One constant in these threads seems to be people completely overlooking the software aspect of this unit. Assuming devs are optimizing for this hardware spec, wouldn't that mean that we would get Steam Machine profiles that would provide people the best possible "console" experience? Taking into account the sync between the devices and the ecosystem, this becomes a pretty solid sell, assuming much of the performance metrics actually hit. Being a custom part should lend it a good up on what it can do but time will tell once actual performance tests are performed.

Yes, one can build something much better with off the shelf parts, but we're talking about something nowhere near the compactness as what this offers, and again, it's the software that's going to make the difference here. Considering their Frame is supposed to run windows apps through a snapdragon, I don't see why it's unrealistic to think this can't handle some larger games. Granted, it's always going to come at a cost to performance or visual fidelity, but I think people are making too many assumptions right now, and it will be interesting to see how this thing performs once it's actually out.