Steam Deck

Grumpypants

Instant-on shouldn't be an issue. You can do that with a PC now if you leave it on standby. The only questions would be around the controller you are using. As the Deck is a PC it is very open so not all controllers might support that in the way the consoles have. I'm sure if you have a Steam controller then you can just press the Steam button and it will turn on.

Retr0gamer

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117635925#Comment_117635925

As I said it got worse and worse until the current gen with their NVME drives. Not got a lot of experience with the new consoles and while they are better I still find my PC way more responsive. Still, it does make a massive different QOL and usability of the consoles.

The area where the consoles do beat PC is in game load times. That will change with Windows 11 but it's going to be a slow roll out as games will have to be built around it to use direct access and I'm not sure how easy it will be to build around people with NVME drives and slower drives.

Retr0gamer

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117636729#Comment_117636729

Not arguing there. My PC cost a small fortune. The consoles really do present good value for money this gen.

johnny_ultimate

Yeah the PC market is basically dysfunctional at the moment due to the GPU issues. You're probably better going pre-built if you're not just upgrading a part or two, which is why the Steam Deck probably has so much interest as well.

Not that the next-gen consoles are easy to get your hands on either due to the supply problems. But games like Ratchet & Clank show how much power the new consoles have - an equally capable PC would cost you probably double the price at least. My RTX 2060 Super wasn't much cheaper than a PS5 digital 15 months ago (it's significantly more expensive now due to said dysfunctional market) and that's probably just a small bit above the PS5 performance-wise for a single component. And particularly matched with a modern 4k TV, the new consoles are incredibly powerful beasts for the price.

fifth

Booked my queue reservation for the top model too. Looks like it'll be the longest wait. Got Q1 2022 on my estimation time. Not even really a PC gamer, but might get into it with this.

Retr0gamer

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117637113#Comment_117637113

It's not even the GPU market. The hardware landscape has really changed lately. AMD has put Intel under pressure so there's big jumps in CPU tech, NVME drives, faster ram being more and more important and then a motherboard to support all that. I've had to build this PC from scratch basically to have the specs to trounce the current consoles and without the GPU I was waiting months for it still cost a small fortune.

Some of those advances have been instigated by console design. I don't think we would be seeing Resizable Bar and direct access if they weren't so effective on consoles.

I should have framed and put on the wall the little i5 I had in my last system. That thing lasted me years.

Mr Crispy

So the initial specs had a typo in them, now corrected.

https://twitter.com/Locuza_/status/1417205868924375041?s=20

https://twitter.com/Locuza_/status/1417206484828622850?s=20

https://twitter.com/Locuza_/status/1417207130432679937?s=20

eoo1

Got a queue reservation for the 512 GB SKU , was late ordering so my reservation is for Q2-22, was intially given Q3. I have a large steam library, albeit miniscule compared to Skerries!!

I'm interested to see Steam OS vs W10/11 performance on the Deck. I have been using Gamepass Ultimate on PC more over the last six months. Maybe GP games will work with Valves's Proton in time.

I normally snub my nose at PC settings lower than ultra, but I have used a AYA Neo and PC games looked superb on lower graphical presets, the small screen and low res is a good fit, and the deck should be a stepup over the NEO.

Grumpypants

Apparently all the games in the IGN demo were running off the SD card. Which is promising. The only difference they said was initial load times. But once running there is no difference.

earthwormjack

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117636729#Comment_117636729

Quick resume on the series x is the best new feature for me and something I miss when going back PC/other consoles.

Mr.Fantastic

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117641557#Comment_117641557

Yeah it really is amazing once you get used to it , notice it a lot when playing the switch the load times are chronic or they have become so due the fast nature of next gen.

SuperBowserWorld

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117643450#Comment_117643450

Yep, it's brilliant. Into the game in seconds from a cold boot, plus the drive is so fast, there's not much waiting around in game. Which is a problem, as those Skyrim loading screen hints just pop up for a second.

Grumpypants

https://youtu.be/hJoUs0pM4GU

A new video from IGN. They have put in the same pause / resume feature the switch has. So you can just press the off button, come back an hour later and pick right back up.

marcbrophy

Okay, maybe I'm being thick here, but if the OS is "Steam" and you can play every game in your Steam library on this, then how do games designed for Windows play on this?

Is it emulation? 🤔

RobertFoster

It's not emulation but a compatibility layer called Proton. It's based on Wine (Wine Is Not an Emulator) if you've ever heard of that, used to get Windows programs running on Unix-based systems.

marcbrophy

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117649481#Comment_117649481

Ah right, that clears that up perfectly then.

Used Wine a few times over the years myself 🙂

Grumpypants

Just remembered that you can add steam credit to your account. €100 a month won't be missed but 500 at Christmas would.

super_furry

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117649914#Comment_117649914

That's actually a really handy way to do it. Even if I leave it in another savings account the temptation is always there to dip in, this way I can't.

Grumpypants

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117650799#Comment_117650799

Plus I'm flogging off all those annoying cards. Made 12 cents today! The thing is practically paid for.

Montage of Feck

It would propably end up in a drawer covered in dust along with my psp and rasberry pi contraptions.

jones

The potential for this is amazing if they can pull off decent battery life everything else looks on point.

Grumpypants

Battery seems to be the main let down. 3 to 4 hours. I've seen 8 mentioned but that is likely for just running steam. Once you start playing it will drop off.

But it is USB C so charging while playing is an option. Even most planes and buses have usb chargers now. Prob not enough to charge faster than you are using it but should stretch out the life.

I've a handy power brick too. Holds 10000mah which is over two full charges for my phone. The Steam deck seems to be around 10000-10500. So it would give it one full charge.

Mr Crispy

Norm from Tested got to go hands on;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jb6OWxORfY0

earthwormjack

Some great previews me out today. Really looking forward to getting my own now.

pixelburp

Sorry if this was asked before and answered, but has the issue of tech parity come up? Or some kind of future proofing? As in the likelihood of a couple of months passing and the device unable to play current gen games due to the specs being outstripped.

johnny_ultimate

TBH, you’d be foolish to buy this device thinking it’ll play the most cutting edge, ‘heavy’ games like Cyberpunk 2077 or Flight Simulator at decent quality, let alone what’s on the horizon. It might do an OK job on low-medium settings for some very modern games, but the tech is roughly PS4 quality so adjust expectations accordingly. The Linus tech tips video shows him managing to get Doom Eternal at 30-60 FPS with a bit of settings tweaking - I reckon that’s sort of the peak AAA performance you’ll get, which is a step or two up from Switch. And it’s 100% not future proof.

Its value ultimately will be in its ability to play the majority of Steam’s existing library - the vast majority of which are not AAA resource hogs - at pretty decent quality, at least in theory. But don’t expect it to measure up to even a modestly specced modern desktop - it’s a very different proposition.

I am really interested in it and would consider selling my PC. For some reason, all of my favourite games are easy to run and my 3060ti is completely wasted.

Mr Crispy

I've been playing Death's Door on my partner's laptop and it's exactly the type of game I see the Steam Deck being perfect for. It made me wish I had pre-ordered. 😑

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117718807#Comment_117718807

That's about what I speculated but was curious to ask all the same. Definitely an interesting proposition cos as good as the switch is for indie games, a great deal more only appear on Steam. And I do miss access to the grand strategy games that only appear on PC.

earthwormjack

Don't forget it's PS4 quality hardware but with much better cpu and ram targeting an 800p/30 floor. I don't see any reason why it won't run new games over the next couple of years at acceptable mixed settings.