'Too Big' For Steam Deck? TLOU Part 1, Hogwarts Legacy, Resident Evil 4 + More Tested!

Oliver's back with another in his regular analysis of the most demanding PC titles and the extent to which you can get a playable experience from them on Steam Deck. There's no holds barred here as the Valve handheld tries to take on nightmare games like The Last of Us Part 1, Hogwarts Legacy, Resident Evil 4, Dead Space Remake and even Redfall.
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[@clear-carbon]

I'd really like to see digital foundry look at the steam deck tweaks like cryoutilities to see how much of a difference they make

[@StrikerTVFang]

100% this. Those cryoutil changes nearly makes my steamdeck feel like a totally different machine after nearly a year of using the base settings. Games that weren't as enjoyable to play on the Deck are so much better now.

[@nicdubonnet]

Agreed!

[@gigelz7091]

Also plugins would be interesting :)

[@FerrisMacWheel]

​@@StrikerTVFang what have changed?

[@martin73544]

I thought they were going to use it for the video, the hogwarts legacy with a bit more tunning is much more playable than their settings...

[@jnee]

When I bought the deck I was already at peace with the fact it may not keep up with the current gen. For me it's the perfect place to catch up on gems from the last couple generations - although the unit itself isn't cheap I actually find my gaming habit is less expensive these days because I'm picking up old games in sales or just jumping into stuff that's already in my Steam library.

[@Dragonfury3000]

Deck is essencialy a portable ps4 for most cases.

[@jnee]

@@Dragonfury3000 especially with sony bringing 1st party games to PC now

[@willbyers7233]

@@jneewell.. TLOU isnt running that well on Steam Deck.. but tbf even high end PCs can’t.

[@rikimarizard]

Almost all other Sony games play very well on it though eg God of War, Days Gone, Spider-Man, Horizon

[@th3g0sl0w]

@@willbyers7233 TLOU isn't a PS4 game though is it?

[@The8bitbeard]

Part of the problem isn't the lower performance of the Deck, but instead the lack of optimization and polish in a lot of recent AAA releases. My hope is that as more and more people are using these low-power APUs for gaming, be it in a handheld or single board PCs, developers start to target that as a baseline, particularly as it becomes more and more apparent that we're never going back to the days of $400 flagship GPUs.

[@Kinos141]

The problem is most these devs suck. Re4r and Like a Dragon Ishin both run well and are both Japanese games. I know it's not true for all games devs, but it's still SUS.

[@kadebass6187]

For one of these games; TLOU part 1. It was optimized for PS5. For example the vram consumption that you see on the PC port is directly tied to being optimized for PS5 (16gb vram) if they optimized it not for the PS5 it would be a PS4 title as well but it isn’t. To tie the two together (PS4 and steam deck) they have similar performance levels

[@Xeon451]

@@kadebass6187 That RAM is shared with the CPU

[@OneLastScholar]

Like a Dragon Ishin is functionally the same game as the 2014 Ishin that released on a machine from 2005. And it still has both drops and 30 FPS cutscenes.

[@Mcnooblet]

Target a baseline of hardware weaker than an original ps4? You should see on the console side, they hate that games were being held back by using last gen as the baseline instead of utilizing current hardware that's been out for years. At what point do they move on from 1-2 tflop and start going for the 10-12 tflop? and if it's built around 10-12 tflop, it's going to take time to get it to run on a single tflop. I guess people will complain no matter what they do.

[@Ruhul612]

I hope we keep getting more of these. So helpful!

[@jaroslavmrazek5752]

Didn't really buy Steam Deck to play modern games but rather games from the 2008-2020 era on the go. In that case Steam Deck performs really well.

[@The8bitbeard]

Same. It's great for getting through my backlog. I can save the more recent AAA experiences for my more powerful desktop.

[@hueypautonoman]

​@@The8bitbeard I just made a simlar comment. They should call it the Backlog Deck because it's perfect for that. 😅

[@ThaexakaMavro]

same i have a huge backlog of games that rune just fine even a 5tdp 40fps locked

[@Manuel-rl6um]

Or modern games that are not as graphically demanding as modern AAA titles.

[@amirhb7531]

For 350$ I'd say it should be able to handle the new games on 30 lowest setting and I think it would if they were optimised

[@Anna_Rae]

I think it would be cool to see a video on the best experiences Steam Deck can offer. Plenty of older titles that still look attractive today run quite well on the deck; and is the real highlight of what the Deck can do.

[@kazirk8]

It's not a video but a tip off the top of my head - the first Plague Tale looks awesome even on lower settings and runs nicely.

[@84jesterx]

Even then it's still up to the developers to optimize their titles, if they care to. So honestly the Deck was never at fault here. Deck owners will have plenty of upcoming titles to play (yes, mostly from Indie devs), older titles that have longer replay value than most AAA-dev releases - ALONG WITH EMULATION POSSIBILITIES that will play titles 10x better than the Switch. Even ASUS ROG owners or whoever else developing these devices, your going to be perfectly fine. This is a valid option for PC gaming, and I'm glad its here.

[@hahasamian8010]

It's so deeply satisfying when a game can render at 1080p 60fps on the Deck and still get 4+ hours of battery life. Makes me really appreciate all the optimization devs did back in the day

[@oo--7714]

The steam deck runs at 800p

[@hahasamian8010]

@@oo--7714 The Steam Deck runs at whatever resolution you tell it to. The screen is 800p.

