That game console headlining this text? It isn’t a white PS4 : it’s a commercial Steam Machines box, or at least a prototype of one. iBuyPower tells us that it’s building the box for a 2014 launch, but says it’s still early. The company says the prototypes are running an early build of Steam OS , but it’s not quite a finished product. That rings true of our impressions of Valve’s own reference model , which hosted a version of that same OS devoid of media playback and streaming options and had a very limited selection of games. iBuyPower tells us that it actually has two models, codenamed Gordon and Freeman, in the works. The two consoles are identical, save for the light bar round the middle — one model’s is clear, while the other’s is black when not illuminated. And, while the company wouldn’t tell us about the boxes’ internals, it did confirm that the hardware will run all Steam titles in 1080p resolution at 60fps. Not as much info as we’d like to know, but s till, it’s good to see hints of what we’ll see from Steam Machines when they hit the market — though we’ll likely have to wait until CES to see them in action. Filed under: Gaming Comments
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Here’s the first non-Valve Steam Machine prototype, care of iBuyPower
MojoKid writes “Benchmarks are serious business. Buying decisions are often made based on how well a product scores, which is why the press and analysts spend so much time putting new gadgets through their paces. However, benchmarks are only meaningful when there’s a level playing field, and when companies try to ‘game’ the business of benchmarking, it’s not only a form of cheating, it also bamboozles potential buyers who (rightfully) assume the numbers are supposed mean something. 3D graphics benchmark software developer Futuremark just ‘delisted’ a bunch of devices from its 3DMark benchmark results database because it suspects foul play is at hand. Of the devices listed, it appears Samsung and HTC in particular are indirectly being accused of cheating 3DMark for mobile devices. Delisted devices are stripped of their rank and scores. Futuremark didn’t elaborate on which specific rule(s) these devices broke, but a look at the company’s benchmarking policies reveals that hardware makers aren’t allowed to make optimizations specific to 3DMark, nor are platforms allowed to detect the launch of the benchmark executable unless it’s needed to enable multi-GPU and/or there’s a known conflict that would prevent it from running.” Read more of this story at Slashdot. 
