SteamOS 3.5 Delivering Some Decent Performance Gains for the Steam Deck | Hacker News Reader

SteamOS 3.5 Delivering Some Decent Performance Gains for the Steam Deck

phoronix.com

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I'm glad Valve created the Deck. Seems a lot of people are enjoying it, and they lit a fire under some competitors to create similar competing products. And DiYers are having a lot of fun too. Looks like it's been good all around.

Don't forget the Linux gaming part !

Valve worked with anti cheat developers to make sure most games work on the Steam deck, and the few that don't just need to flip a switch to allow proton.

Like rainbow six: siege for example, game works perfectly offline and solo play, but because they didn't enable the features, you get kicked when trying to play online.

It's honestly my favourite gaming device, even though I still think it's way too big and that the screen is...not great(quality wise, not resolution). But the price beats everything else and the software is top notch, it allowed me to play more games and enjoy them more than my very fancy gaming PC, PS5 and Xbox combined. I'm definitely preordering Deck 2 the second it's announced.

> still think it's way too big and that the screen is...not great(quality wise, not resolution

I want a larger screen. My aging eyes have difficulty with the small screen on it now.

Sure, I can connect it to an external monitor, but that defeats the point of it being a portable.

Grab an Xreal (formerly Nreal)Air and plug it into the USB-C port. Instant massive screen size increase. I've been happy with mine on the Deck.

Same, its nice to see the Steam Deck really took off compared to their previous efforts. It seems the iterated upon their previous attempts and ended up with a great product in the end.

I'm trying to think of a tech device that has made me this happy in a long time and I can't think of many. They did a lot of things right with this.

SteamOS 3.5 fixed a major SMT bug in the Linux kernel. Basically, certain CPU heavy workloads would get hit with major stuttering unless you disabled multithreading. Lots of emulators and older games were affected. Now SMT works as intended without the performance hitches.

https://www.pcgamer.com/steamos-35-is-almost-here-includes-a...

I want the Steam Deck so badly but at this point I'm afraid they will just announce a new/better version of it. Knowing my luck that would happen like 1 month after I've bought it lol

A new version isn’t coming any time soon. Valve already said it will be quite some time. Valve also has a terrible track record for developing new versions of their devices. It’s more likely that they were trying to kickstart the form factor but once there’s a healthy competitive landscape they will lose interest. It’s not a company strong on execution. They have the corporate equivalent of ADHD.

The device as it exits today is fantastic and it will play a giant portfolio of PC and emulated games until you wear out the battery and joysticks.

Go buy it on sale right now and enjoy it.

Valve said the new revision isn't coming for a while, and tbf it's a "relatively" inexpensive device so you'd be able to sell it without losing a lot of money even when a new one is announced. I'd recommend getting the cheapest 64GB version and upgrading the drive yourself.

>Valve said the new revision isn't coming for a while,

That doesen't make it tue. I worked in consumer electronics development in the past, and it was normal to deny any rumors of an updated and improved product being in the works because otherwise consumers would not buy your current stuff and just wait it out for the next better thing.

Otherwise known as the Osborne effect:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_effect

Before cracking the case and doing surgery try running it with a microSD card first. ~40 USD for a good 512GB micro SD card provides sufficient performance for many games. Lastly, remember to remove the micro SD card before opening the case otherwise you will snap the SD card.

I agree. I have the 64gb with a 512 SD card in it, and it was totally sufficient for over a year. In the last month I also upgraded the internal drive, and that's another nice performance improvement, but it was still a great experience before that.

They make 512GB microSD cards now? This really is the future.

They (SanDisk, etc) currently make and sell 1TB microsd cards. 2TB ones are supposed to enter production late this year / early next.

I wouldn't be surprised if they are working closely with AMD on a more customized chip suitable for the next iteration, and possibly waiting for the TSMC 3mm node to have some availability to make a chip that's very power efficient.

I find it a worthwhile purchase even if another one comes out immediately. A new version won't change the fact that the original is a great and capable device that is a lot of fun and very convenient to use.

I don't think a new version will come out at all. Steam Deck profits are like console profits, it's sold very little margin to get you into the ecosystem, in this case Steam. But when ASUS, Lenovo, and everyone else is making similar devices that run Steam anyways, Valve's profit stream will be there whether they make the devices or not.

At release the Steam Deck competed with the Nintendo Switch, which doesn't run Steam. The Steam Deck has pushed Steam into the handheld market, but other devices can keep it going without a second Steam Deck.

Even if they announce it today no way you're getting it within at least half a year given current shortages, waitlists etc.

I just bought one since it’s on sale. You could go with the ROG Ally or hold out for the Legion Go, but they are 2x as much.

One cool feature that 6.1 kernel brings to Steam Deck is ability to limit the max charge of the battery straight via kernel by:

echo 80 > /sys/class/hwmon/hwmon4/max_battery_charge_level

You need to have the preview installed, or wait until they release it for GA. Preview need developer settings enabled and some other stuff I don't acutely remember. You can check your kernel version with `uname -a`, if it starts with 6, you are good to go.

Anyone using a Steam Deck as their full-time PC? It's one of the best power to price ratios out there and has sterling Linux support for those who value preinstalled Linux on their machines. Only downside is SteamOS doesn't support FDE so it's a no-go for enterprise.

Based on the article itself it seems mostly in counterstrike, which tbh I would never play using a controller. Everything else seemed pretty marginal. Should use some more popular titles to test. Whats the difference in dark souls 3, or starfield, or Baldur's Gate 3?

Valve doing god’s work. Other companies should take note. The amount of good will steam is buying with their linux gaming contributions is through the roof. And i am pretty sure valve is making a killing in profits.

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