With the PS4 and Xbox One already more than a month old, one would think that everyone has already gotten their hands on the next-gen console of gaming. But another contender has tossed its own champion into the mix, and 2014 seems to be the year for Steam Machines to take gamers by storm.

Alienware and Valve's new partners

One of the forerunners of the dozen third-party partners and manufacturers of Valve for its SteamOS is Alienware. The list was announced at the CES 2014, and includes Falcon Northwest, Origin PC, Webhallen, Alternate, Scan Computers, Next, Gigabyte, Zotac, and Material.net.

However, Polygon reports that this isn't the end of the list yet, as there are other PC makers that are not yet part of the list of distributors for Valve's SteamOS and Steam Machines grand plan.

*Expected tech trends that the CES 2014 will introduce: Read the full list here.

CyberPower

Another distributor that's part of the Valve roster of partners is CyberPower, and the specs for their upcoming Steam Machine prototype has just been revealed.

VG 24/7 reports that CyberPower has two variants, Steam Machine A and I, which cost $499 and $699 respectively. Steam Machine A features AMD Radeon R9 270 2GB GDDR5, AMD A6-6400K 3.90 GHz processor, 500GB of Storage, 8GB DDR3 RAM, and comes with the Steam controller and SteamOS.

Steam Machine I features NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 2GB GDDR4, Intel Core i3-4330 3.50 GHz processor, 500GB of storage, 8GB DDR3 RAM, and the Steam controller and SteamOS.

*The Xbox One exclusive Killer Instinct has been patched and will now feature a free character. Read the details here.

Digital Storm's Bolt II

Bolt II boasts being the first liquid-cooled Steam Machine that will be debuting with both SteamOS and Windows capability. The increase in thermal cooling is basically a big part of the selling point, as this means that the best graphics will always be available without sacrificing performance.

"We're taking aim at the high end of the market, targeting consumers that demand the best possible gaming experience and who are looking for a PC capable of playing any title on their new 4K dsplay," said Rajeev Kuruppu, Digital Storm's director of product development in a press release obtained by Joystiq.

What's more the report states that Bolt II provides easy access to the graphics card, optical drive, cooling system, and storage drives, all of which are removable. No wonder this Stem Machine clocks in at $1,899.

iBuyPower

One of the earliest Steam Machines to debut in 2013 was iBuyPower, and aside from being the earliest to showcase a Steam Machine, it also boasted of a pretty cheap price tag at $499, reports Dual Pixels.

It seems that, more than the ideal high-end gaming that some Steam Machine distributors are aiming for, iBuyPower's Steam Machine can go directly against the existing next-gen consoles PS4 and Xbox One. And it's not only in price but also in size, as iBuyPower is just as small as the PS4 without exceeding the price of the Xbox One.

*AU, NA, and Europe retailers stock up for the PS4: Read here for more.

Piixl's Jetpack

Speaking of compact size, this is also a unique selling point for Piixl's Jetpack, which is thin enough to slide behind your HDTV.

And going beyond the SteamOS, PC World reports that Jetpack will be an open and customisable Steam Machine that features pretty awesome specs. You have the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 graphics card, Intel Core i7 3779 CPU, and 16GB of RAM--and as expected, a pricier tag at $1,000.

RELATED STORIES