[@MaxIronsThird]

For CPU bound games, it's better to just lower resolution instead of using FSR2, bc the reconstruction algorithm introduces CPU workloads and will actually make the performance worse in some cases, where you see CPU using more energy than the GPU.

[@LohTec]

Also, downclock the GPU to free up CPU headroom.

[@DragonOfTheMortalKombat]

Also turn down level of detail, draw distance etc. In Hogwarts it would've been better to run at native 720p with low settings instead of medium.

[@TheL1arL1ar]

I have yet to play new new games and the newest game I purchased was undisputed (aka fight night from an indie dev…due to release on ps5 and series later….and for a boxing game…that title performs worse than all these games at 720p low…I got about 10 to 15 fps ….I dunno what’s under the hood for that engine but luckily my laptop can run it 1080p with med and high 60fps.

[@niks660097]

That's not actually true, there is a setup cost but it will always be sub millisecond for modern >=4 core CPU's, FSR2 does most work in GPU compute shaders, CPU doesn't even need to pass the data to GPU since its unified memory APU, so unless you are running 10 year old CPU with PCIE 2.0, FSR 2 or any GPU compute up-scaling's CPU cost will always be negligible..

[@niks660097]

@@wizzenberry wow he is wrong..

[@ERREX]

Please cover the Steam Deck more, would love to see the handheld being included in the game reviews/performances analytics :)

[@Mycarisloose]

Nahhhh 😂

[@omarcomming722]

Not if it takes time away from regular projects, it's both a small userbase and it's basically the same as covering the PC version on weak hardware

[@g00mbasv]

they don't cover the SD as they should because it does not fit their biased agenda.

[@kevmolio5177]

Small, but loud, user base

[@ruekurei88]

Nope, not likely. They have three console platforms to cover, as well as PC. Then you have the two variants of the XBO, and Switch 2 and new PS5 variant is on the way, last gen is also covered with respective variant consoles. PC only gets covered with high end and mid range rigs, which barely touch upon the vast configs available, and you want them to cover such a niche device. With DF's limited staff, I'm legit surprised they managed to cover as many games as they have across current consoles and PC already. I'd much prefer they expand their PC coverage, or just cover more games in general.

[@adriank8792]

I'm glad to see more Deck focused videos

[@crowneproductions9908]

It's not even a portable console. You're tethered to a wall. Steam Deck should be categorized with TV consoles or low range gaming PC rigs. It's not a portable system. Anyone who has owned one knows that. Quit trying to be "edgy" and buy yourself an OLED Switch. Cheaper, better screen, sleeker, way longer battery life and a huge selection of games (not to mention Nintendo 1st party catalog".

[@David-ki2xt]

​@@crowneproductions9908Relax man

[@rh4709]

@@crowneproductions9908 SD slaps the Switch lol. A couple of hours at a time is all you need. This isn't an endurance race

[@publicsectordirect982]

@Crowne Productions or buy an rog ally instead of rebadged 2015 NVIDIA shield

[@crowneproductions9908]

@@rh4709 Anything slaps the switch when it comes to fidelity and performance. That’s not being argued. What’s being argued is that Steam Deck is promising PS4 graphics in a handheld package in direct comparison to the switch. My argument is that the steam deck is not a portable console. It’s a wired handheld. Switch OLED has a better screen (much much better), has a much sleeker and more comfortable form factor and battery life that blows the steam deck out of the water. The only examples anyone can provide for steam decks battery life are either indie games that don’t require any wattage to run or running triple A at the same LOD and fidelity settings that switch runs. Steam Deck doesn’t live up to its marketing. Period.

[@walter_the_wobot2349]

I don’t see the point in comparing a handheld to a current gen console by taking a 720p image on low presets and then blowing up the picture to fill a large screen format. Of course the Steam Deck’s image will look bad if you do that!

[@JuanSinMiedo441]

well, its performance is supposed to be between ps4 and series S, so it should be more than ok. Which is not may actual experience, the Deck suffers more than it should at 1080p, can't say why

[@Alexander-ix2jp]

Love the Steam Deck, and absolutely cherrish how Valve keeps pushing Linux forward on all fronts. Just saw an Ubuntu Indaba video here on KZbin on how Canonical has also created a dedicated gaming team to further enhance Steam on Ubuntu / Linux. What a great time to be a Linux gamer right now, and it will just keep getting better as time goes on. Finally some big players rising with the guts and willingness to go the distance in order to challenge the Windows dominance.

[@UmVtCg]

I've been using the SD as a desktop for a while now. And I've done some Ubuntu Linux terminal cli. Now Windows 10 is retiring in 2025 and I really despise Windows 11. Unless Windows 12 is going to be awesome I'm done with Windows. Of course as you say, Linux Steam OS and Proton have to improve more.

[@cakeisamadeupdrug6134]

@@UmVtCg Windows 11 was the final push I needed to jump to Linux on my main desktop too. I installed Kubuntu in October 2021 and moved to OpenSUSE Tumbleweed not long after

[@xBINARYGODx]

@@UmVtCg " I really despise Windows 11. " your not a reasonable person when it comes to tech if you actually feel that strongly, and your likely a religious type, a fanboy. So good riddance - the linux subsection of pc gamer can have everyone like you - you lot are no better than a console fanboy.

[@riccardopiccinini666]

Very happy with how well RE4 scales honeslty. Since it came out I played it on 4k on a RTX2080ti, on my main PC screen 2560x1080@200hz and on the deck locked at 40hz/40fps and the experience has been very good on all setups. And it has, like 4 DRM even.

[@KhromTX]

I would LOVE to see a "one year later" comparison between a modern day Steam Deck and the Steam Deck software that launched and the differences between performance in the same games. Would be super interesting.

There were some performance comparisons on reddit between the time where Linus TechTips got their hands on a pre-release unit and current stats and the differences were negligible. So you may have some titles that can have better performance now, it's not a night and day difference that some have assumed.

[@passintogracegoldenyearnin6310]

We may be coming up on a breakthrough in CPU-bound games. There's an issue in Linux that was affecting heavy multicore loads like emulation, and the solution was to turn off multithreading (run as 4 core, 4 thread). SteamOS 3.5 has been in testing for months, and hopes are that we'll get a multicore performance fix for the Linux kernel.

[@dynamichunter843]

There are some games that have had huge performance gains with proton ge versions

[@TheWendellpaulo]

Those frame time spikes and heavy CPU load are caused by the low swap space, those reduce a lot if you increase the swap file. Also, in games like Returnal, FSR increases CPU usage, so if you adjust the resolution scaling instead, it gets a little bit better. Finished Hogwarts Legacy on my Steam Deck, it was playable for me

[@moister3727]

How much swap space is necessary for games nowdays? At least to make games like this playable on the Steam Deck.

[@DARKNIGHT-117]

Is hogwarts worth getting on steam deck over PS5 ? I know ps5 is the better version, but does steam deck hold up

[@sunderland666]

​​@@DARKNIGHT-117 That really depends how you play most of the time. PS5 definitely preferred, but if you play most of the time on deck, it's plausible.

[@gtx1650max-q]

And you know 90% res scale in tlou looks way better than whatever that shit in the name of FSR is. FSR implementation is worst in tlou than any game i have ever played

[@UmVtCg]

@@DARKNIGHT-117 There is no Steam Deck Hogwarts version. Only a PC version which can also be played on hardware that outclasses the PS5 and the SD. In the here and now and in the future. Other than that, a Steam key is cheaper than a PS5 game.

[@ricioly]

I use my steam deck mostly for 360 era games, specially racing games: Grid, Dirt 3, Blur… this handheld is absolutely perfect for those games!

[@GraveUypo]

no need to go that far back, it handles anything modern just fine as long as it is still crossgen. it's only the 9th-gen exclusives that are struggling (and honestly, they are still playable)

[@D370n470r]

Thats my niche too. AAA from 2010 to AA from this year. Playing Arkham Series, Snowrunner and XCOM at lunch was what got me into a steam deck.

[@foshbz2687]

I would like to see Digital foundry test when the Steam deck has a locked GPU clock speed. I’ve seen that some of the hitching and slowdowns can be mitigated when locking the GPU clock speed to something like 1400mhz, and giving the rest of the power to CPU

[@ZaberfangX]

Yeah what I do with a lot games, it's seem to help with fps strike for me.

[@DevTNT]

This. Emulators benefit from it a lot as well, I've seen improvements going as low as 1200Mhz Also cryoutilities helps with the frametime spikes by increasing swap size

[@livingthedream915]

This with a hard 30fps cap will do the trick to limit the gpu side from stealing power.

[@deckverse]

Great findings! I wonder what bespoke tweaks and an emphasis on frame pacing over frame rate could do here.👀

[@christopher-silavong]

I love how words and phrases like “bespoke” and “Too big for…” somehow became de facto catchphrases for DF through memes and you guys embrace them. ❤

[@thestrangebus5044]

I think the deck is good. At 30 fps. Just not a lot of people might not like to play newer games at that frame rate. I don't mind. I just pick which title my deck works. This video was needed. Thanks DF!

[@violetshft]

Yeah, it's strange how DF is trying to push more than 30 in these titles.

[@LeegallyBliindLOL]

@@violetshft it's not strange. It's normal. 60 is already borderline for some of us.

[@EVPointMaster]

30fps a) doesn't look great and b) adds way too much input lag. Enabling the Decks 30fps cap increases input latency by more than 60ms.

[@danavidal8774]

@@LeegallyBliindLOL but is a handheld, as we can see we can't expect to play recent AAA games at 60

[@LeegallyBliindLOL]

@@danavidal8774 Nobody said anything about expectations. Also, the rog Asus ally just came out and is more than capable of it (despite it's stupid Windows dependency). Again, as I said. It's not a question of whether or not that is currently possible. The point is that 60 FPS is desirable at least.

[@ActNasty5]

Honestly after going back to my switch after 2 years for zelda, i think I appreciate both my switch and my steam deck even more. The quality you can pull out of the steam deck at 30-60 fps is crazy

[@SlimJ87D]

After selling my Nintendo Switch and playing Zelda on my Steam Deck for the last few days, it made me appreciate the Steam Deck even more.

[@eBlack996]

@@SlimJ87D how’s you manage to do that?

[@MLTAKOS]

@@eBlack996 emulators

[@melxb]

7840u handheld devices are even more incredible now u can run pretty high settings

[@carn9507]

@@SlimJ87D nintendo coming for you now. :O

[@meh78336]

Undervolting and overclocking along with some other tweaks can get a nice boost for me, though probably not for the faint of heart. Got mine running at 23w, 2000 gpu and 4000 cpu, with a 50/50/50 undervolt and powertools set to performance with an aggressive fan curve as I play with earphones. Runs nicely for me with a few tweaks depending on the games to focus on cpu or gpu, or as is my case, mainly emulators so mainly cpu. I got the deck with realistic expectation, expecting 30fps with anything else being a bonus, so even at stock I have been impressed. Everything I have tried on it has impressed me so far, like a handheld PS4 with more flexibility.

