Friday, July 23rd 2021
Valve Claims Steam Deck Can Run Entire Steam Library Within Performance Target
Valve has recently stated in a recent interview with IGN that they haven't encountered a single Steam game that could not run on the Steam Deck at their performance target. The performance target set by Valve is 30 FPS at the device's native resolution of 1,280 x 800 and according to Valve developers, this was achieved with new and old titles. The Steam Deck is powered by a custom AMD quad-core Zen2 SoC with RDNA2 graphics which is paired with 16 GB of LPDDR5 memory.
Source:
Valve (via IGN)
ValveAll the games we wanted to be playable, it's really the whole Steam library there. We haven't really found something that this device couldn't handle yet,
119 Comments on Valve Claims Steam Deck Can Run Entire Steam Library Within Performance Target
Microsoft took a similar approach with the Surface. They made the Surface to show other hardware manufacturers what they would like laptops to look like.
Valve is saying that they would like others to make handheld devices like the Steam Deck while demonstrating that they have a game store and OS ready for such a devise. Valve is a game store first and foremost and would like others to make hardware that features their storefront by default. I believe that they were saying 30 fps minimum in the worst performing games. Regardless if 30 fps is unacceptable to you, then a handheld device is probably not for you. Fps limiting yourself to 30fps is probably going to be one of the best battery saving features.
If they were only slowing it down to save the battery, then they should offer 60fps as an option and let the user decide.
Thanks for clarifying.
I definitely heard or saw that somewhere as a valve reply to a question but I'm admittedly vague on where I heard that.
The point being: this isn't upgradeable. The vast majority of laptops, including most gaming laptops, are non-upgradeable in terms of performance. Consoles are non-upgradeable. Thus, upgradeability isn't an argument in any direction regarding this, no matter what was intended. They've clarified what was intended by that "performance target" thing here. Essentially, 30fps is treated as a minimum of what is considered playable, with more being the norm and desired. There is an optional 30fps framerate lock for improving battery life.
Who buys Even a laptop these days and expects to be able to upgrade more than memory and storage besides the corporate or mega rich, no one sensible.
Laptops like most consumer goods and steam deck are disposable user device's intended to have a shelf life then be obsolete and Replaced.
This isn't new , OEM's made this switch a decade ago or more, they are not trying to make a device that's upgradable ,very few are, very few.
So this tangential argument against steam deck is at best miss placed, try another angle.
Note all you just mentioned were likely less powerful Now in games and in general ancient.
No portable pc device exists or is planned that beats this in performance per dollar even win max 3 priced at 900$ + will be trounced by this , simple.
Meanwhile Deck is already quite limited and as gaming machine it won't usable for more than 3 years. As general purpose PC it doesn't really work, but if somehow someone perseveres, it can last. But since nothing apart storage is upgradable, it will be in dumpster (sorry, recycling center, don't put electronics in dumpster) a lot sooner than what was once a cheap laptop. Dumping device and searching for new one is quite more expensive, as Deck in non e-waste spec is quite expensive. Anyway, I didn't write my previous comment to write about Deck again, I was just trying to say that laptops can be highly upgradable and still cheap if they are designed that way. That was good for consumer and likely helped to reduce e-waste. Modern laptops are made a lot worse, nearly everything is soldered, thermals are atrocious, they are loud, they are also brittle and despite efficiency advancements, battery life didn't meaningfully change, because they became smaller. Modern laptops are the best example of shoddy engineering, no foresight and very obvious planned obsolescence in order to save some bucks and generate more cash from higher replacement rate, which is artificially inflated. In modern electronics, there simply aren't more infuriating devices than laptops. Thankfully, I don't have a reason to own laptop and I really don't want to have one.
Find an upgradable laptop out now for 700£ and you may have a point otherwise this argument is pointless.
And if you do please also point out how the f#@£ a laptop is relevant to a handheld gaming device.
As for your other opinionated points , I'll await reviews before arguing how long this would be a viable gaming option.
Which I think irrelevant, I doubt valve or any buyer expects 5-10 years out of it?!.
I'm buying and I doubt I'll be using it in 2030, shits given = 0 on that point.
Edit:
Clevo is in business and they have 800 pound laptop with... GTX 1060. And it's darn upgradable too. GTX 1060 vs 8 CU RDNA 2 is no contest. Turns out you can still find value. And it has 1440p 120 Hz display, 512GB SSD. Unfortunately 8 GB single stick RAM, but it's upgradable and configurable for more. It essentially costs as much as top config Deck. Things don't look so good for Deck. Link:
clevo-computer.com/en/hot-offers-promotions/4791/clevo-pa70ep6-qhd-120hz-intel-core-i5-8300h-nvidia-gtx-1060-metal-chassis I posted purely about laptops, but if you want gaming, then I'm pretty sure that they can put more graphics power into laptop for same price rather than in Deck. AMD still puts Vega iGPUs there and big Vegas (11 CU ones). Once RDNA 2 iGPUs roll out, laptops will beat Deck for price/performance. Not to mention, that you may even get dedicated graphics (Let's say GTX 1650 m or 1050 Ti m) in laptop sometimes, which are already faster than Deck. Post was about laptops and their longevity, not about gaming capabilities of them.
Edit, a Clevo with replaceable shit ram and adequate ssd replaceability = upgradeable,, yet next generation LPddr5 memory anyway and replaceable ssd isn't upgradable?! It's also 100£ more expensive , massive, probably not much more GPU grunt and for gaming totally balls ergonomics, but yeh , no.
A laptop is not this though is it, a laptop is not an ultra portable gaming device, it's a general purpose computer, this isn't that, I own a decent gaming laptop, yet this will be used as much as that, why, because it's significantly more Portable and Will do what I require . ..
my opinion differs from yours but I admit only a review will enlighten us to reality verses circular opinion spouting , meanwhile you think you will trump my opinion spouting what I think is irrelevant nonsense about upgrading and either future tech that's not out yet or a laptop from 2012?!! With no facts just opinion, your wasting mine and others time here going round in circles with the same stuff.
Show a better handheld portable gaming pc for the same money or leave it out pal, laptops are not this, at all and ARE irrelevant, anyone wanting this already decided against a laptop sooo.
Let's see: