*** The Official Steam Deck Thread ***

Is anyone else desperate for a Steam Deck upgrade or even a Steam console?

I love my Steam Deck OLED, I actually use it as my main PC. I have it docked to a 27" monitor and use SteamOS for all my daily computing needs and it works really well but I just wish it had a bit more graphical oomph. What I would really like is parity with a base PS5 power wise. If it wouldn't be possible in a handheld form factor then a console would be amazing. I just feel like the Steam Deck as it currently stands is starting to feel a bit left behind in regard to newer games, the compromises you have to make is just a bit too much.
 
Last edited:
lovelyhead said:
Is anyone else desperate for a Steam Deck upgrade or even a Steam console?

I love my Steam Deck OLED, I actually use it as my main PC. I have it docked to a 27" monitor and use SteamOS for all my daily computing needs and it works really well but I just wish it had a bit more graphical oomph. What I would really like is parity with a base PS5 power wise. If it wouldn't be possible in a handheld form factor then a console would be amazing. I just feel like the Steam Deck as it currently stands is starting to feel a bit left behind in regard to newer games, the compromises you have to make is just a bit too much.
Click to expand...
nope
 
lovelyhead said:
Is anyone else desperate for a Steam Deck upgrade or even a Steam console?

I love my Steam Deck OLED, I actually use it as my main PC. I have it docked to a 27" monitor and use SteamOS for all my daily computing needs and it works really well but I just wish it had a bit more graphical oomph. What I would really like is parity with a base PS5 power wise. If it wouldn't be possible in a handheld form factor then a console would be amazing. I just feel like the Steam Deck as it currently stands is starting to feel a bit left behind in regard to newer games, the compromises you have to make is just a bit too much.
Click to expand...

Yes as soon as I got it, it's capability was grossly overstated*. Good for emulation and 2d indie games though.

*I should add this was majorly from users, seeing stuff like "yeah it runs GREAT on the deck :)" and then realising "GREAT" meant 25fps at 800x600 etc.
 
Last edited:
Noxia said:
Yes as soon as I got it, it's capability was grossly overstated*. Good for emulation and 2d indie games though.

*I should add this was majorly from users, seeing stuff like "yeah it runs GREAT on the deck :)" and then realising "GREAT" meant 25fps at 800x600 etc.
Click to expand...
Fairly obvious that something that fits it your hand running on battery is not going to do 4k @ 60. But I agree a lot over hyped it.

It has to be said given the power envelope it has it does do rather well.
 
pete910 said:
Fairly obvious that something that fits it your hand running on battery is not going to do 4k @ 60. But I agree a lot over hyped it.

It has to be said given the power envelope it has it does do rather well.
Click to expand...

Of course yeah, I didn't get it because I expected that, I was curious to see what it could do. I recall it doing CP2077 at about 40-45 which was quite impressive.
But for most indie games it was fine, I get it's always a compromise between power and battery too.
 
pete910 said:
Fairly obvious that something that fits it your hand running on battery is not going to do 4k @ 60. But I agree a lot over hyped it.

It has to be said given the power envelope it has it does do rather well.
Click to expand...

It does handle a lot of games very well. It really is an amazing device. A new Steam deck would be nice but what I really want is a valve console. The PC hardware market absolutely sucks right now as it is just too expensive. I think a console running Steam OS would be very successful if it had the power of an Xbox Series X or PS5 and was priced around the £400 mark. Include a controller which is basically a steam deck without the screen.
 
You can basically have a valve console already if you build a small gaming PC (e.g. ITX) and run a Linux distro with steam in big picture mode. It’s like 80-90% of the way there. This is actually what I’ve just done. However, I don’t have a steam deck so would love to know what is missing still. Maybe the settings overlays and UI?
 
alex24 said:
You can basically have a valve console already if you build a small gaming PC (e.g. ITX) and run a Linux distro with steam in big picture mode. It’s like 80-90% of the way there. This is actually what I’ve just done. However, I don’t have a steam deck so would love to know what is missing still. Maybe the settings overlays and UI?
Click to expand...
I run Bazzite on my gaming PC and from what I’ve seen, it’s identical to the SD experience except on a bigger screen backed up by more powerful hardware. There are probably a few wee differences but I’ve never noticed them.
 
If I get a console it's for convenience. Nothing about building a machine and fannying about with Linux is convenient.
 
alex24 said:
You can basically have a valve console already if you build a small gaming PC (e.g. ITX) and run a Linux distro with steam in big picture mode. It’s like 80-90% of the way there. This is actually what I’ve just done. However, I don’t have a steam deck so would love to know what is missing still. Maybe the settings overlays and UI?
Click to expand...
Would rather use Windows for compatibility.
You can have Big Picture mode load on startup and it's pretty much a games console once everything is installed
 
no_1_dave said:
Would rather use Windows for compatibility.
You can have Big Picture mode load on startup and it's pretty much a games console once everything is installed
Click to expand...
I don’t play many AAA games so can’t speak there but I’ve never had a game not run on either Bazzite or my SD. Windows is fast becoming an irrelevance
 
alex24 said:
You can basically have a valve console already if you build a small gaming PC (e.g. ITX) and run a Linux distro with steam in big picture mode. It’s like 80-90% of the way there. This is actually what I’ve just done. However, I don’t have a steam deck so would love to know what is missing still. Maybe the settings overlays and UI?
Click to expand...

I would really like to build a SFF PC and install bazzite on it. I wonder if you could get to PS5 level performance for around the £400 - £500 mark? I already have NVME's so that is some of the cost covered. I will need to research it more.
 
Emlyn_Dewar said:
Small amount of initial inconvenience, to have something that works. Not a big deal *for me
Click to expand...

Fixed that for you.

My idea of small "initial inconvenience" when its relating to something unimportant like games is switching the thing on.

Not:

Researching parts
Ordering from various places to save money
Assembling the stuff
Storing all the boxes
Installing some version of Linux
Troubleshooting as I don't use it
Etc etc
 
Last edited:
lovelyhead said:
I would really like to build a SFF PC and install bazzite on it. I wonder if you could get to PS5 level performance for around the £400 - £500 mark? I already have NVME's so that is some of the cost covered. I will need to research it more.
Click to expand...

I think that won't be possible.

I put together a new build last week with a £600 budget (which I blew by about £40):

5800X (bought used, as a bundle with the motherboard & ram for £160)
Thermalright Assassin Spirit (new, £18)
B450 Tomahawk Max
32GB DDR4
7800 XT Hellhound (used, £325)
2TB NVME (already owned)
750W Lian Li Edge (new, £85)
Montech XR (new, £50)

This should be somewhat close to PS5 Pro performance, though maybe with worse RT performance & worse upscaling (PSSR is much better than FSR3).

It's the first ATX build I've done in about 15 years. But building a SFF PC would have cost another £100+. And the only way to make that saving would have been to drop the 7800 XT for a 6700 XT/6750 XT or RTX 3060 Ti/3070.
 
Last edited:
McPhee said:
I think that won't be possible.

I put together a new build last week with a £600 budget (which I blew by about £40):

5800X (bought used, as a bundle with the motherboard & ram for £160)
Thermalright Assassin Spirit (new, £18)
B450 Tomahawk Max
32GB DDR4
7800 XT Hellhound (used, £325)
2TB NVME (already owned)
750W Lian Li Edge (new, £85)
Montech XR (new, £50)

This should be somewhat close to PS5 Pro performance, though maybe with worse RT performance & worse upscaling (PSSR is much better than FSR3).

It's the first ATX build I've done in about 15 years. But building a SFF PC would have cost another £100+. And the only way to make that saving would have been to drop the 7800 XT for a 6700 XT/6750 XT or RTX 3060 Ti/3070.
Click to expand...

Yeah it is a bit disappointing. The PS5 Pro although expensive is not bad (currently) on a bang per buck comparison compared to PC hardware.

I was excited to learn of the rumoured Xbox handheld supposedly releasing this year but it seems like it will just be a Asus handheld with a new Windows GUI for handhelds so there probably won't be much of an increase in performance.

Just seems like we will be stuck at Steam Deck level of performance at the £500 price point for the foreseeable future.
 
Last edited:
2nd hand ROG Ally + Bazzite seemed to be a good mix of better hardware and good OS. Win11 on the Ally was not great unless you docked it with a keyboard, monitor and mouse.

I mostly ran the Ally in the power limited modes anyway as the battery life was so bad. Still ran lighter games fast though.

I sold it recently becasue I didn't really need gaming on the go though ironically a job change means I might get use from a Steam Deck OLED now.

Also interested in trying the Steam OS on more hardware soon if released.
 
If you watch the youtube channel "Deck Ready", presented by the extravagantly named Jimmy Champagne, in once of his recent videos he revealed there had been some either leak or datamined info regarding a supposed Aerith 2.0 chip which would potentially power the SD2 with his estimate being sometime in 2026. Also seems to think this APU would end up in the Steam console as well, or a version of it, with a similar timeframe. He seems to know his stuff, although he needs a haircut. And that red mark on his nose needs sorting out.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom