We had mentioned earlier that iBuyPower is expected to be the first Valve power to announce the 1st commercially available Steam Machines. Now we will run down the twelve companies we know who are making these machines in partnership with Valve, and may be appearing later this week at CES to unveil said machines.
· Alienware
Alienware was founded in 1996, and purchased by Dell as a hardware subsidiary in 2006. While they have shifted from making custom PCs to more mainstream lines, they’re more than capable of good Steam Machine builds.
· Falcon Northwest
The originators of the SFF with the Fragbox, Falcon Northwest has managed to maintain its independence as a premier PC maker for decades. They’re also known for having advertised gaming PCs in magazines.
· iBuyPower
iBuyPower isn’t as old as Falcon Northwest or Alienware, but it is also an experienced custom PC maker, with over ten years experience.
· CyberPowerPC
CyberPowerPC is a newer company, like iBuyPower. To be honest, their reputation is not 100 % stellar, but they are one of the major PC makers coming out of Los Angeles.
· Origin PC
Unrelated to EA’s online service or the 90s developer, Origin PC was founded in 2009 by former employees from Alienware, and continues that brand’s original reputation of making beautiful PCs with custom paint and logos.
· Gigabyte
Gigabyte Technology was founded in Taiwan in 1986, and makes PC parts for other custom PC makers like Alienware and Falcon Northwest. They are known for their Tier 1 motherboards.
· Materiel.net
Materiel.net is a French tech retailer that started out with IT and PC repair services. They also sell computers from the other PC makers on this list
· Webhallen
Webhallen Sverige AB is another European retailer, this time an e-commerce company based in Sweden.
· Alternate
Alternate Comptuterversand Gmbh is the biggest computer hardware retailer in Europe. They are based in Linden, Hesse, Germany, and also have stores in Austria, Belgium, Netherlands and Spain.
· Next
Next S.P.A is an Italian computer retailer, that much like their colleagues, makes their own PC builds.
· Zotac
Zotac is a PC hardware company based in Hong Kong. They already made parts for the initial batch of Steam Machines, and also make Nvidia based graphics cards, possibly the best in the market.
· Scan Computer
Scan Computer is an electronics retailer and PC maker based in Bolton, UK. They have their own line of PCs, called 3XS.
· Digital Storm
Digital Storm is an electronics retailer based in California. They started making their own computer line in 2012.
· Xi3
You already know this company. Right until their falling out with Valve, many gamers thought of Xi3’s Piston as the unofficial official Steam Machine. Their modular PC can still be easily made into Steam Machines on their own.
Aside from Digital Storm and xi3, all abovementioned partners were recently confirmed by Engadget, and may be part of Valve’s presscon tomorrow. We’ll make sure to keep you updated when more information comes out.
Image is of the Beta Steam Machine.
