Discussion
dsgrnmcm said:
Same here, just put down my £4 for the 512gb, but as mentioned I expect the specs to be a little bigger between now and release (if they have the ability to do that???)
I doubt they'll improve the specs significantly on the unit - the specification and design is now set and they plan to build it to those specs. I guess they might just bump SSD capacity or something like that if SSD prices fall. Unlikely though.Personally, if I don't get my order by the end of the year (it was given at Q3 2022 when I ordered), I'll be cancelling at that point.
The specs are pretty marginal for playing AAA games - the big draw is that this is the first Zen APU outside of the new PS/Xbox consoles that features RDNA2 gfx tech. All the current APUs that you see in mobile format are based on the ageing Vega tech which is now a couple of years behind the curve. Also, there are only four Zen2 cores on the APU. Even the Vega based APUs are now available at up to 8 cores of Zen3 so the CPU on the deck is nothing special at all compared to what is out there.
By Q3 next year I fully expect that there will be Zen3 APUs with 6/8 cores and those 8 RDNA2 CUs available for mobile so cool idea as the Steamdeck is for the immediate future, by that point I won't be dropping money to buy something with that APU spec. I'd likely get a laptop instead. Unless of course Valve ship a ton of pre-orders and then announce the second gen with 6 or 8 cores of Zen3.
Jimmy No Hands said:
Is this using "streaming" or will it run games on it's dedicated hardware? Specifications look a little soft for some of the bigger titles. I guess the resolution plays a huge part?
It's going to run the games on its own hardware (though I imagine there will be a Steamlink client included too).Specs are just about good enough to get away with 720p at >30Hz on most AAA titles (probably some details needing to be turned down on the more demanding ones).
If it succeeds then I can see devs coming up with optimised 'steam deck' modes in their gfx options.
I wouldn't expect battery life more than 2 hours on anything that is demanding (ie AAA) as the 15W CPU will be running flat out and there is a battery capacity of 40Wh (The machine burns 20W at full power with the screen on .... 20W for 2 hours = 40Wh).
It's a pretty cool gadget to have now but if they can only deliver towards the end of next year ... No. There will be better small laptop gaming options.
Lucas Ayde said:
There will be better small laptop gaming options.
I think this is a better form factor for a lot of games - just as the laptop is a better form factor for others.For me it's worth a punt - I have a Switch Lite and a gaming PC which isn't in the living room. I like the Switch, but I have a fair few games in my Steam library so a handheld that accesses those is quite appealing. If it works in a dock for the less demanding titles too then all the better.
Sporky said:
I think this is a better form factor for a lot of games - just as the laptop is a better form factor for others.
For me it's worth a punt - I have a Switch Lite and a gaming PC which isn't in the living room. I like the Switch, but I have a fair few games in my Steam library so a handheld that accesses those is quite appealing. If it works in a dock for the less demanding titles too then all the better.
If you have a Fire tv/ Android tv box (or even a smart TV that has a client app) then try Steamlink. You can play your Steam PC games on your TV as if you were using a console, so that covers using your PC to game in other rooms. It's really changed the way I game to the extent I just don't bother with my PS4 Pro any more and have dropped plans to upgrade to PS5. I already have better quality on my PC.For me it's worth a punt - I have a Switch Lite and a gaming PC which isn't in the living room. I like the Switch, but I have a fair few games in my Steam library so a handheld that accesses those is quite appealing. If it works in a dock for the less demanding titles too then all the better.
My main doubt about it is that the unwieldy size will really kill the portable/spontaneous factor. You aren't going to have this thing on you most of the time, to whip out when you feel like gaming. A battery life which is realistically 2 hours for anything demanding won't help the 'on the go' appeal either. It's just not going to be the truly portable solution that lots of people seem to imagine it will be. It's more transportable than portable ... ie bring it when you are going to be away from home for a bit so that you can still access your Steam PC games.
On the other hand, it's super-cool and could be a nifty second PC that can also play games at low resolutions and I want one. But if it takes until Q3 *next year* to get it ... Nope. Not unless they have come out with a spec-bumped v2 model by then. More likely that you will be able to get a small laptop with much more CPU grunt and same gfx capability by that stage.
strudel said:
See if they released the steam app on the Switch I reckon Nintendo would make a killing. It's all I want (I've got a good pc and don't want the expense of another)
Never had much luck with the built-in streaming in Steam between desktop/laptops even over gigabit ethernet.If you've got a compatible Nvidia card that supports gamestream, Moonlight worked much better for me, even over Wifi on my Macbook Pro.
I see there's a port for Switch
https://github.com/rock88/moonlight-nx
Edited by mw88 on Wednesday 21st July 14:23
All footage IGN got of the Steam Deck running games, were from games played via the Micro SD card for anyone who hasn't seen, a few youtubers have been doing rudimentary tests running games off of micro SD cards on their PC's and there isn't much of a concern from their results. Also the SSD storage is by way of a socketed M.2 port running the shorter 2230 SSD's, so could be potential for upgrading as the port is on all models apparently, obviously depends on how complicated it is to strip down and get to the actual port.
mw88 said:
Never had much luck with the built-in streaming in Steam between desktop/laptops even over gigabit ethernet.
If you've got a compatible Nvidia card that supports gamestream, Moonlight worked much better for me, even over Wifi on my Macbook Pro.
I see there's a port for Switch
https://github.com/rock88/moonlight-nx
I use both - Gamestream where the game explicitly supports it and Steamlink for all other Steam games.If you've got a compatible Nvidia card that supports gamestream, Moonlight worked much better for me, even over Wifi on my Macbook Pro.
I see there's a port for Switch
https://github.com/rock88/moonlight-nx
Edited by mw88 on Wednesday 21st July 14:23
Gamestream seems to provide a nicer picture quality - more colourful or something, it just seems to have a nicer look about it when I compare the same game Steamlink vs Gamestream (even with Steamlink set to 'beautiful' picture). I think Gamestream encodes the video stream using the onboard hardware of GeForce cards whereas Steam does it with CPU, could account for the different 'look'. Steam seems to slightly compress the colour palette vs Gamestream.
You can add any game to Gamestream even if not officially supported but then I get niggly little things like sometimes controllers not working as expected or the game not launching properly (just dropping me into the Steam big picture mode where I have to manually launch it). I also get error messages sometimes when trying to quit the game and Steam says it is still running. Steamlink has been pretty much niggle free but of course it is only for games that you launch from Steam whereas Gamestream should work with any game from any digital store (or physical media for that matter).
Both seem to be quite demanding on your network link to the PC if you want to have high quality video that is pretty much identical to what you see on the PC screen ... I found that I needed to upgrade to AV1000 powerlink to get high quality off either system (AV200 didn't cut it). Also, with one set of adapters I bought the picture would frequently freeze and degrade (both streaming systems) ... ended up sending them back and swapping for a different brand. Using the internal tests on the clients, both were saying poor quality links (dropped frames, low bandwidth etc).
Probably on a small, 720p screen the requirements would be much less and it should be much easier to get a good looking picture.
Couple of good videos here, first is from a guy (ETAPrime) who reviews a lot of mini and small form factor PCs, especially ones with APUs. He's done a lot of preview reviews of machines using Rzyen APUs so he has a good idea of performance on such APUs:
https://youtu.be/3bfQl4XXlH0
And of course, the Digital Foundry long-form (over an hour) discussion. They know their stuff:
https://youtu.be/4Dd_bazOYOY
.. Bottom line is that we can expect mostly decent performance. Though unlikely to be 60Hz with all options at max which some fanboys actually seem to believe is possible 'because lower resolution'.
I agree with DF that we could expect many publishers to add a preset option in the gfx config settings of their games for the Steam Deck which basically sets up things to work optimally on that hardware.
I still think they need to get the units out quickly - I am not going to wait until the Q3 2022 date quoted in my preorder when there will be more options by that time.
https://youtu.be/3bfQl4XXlH0
And of course, the Digital Foundry long-form (over an hour) discussion. They know their stuff:
https://youtu.be/4Dd_bazOYOY
.. Bottom line is that we can expect mostly decent performance. Though unlikely to be 60Hz with all options at max which some fanboys actually seem to believe is possible 'because lower resolution'.
