The launch of the Steam Deck is nearly upon us. In the event you’re nonetheless on the fence, or questioning what all of the fuss is about, we’ve corralled nearly the whole lot you would probably need to know in regards to the hottest PC sport machine of 2022.
What’s the Steam Deck?
The Steam Deck is Valve’s foray into the world of moveable gaming, a machine broadly modeled after Nintendo’s glorious Swap console design, however operating on typical PC {hardware}. Which means it runs a full desktop working system and, in principle, can play extra video games than any moveable sport machine ever constructed.
That is removed from the primary moveable sport machine with full PC components. However with Valve baking the extremely fashionable Steam platform proper into the {hardware}, and introducing it at an unprecedented low value, its introduction may simply be the largest shift within the PC gaming market in years.
How highly effective is the Steam Deck?
Valve
The Steam Deck makes use of a custom-designed “APU”, a mix CPU-GPU structure constructed by AMD. The CPU is the equal of a Zen 2 laptop computer processor with a 4/8 core setup of major and secondary cores maxing out at 3.5GHz. The GPU is an built-in 8-core RDNA 2 design, among the similar structure used within the newest consoles just like the PS5 and Radeon graphics playing cards, however right here carried out for working on the low energy necessities of a conveyable machine.
All Steam Deck models use 16GB of RAM, which isn’t replaceable by the consumer. Relying on which model of the Steam Deck you purchase, you’ll get 64GB of eMMC storage, 256GB of sooner NVMe SSD storage, or a 512GB improve, all coming in commonplace and user-replaceable m.2 modules (like some fashionable laptops). Storage could be additional expanded with a cell phone-style MicroSD card slot.
Different related specs embody a 7-inch, 1280×800 LCD touchscreen operating at 60Hz, 5Ghz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0, a regular headphone/microphone jack, and USB-C for charging and outputting video at as much as 4K 120Hz. The latter would require the Steam Deck Dock, offered individually and never arriving till later this spring. The Steam Deck is just not being provided with a cell connection choice, and it has haptic trackpad suggestions, however not full vibration motors.
Valve
That’s a number of specs and numbers, however how does the Steam Deck deal with precise video games? That’s a sophisticated query. The brief reply, at the least in line with preliminary hands-on testing, is “surprisingly nicely.” The Steam Deck handles 2D low-power video games like a champ, as you may count on, but it surely’s additionally surprisingly adept on the newest AAA 3D video games. It may well even — technically — do ray tracing, although gamers will most likely need to flip it off for many video games to keep away from a steep efficiency penalty.
Whereas it gained’t match the blistering graphics and pace of a full gaming desktop, it seems it may well deal with most model new video games at 30 frames per second at its native display decision. Some, particularly these which might be coded to run natively on Linux, can simply hit 60fps even with graphical goodies enabled.
How large is the Steam Deck?
In a phrase: large. At 298 x 117 x 49mm (about 11.7 x 4.6 x 1.9 inches), the {hardware} completely dwarfs the Nintendo Swap, which is simply 9.4 inches extensive with roughly the identical sized display for the brand new OLED mannequin. The Steam Deck is way bigger than even the legendarily “cumbersome” moveable machines of previous, just like the Sega Recreation Gear or the Nintendo Wii U touschscreen controller, and it’s significantly larger than different PC-based moveable machines just like the Aya Neo.
In the event you want a fast and straightforward measurement comparability, the Steam Deck is roughly two Xbox controllers extensive. It’s, for those who’ll forgive the technical trade jargon, a chunky boi.
Why is it so freakin’ large? There are a couple of causes. One, a lot of the precise energy of the Steam Deck is coming from components designed for laptops, which have limiting components on miniaturization. Evaluating them to Arm-based {hardware} just like the Swap (which makes use of Nvidia chips initially designed for telephones) isn’t precisely truthful. The Steam Deck additionally wants a reasonably sizeable battery, and sufficient area to maintain all these parts cool whilst you’re enjoying.
Valve, Microsoft, Nintendo, Apple
On high of all that, the Steam Deck wants area for a ton of controls. Along with the usual controller format (all of the stuff you’d discover on an Xbox controller) and a touchscreen, it consists of the identical haptic touchpads beforehand seen on the Steam Controller, plus two rear-mounted finger buttons on either side. It’s a major growth of inputs versus one thing just like the Swap.
However extra apparently, the Steam Deck {hardware} can also be designed to be accessible, upgradable, and repairable by the consumer. In a primary for a mainstream moveable sport machine, Valve is encouraging customers to improve the storage if it fits their fancy, and might be offering restore components to iFixit for direct sale to shoppers. Valve even printed its personal teardown video!
That sort of {hardware} flexibility is encouraging, and we’ll most likely be seeing a ton of fascinating consumer mods to the Steam Deck.
How lengthy does the Steam Deck battery final?
It relies upon. Valve claims that the Steam Deck’s built-in 40-watt battery can run for “2 – 8 hours of gameplay.” Clearly battery life is extraordinarily variable for any sort of moveable machine.
Preliminary hands-on testing of the Steam Deck present that Valve’s prediction is broadly correct. Intense 3D video games can run a full battery down in as little as 90 minutes, with most video games seeing between three and 6 hours of playback time. Adjusting variables, like much less intense graphics settings and decrease brightness, will lengthen the battery life. The Steam Deck comes with a 45-watt USB-C charger, and wishes about three hours (with out enjoying) for a full recharge.
How does the Steam Deck management mouse and keyboard video games?
We talked about all the additional area within the Steam Deck devoted to controls, notably an ultra-sensitive haptic trackpad for every of the consumer’s thumbs. The {hardware} additionally has gyroscopic controls, permitting the participant to maneuver the unit itself to help in issues like aiming or steering. Valve has been refining its strategies for controlling PC video games with console-style {hardware} inputs for the higher a part of a decade; a number of the design work that went into the Steam Controller has been refined and improved for the Steam Deck.
Valve
All that being stated, we’d be mendacity if we advised you that controlling a sport designed solely for mouse and keyboard with controller inputs and touchpads is easy. Most main titles have (or could have) controls supplied for by both Valve or the builders themselves. However “pure” PC video games, and those who don’t have a console-style management setup, will profit from some experimentation and tweaking by the consumer.
Happily, Steam’s interface and management choices are extremely refined and user-customizable. And even for those who don’t really feel like diving in and tweaking 100 completely different variables your self, Steam has entry to a database of management schemes for every sport, custom-made and shared by a group of gamers.
Which Steam video games can the Steam Deck play?
The Steam Deck runs SteamOS out of the field, a Linux-based working system custom-made and maintained by Valve. It may well run roughly any sport with a Linux model with out situation.
After all, even with a number of years of progress, the Linux gaming scene remains to be a good distance behind Home windows. For video games with out a native Linux model, the Steam Deck makes use of the open supply Proton compatibility layer, and will probably be the true check of whether or not the hand-held sinks or swims. Proton permits the Steam Deck to run Home windows video games with no need the complete Home windows working system. It’s primarily based on Wine (Wine Is Not an Emulator) and tweaked by Valve and Codeweavers for gaming efficiency.
Valve
However again to that core query: Which Steam video games, and particularly which Home windows video games, can the Steam Deck run? The reply is, apparently, “most of them.” Even video games requiring the Proton compatibility layer are operating surprisingly nicely on the Steam Deck {hardware}.
Valve is testing its library of video games on the Steam Deck to see which might run on it. The corporate has printed a instrument to allow you to see which of the video games in your library run with none tweaks wanted (“Verified”), which can want some graphics and/or management settings (“Playable”), and which simply gained’t run (“Unsupported”). You’ll be able to log in along with your Steam account to verify the titles in your library.
After all, with tens of hundreds of video games on the Steam platform, even Valve can’t check all of them immediately. The corporate is specializing in the preferred titles in the intervening time. A semi-random collection of Steam video games (my library) confirmed 45 video games as Steam Deck Verified, 27 as Steam Deck Playable, and 11 video games as Unsupported, with a whopping 245 video games untested on the time of writing. Assuming that the ratio stays regular for my complete library — an enormous assumption, admittedly — roughly 85% of my present video games ought to be playable on the moveable {hardware}.
