DF Direct Special: Steam Deck - Spec Updates, Performance, SteamOS, Compatibility + More

[@jelipebands1700]

The reason valve sold it to steam accounts with games purchased at the beginning of the year was to get it into the hands of gamers and not scalpers. It’s a real good thing they did

[@charlestrudel8308]

without ebay, it wouldnt have worked... ebay still needed to shut down a lot of scalpers... proving that companies cannot do anything...

[@Wynonyn]

@@charlestrudel8308 it may be impossibile to get rid of everything, but it probably mitigated it quite a bit. Companies can do something.

[@mechanicalmonk2020]

@@charlestrudel8308 "one per scalper" is still better

[@charlestrudel8308]

@@mechanicalmonk2020 nonetheless, ebay didnt stop scalpers from the switch oled at all... meaning that at the end of the day, the seller has more weight in this battle unless you limit your potential public to your already acquired public.

[@alexperez1519]

@@charlestrudel8308 yeah the way Ebay works is by sellers feedback, reputation, and score. The better the user score the more products they are allowed to sale. It's a good thing so that people buying dont get ripped off. But bad in this situation because scalpers normally have a great track record with Ebay, meaning they can sell as many items as they want.

[@Castaa]

Richard a legend for running frame rate analysis on the trailer footage. 😂

[@alexsilva28]

Mad lad

[@PixelPoosher]

@@alexsilva28 Nutty Buddy

[@Daniel-yz3zf]

I'd imagine even his wedding videos have frame rate graphs over the top of them

[@rlfernandes9538]

The man is a maniac!

[@alexsilva28]

@@Daniel-yz3zf Imagine if he was a teacher and rated your PowerPoint presentation based on the frame rate of the animations

[@angelizquierdo3265]

As a Linux gamer, it feels so good that Proton is talked about this much now. I hope things continue to improve.

[@solanumtuberosa]

Tbh tho proton is glorified wine

[@Soremwar]

@@solanumtuberosa It's built on top of wine, but it does a lot of heavy lifting in the integration front Unless you want to install dxvk and vkd3d on each of your prefixes I don't see that as an option many people would take

[@erfaniom9576]

bro i didnt know proton had all these capabilities the only thing i use it for is watching porn tbh

[@mar2ck_]

@@solanumtuberosa That's because it is. Valve funds Wine development directly, Proton is just a fork that bundles tools useful for gaming like DXVK and VKD3D-proton plus per-game tweaks and fixes

[@sambird7]

@@erfaniom9576 how do you watch porn with proton?...

[@carlomorischi3435]

I totally agree with Alex: all games should have two "one click" optimised profiles, targeting 30 and 60 fps. For more niche games, the profile should be community sourced

[@JeyKalda]

I wish they made something like public user profiles for the graphical settings and you could just launch a game and pick one profile that sounds best to you. Im gonna spend a lot of my time just trying out games and tweaking the graphical settings and I wouldnt mind sharing my "findings" this way. Some upvote system would probably help that aswell, so the community itself could create and moderate the profiles.

[@peter_parkour]

Like a beginner and advanced setting. That's a really good idea especially for a device like this.

[@terrancewolf9484]

I work in a remote are and I am constantly travelling. This will be the first time I get back into gaming since college.

[@ahmedsheh8366]

Good for you mate

[@user-yk1cw8im4h]

pretty cool story bro

[@mdo]

Enjoy mate.

[@Clay3613]

Hope you have a lot of nearby sockets or external powerbanks.

[@MadJackChurchill1312]

You’ll need some good internet though.

[@ToTaLShaFF]

It's powerful enough to play my entire library, I haven't bought anything since 2015 so I'm good to go.

[@tanmaypanadi1414]

I am still buying games from back in 2011 that I missed out on because I couldn't afford to buy a PC.😂😂

[@flimermithrandir]

@watchmejumpstart To be fair Doom runs just great on everything (The Engine seems really good). Control on the other Side…

[@dan_loeb]

@@flimermithrandir control and cyberpunk are two of the heaviest games right now. I wouldn't count on this device for most Xbox series x/ PS5 to PC ports without targeting 30 fps at 720 with maybe enough headroom to get a decent lock. I dunno what you mean by control being light, it's one of the heaviest past gen games, it and cyberpunk are both effectively cross-generational.

[@arturaslekstutis7678]

It should run Cyberpunk 2077 on low at 30 fps without problem. So it should run anything when sacrificing visuals. And with Amds upsampling it should be even better.

[@arturaslekstutis7678]

@@mathdantastav2496 People made theoretical benchmarks for it, disabling 4 cores on zen 2 cups and downclocking rdna gpus to match performance of this one and surprisingly cyberpunk runs at around 40 fps at 720p and all low.

[@mahavakyas002]

"this is a device that Gabe himself can play." LMAO

[@outofahat9363]

Well he is a big boy, our Lord and Savior GabeN

[@TheOrlandoK1d]

That's the exact point I gave a thumbs up

[@Armataan]

@@outofahat9363 does gabe actually play games?

[@kunaljain1986]

@@Armataan gabe might have kicked your ass in dota 2 without you knowing about it :D

[@adamjensen1145]

Gabe doesn't play, he spends his days bean counting.

[@Kevin-sl3gk]

They have to have it sold on Steam cause otherwise if it were available in retail stores, scalpers and bots would just buy most of them up. I really like Valves approach and I hope more companies do the same.

[@zer0legend109]

it's not mass produced yet I was able to buy one, and here Im waiting for the day I would renew my 4 years old gpu for a new one, I would have no problem to be placed on queue for a year (I would have it by this time) if it means I would get my gpu afterward at the msrp, but nope everything is sold in batches and if u missed it then gl, I like what steam did in selling these, order is still open u, u just have to wait for a year-ish now compared to 5-8 months initially

[@AJ-xv7oh]

No. It's so they can get the £4 reservation off you. And you're paying it! 😂 Pathetic. Imagine being so desperate you gave a company money to promise them you'll buy their product. Consumers.

[@zer0legend109]

@@AJ-xv7oh LMAO, imagine other companies make you pay full for pre-ordering things, and steam is just taking 5$ for a reservation, if u're so desperate for the 5$ then you shouldn't be buying or or even watching videos about gaming hardware, yeah I would like to preserve a 3070 ti for 5$ and get it 1 year after at the msrp than paying 300% the price for scalpers even after a year wait, valve approach is very much practical, and they even went out of their way to include in their FAQ that the 5$ will be discounted from the steam deck price when purchased, it's a trivial matter yet they included it, but I guess you didn't even read it because you just want to comment stupid things on youtube

[@Lowlightt]

@@AJ-xv7oh Yeah, that reservation that goes towards the purchase of the product........

[@devbratjoshixxqptjcxdl1445]

@@AJ-xv7oh touch some grass

[@ShadyNine]

Is Valve in a unique position to offer incentives to developers who optimize their games for the Steam Deck? Maybe giving the devs more prominence in the front end of the steam store or decreasing the cut they take by a percentage?

[@Nonx47]

Perhaps, I think the fact that there will be a ton of users will be good for early developers in itself.

[@Ghostsonplanets]

They would be quickly sued for that.

[@Nonx47]

@@Ghostsonplanets how could they be sued? It's their storefront, with their own product... Giving incentive to make versions of games for it is not against the law. Cutting deals for developers has never been against the law either. That's like you starting up your own business and making deals with people who do business with you, and because one negotiated better, the others sue. That's not how businesses work.

[@Ghostsonplanets]

@@Nonx47 Some devs could argue that Valve is forcing them to develop for their machine in exchange for discoverability and lower fees.

[@TIEVR]

simply because developers will have a single reference hardware profile ( the deck ) to optimise for with hundreds of thousands of identical users, then devs will be motivated to create optimised graphic settings like "best for steam deck" that are as performant as possible for the DECK, stable at 60fps flat. Basically, devs optimising for consoles will be the same for the deck, so deck users will get that targeted optimised performance that consoles usually get... but in pc. All of this theory hinges on millions of decks being sold so a dev decides it's worth optimising for it.

[@CT808]

People aren't talking about it enough- Gaming in bed. As soon as I saw this, I got excited at the prospect of playing my JRPGs and VNs and all these lower-hardware-requirement PC/Steam games in bed :p

[@TheFreeToaster]

I'm gonna use this bad boy when I'm poopin. I've already got a TV in my room that's connected to my pc for gaming in bed.

[@reveriec]

@@TheFreeToaster left 4 dead 2 with teletubbies and barney mods while pooping 😌👌

[@adamjensen1145]

Hook console up to bedroom TV = gaming in bed. Don't need a bulky handheld with poor battery life for that.

[@TheFreeToaster]

@@reveriec Reminds me of when I played Quake 2 MP with bananas in pajamas skins.

[@J.0.E.]

Yeah just how I played BOTW in bed all the time. I have a ps5 and switch. I play my ps5 exclusively right now but I reserved this because so many games are on pc. I can play all those games from bed. My main system will still be the ps5 but a lot of indies and other things I would play on my switch or Xbox exclusives, I’ll play on the steam deck.

[@superjmm12345]

something to note, in linux you can simple tell any process to stop(suspend) and the cpu usage of that process will instantly jump to 0%, and you can also do a continue.

[@Azraleee]

They will probably run the games in containers.

[@user-yk1cw8im4h]

so?

[@user-ro1cc8tz6d]

@@Azraleee no

[@izamanaick]

@@user-yk1cw8im4h what do you mean so? putting the whole console on pause instead of it idling and rapidly draining battery in the background is a big deal on a handheld.

[@erikreider]

@@user-ro1cc8tz6d They already do through the linux runtime (aka flatpak like container)

[@MrGeeMoney1983]

People complaining about how control looks should remember that it's being played on a 7in screen, so the pixel density and small screen size will hide a lot of the image quality issues.

[@IsaacSperrow]

Yup, an easy to grasp comparison is that the screen is like an inch bigger than most people's phone screen.

[@chasenthehype]

Totally should. People complain because for so long Samsung and Android phones pushed for that ‘4K experience’ on 7” or less screen - which is 100% overkill. Brands like Apple have show that a sub-1080p screen can look brilliant and have solid battery life. This should be no different with the Steam Deck!

[@jaredf6205]

Plus, the lower resolution will give a huge boost everywhere else. Better FPS, texture quality, higher AA.

[@mesicek7]

People are complaining because it''s way too underpowered - the resolution is a big giveaway and too expensive. The market is also niche so this thing will end on sale just like the steam controller did

[@MrGeeMoney1983]

@@mesicek7 So it's underpowered, but two to three times more powerful then the Switch at the same price! The res is low because it's playing full pc ports of games and not watered down Switch ports. At the same price!

[@griffgames9538]

6:00 "Sometimes I'll sit outside and play on the Deck." *Confirmed* John has a prototype unit!

[@djazz0]

Valve Wood Deck

[@pinguman13]

😂😂

[@ThiagoHenriqueDS]

The best part of it is that you'll be able to install anything, including emulators. Just imagine!!

[@PrayTellGaming]

Yup. I haven't done any emulation for the last like 8 years. I think this will change the second I get my Deck.

[@raresmacovei8382]

@@PrayTellGaming Finished Killzone 1 on RPCS3 (PS3, emulator) and playing through Alone in the Dark Inferno (also PS3) right now, haha. 4K30 experience, locked.

[@dan_loeb]

Run breath of the wild at 60fps in cemu.

[@dan_loeb]

@@soerenbalko6960 not a console user myself. I have a switch but that's about it, and I regularly use rcm exploit on it.

[@ThiagoHenriqueDS]

@@soerenbalko6960 Most people buying this hardware are PC users and hardware intusiasts.

[@s5SnipEmo]

It's going to be a beast indie machine. Imagine how well indie games will sell now during summer sales compared to Nintendo's ridiculous storefront

[@Icetea-2000]

Yeah, and the fact that you can play it anywhere makes it a valid choice even if you’re not frequently traveling. Like in bed or something. This might actually replace my phone in terms of entertainment

[@FunkyPertwee]

Alex is like "want to interrupt me huh? Here, do the whole segment." 😂

[@trollzone1]

The guy gets marginalized a lot I’m noticing.

[@RoboitoAM]

It's cus he forgot to set up the Crysis shrine

[@teacherfromthejungles6671]

it's because he likes to sigh like a disappointed grandma

[@nikkoa.3639]

Dude got shafted there which was real sad

[@BenoHourglass]

@@nikkoa.3639 At what point in the video was this?

[@isaacddestroy3674]

Excellent analysis on the Gabe Gear, looking forward to the review

[@ade977]

I would totally get a decal with "Gabe Gear" to slap on the front if it actually had the space for it.

[@btarg1]

Dynamic refresh rates or FreeSync would have been perfect for this console, especially since lower refresh rates can apparently save battery.

[@poorsvids4738]

Yep, that's the reason why variable refresh rate was originally invented.

[@axayd]

Yeah with VRR we would have been able to lock the games that can't quite reach 60 to something in between and get a much better experience than 30. It's my biggest problem with the device.

[@BlindBison]

FreeSync should’ve been a feature of the most expensive model imo.

[@johnm91326]

Variable refresh saves battery because you don’t have push so many frames. If you’re already maxing out the hardware running a game at 30 FPS then reducing the display to 30 hz won’t save a meaningful amount of power.

[@fafski1199]

A Thunderbolt 4 port would have also been nice, like what's found on the Win 3 and OneXPlayer PC handhelds. You could have then plugged it into an eGPU while it's docked (any PC video card) and have gotten a huge boost to GPU performance. Alas, it's an AMD chipset and Thunderbolt is Intel only.

[@allluckyseven]

I love that that last viewer question is basically "But will it run Crysis?"

[@qwerty6789x]

easy YES 😱

[@my80chevettes]

Love how everyone comments about the steam deck being a low spec device. My home pc is less powerful and I am still using it. I'll be picking this up as an upgrade 👍Edit: my present pc is a alienware alpha r1 i3 4130 GPU 860m and 16gb ddr3 ram. Can't even play COD Warzone.

[@栗栖が萌じゃない]

Same lmao

[@SM12Killer3]

Same

[@solanumtuberosa]

But then you are comparing apples to oranges. It is indeed true to be lowspec for the price. But looking at the price performance ratio with its competitors its the best out there

[@dan_loeb]

Yeah I was telling my friend that if they wanted and affordable budget PC but didn't want a small laptop display, the $399 one plus a third party dock, a 1TB SSD in a USB shell, a 24 inch 60 hz budget IPS, and a keyboard and mouse is the way to go over getting a prebuilt desktop with like a gt 1030 and an i3 and 8gb of ram in a single stick for the same $650 when you factor in the budget display again. This is a crazy value specs to price, especially on CPU and RAM.

[@solanumtuberosa]

@@dan_loeb damn if you buy a 1030 i3 combo for 650 then nigerian princes must probably he emailing you everyday

[@WigWoo1]

24:00 how are you monitoring the Dynamic Resolution % live? What software can I use for that?

[@BIaziken2]

that's just the in game performance statistics in Doom Eternal.

[@TheRagingSun]

We're living in a world where furry channels are becoming verified.

[@VincentVanBro]

@@TheRagingSun 🥲

[@bradhaines3142]

@@TheRagingSun i dont need those nightmares

[@RyugaHidekiOrRyuzaki]

38:45 As long as the BIOS is unlocked and we can set the power limit, only cooling restrictions remain.

[@ZeitGeist_TV]

I would assume everything is unlockable since you can already just put what software you want you aren't locked into Linux.

[@TheBestGamer43]

Other handheld like the win 3 can go to 40 watts i think so hopefully the deck allows it when plugged in.

[@CalvinCrack]

I’m not gonna beat up the Steam Deck for playing newer games at 30-45fps on low to medium settings. I’m most excited to play older games like Bioshock etc at locked 60. And Dolphin / PCSX2 at 60fps hopefully

[@CalvinCrack]

@@AndrewKennethColborn oh damn. That's great news. What do you think about Yuzu? and do you think it'll manage BOTW at 60fps on CEMU?

[@lankylemon8555]

@@CalvinCrack almost definitely from my limited knowledge lol. I'm excited to play SSX tricky on this thing with my Dad.

[@johnm91326]

@@AndrewKennethColbornIt’s nowhere near a Rx 560. That gpu runs Jedi Fallen order at 1080p fairly well at medium settings. From the limited info here the steam deck gets similar performance at 720p.

[@igorrafael7429]

@@AndrewKennethColborn you're both wrong. it should be faster than rx 550 and close or match the 560. They tested VEGA APU and the steam deck apu is rdna 2 based. RDNA 2 is at least 50% faster per tflops than gcn apus. steam deck will be faster than what you saw here. 560 = ps4.