[@GraveUypo]

i just wish i could do that without tampering with the bios, because there's no way to reset cmos, so if you mess up, your toy becomes a brick

[@whitekong316]

@@GraveUypo You can reset the cmos though...

[@kanetombs1275]

I never thought of the steam deck as something i'd use for new games unless i am home and streaming them from my prime pc. It's perfect for my older titles on the go or from the couch/bed.

[@tbclabamba8051]

Playing through the ps2 ratchet and clank titles and the steam deck is a dream coming true for me

[@kanetombs1275]

@@tbclabamba8051 My friend likes those games, was it hard to set up the emulator for that?

[@TheCoolDave]

@@kanetombs1275 Look up Emudeck...

[@MonkDave666]

Or even for just good indie titles - games like Dead Cells and Cult of The Lamb play great on it. I just play the big triple A titles on a PC. People should understand the limitations of the Deck whilst also appreciating how amazing it is.

[@NickJaime]

Some of the newer games are playable. Ace Combat 7 I have 30 hours and those have mainly been played on the deck. You can play the new ones but waiting is the best.

[@DesocupadoXtremo]

Deck 40hz is the way to go in any game, the input lag is quite tolerable and the battery life is great at that level of performance

[@BsERoss]

Honestly, the fact any of these games run on such a small handheld, is very impressive.

[@handsomejustin]

SMALL!?

[@BsERoss]

@@handsomejustin Compared to a PS5 or Xbox One? Yeah

[@toyo8460]

Yeah, even cyperpunk runns really well on medium settings.

[@ReadyF0RHeady]

​@@toyo8460U serious

[@mwaithephoto]

I would really love more Steam Deck content honestly

[@Alexander-ix2jp]

+1

[@wrx7551]

Steam Deck vs Asus Ally in every new game. Just like in old times when Digital Foundry created videos of Xbox One 720p vs PS4 1080p. Those tests after every game forced game developers to improve quality on Xbox One. Digital Foundry have million of subscribers they can force game developers to create better optimization for Steam and Asus Ally

[@yourself1210]

I want to see sonic and all stars racing 5 player on cemu running on the deck

[@ultragarrison]

For Hogwarts Legacy, go for the lowest setting and crank the fsr 2 to quality preset. You would get a nice 30 fps throughout 90% of the gameplay. Oh, and dont forget to cap the fps to 30 in-game.

[@rx10]

''A nice 30fps'' handheld garbage is what I call that

[@slutywhoreu]

@@rx10 it’s actually not. With some tweaks you can get a solid 40-45 fps, I’ve put almost 35 hours in just on a steam deck, honestly I prefer it over my 4070 rig.

[@cezarstefanseghjucan]

@@slutywhoreu Hehe, get a console instead of any kind of hand-held.

[@callumohare]

​​​​@@rx10 a stable 30fps is totally fine and extremely impressive for a handheld displaying the visual quality that the deck does for just a couple hundred dollars on a bloody handheld. You can also typically lock to 40fps with a 1:1 refresh rate and it's unbelievably smooth Your comment feels like bait but a handful of DF viewers really are this insane and... silly so I dunno man lol

[@gerboog]

​@@cezarstefanseghjucan the steam deck is a handheld / console / PC hybrid as well

[@LazyGuyCoyote]

I’ll always enjoy DF videos analyzing the Decks capabilities going forward. While it is limited, it packs a serious punch given the power constraints.

[@MartinBarreby]

Very interesting! I have to say that I really get a kick of seeing the games rendered in 720p, it looks kind of retro. Even though it is to much detail you still get a feel of how the game could feel like played on a PS2 or Gamecube. :)

[@cosmicdetour]

Love this! I'm always interested to see how "big" titles run on Steam Deck, and which settings to choose.

[@NickJaime]

You should expect if it's bad on high-end hardware at launch that the deck will be unplayable. Some Big AAA games will need time to be playable on the deck. If you get a deck for new games then wait for 6-8 months to try and a year for a decent version.

[@darknesseclipse538]

Loving my steam deck! PS4 class graphics (sometimes I feel better) in a portable console is a dream I had since I was a child. Current gen can stay on my PS5. Plus I am rediscovering a lot of older games and playing at 60fps max settings :)

[@ActNasty5]

Agreed. Replaying dead rising on a hand held was magical to my child self inside haha

[@bewsket]

not sure guys what you were smoking but setting all settings to low in Hogwarts Legacy (only effects on ultra), plus using a custom config file from reddit, setting the FSR 2.0 on performance, or even better, FSR 1.0 on performance, 1080p output with dynamic resolution at somthing like 78%, then using a FSR in the Steamdeck menu brings almost console like experience with 30 to 50fps and no blocky artifacting like in the video, no stutters in the Hogsmeade. I even connected it to my 1080p TV and it looks gorgeous, almost like on my PS5 if i forgive it some lighting differences.

[@DriftEJ20]

Worth mentioning that the ROG Ally has a VRR/FreeSync Premium display, something I’m surprised that Asus doesn’t advertise much. The lack of one was one of my biggest disappointments with the Steam Deck originally. I wish I could get the components of the newer handhelds with the chassis of the Steam Deck. I’ve been a fan of the touchpads for PC mouse input since the Steam Controller, and only the GPD Win 4 comes with a much inferior option and the Aya Neo Next 2 which who knows when/if it will ever come out.

[@Pkredx]

Definitely do this same test but with performance tweaks using plugins and cryoutilities. Its definitely made some games more playable.

[@shodanargie1574]

Cryoutilities 2 allowed me to use balanced instead of ultra performance and hold 40fps. Traversal stutters will happen regardless so theres no need to lower the image quality that much

[@danielsf94]

Awsome content as always :) Been testing out cpu undervolting scripts (none smokeless), so it's safer to run without risk of bricking. Along with refresh rate unlocker, to allow 30-39 hz screen refresh and it's fantastic. Personally stick to 30-60hz. Native 30hz has a little too much flicker but 35hz is fantastic for those games that don't hit a consitant 40. Can't help feel that it could be an interesting video just exploring what the deck can do pushed to the limits. Similar to what you did for the switch. Could also overclock if you went down the smokeless route, or test 70hz screen overclocking if you really wanted to push things. Just an idea, anyway thank you for the video.

[@Alexrocks1253]

For RE4, I actually found that using the interlaced setting instead of the FSR and setting the v-sync in game to half got me a solid 30fps at all times while making the game look better than FSR Ultra Performance mode.

[@DrRedrum]

As a person, who put 185 hours into Witcher 3 and 200 hours into Doom Eternal on Nintendo Switch I consider all those games completely playable

[@keenynthewise]

😂😂

[@mistamaog]

To comment at the end of the video, one of the reasons the ROG Ally is only showing small gains is the Z1 Extreme seems to not be optimized yet. ThePhawx compares it to the nearly identical 7840U which puts up better numbers than the Z1 Extreme. Maybe with some updates, the Ally will show it's true potential.

[@MaxIronsThird]

At 25W it almost doubles performance though.

[@melxb]

facts the 7840u devices are beasts, rog just isn't showing it off as well, but likely will get patched/updated

[@zork219]

Phawx used 7840U with much faster 7500MT/s RAM. And Ryzen loves faster ram

[@mistamaog]

@@zork219 If you look at the most recent deep dive, RAM had nothing to do with the tests he just did for that video.

[@zork219]

@@mistamaog I watched it, device he used for testing has faster ram, official specs are 8,92 Tflops vs 8,6 Tflops for Ally.

[@randomperson6548775]

I get around this by streaming from my PC (I use my steam deck more at home than elsewhere). moonlight + sunshine has been a great combo! good wifi coverage/hardware is a must though.

[@natsukirei2016]

i wonder what would happen if steam deck allowed more wattage at a bios level, such as 35 watts if your plugged into power or something if it would make a difference

[@Sanjarih]

Would love to see you guys run these titles on the new ROG Ally handheld system and compare the performance to that of the Steam Deck.

[@plaistowjames6792]

Why?

[@bernout]

Noted that many of the tested games have lackluster PC ports to begin with I am still happy with the Decks performance in general.

[@ActNasty5]

Yup my 3080 isnt perfect on any of these. Except re 4. Steam deck is definitely amazing

[@LianCasablacks]

I runned RE4 with high to medium graphics and a lot of light effects on. With the Decks native FSR. It was a very pleasent experience, I would have never thought it could be that smooth and look that good at the same time. That being said I think theres were I would draw the line at what aaa games I can throw to the SD

[@divanshu5039]

What's holding these portable consoles are two things- 1. A new tech in battery which can be used commercially. A battery which can charge much faster and can hold more power inside at the same time taking much less space. 2. A new technology in cooling. Which I think we soon will get as those Solid-State Cooling chips just entered into the market. Right now, they are only for the few products but soon they will be mainstream choice specially for hardware like this.

[@geoffowen7627]

The steam deck looks like a beast of a handheld console, it seems to perform really well for what it is. The problem with many big studious is terrible optimisation, often it seems they're releasing betas at times, certain engines are awesome, re-engine and idtech-engine are great and often perform well on lower end systems, I wonder how well Jedi survivor would run on this, I suspect not great at the moment. But hats off to valve, for a handheld they have produced an amazing piece of kit. 👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@SolidSt8Dj]

Why would a AAA studio pay a QA team to do testing when they can get the QA testers to pay them instead!

[@eTek891]

ive had decent luck with dead space at medium presets, FSR to performance, and res at 720. locked FPS at 30 with little to no stuttering. The added visuals to me is better than the extra frame rate since dead space is a slower moving game.

[@drummer7557]

Same here brother, what an amazing piece of tech, considering DS is a CURRENT gen only title on a handheld is insane!

[@eTek891]

certainly is. I think as long as people can manage their expectations, you'll never be disappointed in what the deck can do. If all else fails, i just stream from my PC, which is really enjoyable. the deck is just so flexible.

[@brandonisweird7000]

Definitely want to see more steam deck content. Thanks Oli!

[@lexpopalex]

Avid Deck-User here, thanks for the content. The Deck is awesome and a real blessing in those high priced GPU market. My hopes for FSR3 are high to improve the experience for demanding games.

[@mrbrookeyoung]

Don't really get the point in trying to judge the deck's capabilities at anything higher than a 30fps cap. It's not a 60fps device and people shouldn't expect it to be

[@SolidSt8Dj]

40fps really is the sweet spot for slow-paced games on handheld. I didn't believe it myself until I tried it.

[@Joy_49]

I think a person looking to buy a steam deck should be clear about what they want and what the deck can deliver. I was clear in my mind about what i wanted from my steam deck. It is to play older titles like gta 4 which you can’t play on ps5 or to play (most) ps4 titles which runs at locked 30 fps even on ps5 but they run at 60 fps on the deck (for eg. middle earth shadow of war) Also recently I’ve been streaming the AAA titles from my ps5 to steam deck & it’s been working exceptionally well.

[@ABRacing_]

This analysis went on a different direction of what Iike about my deck. I never aim for 6p fps, but rather 40fps. This makes everything much more smooth, and you don't have to conceed that much with fsr. Also, cryo utilities helps a lot.

[@carmiliongr]

Damn, I love these type of mini-documentary type of videos from DF!

[@BluesElwoo2]

I love the deck! For the games it runs well, its amazing! I think its pretty understandable there will be games that wont run on it very well. Its too bad, but after using it for close to a year, its understandable. What I will say, is I will order a Steam Deck 2 on day 1! Valves amazing support for the device combined with extra power will be awesome!

[@Kallan007]

One thing that reviewers fail to mention is that there are also tons of games that are made that play just fine on the Deck. You never see them showing you those games. Plus there is the tens of thousands of older titles that work as well. Even if the Deck was unable to play AAA games tomorrow it would have the ability to play thousands of games. Keep in mind that Valve is still working on making every game on Steam as compatible as possible with the Deck.

[@razielmgs]

He didn't fail to mention. That's not the subject of this video you mongrel.

[@Mantenner]

The point of the video is to show the one's that don't perform well.

[@OneLastScholar]

They always point out the Deck's strengths, in fact that's the weirdness. The Digital Foundry Paradox: >€620 Steam Deck struggles: *Oh dear, oh dear. Gorgeous* >€250 Series S struggles: *You fucking donkey*

[@ghost085]

You make it sound like they do it on purpose to make the Deck look weak. They don't.

[@KhromTX]

All the games in the video run just fine at 30FPS, because they're Steam Deck Verified. They seem to want to leave that out.

[@knowwherefamous9067]

I wish Digital Foundry covered the Deck more

[@ElNeroDiablo]

Finally watching this after getting my own Steam Deck, and I'd be interested in seeing the analytics you find in some slightly older titles like Mass Effect Legendary Edition (Unreal Engine 3) & Mass Effect Andromeda (Frostbite Engine). In my limited testing of MELE (making sure the game runs before modding it) I've found that the first part of the Trilogy at least is locked at 800p60 with the stock settings (I haven't yet added something to be able to change settings) though I turn off things like film grain and mod out vingette overlays to make it nicer and not look like the game has been passed on to a roll of old 8mm Super-8 film stock which honestly detract from the otherwise futuristic sci-fi aesthetics of the game.

[@bobbye4369]

I've been throwing some curveballs at my Steam Deck, like getting Battlenet to run on it and playing Diablo 2 and Diablo IV Beta, and it handles these games soooo well, that I prefer playing on it over my desktop at times.

[@MattWiles]

Noob question here; I’m tempted by a Deck but will Diablo 4 play natively via Steam? I don’t want to be installing Windows etc. just want the out of the box solution.

[@omarcomming722]

@@MattWiles It's not gonna be on Steam

[@Yoshi278]

@@MattWiles As with a number of titles, it can run through SteamOS but will require some tinkering first. And knowing activision they wont make anything easier lol.

[@bobbye4369]

@@MattWiles it does not run natively out of Steam, however, it takes about 15 minutes to get Battlenet on to your Steam Deck. You download it through the Steam Deck desk top, and then set it up to launch through Steam and boom, you’re up and running playing Diablo IV. There are some videos on YT that really only take about 15 minutes to follow the instructions and then get it running.

[@MattWiles]

@@bobbye4369 thanks - I’ve checked out a couple of videos and understand it better. It does still feel slightly ‘bodged’ though. I noticed some games have issues like this too, whereas on a PC/Windows there’s fewer issues. That’s what’s making me think that the Ally might be better - I prefer a seamless easy experience. Although I much prefer the Deck look and feel / and touchpads.

[@sankalpbansal4]

why medium? go with low settings and increase fsr preset so instead of ultra quality and blows off every detail, try having low graphics settings with quality fsr to hit 60 or ultra quality fsr. idk what r u doin?

[@paulpope5157]

as someone who has always gamed on consoles ... does the Steam Deck automatically select the best settings for games, or will I be changing settings each game I load up? Thanks

[@matthiasmartin4355]

Brilliant piece of insight. Always interested in more Steamdeck coverage.

[@UncleSev]

The Steam Deck is fine with older titles from the PS4 era and backward. Heck, take a few of them smaller indie titles with simple graphics, and you can hit 60 fps without problems.

[@existentialselkath1264]

I've found any games with forced TAA look horrible at the decks resolution. Sure, it's a smaller screen but it's closer than a TV so the softness and artifacts are very noticeable. At resolutions lower than 1080p I'd take the maximum sharpness of postfx AA or even AA off in some cases over the worst of the TAA that's out there, even if it causes shimmering. Part of the problem are effects that are rendered at quarter res to target console hardware. That's fine at 4k but the res is already low enough on deck, most effects should have a native res option.

[@omarcomming722]

As bad as TAA is on low resolutions, TAA off is worse 10 times out of 10. Running modern games without taa sucks even at 4k not to mention 720p

[@existentialselkath1264]

@@omarcomming722 I've found at lower resolutions, TAA simply doesn't have enough information to reconstruct a coherent image. The softness it causes can stretch sharp edges across multiple pixels. No AA at all isn't great, but at the lower settings used on portable hardware, flickering geometric detail will be less of an issue. To each their own but I really wish more games actually gave the option

[@EhurtAfy]

I know this video is for native performance on the Steam Deck, but for people who stream games, the Steam Deck will be more than satisfactory for a very long time. Streaming gives way better performance and battery life even if it the game runs well on the Steam Deck. It also means I can setup mods and have everything setup before touching the Steam Deck. Even though Emudeck is amazing, having emulators installed on my computer makes it easier. I can play on my computer or play on my Steam Deck depending on how I feel, no transferring or syncing saves since it's a single installation. I'm not limited to my Steam Deck hardware, I'm limited to an RTX 3090

[@NoSubjection1]

Excellent video. Great job Oliver!

[@ingueferroque]

How about some positive Steam Deck coverage ;o

[@kiryukiwami98]

I really like videos about steam deck but may I suggest to do not use Ultra Performance FSR2, it really hurt the quality of the image and I do not think it is a viable option on the steam deck

[@rickmcintosh3570]

At some point optimization can do so much and no more. This is why new handheld PCs are a good thing and should be embraced by all regardless of the shipped OS. OS can be customized to your liking or changed to one's preference.

[@clairedex]

remote playing from your pc is such an underrated steam deck feature, if i want to be comfy in bed or on a couch playing demanding games i can do so and get even better performance than on my pc bc of the lower resolution.

[@gamesbloke]

I'm not fussed about 'best' so long as it's playable and not a stuttering mess. Happy to go to medium or even low settings. No big deal for me. Steam Deck literally does everything i need it to and a bit more besides. For the price point it's absolutely amazing. CryoUtils and Swap Files etc help of course. Be good if you could go down the performance tweaks rabbit hole and see what kind of performance you can get with the Deck.

[@RAHIEM69D]

Am I the only person who doesn't mind playing my games at 30fps?? I'd rather squeeze out a bit more graphical bells and whistles from the deck and enjoy a smooth 30 instead of muddying up my game just to achieve 60fps. 🤷💯

[@szaweu]

I play all my games at caped 30FPS and I'm more than happy with it, also battery life is quite a bit better then. At the end of the day it's handheld PC for 400$, performance for money is just amazing

[@cryptorellyt]

My I9 13 64gb ram and rtx 4090 can play Jedi survivor without DLSS/FSR with more than 40fps WITH reshade so I dont get why you used FSR in 0:37

[@AnimeUniverseDE]

Why would you test these with FSR2 ultra perfomance mode? I know, it's to reduce GPU load and see if a game is CPU limited regardless of graphics settings. However, FSR2 also has overhead costs that are highly dependent on the output resolution - maybe 720p is too high of a target and introduces more frame time spikes. To avoid this you should've lowered the internal resolution altogether instead of relying on FSR2 for upscaling for your testing.

[@SolidSt8Dj]

From my experience, running cryoutilities makes all of these titles more than playable at 720p/800p with no upscaling whatsoever, but FSR quality if you really want the smoother experience. But you can even take it further if you want. If the CPU is the bottleneck though, you can manually lock the GPU clock at a lower speed easily, allowing more power to go to the CPU.

[@pilouuuu]

Too badly optimized for Deck is a bit more accurate nowadays.

[@alksdng97834y]

No it’s not

[@UmbralLogic]

This comment sums it up

[@mechanicalmonk2020]

​​@@alksdng97834y game: can't maintain 60fps on any of the consoles and even the most top of the line PCs Idiots on KZbin: lol steam deck bad game perfectly optimized durr hurr

[@Megaspartan23]

Not to mention Denuvo affecting performance.

[@cezarstefanseghjucan]

This is how it goes. PC Gaming is second-class nowadays.

[@jamescampbell8482]

My first handheld was the game boy. Seeing a portable system do this with similar battery life to an original game. Boy just blows my mind. I’m surprised these handheld devices. Don’t have interlaced scanning available since running at lower resolutions is preferable for performance.

[@t1merickson]

Okay so which games SHOULD I play on the Steam Deck to get a full 720p 60fps with relying on tricks like FSR? I dont need the latest games

[@Xendindrome]

I'd like to see Digital Foundry test the steam deck on Unreal Engine 5 games.

[@dante19890]

its gonna struggle hard

[@HotGritz910]

I played 70 hrs of hogwarts on the steamdeck. Capped at 40 fps fsr2.. i enjoyed it..not perfect but playing in bed i took the sacrifice. Side note i find that vertical sync on makes games look smother but everyone cuts it off...

[@Tech2C]

Looking at the OSD in those games, it's hitting the RAM limit. That's probably the main cause of stuttering?

[@allenqueen]

If Spiderman and Elden Ring can work, I don't see why Last of Us and Returnal can't other than the ports being shitty

[@pastalex421]

Digital Foundry and the Steam Deck go together like chocolate and peanut butter

[@kaptenteo]

I'm definitely keen on getting a Steam Deck, as there are tons of games I have on PC that I'd prefer to play on a handheld. But I am (perhaps foolishly) holding out for an OLED screen model update.

