I’m sure most Xbox fans, especially those going back to Xbox 360remember the absolute tragedy that was the Red Ring of Death. Millions of Xbox 360 consoles found their way into homes, only to then overheat and fail, leading many owners to come up with all sorts of weird and wonderful DIY solutions.
In the end, cost Microsoft more than $1.15 billionAlthough despite the disaster, it did not prevent the Xbox 360 from becoming the most successful generation of Xbox consoles to date. So how does Valve’s new Steam Machine fit into all this? Well, the Steam Machine has a front LED light bar that serves a variety of purposes, including indicating downloads and hardware status.
Beyond the Steam Engine SubredditHowever, user me_hill reported what appears to be the first “red line of death“According to the user, they were playing No Man’s Sky, installed a system update and subsequently the machine was blocked. According to Valve itself Steam Support PageIt appears that the user has experienced a GPU failure.
Since the GPU is soldered to the motherboard, it is not something the average user can repair. To make matters worse, some reddit Users joked that they were “beta testing” the hardware for everyone else.
Fortunately, This appears to be an isolated incident. For now and I hope it continues like this. It would be a real shame if Valve’s $1,000 mid-range device suffered from something like the Xbox 360’s Red Ring of Death fiasco.
Believe it or not, I really want a Steam Machine. That said, stories like this make me glad I’m waiting, even if my biggest reservation remains the price. I just can’t justify the expense. $1,000 on hardwareand while I know that’s probably not realistic, I’d be much more tempted if it were closer to the $500 mark.
Hopefully, Valve can get the affected user back up and running with a replacement or repair. That being said, let me know if stories like this put you off buying a Steam Machine or if you’re still interested in owning one. Share your thoughts in the comments and be sure to participate in our survey below:
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