[@gangnamchild6310]

@@AndrewKennethColborn lol it will not run ps3. Quad cores will never emulate ps3

[@vitaobatera]

1:03:28 - Steam could very well offer a deal for developers that have Preset Settings tergeting the Steam Deck... like lowering a couple % of their share per game sale.

[@BlindBison]

That’s a great idea actually huh

[@Gramini]

I just had the idea that Valve could apply multiple levels of revenue share discount. Like "Tested under Proton", "Has a native version", "Optimized for Steam Deck" and stuff like that, each giving the developer 2% (as an example) more share.

[@hawart6129]

I’m 14 and I was going to get a desktop computer to place in my living room but this appeals more to me

[@abram730]

As a plus if you get a desktop PC in the future, you will already have games.

[@toeknee3302]

Rich giving us the frame time graph from that video 🤣 love it.

[@AidenR19]

1:01:05 RIP alex got interrupted again.

[@ChaosAngelZero]

Valve needs to promote the ever loving hell out of this in Japan, show it running the most popular Steam games in Japan, JRPGs, versus fighting games, more casual fare, doujin/"indie" titles... coupled with Steam's open pricing model this has the potential to beat both Xbox and PlayStation in Japan. Also have profiles for the games simply called "quality" and "performance", don't give them nerdy names like "30 fps" and "60 fps".

[@lloydlandrum3040]

Agreed and from what I read awhile back in Japan handhelds are way more beloved compared to stationary gaming

[@solanumtuberosa]

Tbh if the target was jrpgs and casual titles, Japan doesn't have any reason to switch from a nintendo switch for it. The use of a 30-60 fps profile is because it is the most common target framerate and is less misleading, if you can consider the performance profile names every chinese 'gaming' phones have.

[@lloydlandrum3040]

@@solanumtuberosa Agreed

[@Vertignasse82]

I expect this device to fail and have no successor, and I expect it to fail more in Japan of all places.

[@helloguy8934]

@@Vertignasse82 Aww come on. Have some faith. I agree that it probably won't take off in Japan. Valve's focus clearly isn't there anyway. But still. In other places it has potential.

[@angelizquierdo3265]

29:38 yes you can run the epic game store in Linux. Control runs well in both steam and epic games.

[@NeverQuit87]

Epic lol

[@LeJimster]

I refuse to use the epic store. Don't care for the exclusives they've nabbed.

[@Clay3613]

@@BauliusTorvoltos Better than Apple.

[@Gramini]

There is even an alternative launcher for epic games, HeroicGamesLauncher.

[@ainaqureshi9592]

@@Clay3613 what is ePIG ?

[@korndeez4126]

John knows just how good that OLED Vita screen is ;)

[@nighttimestalker]

If it can hit PS4 level visuals, that's more than enough for a handheld currently imo

[@dwaynethemineraljohnson412]

That is enough yeah but not more than enough

[@Armataan]

It’s actually has lower requirements than a ps4, too. It only had to aim for 720p, not 1080p. With the new architecture, I’m quite hopeful

[@aerontehan6939]

There's some rumors where they say that you can play some semi-old AAA games which can run on High.

[@chan13153]

Not enough for docked mode though since 720p will not be good enough when docked.

[@Gartimus_Prime]

@@dwaynethemineraljohnson412 So =PS4 enough…Then since it’s strength is more than the PS4… More than enough?

[@denda2643]

Every time Alex laughs i think he is choking.XD

[@AFourEyedGeek]

Every laugh maybe his laugh

[@freedomofmotion]

Regarding fallen order, manually adding the vram amount to the settings config file seems to sort out the some of the issues. You'll have to set it to read only after doing this. It fixed textures not loading on my eldests 4300u laptop.

[@Sonyrocks1Of]

I could learn a thing or 2 from you interesting

[@freedomofmotion]

@@Sonyrocks1Of I just read about it in Reddit. Search for fallen order textures not loading on Google 👍 Whilst I was researching the issue it seems often the graphical options won't actually change anything so that might be something to look out for as well 😁

[@redhawkmillenium]

Over an hour talking about a G A M E C H A N G E R handheld PC. This is the content I subscribe for.

[@FoodforThoughtCrusader]

Richard:pre-orders sold out in seconds. Me: I hope its not scalpers again🤬

[@E_Sunbro]

Good thing I've got a spare 1TB MicroSD card laying around from when I had two Switches.

[@isaiah1516]

I plan on buying one soon. Waiting to see if there will be holiday sales since I don't get mine until Q1 2021.

[@ncorcoran29]

I can't wait to play hl2 episode 3 on this bad boy!

[@isaiah1516]

@@ncorcoran29 I can't wait to use it like my Switch and sit on the couch playing PC and Game Pass games on a handheld device while my wife watches her shows lol

[@isaiah1516]

@Top Noodle I really only play the Switch when she's watching girly shows I have no interest in lol.

[@KingKrouch]

I'm thinking on looking into an NVME enclosure, as it's going to be drastically faster than a MicroSD. Maybe having the MicroSD around for older games would be good, but I don't trust modern games to load decently on a MicroSD card.

[@ammanus356]

In what world, John, is a 60hz LCD screen outdated today? That is - according to officaily stats - 94% of current screen sales

[@VectorGaming4080]

I saw someone say, “An LCD panel and a 60hz refresh rate? What is this, 2006?” As if everyone is using high refresh OLED displays today. 99% of people are using LCD displays and it looks like a similar majority is still using 60hz. Valve has even said their target FPS for the deck on most games is 30 FPS, because the form factor is just so limiting for processing power.

[@ammanus356]

@@nokeksgiven I mean, John has been discredited across the internet for lying consistently about console pixel counts as well. The guy is a typical PC snob but doesn't have an ounce of professional integrity and this was just another example

[@ZackSNetwork]

Just because the majority have old out dated technology doesn’t mean the tech isn’t old and out dated.

[@ZackSNetwork]

@@ammanus356 This is not another example at all a 1280 by 800p LCD with a 60hz refresh is a joke in 2021. It gets annihilated by smartphones and tablets easily. You folks are being delusional what the majority has access to does not justify out dated tech. By your response a GTX 1060 is high end because the majority apparently have it. Never even knew John apparently lied about pixel counts if that’s true. Or maybe that’s just console fans that don’t know the difference between resolution output, dynamic resolution and native resolution so they got angry and felt their piece of plastic was being attacked. People hate facts and agree or disagree when it fits their narrative.

[@ZackSNetwork]

@@nokeksgiven In what time line do you live in we’re a 1280 by 800p display is a standard? Even if the majority have old technology that doesn’t stop the fact that it is dated. So I guess 1080p LCD 60hz displays are not old tech. When the current market has 4K Mini-LED 120hz or 4K OLED 120hz.

[@KingKrouch]

JRPGs without slowdown or framerate issues like on the Switch already sold me on it.

[@josh440]

Final Fantasy 1-6 Remasters on Steam instead of Switch doesn't seem so bad anymore

[@Prolyfyk]

Preach!!!

[@Prolyfyk]

Plus let's face it. We're more likely to get Person 5 in Steam sooner than we will on the Switch. I can easily play that game on my PS4 but I'd much rather play it in handheld form in smaller chunks.

[@pixaster]

If they run without framerste issues.

[@martinantelo7086]

Also if you want to start the Trails series, the Deck is a great chance.

[@peckc16]

Alex hit the nail on the head in terms of marketing this device as a pc alternative to folks who want to get into the market but haven't. I avoided pc gaming for so long because of the need to know your hardware capabilities and messing with settings. Being able to just sit down and plug and play with console games (when they don't ship broken like cyberpunk) is massively appealing. Having settings profiles will help loads with folks who don't want to sit there and learn what ssao is

[@wolf-wm2zs]

The fact that Alex watches Alex(the lowspecgamer) makes me so happy lol

[@thingsiplay]

Why makes this you happy?

[@SankoshSaha_01]

@@thingsiplay cuz it makes us happy

[@thingsiplay]

@@SankoshSaha_01 Understandable. Have a nice day.

[@tanmaypanadi1414]

makes sense since once Alex tests the highest echelon of performance hardware . while the other tests and mods games when necessary to run on lowest spec hardware.

[@Radgerayden-ist]

At what point in the video do they mention it?

[@ThePhantomnaut]

28:39 NOICE

[@ImOnlyJoeKing]

NOICE

[@orbitingdecay6797]

Best part

[@lionelt.9124]

I've been waiting to Low Spec Gamer's take on this as well.

[@bearpuns5910]

He's been very enthusiastic about this on Twitter

[@rajsingha1099]

He really should move that Dreamcast joystick away from the windows, if he doesn't want it to yellow.

[@gpudreamer1048]

Keep up the good work guys. Really enjoying the long form videos.

[@harsesishoktar9386]

DF videos are so informative and entertaining.

[@chewybacca3559]

Great video as always! I think there is some truth in the convo at the end about Valve trying to (in a back door way) move the PC gaming industry away from Windows and DirectX.

[@Notsram77]

When my wife wants the TV, the Steamdeck will be my best friend.

[@Vertignasse82]

That'll give you a solid 1.5 hour of awesome gaming before the battery runs out!

[@austinl8074]

@@Vertignasse82 Or as long as you want if you have this neat thing called an outlet in whatever room your TV is in!

[@theoldpcgamer77]

Don't you have a gaming room with a desk and monitor or just a gaming room full stop.

[@Vertignasse82]

@@austinl8074 Your solution is to play this handheld while hooked to a wall? Honestly I would just go on my PC if the TV was busy, and I think a lot of people would, too.

[@griffgames9538]

Dude, your wife is your best friend. The deck will be your extramarital affair.

[@to_baldly_go]

Alan Partridge: This is great banter! …. it really is

[@isaboll1]

Hey Digital Foundry, there are OS level frame rate locks that can be done on Linux, one method actually provided from Valve themselves. Valve made a compositor called "Gamescope", which is a modified version of the old SteamOS compositor, used to do "direct to display" rendering for screens to mimic a console experience (regardless of the game window/fullscreen settings, but it can also work on desktop). It allows for frame rate limits, and even integer scaling enabling.

[@brettchase7870]

That's really cool

[@SITSIndustries]

"Rich says in-the-here-and-now" drinking game. Take three shots here: 22:39 22:46 27:46

[@mmurph78]

This is such a great discussion, I’ve watched numerous videos about this device because I’m so hyped for it, and this is definitely the best. You guys are so knowledgeable, a breath of fresh air compared to some other outlets where people get on and don’t even seem like they’ve read the spec sheet. Also shout out to ETA Prime for a great video on trying to approximate performance. You have a new fan here.

[@son12509]

this is a device that GABE HIMSELF CAN PLAY!

[@billli11]

DXVK (DX11 to vulkan translation layer) can set FPS Limit via environment variable libstrangle can also cap FPS

[@BlindBison]

Can it also force proper half refresh rate v-sync like Nvidia’s Windows driver can though? Just enabling an FPS cap with Vsync can ON can cause framepacing issues as we’ve seen with the console versions of Crysis 2 and 3 as well as the Dark Souls series on console. You need a good FPS limiter in conjunction with proper half refresh rate Vsync which is my biggest concern here. AMD’s drivers on Windows don’t support forcing half refresh rate Vsync at all while for Nvidia they have half refresh rate adaptive in their stock panel + standard double buffered half refresh rate Vsync if you’re willing to use Nvidia profile inspector. Steam Deck absolutely needs some way to force proper half refresh rate Vsync (as well as a good driver level FPS limiter like rivatuner / Nvidia’s recent control panel limiter) for the Deck to be all it can be.