I agree with DF that we could expect many publishers to add a preset option in the gfx config settings of their games for the Steam Deck which basically sets up things to work optimally on that hardware.
I still think they need to get the units out quickly - I am not going to wait until the Q3 2022 date quoted in my preorder when there will be more options by that time.
ajprice said:
Lucas Ayde said:
I still think they need to get the units out quickly - I am not going to wait until the Q3 2022 date quoted in my preorder when there will be more options by that time.
When is the latest date to get the £4 reserve refunded before it turns into a confirmed preorder?Edit - from the Steam Deck info page
Steam said:
Can I cancel my reservation?
Yes, you can cancel your reservation on this page. If you cancel within 30 days, you will be refunded to whatever payment method you used. If you cancel after 30 days, your reservation fee will be refunded to your Steam Wallet.
What happens to my reservation fee if I do not order my Steam Deck in time?
Your reservation fee will be refunded in full. If your refund occurs within 30 days of your initial reservation, you will be refunded to whatever payment method you used. If your refund occurs after 30 days of your initial reservation, you will be refunded to your Steam Wallet.
Yes, you can cancel your reservation on this page. If you cancel within 30 days, you will be refunded to whatever payment method you used. If you cancel after 30 days, your reservation fee will be refunded to your Steam Wallet.
What happens to my reservation fee if I do not order my Steam Deck in time?
Your reservation fee will be refunded in full. If your refund occurs within 30 days of your initial reservation, you will be refunded to whatever payment method you used. If your refund occurs after 30 days of your initial reservation, you will be refunded to your Steam Wallet.
Edited by judas on Friday 23 July 16:40
ajprice said:
Lucas Ayde said:
I still think they need to get the units out quickly - I am not going to wait until the Q3 2022 date quoted in my preorder when there will be more options by that time.
When is the latest date to get the £4 reserve refunded before it turns into a confirmed preorder?I’m hoping it’s no later than Q2 next year otherwise I don’t think I will bother.
I must be in the minority as I am totally underwhelmed by this, for a start, the 7-inch, 1280x800 screen is barely bigger than my phone. The overall specs don't sound that good, it is going to be totally outdated when it comes out next year.
With such a short battery life it hardly sounds that portable, I would much rather spend a bit more and get a 3060 powered laptop for around £1K instead.
With such a short battery life it hardly sounds that portable, I would much rather spend a bit more and get a 3060 powered laptop for around £1K instead.
Joey Deacon said:
I must be in the minority as I am totally underwhelmed by this, for a start, the 7-inch, 1280x800 screen is barely bigger than my phone. The overall specs don't sound that good, it is going to be totally outdated when it comes out next year.
With such a short battery life it hardly sounds that portable, I would much rather spend a bit more and get a 3060 powered laptop for around £1K instead.
I think it's fair to say that a few people are getting over-excited and will likely end up being pretty disappointed. It's not remotely competing in the same race as the Switch, despite what a lot of people seem to think. With such a short battery life it hardly sounds that portable, I would much rather spend a bit more and get a 3060 powered laptop for around £1K instead.
That said, it's the first 'mainstream' attempt at a handheld PC (there are a few about already from relatively unknown companies), the price is very good and the specs should be enough to provide a decent experience on most games. Also, being backed by Valve/Steam ensures that there should be good support for it from publishers (I would expect there to be efforts made to provide preset graphical configs that work well on the Deck, for a lot of new games).
Also, when docked it is going to be a reasonably capable auxilliary PC.
If they can ship this in a timely manner, they should get off to a good start and the second generation could be really worth seeing. If people are still waiting in Q3 next year for their pre-orders though, I'm sure many will be tempted by small, capable, gaming laptops instead. AMD will have very capable Zen chips with RDNA2 gfx units out by then which will find their way into small laptops explicitly targeted at people who want to take games on the go, I'm sure of it.
Joey Deacon said:
I would much rather spend a bit more and get a 3060 powered laptop for around £1K instead.
That's roughly twice as much though, with no built-in joypad-doohickies so if you're playing controller-based games you've got a bit more to spend and another thing to carry. Plus - though I know it's easy to overstate such things - the additional faff of a PC vs a console.On the flipside I don't dispute that a grand's worth of laptop will be more powerful, and can do other things.
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