Maingear Spark goes ultra-small for Windows, Linux, or SteamOS

This week one of the most prolific makers of custom gaming PCs, Maingear, has let loose the Spark. This device weighs less than a pound and is 2.34 inches tall, 4.23 inches deep, and 4.5 inches wide. That's a palm-sized high-powered PC.

Inside this PC you'll find a 4-core AMD A8-5557M APU with a Frequency of 2.1GHz and a Turbo Frequency" of 3.1GHz. You'll also find a AMD Radeon R9 M275X GDDR5 2GB discrete graphics card with DirectX 11 action – and pre-preparation in place for DirectX 12.

This machine can be ordered with up to 16GB of 1600MHz memory and comes with 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 for wireless controllers, and an mSATA slot that supports an SSD up to 512GB. You'll also find a a 2.5" HDD tray supporting SATA III 6Gb/s as well as 4x USB 3.0 ports, full-sized HDMI, and DisplayPort outputs for two displays at once.

Processor: AMD A8-5557M, 4 Core Frequency of 2.1 GHz and Turbo Frequency of 3.1 GHz

Video Card: AMD Radeon R9 M275X

Memory: 2 x SO-DIMM DDR3, 1600/1333 MHz, Max.16GB

Hard Drive: 1 x mSATA slot support SSD up to 512GB, 1 x 2.5” HDD tray support SATA III 6Gb/s

Network Adapter: GigabitLAN (Realtek RTL8111G)

Audio: Realtek ALC269

WiFi: IEEE802.11b/g/n,/ac 2.4 -5Ghz bands, Bluetooth: v4.0/ 3.0+HS, 2402MHz~2483MHz

Expansion Slots: 1 x mSATA slot and 1 X Half size mini-PCIe slot occupied by WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac + Bluetooth 4.0 & 3.0 combo half mini card

Optional: Operating System: Microsoft Windows® 7, Professional or Ultimate 64-Bit or Windows 8.1

Power Supply: 135W power adapter with power cord, Input: AC 100-240V, Output: DC 19V, 7.1A

I/O Ports: 1 x HDMI-Out, 1 x Mini DisplayPort, 4x USB 3.0, 1 x RJ45, 1 x Audio, 1 x Kensington Lock

Dimensions: (W)4.5" x (H)2.34" x (D)4.23"

Weight: 0.89 LBs

This device is able to be configured with Windows of all kinds – Windows 7, Windows 8, Linux, or Vavle's SteamOS. That'd make it a Steam Machine, mind you – and you'll be rocking that in Beta if you do believe that's your bag. This device will be available starting this week for $699 USD WITHOUT the OS and WITH four free games from AMD's Reward program.