[@billli11]

@@BlindBison DXVK do support half refresh rate by editing conf file. Here a part of the conf file. # Overrides synchronization interval (Vsync) for presentation. # Setting this to 0 disables vertical synchronization entirely. # A positive value 'n' will enable Vsync and repeat the same # image n times, and a negative value will have no effect. # # Supported values: Any non-negative number # dxgi.syncInterval = -1 # d3d9.presentInterval = -1

[@BlindBison]

@@billli11 thanks, does that mean you’d use 2 for half refresh rate Vsync? Will this be usable on the Steam Deck then? Thanks,

[@DanielR1]

I think Valve is trying to push SteamOS into the mainstream. They went with a portable device because they felt that they have more of an opening in this space, because they don't need to compete with Sony and Microsoft and to a PC user it is different enough to the traditional PC gaming experience. This makes it more viable than the Steam machine, which in the end is a PC connected to a TV. You don't need a custom device with SteamOS for that.

[@jpe63]

I really enjoyed this, such good analysis on the available info. One minor criticism; it'd be great in these more long-form videos if the background music was removed. It works well for the shorter videos, but for some reason becomes distracting on the longer ones. Such a nitpic I know, and maybe its just me that finds it distracting.

[@caderomine8331]

It's insane how quick you guys put out quality content. Keep up the great work, everyone

[@parasolo89]

I really just wanna use this for indies/rpg games like DQ11 and Bloodstained with the highest settings.

[@dan_loeb]

Yakuza 0 on the go for me, alongside a ton of emulation, and backlog playing.

[@stairwaves]

I actually want to play dark souls and stuff on it

[@J.0.E.]

I want to use this for games with pc mods like making Jill naked in resident evil 👿

[@hypno18s]

@@J.0.E. LOL

[@guillaume4646]

Complaining about a 60hz screen - On an handheld - Limited by a 15W power draw They're like a caricature of themselves

[@dondraper4438]

I was joking on Discord about how they would complain about a 15watt APU being miles behind an RTX 3090 at 400watts, but this is also good.

[@gkjester]

This is miles better than what I was going to try to build. My goal was a Steam Link I could play from the couch. Even with tempered expectations, I think this will be awesome! However, I just switched to 1080P gaming this year, so I’m fine reducing quality to improve how it runs.

[@meowmeowcat99]

@@gkjester switching to 1080p gaming in 2021? how?!

[@gkjester]

@@meowmeowcat99 my last gaming pc had a i5-4570, 1650 Super, and my monitor was 1366x768. It all worked “well enough” for my needs, until I bought a 1080p monitor, then it was time to upgrade everything but the GPU.

[@flyingmonkeys96]

i don't think they are complaining about it being 60 hz but the fact that it isn't OLED and/or doesn't have VRR. I think they know that a 15W APU can't push out crazy framerates for most games.

[@velgus]

For the performance estimate discussion based on the 4900HS, you guys don't mention the fact that Vega is significantly less power efficient than RDNA1, and even more so relative to RDNA2 (50% improvement from both jumps GCN > RDNA1 > RDNA2 according to AMD's own numbers). Not sure how those numbers translate into performance-per-watt, but I feel it would likely close the gap somewhat from the 4900HS having 35W vs. the Steam Deck having 15W.

[@TOMPPIXTom]

if only the screen had support for freesync (adaptive sync).

[@carlomorischi3435]

So true, it would be game-changing, you could run AAA games at around 45fps without any res scaling

[@tRav285]

"made for steamdeck settings" are a must

[@PokeParadox]

For me it's always been Nintendo + PC as a complimentary duo. Being able to play my Steam library in portable form factor is very desirable (Also emulators...!). As a "Linux Gamer" I'm not worried about Proton - it's already doing a great job.

[@Punisher6791]

I'm fine with waiting a year or two before buying this. I'd rather wait and see that the hardware and software matures before jumping in.

[@adamjensen1145]

I'll buy one when the hype has died down, they've flopped and been dropped therefore can be had for like £100. Give it a few years and it'll be as discarded as most people's smartphones are after 2 years.

[@defeqel6537]

@@adamjensen1145 aren't Steam Controller more expensive now than when they were available?

[@qwerty6789x]

ill show my support so we can have an upgraded version sooner

[@danielscott70x7]

Not a PC gamer here by any stretch (I’m primarily a console only), but the SteamDeck is extremely appealing to me precisely because of the ability to have a console-like experience with the massive Steam library on a portable system. *I’ve never been very concerned about having cutting edge graphics or even perfect fps, just that the game runs decently. As long as it can run essentially every current Steam game and can run some future games, it seems like it will be worth it to me. Unless I’m missing something here. Playing Baldurs Gate 3, Tales of Symphonia, Eastward, FFXVI (assuming it comes to Steam), etc - having such a huge range of games to play on the go that the Switch doesn’t offer (or does but with far worse performance) sounds perfect.

[@davidagiel8130]

I was gonna grab an Aya Neo so I'm glad I waited. Handheld PCs are the future, every game from every generation in one place, and a hybrid desktop PC, yes please.

[@isaiah1516]

Very excited to pick up my Steam Deck! I don't expect to play Resident Evil Village with maxed out graphics, but I can play some of my RPG games and farm xp while sitting on the couch. Also, being able to use Game Pass is a big win for me.

[@codname125]

High settings at 30fps should be possible, remember it only has to push 720p

[@powerfulaura5166]

@@codname125 800p.

