. It reduces whatās running to the bare minimum and only runs a check for updates/the updater occasionally.
Efficiency/noise/heat are all the same thing and has little to do with the hardware. The hardware theyāre using isnāt any more efficient than what you can buy yourself. The software is possibly more efficient (for the Deck it is at least) to reduce power draw/heat/thermal throttling/noise. However, you can get the same yourself with Arch, only installing what you need. Itās not exclusive to Valve.
Try it on your desktop in the middle of a game and let me know how that goes.
Oh, you mean application sleep/resume. Yeah, thatās not standard. Itās not hardware-based though. It just needs to offload the data in cache and RAM into storage, then put it back when itās needed. Thatās handled by software, and I would wager on it being available on SteamOS at large, and probably all of Linux, once itās published.
Itās not, it requires a special processor.
I have not heard about it having a āspecial processorā. Itās a AMD Zen 4 CPU. It doesnāt seem to have anything special there. Do you mean an additional processor? I havenāt heard any discussion of that. Theyāve said they want to add it to the Deck too, so Iām pretty sure youāre incorrect.
Uhhh it has EVERYTHING to do with the hardware?
Their hardware isnāt special. Itās stuff you can buy off the shelf. Sure, choosing efficient hardware is important, but it isnāt exclusive to the Steam Machine/Valve. Thatās what I was discussing. Anything extra theyāre getting out of it is software and/or firmware.
Not in this compact size.
First, yes, you can, if you make it yourself. Sure, itās hard, but not impossible.
Second, the size has nothing to do with the efficiency! Sure, itās nice, but it doesnāt reduce power draw. Itās got the same amount of heat generation as any other computer with the same hardware. Yes, it has a fairly large radiator/heat-sink, but you can get the same size (or larger) yourself if you want.
They clarified, the silicon is off-the-shelf and the firmware is modified. It doesnāt have some āspecial processorā or anything.
It has everything to do with heat and noise.
What? It being small only means the heat has less room to be removed, so it needs a higher power fan (or thermal throttling). It does have something to do with heat and noise, in that smaller is worse for them. If itās quite or cool, thatās despite the size, not because of it.
I donāt care to argue about this, but youāre making unfounded claims that this device is somehow special, because itās made by Valve I guess, and they need to be worshiped? It seems like a nice kit, but it isnāt particularly groundbreaking. Itās just a well designed and put together computer. Most of what it does is the same as any other computer, running Linux/Arch is capable of.
Being custom allows it to be both small and quiet. Find me another PC in this size, with this much power, thatās as quiet. You canāt.
We donāt know how quite this will be! Even the ones that were shown arenāt necessarily final. Again, youāre making claims without any evidence. I canāt show you something as quite as small, because we donāt know how quite itāll be. To show you it isnāt anything crazy though, there are fanless PCs that you can get. As powerful? No. As quite? Even more. Itās a trade off. It isnāt magic. If you do something custom you could get even quieter with more power. Just connect a giant copper radiator to it without a fan.
I see you didnāt address the other points I made. Now weāre down to just the one. Whatever. This one is pure speculation, so canāt be disproven.
Im not arguing this will be a bad device. I expect it to be fairly good for the price. Itās just not really going to be something you canāt get elsewhere without Valve, with the exception of Bluetooth resuming.
Most of that will be available with SteamOS in general I assume, and also probably, with packages, on any Linux distro. Itās really only HDMI-CEC and wake on Bluetooth that are somewhat exclusive. I donāt know how hard it is to build/add HDMI-CEC into a computer, but maybe that isnāt even exclusive. Wake on Bluetooth, I assume, requires some special hardware to support it, which I donāt think will be available or easily added to other computers.
No need to assume. I run SteamOS on my personal machine and donāt have any of these features. These are all hardware features.
Sleep/resume, background updates, and efficiency/noise/heat are not hardware features.
Every computer has sleep/resume.
Background updates is a software-based idle mode. It reduces whatās running to the bare minimum and only runs a check for updates/the updater occasionally.
Efficiency/noise/heat are all the same thing and has little to do with the hardware. The hardware theyāre using isnāt any more efficient than what you can buy yourself. The software is possibly more efficient (for the Deck it is at least) to reduce power draw/heat/thermal throttling/noise. However, you can get the same yourself with Arch, only installing what you need. Itās not exclusive to Valve.
Try it on your desktop in the middle of a game and let me know how that goes.
Itās not, it requires a special processor.
Uhhh it has EVERYTHING to do with the hardware?
Not in this compact size.
Oh, you mean application sleep/resume. Yeah, thatās not standard. Itās not hardware-based though. It just needs to offload the data in cache and RAM into storage, then put it back when itās needed. Thatās handled by software, and I would wager on it being available on SteamOS at large, and probably all of Linux, once itās published.
I have not heard about it having a āspecial processorā. Itās a AMD Zen 4 CPU. It doesnāt seem to have anything special there. Do you mean an additional processor? I havenāt heard any discussion of that. Theyāve said they want to add it to the Deck too, so Iām pretty sure youāre incorrect.
Their hardware isnāt special. Itās stuff you can buy off the shelf. Sure, choosing efficient hardware is important, but it isnāt exclusive to the Steam Machine/Valve. Thatās what I was discussing. Anything extra theyāre getting out of it is software and/or firmware.
First, yes, you can, if you make it yourself. Sure, itās hard, but not impossible.
Second, the size has nothing to do with the efficiency! Sure, itās nice, but it doesnāt reduce power draw. Itās got the same amount of heat generation as any other computer with the same hardware. Yes, it has a fairly large radiator/heat-sink, but you can get the same size (or larger) yourself if you want.
Look closelier. Itās āsemi-customā.
Which shelf is that?
No.
It has everything to do with heat and noise.
They clarified, the silicon is off-the-shelf and the firmware is modified. It doesnāt have some āspecial processorā or anything.
What? It being small only means the heat has less room to be removed, so it needs a higher power fan (or thermal throttling). It does have something to do with heat and noise, in that smaller is worse for them. If itās quite or cool, thatās despite the size, not because of it.
I donāt care to argue about this, but youāre making unfounded claims that this device is somehow special, because itās made by Valve I guess, and they need to be worshiped? It seems like a nice kit, but it isnāt particularly groundbreaking. Itās just a well designed and put together computer. Most of what it does is the same as any other computer, running Linux/Arch is capable of.
The firmware is not part of the processor. Every processor has custom firmware.
Being custom allows it to be both small and quiet. Find me another PC in this size, with this much power, thatās as quiet. You canāt.
Iāve already stated why several times. Now youāre just being disingenuous.
We donāt know how quite this will be! Even the ones that were shown arenāt necessarily final. Again, youāre making claims without any evidence. I canāt show you something as quite as small, because we donāt know how quite itāll be. To show you it isnāt anything crazy though, there are fanless PCs that you can get. As powerful? No. As quite? Even more. Itās a trade off. It isnāt magic. If you do something custom you could get even quieter with more power. Just connect a giant copper radiator to it without a fan.
I see you didnāt address the other points I made. Now weāre down to just the one. Whatever. This one is pure speculation, so canāt be disproven.
Im not arguing this will be a bad device. I expect it to be fairly good for the price. Itās just not really going to be something you canāt get elsewhere without Valve, with the exception of Bluetooth resuming.