Some people really don't want to spend time exchanging parts when the memory they buy turns out to be incompatible or that the GPU doesn't fit the sleek mITX case. There's a lot of research to ensure all parts are compatible and optimal when building a PC - for some it's time that could be better spent on using the PC instead of building one.

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andoando 9 hours ago | parent [-]

You can still buy prebuilt though and slap SteamOS on it and youre there.

Dont get me wrong this looks very a nice product, but its nothing revolutionary.

	▲	mjrpes 14 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
		This thing is meant for a living room media center. A prebuilt PC with discrete GPU is a much bigger profile (and probably cost). You could say, fine, go buy a small Mini PC. But a system with the current best AMD Strix 890m GPU not only is expensive at $700-1000, but would only have half the performance of the Steam Box if its conjectured performance is similar to an RX 7600.
	▲	_aavaa_ 4 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		The hardware is not, but the implications are pretty close (major gaming company is pushing a first party product of open hardware + open software with a linux box). It is literally the year of linux desktop.