[@isaiah1516]

@@codname125 My example was really just to point out that I'm looking forward to couch "pc" gaming and I'm ok with lower settings on more intense games. Really excited to see what's in store for this new handheld console!

[@J.0.E.]

I’m gonna play resident evil with nude modes on 😈

[@codname125]

@@powerfulaura5166 true, but most people don't know what exactly 800p is and would think it's close to 900p, I typed 720p so more people can understand and it's basically just the 16:10 version of 720p

[@andrekohler5792]

I love how Valve is trying to move the PC gaming market away from Windows.

[@Wratsenth]

I just assumed gaben hates Windows because he helped produce the first few versions of it

[@_Chad_ThunderCock]

Windows isn't the most stable of OS out there.

[@evilleader1991]

That's because Valve is seeing that MS is turning Windows into a more locked eco system where they want most users to download apps/games from their own App store

[@glennshoemake4200]

I think there was a huge compatibility issue with Steam and Windows 8 which was around the same time Microsoft tried to push their own store. I'm not saying that Microsoft tried to intentionally block Steam, but I think Gabe feels this is what was being planned and started to push Linux gaming with Proton as a way to sidestep Windows.

[@esaedvik]

@@_Chad_ThunderCock Tbh, Windows is very stable, games are not. Bluescreen is Windows preventing software from causing permanent issues or corruption.

[@kogdanetdeneg]

I live in NYC and spend a lot of time on the subway. This system will be a godsend for those days where the train just stops in the tunnel for 30 minutes right after a rangers game

[@flanflanjp_]

this thing is gonna be great. most pc gamers play older games most of the time. having the ability to continue desktop saves on commutes and at work is gonna be the killer feature.

[@carlomorischi3435]

More games need to implement DRS with FSR to be able to lock frame rate and avoid loosing too much visual quality when res drops at the same time

[@BlindBison]

That’d be an awesome combo yeah

[@TackerTacker]

4:53 I hear this everywhere, but is that actually true? Which hardware did they sell and no longer support? I'm pretty sure the Steam controller and Steam link are still supported and work just fine even if they are no longer sold, or am I wrong there?

[@retro_ed746]

YOU are right. Softwares are still supported on those devices !

[@McLort]

This is going to be my JRPG/2D games machine. I dont intend to play cutting edge modern games on it personally.

[@arturaslekstutis7678]

Yes, that's the point. It's not a device to replace your desktop. It's a device to complement your desktop. And I mean there's really no difference between medium and ultra high settings, unless you're looking for it. They're there just so you could use your hardware to its full potential. So I'm seeing myself playing AAA titles on it when I'm on the go or in my bed anyway.

[@joejoe2658]

then how do you intend to play cutting edge modern games on it?

[@AJ-xv7oh]

That's handy because it won't be able to run them.

[@benjaminzipser6021]

well, why don't just get a switch then? ^^

[@McLort]

@@benjaminzipser6021 Cause I already have a Switch and a 3080 in my PC. This is a complimentary device, not a replacement.

[@enjoylife6374]

suprising theres no DF Retro take on this device - truly revolution on this ground giving a basically all past games a handheld version

[@ThePortugeezer]

Thanks for answering my question guys!

[@BAJF93]

I can imagine Valve making custom graphics profiles for the most popular games. Expanding the library down the road.

[@manusmenon4248]

I can see Alex Battaglia's "DF On Deck" series with settings for games on Steam Deck coming up just like John's DF Retro............

[@goonimp]

Did they talk about the viability of AMD’s FSR on the device?

[@MyNameIsBucket]

That's a matter of developer support.

[@sijedevos2376]

You can install windows on it and turn fsr on in games that support it so yeah definitely.

[@aemilianusmartinus5472]

@@sijedevos2376 FSR is also available on Linux.

[@TastyPapaya]

I've only seen FSR work well at 4k

[@52thephotoshop]

Yeah thats gonna be tough with a native res of 720p upscaling from 360 of 480p is a bad time

[@amirkhaj2065]

happy to have you here Battaglia

[@BOMBPHONICS]

I’ve been waiting about 15 years since my first 3-5 steam games for something like this. Almost 1,000 games now in my library I’ll potentially be able to play wherever.

[@danialonderstal3564]

The steam deck is gonna be a game changer and im all hype, if the deck becomes as popular as I hope it will, devs might starts optimizing games for that aswell

[@esaedvik]

Optimize for what? It's a PC.

[@JeyKalda]

@@esaedvik for the specific hardware, just like its done with any other optimization ?

[@danialonderstal3564]

@Esa Edvik Yes its a pc, but a computer can't just understand what you throw at it.

[@DetectiveAMPM]

If steam sold this for tens of millions. Dev will optimize it. Anything else just wasting time and money

[@joshuaroughan3350]

The irony of Gabe living in NZ but the Steam Deck being a basically UK and USA exclusive

[@Gramini]

It's also available in Germany and other european countries, not just UK.

[@PKM1010]

I was able to order one in EU just fine

[@ZambonieDude]

Have you not seen the Pre-Orders? The US basically looks down on all of the EU markets it’s selling in.

[@PickeringSamuel]

I wonder if the screen will have freesync? If it doesn't I suspect tearing could be a big issue, considering it might struggle to stick to a solid 30/60fps

[@adamjensen1145]

FreeSync on a mobile screen? Highly unlikely.

[@tanmaypanadi1414]

probably get VRR support and lock to a a fps target.

[@smoothlyrough512]

Doubt it, not at this price

[@VectorGaming4080]

They’re just going to expect us to use Vsync

[@marcelslofstra2157]

Why would it struggle to run at 30fps? When the target resolution is just 720p?

