Steam Deck - SteamOS, Zen2 4C/8T, RDNA2 1.0-1.6 TF, 16 GB LPDDR5 88 GB/s, starting at $399 [2021-12]

PSman1700 said:
Good enough for a handheld. Seeing it do Spiderman that close to PS5, im not worried for current deck users.
However i’d wait for the next Deck too, if id be intrested in such a device, mostly for a better screen. The Decks lcd is like going with a iphone se.
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That's without Raytracing though. And in the future, you won't be able to turn RT off as it will be integrated deeply into the game itself.

Remember, RT adds a lot of render time to the CPU. I'm certain the Deck is not capable of running Spiderman with RT at 60 FPS like the PS5 even at crazy low res, which is an indiciation how future games current gen only games will perform. The game is super light on CPU and GPU without RT, so if you want to get an idea how current gen only games will perform you have to look at the RT mode as only that mode truly stresses the PS5 (though the PS5 offers very stable 60 FPS, so it likely runs way above 60 FPS unlocked)

If we have cross gen only games that run at 30 FPS in CPU limit on the PS5, the Steam Deck won't run it at all.

So yes, I am pretty confident the Steam Deck is in trouble when cross gen ends. The CPU is less than half of the performance of PS5, so even when a game runs at 60 FPS in CPU limit on PS5, running that game at 30 FPS would be a challenge for the Steam Deck.
 
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Dampf said:
So yes, I am pretty confident the Steam Deck is in trouble when cross gen ends
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Well, this year's Steam Deck might have trouble. Valve have already talked about hardware being more similar to 'mobile phones'. They're likely to have a more rapid hardware cycle than traditional consoles.

When we're talking about trouble, I cant help feel that the measure of that for future titles will come down to how well UE5 titles run.
 
Dampf said:
That's without Raytracing though. And in the future, you won't be able to turn RT off as it will be integrated deeply into the game itself.

Remember, RT adds a lot of render time to the CPU. I'm certain the Deck is not capable of running Spiderman with RT at 60 FPS like the PS5 even at crazy low res, which is an indiciation how future games current gen only games will perform. The game is super light on CPU and GPU without RT, so if you want to get an idea how current gen only games will perform you have to look at the RT mode as only that mode truly stresses the PS5 (though the PS5 offers very stable 60 FPS, so it likely runs way above 60 FPS unlocked)

If we have cross gen only games that run at 30 FPS in CPU limit on the PS5, the Steam Deck won't run it at all.

So yes, I am pretty confident the Steam Deck is in trouble when cross gen ends. The CPU is less than half of the performance of PS5, so even when a game runs at 60 FPS in CPU limit on PS5, running that game at 30 FPS would be a challenge for the Steam Deck.
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Thats for games designed specifically for the PS and then ported though. Now i dont think RT is viable on the Deck, neither the XSS in the future. However those expectations cant be had for the hardware you get.
 
Has Steam said how often they would update the Deck?

Or are they going to try to copy the traditional console companies?
 
No, but I expect it will be little bit faster, maybe 3-4 years. It's easier for them than for console copmanies. But no need for refresh each year or two. There is still lot of work to make SD(1) more smooth and fix some bugs. I wouldn't expect it before Zen5+RDNA4 are available.

I'm waiting for mine, and am aware of limitations, but there is bunch of old games in my library/wishlist and also I plan to use it more for PC tasks than for gaming.
 
I ordered one on MAY 3rd, was thinking of maybe flipping for a profit or keeping. Got the order email yday I believe. The orders are really moving fast now, on that percent site it went from 10% to over 100% in IIRC 3-4 weeks!

I dont think I am going to go through with it. For me it's just too big, no compatibility with Destiny, and short battery life.

I'm more interested in small handhelds like the Retroid Pocket 3 (even though I just purchased the 2+ a few weeks ago, and now feel like it's a paperweight as the larger screen on the 3 is so much better IMO) or even Logitech has a streaming handheld slated that I'm intrigued by. I think that's what I really want, a chinese style retro handheld but by a bigger budget company. https://www.techadvisor.com/article/918325/logitech-cloud-gaming-handheld-leaks-running-android.html

It seems anyway that if I change my mind Steamdeck should be readily available soon enough.
 
More in the interview, pulling a few pieces:
Valve has repeatedly confirmed that the Steam Deck is a “multi-generational product” and new versions are on the way. What will they include? When I asked Yang and Griffais for the pain points they wanted to address in a sequel, they had nearly identical answers: screen and battery life.
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“The performance level you get between 8 and 12 watts, which is kind of the sweet spot in terms of efficiency... I don’t think you’ll see off-the-shelf offerings based on mainline notebook product lines significantly outperforming that in maybe a few generations,” says Griffais.
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What about performance?
[..]
“I think we’ll opt to keep the one performance level for a little bit longer, and only look at changing the performance level when there is a significant gain to be had,” he adds.
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Zen 5 + RDNA4 for Steam Deck 2 at the earliest?

