Steam Deck: Thread 01

[wakka]

Awesome upgrade. The pricing continues to be amazing value for what it is.

It's such a smart move to keep the screen resolution the same but make it OLED. Better picture quality on literally everything but with zero hit to performance to achieve it.

And again, another smart move with taking the gains from a shift towards a more efficient processor and focusing them on battery life rather than increased performance.

They've delivered the launch cleverly too. Going straight to reviews from people like Digital Foundry is perfect for the Deck audience of nerds who want to be able to dig straight into the stats. Lifestyle bull**** would not fly here and they know it and they haven't gone for it.

Really feels like they've nailed this. Respect.

I kind of want a reason to own one but I just don't have one since I would always rather use my TV, which I don't have to share much at all as my partner tends to watch stuff on her phone. If that wasn't the case though I'd really be gunning for one of these.

[Neon Ignition]

Side note - The LE version looks nice at first glance though I wouldn't pay the excess over the mid-tier model for it. In video's it doesn't look as nice








Not the first time Valve had put in an impressive second effort. Shame they'll never make a third

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-09/new-steam-deck-with-oled-screen-more-storage-coming-from-valve?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTY5OTU1MjgxOCwiZXhwIjoxNzAwMTU3NjE4LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJTM1ZCQzREV0xVNjgwMSIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJCMUVBQkI5NjQ2QUM0REZFQTJBRkI4MjI1MzgyQTJFQSJ9.y-bT3HX5lW3ftJIHybwNQWdenoeYGnKfNh7wVXSWmXI#xj4y7vzkg

Now that the refreshed model is announced Valve have confirmed work will be ramping up on Steam Deck 2 which will be 2-3 years away

[nonny]

Smart upgrades all round really. Especially hitting that same price point and most importantly not just going for more power but making it a better handheld.

- Bigger, more vibrant HDR 90hz screen
- 30g lighter
- Better speakers
- Bigger battery
- Faster RAM
- More repairable
- Same size / compatible with all the current peripherals

I think given what I've seen of the switch OLED I'm going to have to upgrade if a successor is 2-3 years out.

[Neon Ignition]

I find the design/pricing/justification interesting again as well from Valve when it's pitched against expectations of what Switch 2 will be like.

[Asura]

I won't be upgrading. But then, 95% of my Deck's use is in the dock for my TV anyway.

[Dogg Thang]

This seems like a fantastic deal. A nice upgrade. Not something I need because my current Deck does what I need but, had I not already bought one, this would definitely catch my interest.

[nonny]

I find the design/pricing/justification interesting again as well from Valve when it's pitched against expectations of what Switch 2 will be like.

True but Switch 2 to me is almost a completely different prospect because you're actually buying a PC here and not a locked down ecosystem like that will be.

Plus if a Steam Deck 2 is 2-3 years out that will drop a few years into Switch 2 life-cycle of 7/8 and almost certainly be more powerful and versatile. I almost wonder where the PC handheld market will be at that point with some many other options becoming available.

If there is anything I want to see from a SD2 from Valve its non-proprietary eGPU support. We've seen that small mobile eGPU dock come along from GPD which is expensive right now but nowhere on a par with the XM mobile crap ROG has. If Valve could bring proper eGPU docked options to the line-up of the Steam Deck 2 at an affordable price point then it could be really interesting.

[MartyG]

The ROG stuff properly exposes the PCIe lanes so it gets full GPU bandwidth. If you're doing it non-proprietary, then you're stuck to things like USB-C or thunderbolt implementations, which limit the PCIe bandwidth, so you get gimped GPU performance.

[nonny]

The ROG stuff properly exposes the PCIe lanes so it gets full GPU bandwidth. If you're doing it non-proprietary, then you're stuck to things like USB-C or thunderbolt implementations, which limit the PCIe bandwidth, so you get gimped GPU performance.

Yeah I get that you wouldn't get full bandwidth and performance but it might be enough for most people... What about Oculink? I'm no expert but is that a viable option as I saw the GPD G1 supported it.

At the end of the day I'm just hoping Valve might support an eGPU option that doesn't break the bank but provides extra usage to the deck when docked that gives adequate performance.

[MartyG]

It's still limited bandwidth-wise, it's equivalent to Thunderbolt 3. Most of this is likely down to cabling and signaling. You're going to need quality cables, and they need to be as short as possible. There's a reason you want your graphics card slot as close to the CPU as you can route it.

[Wools]

I'm very interested in this. Reminder that these new OLED models go on sale at 6pm UK Time tonight, so you got just over 1 hour!

[Ouenben]

oled steamdeck is up for sale but I'm struggling to actually be able to get to the payment info screen. Steam just keeps dying or spitting out an error

[Wools]

Yep, same here! Stuck on Shipping Info and get an error.

[Wools]

Ohh, Steam has fully **** the bed now!