[ Further reading: Why does the Steam Deck run Linux? Blame Windows ]
Can the Steam Deck run Home windows?
Sure! Technically. Whereas the Steam Deck’s {hardware} is designed to run SteamOS for each its base software program and its interface, it’s an open platform, and Valve will enable customers to put in Home windows (or different working techniques) if they need. Twin-boot configurations may be trickier, however will nonetheless be doable.
Valve
That may not be the perfect thought. With out the {custom} integration of {hardware} and software program from Valve, the Steam Deck operating Home windows will definitely undergo from poorer efficiency and battery life. It may also produce other points, like outputting video and audio by way of generic drivers. That may be price it for gamers who need entry to the complete gamut of video games out there for Home windows.
Can the Steam Deck play non-Steam video games like Fortnite?
Sure and no. The Linux-based SteamOS helps putting in any Linux software program, together with Linux-based different sport launchers like Itch.io or Lutris. So if a sport affords a Linux model, the Steam Deck can deal with it.
Nevertheless, operating video games designed for Home windows that don’t combine with the Steam retailer and software program, like Epic’s Fortnite, Blizzard’s World of Warcraft, or the Home windows-based Xbox Recreation Go, will current a number of layers of hurdles. It’d technically be doable, however put together for lots of potential issues. Corporations that compete with Valve and Steam aren’t going to bend over backwards to assist the Steam Deck: Epic has already stated it gained’t construct a model of Fortnite for the moveable machine.
The nuclear choice when it comes to sport assist is, after all, to get across the Linux-based SteamOS and set up Home windows — see the earlier part.
Can the Steam Deck stream video games like Xbox Recreation Go?
Sure! Along with streaming video games out of your gaming PC utilizing Valve’s Steam Hyperlink system, both domestically or with Distant Play. With the Steam Deck’s built-in browser, sport streaming providers like Xbox Recreation Go Cloud Gaming, Nvidia GeForce Now, and Google Stadia ought to run proper out of the field.
Can the Steam Deck run emulators?
Sure! The Steam Deck will run any emulator with a Linux model (like Dolphin) natively, and emulators designed to run on Home windows could be run by way of Proton. With Proton, emulating older 2D console video games shouldn’t be a problem, however operating an emulator by way of a compatibility layer may current important slowdowns for 3D console video games.
How a lot does the Steam Deck price?
The Steam Deck is available in three value tiers, with the one main distinction being storage. It’s surprisingly inexpensive, beginning at simply $400 — lower than half the worth of different PC-based moveable machines.
- Steam Deck 64GB — $399
eMMC-based storage, comes with a carrying case - Steam Deck 256GB — $529
Quicker NVMe SSD storage, carrying case, and further digital goodies to your Steam profile - Steam Deck 512GB — $649
Even sooner storage, upgraded anti-scratch glass display, deluxe carrying case, and extra digital Steam items
Keep in mind when making your selection: You’ll be able to improve the storage your self with a regular M.2 SSD drive within the 2230 measurement, although that SSD kind issue could be tough to seek out in standalone kind.
When can I get a Steam Deck?
The Steam Deck technically launched on February twenty fifth, kind of. That’s when those that reserved the {hardware} have the chance to begin shopping for it, with three days to decide. The Steam Deck will begin arriving within the fingers of gamers on February twenty eighth, with the same old transport variables in impact.
Valve
Right here’s the true bummer: Valve began accepting pre-orders for the Steam Deck proper after it was introduced, in July of final yr. So the earliest reserves for getting the {hardware} had been despatched in (fingers out, carry the one) eight months in the past. Whereas Valve is little doubt making each single Steam Deck it may well, the fact of the present chip scarcity signifies that even a few of these early reserves may not get one on launch day.
In the event you order a Steam Deck at the moment, don’t count on to see it in your doorstep till after the second quarter of 2022 on the earliest. If opinions are constructive — and preliminary suggestions exhibits that they most likely might be — it may be onerous to discover a Steam Deck all by way of this yr and into the subsequent.
Michael is a former graphic designer who’s been constructing and tweaking desktop computer systems for longer than he cares to confess. His pursuits embody folks music, soccer, science fiction, and salsa verde, in no specific order.