Gaming Steam Deck - Handheld PC from Valve

Adamsk7 said:
In two minds. I definitely don’t need it but I am a sucker for new devices…
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This is where I am, but given it looks like it's not going to available until mid-late next year at the earliest, I'm more than happy to wait and see how good it actually is.

I'm sat on a library of 400+ steam games, a lot of which I've not touched, that in theory are perfect for a device like that.
 
Adamsk7 said:
In two minds. I definitely don’t need it but I am a sucker for new devices…
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That's basically my life story.

I have one reserved for Q1 2022 but realistically.. how much more would I actually use it over my much more powerful PC? When I think of my Switch I always played it docked far more than not. There are definitely some games I can think of that would be handier to play while lying on the couch with the TV on, though, I guess.
 
It really reminds me of the old Sega Game Gear my neighbour had back in the day!
 
The adult side of me is wondering what the feck am I thinking. Have pretty much a year though to decide if I'll get it or not
 
Went for the 512gb version. I mean it’s a portable device which will need an anti-glare glass unless you’re planning on spending all your play time in a dark room. Can’t see this being overly bright.
 
I will wait for early impressions after its release but I'm really tempted with it. It looks like a great option in the future when I don't have enough time to boot up my big PC.
 
I am definitely interested in this. If it’s more powerful than the switch that’s a big bonus and for me personally there’s far more on steam than Nintendo have to offer.
 
Like others have said, I'll probably wait and see what the full hands on impressions are post release from sources I trust. But I'm definitely interested.
 
The Zen 2 architecture is the same one found within AMD Ryzen 3000 processors, and within the Steam Deck reside four Zen 2 cores, capable of eight threads, ready and waiting for your portable gaming needs.

The RDNA 2 architecture is behind the handheld PC's graphical grunt. The Steam Deck comes with 8 Compute Units (CUs) for a total of 512 cores. That's not a massive amount—the Xbox Series S comes with 20 RDNA 2 CUs—but it appears enough to get by at 720p without too much hassle.
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https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/steam-deck-price-release-date-specs/

If it lets you upgrade the storage of the cheapest model, then for ~£300 (approx. current conversion rates) I think that is pretty damn good value for money. You are effectively getting a portable gaming device and a portable lightweight PC as well.

But my concerns really are how well Proton will perform, battery life and obviously can the graphics run the games well enough.
 
Launch delayed by 2 months apparently. Was supposed to be available in December, now it's going to be February at the earliest, and waiting list times all pushed on by at least 2 months.
 
Can anyone who knows hardware estimate if you will be able to play new releases on this and how long of a lifespan I can expect? Is it comparable to a console/handheld where I'm able to play every new released game for the next 5-7 years or will it be too weak to play new games in two years time? Really love the concept but I can't justify spending that amount of money if I realistically need to replace it in two years or something like that.
 
unplayable said:
Can anyone who knows hardware estimate if you will be able to play new releases on this and how long of a lifespan I can expect? Is it comparable to a console/handheld where I'm able to play every new released game for the next 5-7 years or will it be too weak to play new games in two years time? Really love the concept but I can't justify spending that amount of money if I realistically need to replace it in two years or something like that.
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I've only spent a few hours with it, but if your happy to lower settings and stick to 30fps on the big titles then it's likely fine for a good while. I'm really impressed with it so far.

I've run older stuff and newer stuff, and almost all has gone really well - even games listed as unsupported work fine. Only issue so far was Monkey Island 2, listed as supported, but doesn't work for me. The controls are borked and loading different profiles doesn't fix it.

I've tried the following 'bigger' games so far, all at 800p (native res):

Elden Ring - settings on high (whatever one level under max is), is an 'Elden Ring' solid 30fps. It looks really good too, and weirdly doesn't feel like 30fps too much.
Cyberpunk 2077 - High settings (apart from screen space reflections, they were on low - there's hardly any difference in quality) is around 30. Dips in busy areas, but you can turn crowds down a bit amongst other things for cheap gains.
FInal Fantasy XIII - technically not supported, runs fine with a few stutters upon new areas/visuals at locked 30. XIII-2 is a horrible stuttery mess though.
God of War - solid 30 at 'original' console settings, looks great and feels good to play. The game defaulted to higher settings than this, and I had a few dips, but you could certainly up some stuff with no issues.
Horizon Zero Dawn - Only ran the bench at high settings, and it's a bit juddery but mainly around 30. With tweaking should be fine.
Guardians of the Galaxy - Mainly high/max settings is solid 30 in the opening world.

I don't think you're going to be running these kind of titles at 60, even with everything lowered to the minimum quality settings, so if that's a dealbreaker it's likely not for you but older games can run at 60. It hurts battery badly though.

Quick note on loading times: I only got the basic one, but loading from SD cards is pretty quick (using Sandisk Extreme Pros, I'm going to try my old Switch micro SD later as it's rated much slower). Elden Ring loading time seems comparable to running off an M2, which is weird, for example. Outliers were the two Sony titles, both took a while to load. Nothing horrendous, but noticeable longer than the other stuff I've tried.

The other thing is, if you're thinking of getting one to replace or even be your PC for gaming, you need to factor in the storage limitations, battery life and so on. Fast Micro SD cards are around 100euro on offer for 512gb. Terabyte cards are still expensive (two 512s is considerably cheaper). Then you're probably going to want a power bank, rated at at least 45W so you can charge and play simultaneously. Another 100 euro or so.
 
Thanks for the insightful answer. I'm not a PC gamer and lately I have stopped playing on console because I just prefer handheld gaming so much that I don't really care to make some compromises when it comes to graphics and honestly 30 fps is fine for me. But I would love to be able to play something like the new Elder Scrolls on this if possible. I have just preordered one and seeing that I have to wait until Q4 to even be able to get a Steam Deck I guess I will have a lot of time to wait for some reports on how certain games run.
 
Can this be hooked up to a TV? And also, can you play a game and archive it, then restore it and carry on where you left off?

Finally, will Street Fighter 6 be on this?
 
Dirty Schwein said:
Can this be hooked up to a TV? And also, can you play a game and archive it, then restore it and carry on where you left off?

Finally, will Street Fighter 6 be on this?
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You can hook up a screen, but will need a USB C hub and whatever magic cable they make to go from that to the screen. There's only one USB C socket on the deck, and you will want power as well in this scenario I expect.

You can suspend the deck and it resumes from wherever you were and it works flawlessly. Only one game at once though.

I expect SF6 will work, but whether at 60fps don't know. That said, resident evil village runs completely maxed out (apart from volumetric lighting) at 60 and same studio, so maybe similar engine. Forgot it in my orig reply.
 
Dirty Schwein said:
Can this be hooked up to a TV? And also, can you play a game and archive it, then restore it and carry on where you left off?

Finally, will Street Fighter 6 be on this?
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It's a PC so will have all the connectivity of one, that includes HDMI output, and eventually a Switch-like Dock.
 
Drawfull said:
You can hook up a screen, but will need a USB C hub and whatever magic cable they make to go from that to the screen. There's only one USB C socket on the deck, and you will want power as well in this scenario I expect.

You can suspend the deck and it resumes from wherever you were and it works flawlessly. Only one game at once though.

I expect SF6 will work, but whether at 60fps don't know. That said, resident evil village runs completely maxed out (apart from volumetric lighting) at 60 and same studio, so maybe similar engine. Forgot it in my orig reply.
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b82REZ said:
It's a PC so will have all the connectivity of one, that includes HDMI output, and eventually a Switch-like Dock.
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Thank you both. I might look into this more.
 
Paid for mine last night so hopefully I'll receive it in the next week.

Looks like they're well into the the Q2 orders now.
 
I've had one since April and I honestly just love it. I've been a PC gamer since childhood and at 41 I really appreciate not spending even more time in front of a computer screen after getting off work. I have a pretty beefy gaming PC but I've hardly used it since getting the Steam Deck.

Especially "backlog" games suddenly feel amazing. Something like Nier Automata/Dragons Dogma/Ryse son of Rome look amazing at 60 fps possibly with a couple of settings turned down, but they still look amazing on a small screen. I'm quite snobbish about performance otherwise, but almost everything feels and looks great on the SD and I've used it for 95% of my gaming since getting it.

Also stuff like Slay the spire, Vampire survivors are just so much fun on a handheld.. And about a million other games.

But in fairness, some things are a bit disappointing as well.

- I love this game but I just cannot play Rocket League like this, controls and 60 fps limit are too awkward for me there sadly.
- I am struggling to get used to the track pads. Working on it, but playing CIV 6 or anything with a lot of mouse input or FPS games.. I'm not comfortable with it as of yet and it can feel a bit tedious. Tried replaying Dragon Age Origins and it's just a bit too rough compared to M+KB. Doom 2016 looks absolutely amazing but I'm still trying to "get" the controls.

But having said that, it's my favorite hardware buy of the last ten years or so. It's just a shame that they can't get this thing into people's hands, I'm sure they would be able to sell a huge amount of units if it wasn't for the long waiting list.
 
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I received mine yesterday.

Spent most of the night playing with my deck. The size of my deck is even bigger than I expected, but it fits well in my hands and feels comfortable. I can imagine playing with my deck for long sessions may cause pain in my arms.

The UI is functional enough but does have a few issues. Games download really fast, and so far most games I've played work well automatically or can have buttons mapped to the controller easily enough. Some games don't have any real functionality though. I bought Inscryption, but unfortunately it reaches a point where you can't progress due to it not having native controller support.

Battery life seems good and it charges really fast.

If Valve support this better than their previous hardware I can see it being a huge success and lead to even better models.
 
I've just had an email to say I can complete my purchase. I pre-ordered back in October last year, I think. Back then if you said it cost as much as two month's energy bills, I'd have said it was a bargain and had no hesitation about stumping up the cash. Now that statement is actually true, I'm wondering whether spending £560 on this is a bit reckless.

What do you guys think?
 
I’ve ordered a 512GB one this morning, after I saw last night the wait is now down to 1-2 weeks. I also ordered the new docking station and currently browsing for 1TB MicroSD cards for that inevitable extra storage.

Getting it as an early Xmas present for myself and before the Xmas rush takes place. I’m seeing a lot of praise for it and people saying it’s been their best tech purchase in a long time.

I’m a little excited :D
 
Fab bit of kit for now, but I just wonder about the nature of PC gaming and the constant tech improvements and how long the shelf life of these will be.

Still getting it.
 
Bobski said:
Fab bit of kit for now, but I just wonder about the nature of PC gaming and the constant tech improvements and how long the shelf life of these will be.

Still getting it.
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I think it'll be fine for most new titles for a couple of years at least, as long as you're going in with realistic expectations with new AAA releases. I've finished and played more games in the past 7 months on the deck than I have in years and it's run everything fine. I'm optimistic that FSR2 will extend its viability too, even the hacked mod versions make previously harder-to-run games perfectly adequate. Plus, PC games are still being released with support on paper for 7 or 8 year old cards (Miles Morales has a minimum of a 950 I think).

Then we're also in the era of remakes and remasters, which probably helps at some level since they're based on older engines. Dunno, but I'm planning on playing through Uncharted 4 again on the deck, and Lost Legacy when they come out next week.
 
Drawfull said:
I think it'll be fine for most new titles for a couple of years at least, as long as you're going in with realistic expectations with new AAA releases. I've finished and played more games in the past 7 months on the deck than I have in years and it's run everything fine. I'm optimistic that FSR2 will extend its viability too, even the hacked mod versions make previously harder-to-run games perfectly adequate. Plus, PC games are still being released with support on paper for 7 or 8 year old cards (Miles Morales has a minimum of a 950 I think).

Then we're also in the era of remakes and remasters, which probably helps at some level since they're based on older engines. Dunno, but I'm planning on playing through Uncharted 4 again on the deck, and Lost Legacy when they come out next week.
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Most of the games I play are slightly older, my steam library after years of Humble needs worked through so won't be buying too many new games, so for myself it shouldn't be a problem, but possibly could limit overall success?
 
Bobski said:
Most of the games I play are slightly older, my steam library after years of Humble needs worked through so won't be buying too many new games, so for myself it shouldn't be a problem, but possibly could limit overall success?
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I'm not sure its relative performance will limit any success greatly unless a load of games come out that are too heavy to run well thus generating bad press, but I guess some buyers will be wary especially since Valve have kinda confirmed a Deck 2 coming in the future.
 
My Deck arrived with my Dock at my house this morning, annoyingly as I started :(

Quite impressed with the case that came with it free of charge. Been setting it to update itself and downloading some of my Steam library all day.

Feels great to hold and I can’t wait to start experimenting with it, like playing 25 year old HL1 on it to seeing how it handles Doom Eternal at highest settings.
 
So guys is it worth it?

The £500 outlay worth it?

Have the Switch but saw this and it looks pretty amazing.

Really tempted by this wont lie :lol:

Just trying to justify it now
 
lefty_jakobz said:
So guys is it worth it?

The £500 outlay worth it?

Have the Switch but saw this and it looks pretty amazing.

Really tempted by this wont lie :lol:

Just trying to justify it now
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Had mine almost two weeks now and I’ve barely put it down. The screen is great. The carry case you get free with it is REALLY good (Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft etc would have that as an expensive separate option if they were running it). Holding it feels great. I especially like the trackpads on it. They help a lot on FPS games as someone who is a keyboard+mouse purist.

I‘d get the 512GB model especially if you’re looking to play AAA games on it as a lot of them are starting to become 50GB minimum these days, then get a MicroSD card from Samsung or SanDisk and multiply that space. If you have a pre-existing Steam library, it’s all there waiting to be downloaded and installed, along with all the save data you had, thanks to Steam Cloud.

Its really good for playing small indie titles like Obra Dinn and it’s pretty good watching Doom Eternal play on it. I have the official dock for it too and it’s pretty good. It does take some graphics alteration to change it from your small deck screen to a 60 inch 4K TV, which shouldn't take too long. The best way to class the Deck is as a handheld PC, so some tasks associated with PC gaming creep in like experimenting with graphics and adjusting resolution. Valve might introduce a future update to possibly eliminate that aspect and do it for you. I tried Doom Eternal on my 4K TV and the resolutions was a pixel hell on first load up and then going into the aspect ratio part of the setting changed everything.

With Steam’s constant sales on their massive library of games, I’d say you’ll be spoilt for choice. They have verified Deck games which are ready to play as they are, and then a descending level of Deck suitability. Some of the ones that are deemed ‘Playable’ work just fine without tinkering and some require very minor tinkering. Valve are probably testing a bunch of games currently deemed unplayable and put updates in place to make them playable.

Only real drawback is the battery life on it. Running intensive games like Doom Eternal really sucks the battery life. It doesn’t bother me though as I’m always close to a charger and the Deck when docked charges anyway. Some people think the fans are too loud but I didn’t find them that loud. They were like short sharp revs but it wasn’t like it was early PS4 Pro jet engine noise.

You can pair your Switch Joycons to it as a controller via Bluetooth, as well as a Playstation and Xbox controller. The Dock has USB slots at the back so you can plug a dongle for a wireless keyboard and mouse. So it functions as a gaming PC tower, a video games console AND a handheld!

So I would wholeheartedly recommend getting a Deck along with its official Dock if money isn’t an issue. Take advantage of the Steam store and get some great deals on games and discover some nice indie titles too. I’ve probably missed off a bunch of stuff that it can do too but it’s out there online.
 
Chairman Steve said:
Had mine almost two weeks now and I’ve barely put it down. The screen is great. The carry case you get free with it is REALLY good (Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft etc would have that as an expensive separate option if they were running it). Holding it feels great. I especially like the trackpads on it. They help a lot on FPS games as someone who is a keyboard+mouse purist.

I‘d get the 512GB model especially if you’re looking to play AAA games on it as a lot of them are starting to become 50GB minimum these days, then get a MicroSD card from Samsung or SanDisk and multiply that space. If you have a pre-existing Steam library, it’s all there waiting to be downloaded and installed, along with all the save data you had, thanks to Steam Cloud.

Its really good for playing small indie titles like Obra Dinn and it’s pretty good watching Doom Eternal play on it. I have the official dock for it too and it’s pretty good. It does take some graphics alteration to change it from your small deck screen to a 60 inch 4K TV, which shouldn't take too long. The best way to class the Deck is as a handheld PC, so some tasks associated with PC gaming creep in like experimenting with graphics and adjusting resolution. Valve might introduce a future update to possibly eliminate that aspect and do it for you. I tried Doom Eternal on my 4K TV and the resolutions was a pixel hell on first load up and then going into the aspect ratio part of the setting changed everything.

With Steam’s constant sales on their massive library of games, I’d say you’ll be spoilt for choice. They have verified Deck games which are ready to play as they are, and then a descending level of Deck suitability. Some of the ones that are deemed ‘Playable’ work just fine without tinkering and some require very minor tinkering. Valve are probably testing a bunch of games currently deemed unplayable and put updates in place to make them playable.

Only real drawback is the battery life on it. Running intensive games like Doom Eternal really sucks the battery life. It doesn’t bother me though as I’m always close to a charger and the Deck when docked charges anyway. Some people think the fans are too loud but I didn’t find them that loud. They were like short sharp revs but it wasn’t like it was early PS4 Pro jet engine noise.

You can pair your Switch Joycons to it as a controller via Bluetooth, as well as a Playstation and Xbox controller. The Dock has USB slots at the back so you can plug a dongle for a wireless keyboard and mouse. So it functions as a gaming PC tower, a video games console AND a handheld!

So I would wholeheartedly recommend getting a Deck along with its official Dock if money isn’t an issue. Take advantage of the Steam store and get some great deals on games and discover some nice indie titles too. I’ve probably missed off a bunch of stuff that it can do too but it’s out there online.
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I'd add a couple of points:

The speakers are genuinely amazing for a device this size.

You can pick up a 26000mAh battery which gives you pretty much two full charges, if you're going to be using it away from power a lot.

For people worried about the screen, you can do some basic tweaks to saturation to make it pop more (in the advanced part of the menu) but also you can install plug-ins that help a lot, if that's your thing. Better to turn them off before docking though.

For FPS stuff you can also use a combination of stick or trackpad and gyro for aiming, which makes it very responsive/accurate.

It can run pretty much everything you'd want to throw at it, though some multiplayer stuff doesn't work due to anti-cheat looking for Windows. Only thing I've found that it doesn't run for me (without having a Windows install somewhere (I use a hub with built in SSD, and there are a few out there now)) is iTunes. It basically does almost everything, and most of that well. Switch emulation can be hit and miss but the rest of emulation is pretty fantastic.

The Verified system is flawed. You're better off using that only as a base (not even Verified games are guaranteed to work, although 99.9% do) and then check the game over on ProtonDB. ProtonDB will let you know whether games Valve report as Untested/Unsupported will work, and often have more info on why they might be only marked as playable.

100% recommend from me as well but I'd go for the 256 unless you want the built-in anti-glare. Personally, with both a 64 and a 512, I prefer the option of having a screen protector that the 64 gives me over the stock 512 screen. The reason that I would go for 256 over 64 is that 64 ain't enough (I upgraded to 1tb on the 64, and 2tb on the 512) for anything and no matter what, you're going to want Micro SD cards and there's nothing in it re loading times etc: only install times are affected (SSD is a lot faster than Micro SD here).
 
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Bit of an impulse buy but the idea of playing steam games in bed was a bit of a sell.
Was holding on for a PS5 but I'd limited myself to buying from amazon due to building up amazon vouchers via referral schemes/GPT sites. Couldn't justify spending salary/savings when I had more than enough in vouchers.

I had quite a bit of fun trying to find ways to use my amazon balance to get a steam deck, I'd almost gave up when I realised Currys sell Steam vouchers and you can buy currys vouchers on amazon! It probably looked a little dodgy buying almost £500 worth of steam vouchers, 5x £20 an order..
I'm now keeping the thick wad of vouchers as a souvenir for the lengths I'll go for impulse purchases..

Overall, I'm very impressed. Just being able to put it down, play it anywhere and carry on from where I left it..waking up to Elden ring in bed...
It's surprisingly very comfy and feels nice to hold, despite having small hands I'm a huge fan of the design.

Some minor issues here & there but definetly very happy with it!
 
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