[@CassidyListon]

I think what you guys (and every gaming podcast commentator) is missing is that this device is VERY compelling to the rest of us out there that have had the same mid/low end PC since 2014 and hasn't upgraded because GPU scarcity has driven everything (w reasonable specs) out of our price range. Finally, this is something that's affordable and, while not capable of what your big expensive rigs are doing, can be quite capable at a 720p resolution. I'm very excited about this. (reserved the mid-tier)

[@CassidyListon]

Additionally: I super appreciate Valve's anti-scalper bot measures they've taken. I was able to reserve my unit on the day it was announced without nearly the amount of stress and hassle I had to go through for the PS5.

[@lpmmxvii7422]

Im a console player and as a person interested in pc games spending 600$ is a good deal instead of thousands and i get to play and do more than what the switch wouldve allowed. Imagine gears of war handheld Halo and Modding is amazing to me and its perfect way to get into the pc world.

[@clanpsi]

"It probably involves voiding the warranty." Might I remind you, it is now illegal for companies to void warranties for opening electronics.

[@clockworklegionaire2135]

Depends on your local laws, Most countries will not cover warranty when tampering internal components

[@TheBandoBandito]

This will be my first PC

[@kailee8143]

''Right after last Direct Steam announced Steam Deck...'' And now right after this video IGN releases another interview with Valve about Steam Deck :D

[@desolatesamurai]

I am the target audience on this.... I use to be a massive PC gamer...over 400 games on steam....last login date? 2015. Why? 1. No dedicated PC space - with the girlfriend moving in, getting 2 large dogs, and possible kids in the future, i no longer have the space to really set up a decent PC cave like I use to. Console gaming has been viable on a TV and couch though and I hopped over to playstation. This gets rid of the need for a pure dedicated space for me. 2. Consant moving - Job requires me to move every few years and my PC has been damaged a few times during those moves...and ibpackage those things tightly and remove the gpu sepperately. Something always happens. 3. Work Travel and Break - I have an hour and a half break at work midway through the day that needs to be taken on location, its pretty boring. Im also stuck on work trips in a hotel in some pretty boring cities after work...this is portable enough that i can easily take this with me. 4. Other console Eliminated - due to Microsoft buying bethesda i can no longer play new Fallout, elserscrolls etc. And due to the previous work reason i though of a switch possibly to tie me over....this does the portability of switch i need and the exclusives on xbox and a few upcoming pc only mmos ive been wanting to try. Even a switch emulation possibility. 5. Affordable - Gaming laptops are expensive as hell costing at least 1500 for anything worth its salt and lets face it... after a few years thats gonna get outdated. I dont find that price point that great. The steam deck though offers absolutely amazing specs for the price. Not only that ive had horrible experience with gaming laptops in the past with them slowing doen even with me constantly cleaning hardware (dust) and software (defrag, antivirus etc) Not a day goes by i dont wish i could hop back into PC gaming, the barriers were to much. Not anymore though.... this fixes literally every issue I have and is giving me access back to my Steam library. I have one preordered and cant wait to hop back in.

[@219SilverChoc]

wait 1:08:26 'crysis 3 on a switch at 30 frames per second' did john do a slipup?

[@SuperMikeKaos]

I'd love a tb3 version with an egpu dock at some point...

[@lennarddejong5617]

What I'm wondering about is the games you need an online connection for. Games as GTA5 or Planet Zoo which I can't play on my laptop while at sea due to not having a internet connection. Would that still be a requirement for the steam deck as it would make it a lot less portable as you can only play it when you have a internet connection which on the go, is not allways available.

[@MrDmw405]

John Lenniman I always enjoy hearing your educated opinion!!! Thank you for carrying the show!!! I 100 percent agree with you. I pre-ordered the steam deck for the reasons you stated.

[@panimala]

Glad to see a Direct with you 3 again!

[@JorgeEscobarMX]

This episode earned a my bell. I hope to see this kind of talk in the future. Thanks.

[@excelsium]

Alex "I like something thiccer in my hands"

[@Channel-tf7ch]

I'm really looking forward to this so I can game on linux without having to get a computer science degree

[@LowSpecLinuxLaptop]

It has actually got very easy the last couple years....coming from someone who games on linux on 3400g destop and 4650u laptop APUs. Many windows games on steam are simply click install and play. For stuff not on Steam Lutris will take care of configuration for you

[@kyfa4966]

Lmaoo

[@the_realJAMES]

Steam Deck is competing with the Switch.I was gonna get the OLED Switch til I heard about the Steam Deck. Guess where my 💰 is goin? I can’t be the only one.

[@hereticsshallbecleansed7245]

Same here. I was waiting for the pro. The OLED came out. Right when I was going to get it this comes out. This is my switch pro 🤣 thank you Valve!

[@orbitingdecay6797]

I'm tempted to sell my Switch to fund this. I don't like the joycons and I play it portable. Their first party titles just don't it for me, I really like Mario and that's it. It's great for indies but so is Steam.

[@MrMrFreddy]

@@orbitingdecay6797 exactly my situation. I'm a rare case that just doesn't like many Nintendo games (or to put it better, I'm not interested enough in them to justify their high prices that never significantly drop) and I play my Switch generally in my house or at my girlfriend's place. My Switch is mostly an indie machine, but even in that regard, I've often found indie games with terrible performance on that console. So it will definitely be sold when my Deck ships.

[@razamadaz3417]

Good to see you back Alex.

[@MrNagant007]

We can already test theories on mobile laptops as APUs are constrained to 25/35 watts already. Run some demanding games and see what the CPU/GPU clocks do. All chips already have variable clock speeds. I personally think that the variable rates are more to help conserve battery as it will be an advantage here to not be running at fixed clock rates.

[@therealbluedragon]

Gonna play Quake 1 on this bad boy