// PC GAMER — GAMING
All hail the long steam machine, Pimax's new SteamOS-ready mini PC
It looks like a Steam Machine, and it runs SteamOS, so it must be a steam machine.
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You could say Pimax is copying Valve's homework with its new mini PC, the Spation. Though the Steam Machine is merely a black box, so you could say it also copied any number of other miscellaneous black rectangles itself; the Xbox Series X among them. Nevertheless, this is one similar-looking living room machine, and Pimax is even pitching it with SteamOS.
Pimax's machine is a mini PC with a whole bunch of power behind it. Pimax says it comes with either an RX 9070 XT or RTX 5070 Ti, and a Ryzen 7 9800X3D.
It packs in 32 GB of DDR5, a 1 TB SSD, and a 1000 W SFX PSU. It also supports Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, and comes with 2x DisplayPort 2.1, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x USB4, and 6x USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports.
So, it's much more capable than Valve's li'l box, though I shudder at the thought of the price. Pimax has not yet announced a price or launch date.
You can see how it all slots together under the removable rear panel in the render provided by Pimax below.
Most of the I/O is accessible at the back of the device. Slightly above and behind that is what looks to be a Mini-ITX motherboard with two DIMMs installed, presumably with some sort of solution to shift the rear I/O. Above that, the power supply, with a fan mounted above it. The GPU sits flat on the reverse of the unit, using a PCIe riser cable.
My only concern is how well that graphics card can breathe in there, and more broadly for temps, but there may be yet more fans within the unit. The front panel looks to be removeable—just like the Steam Machine—with some venting in there for the GPU.
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