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Steam Deck |OT| Nintendo Switch 2

ruzuyu

Neo Member
Just got my Deck and been playing around with it for a while now. