The launch of the next-generation consoles isn’t too far away, and Valve wants to get in on the party, having recently shown off the design of their prototype Steam Machine. The system, which has been developed as a reference design and likely won’t be released to the public, features impressive hardware in a case similar to that of a standard home console such as the Xbox 360.
Valve has managed to cram an Intel Core i7 CPU, Nvidia GeForce GTX 780, a full power supply, motherboard and hard drive into the relatively compact case, which features a unique cooling solution. Rather than your traditional desktop PC, Valve’s Steam Machine has three cooling zones that are separated by plastic: the GPU vents air to the back, the CPU to the top and the PSU out the side. Each zone also pulls air from different areas, which should help cool each part reasonably well.