Are there any performance tests for a Steam Deck plugged into a hi res external monitor?
Generally, 7th-gen console era games and earlier can often play at 1080p60, 4k30, or 4k60 depending on the demands. Newer games make compromises. FSR and TSR (upscaling from lower internal resolutions) effectiveness depends on the game.
Gaming wise, the onboard GPU is pretty adequate for 720p (or the 800p of the native display), resolutions beyond this like the 1080p or greater found in most monitors are going to make a lot more games struggle.
1080p is 2,073,600 pixels (2.25x 720p)
1440p is 3,686,400 pixels (4x 720p)
If performance scaling was linear, and given that the Steam Deck targets 30fps (up to 60), any game running at 30fps is going to be dropping to roughly 13fps at 1080p at the same settings.