“Yeah, we want to make it happen,” says Yang when I ask about a successor to the cult classic gamepad Valve discontinued in 2019. “It’s just a question of how and when.”
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While Valve’s own 20–30 person hardware team spent two years designing the actual gadget in-house, and it pulled in other parts of the company, too, Griffais says the company is also directly paying more than 100 open-source developers to work on the Proton compatibility layer, the Mesa graphics driver, and Vulkan, among other tasks like Steam for Linux and Chromebooks.
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www.theverge.com

Valve answers our burning Steam Deck questions — including a possible Steam Controller 2

“We want to make it happen.”
www.theverge.com www.theverge.com
 
Newguy said:
More in the interview, pulling a few pieces:



Zen 5 + RDNA4 for Steam Deck 2 at the earliest?



www.theverge.com

Valve answers our burning Steam Deck questions — including a possible Steam Controller 2

“We want to make it happen.”
www.theverge.com www.theverge.com
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It makes sense. RDNA 3 seems to be a bit of a mess. RDNA 4 would be what 2024/25 which would be 2-3 years. Makes more sense from the original launch of 2021 also

8 core + RDNA 4 should allow them to be on par with or better than the series s.


Biggest changes I would like is a second usb-c port at the bottom for easier docking and also for playing when attached to a battery bank. Also an easier nvme install like the surface has


1671551129419.png

like this.

other things is just a better larger screen that is oled.
 
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I wish Verge has asked how close the relationship with Google is. Will Steam for Chromebook get first party support from the Proton developers on Valve payrol? Between Chromebook having their own driver versions and Vulkan going through a proxy they need to work closely to get Deck level user experience.
 
It's about the Steam Deck's flexibility, how it's a "PC Switch" (handheld + home console) with a library of PC, Xbox and certain PS exclusives. Along with how a handheld/console fits their changing taste over the years allowing them to play more games, being a pick up and briefly play experience.
 
tuna said:
Please include a reason why we should watch a video. Just a link is pretty pointless (I don't want to wast my time on pointless videos that take 5 minutes to cover an issue that could be resolved in 5 written sentances).
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what @Newguy said and I'd add to that that what he mentions about he is more likely to complete a game with this kind of hardware got my attention, although the sentence that struck most with me is when he says that he, as a console gamer mainly, is playing once deemed PC only games on a console, it's like a dream.

If Microsoft wanted, they could create a great handheld competing with the Steam Deck with a exclusive Windows OS that could use Steam, PC Gamepass, Ubisoft, GoG, Rockstar, Epic Store, etc etc, but made to run all those stores without hassle for the user, that's an unique opportunity for MS to make some extra money in games, imho, creating a Windows console that can be used as a regular PC if need be, but it'd be a triumph, without the limitations of emulation and hacks here and there the Steam Deck has to use.
 
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Cyan said:
If Microsoft wanted, they could create a great handheld competing with the Steam Deck with a exclusive Windows OS that could use Steam, PC Gamepass, Ubisoft, GoG, Rockstar, Epic Store, etc etc, but made to run all those stores without hassle for the user, that's an unique opportunity for MS to make some extra money in games, imho, creating a Windows console that can be used as a regular PC if need be, but it'd be a triumph, without the limitations of emulation and hacks here and there the Steam Deck has to use.
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It's hard to see them ever wanting to make a dedicated gaming version of 'proper' Windows, regardless of the form factor it runs on. If there was any real desire it'd have made it's way to Xbox. From a technical perspective, could they even offer the OS level performance management and shader precaching that SteamOS provides?
 
cheapchips said:
It's hard to see them ever wanting to make a dedicated gaming version of 'proper' Windows, regardless of the form factor it runs on. If there was any real desire it'd have made it's way to Xbox. From a technical perspective, could they even offer the OS level performance management and shader precaching that SteamOS provides?
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on dedicated hardware that's easy, and also there are many Windows 10/11 debloaters that do some optimisation, just imagine what they could do with a dedicated hardware and a "regular" Windows. OS level performance can be equaled, and games would run better than on the Steam Deck, or at least most of them, specially those that don't use Vulkan or DXVK to run properly on a non native hardware like the Steam Deck
 
wco81 said:
What is the battery life like?

Do you have to pay for online service?
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The battery life has quite a range depending on how demanding a title is. Spider-Man is a couple of hours. HL: Episode 1 is 4-5.

Since it's more of a portable around the house device, I find it's easy enough to be near a wall socket. It's also easy enough to pick up 45w+ powerbanks.

Online play is free unless the game itself charges a subscription.
 
cheapchips said:
The battery life has quite a range depending on how demanding a title is. Spider-Man is a couple of hours. HL: Episode 1 is 4-5.

Since it's more of a portable around the house device, I find it's easy enough to be near a wall socket. It's also easy enough to pick up 45w+ powerbanks.

Online play is free unless the game itself charges a subscription.
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Spiderman is like 1-1.5 hours. Most new games are low like that but some stuff will get 4-6 hours. Just depends on what you want to play
 
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