[@greenman360]

It would be cool to see some retests on 3.5. Apparently they fixed SMT which makes CPU bound titles perform much better.

[@millar876]

DF: steam deck has PS4 class visuals. Also DF: it renders this game at 240p

[@cakeisamadeupdrug6134]

On a 6" screen with FSR2 you don't notice as much

[@GraveUypo]

on a game that ps5 drops to 640p. fair game.

[@168original7]

@@cakeisamadeupdrug6134 you do and the ps4 renders this game at 900p

[@albinodino5050]

Love the steam deck videos!

[@AlexVanChezlaw]

I bought one (still hasnt arrived) and although it is nice to see this at "high graphics", im simply happy to soon be able to boot the games and play them at decent fps, unlike at the moment with my laptop that can barely open 2010s games

[@YC-nc2td]

For for Hogwart Legacy you can make it run smoothly in 30fps cap on the deck with FSR on and Medium setting...it can Achieve a pretty Solid 30 fps pretty much everywhere...

[@jorismak]

Still no word of setting the UMA buffer to 4g or (almost) disabling swap and managing huge-page count in the kernel (things like CryoUtils are doing ). Curious to what your take on it is at DF. Will not boost fps lots but can fix stutters or minimums sometimes (not often)

[@YouthInAsia1]

I think this can have big boosts for certain titles. Since it's an unofficial mod, probably not going to get a lot of coverage outside of the Steam Deck community

[@ROBSILVERGUN]

I had to fall back to 1GB UMA Buffer because The Last of Us crashes like crazy with it set to 4GB. With more intensive games this can have a side effect.

[@jorismak]

@@ROBSILVERGUN tlou crashes because its ram management is .. well, awful. God of War had the same. Ram usage just climbs and climbs till it crashes. Setting the UMA buffer brings the crash faster or slower , but it will come :). Wondering if it's better with tlou latest patch.

[@ROBSILVERGUN]

@@jorismakI am talking about the latest patch.

[@Zastrutzki]

Show me a system where Red Fall does deliver a good experience.

[@Zastrutzki]

@petah Bugs. Lack of good content. Minimum viable product....

[@Taorakis]

Why would I need a console Command again to limit the game(s) to 30fps, when I can just as well do that in the same menu were you set the slider to 40fps?

[@carlosmessuti1601]

Great information as always ❤

[@caseyblankenship987]

I’d cap every one of these games to 40fps and be perfectly happy

[@AJCoRePlays]

40 is perfect for handheld

[@automata.]

Running every game starting with FSR ultra performance is a huge miss. If you don't want the CPU and GPU fighting for resources, just lock the GPU clock speed

[@mattdhargett]

It would be interesting to compare Man of Medan, Doom 2016, and No Man’s Sky between Switch, Deck, and Ally.

[@jabopro]

The Series S is surprisingly impressive here.

[@vincentvega3093]

Lmao

[@fecheigow2noinsane]

@@vincentvega3093 ???

[@kostasbousbouras2654]

Well...if you compare it with the Deck, yes it probably is...

[@xtr.7662]

well considering the steam deck has a weaker gpu than the ps4 the series s tends to be impressive

[@blazbohinc4964]

Who would've thought that if you force a game into 240p, it runs well even on a toaster. Such a revelation

[@Ariesoetomo]

I am still currently cheap at investing on gaming, so this feels like an upgrade from playing a GTX 1050ti laptop. Had a switch lite but you know that's a different case.

[@LinuxGamingAlchemy]

For most demanding games I prefer FSR1 using Steamdeck composer .. it tends to use less CPU than FSR 2.0 with in game options. That combined with a frame limiter of 45 FPS/40FPS or 30FPS is sometimes enough to get a smooth experience ... just minimize resolution accordingly to your needs. But if the game already works badly on high end GPU cause it is not optimized on PC, I don't see how it would magically be better on a portable console.

[@MattWiles]

Thanks for the video! Im looking at getting a Deck after I was hyped up over the Ally…. then put myself off it. With Deck vs Ally, the Deck just feels classier. Don’t ask me why 😂

[@korn2040]

Haha, I have the steam deck and absolutely love it I can play most of my PC games on it and some I just stream through my PC if needed lol luckily my gf works from home so I can bug her to turn on my PC. I did pre order the ally, but as the days come closer to release I see myself cancelling more and more I might just keep it and see what people say about it once it's released.

[@saitosplay-mix3960]

So you'll be a cheap Honda over skyline. Makes sense

[@saitosplay-mix3960]

Also looks like a shitty game gear

[@SolidSt8Dj]

​@@saitosplay-mix3960 I'd rather buy a sportscar than a racecar if I could only buy one. That is the most apt comparison between the deck and the ally. You can go marginally faster in some scenarios, but you give up every single creature comfort of a normal car to do so.

[@brandonsantoso]

Very happy about Dead Space and Resident Evil 4. Very upset that Naughty Dog dropped the ball with The Last Of Us.

[@drummer7557]

Yep the Deck is great, the fact it plays CURRENT GEN ONLY titles is crazy. Developers have put out crappy ports, so blame them not the SD. Also saying is this the end of the line in the video....yeah okay, with over 2000 VERIFIED Steam Deck titles, i think not lol

[@brandonsantoso]

@@drummer7557 Completely agree

[@SolidSt8Dj]

@@drummer7557 Over 9000 is you include playable titles (Which I do), and even more if you consider gold and platinum games on protondb (Which has the most comprehensive list of deck/linux supported titles).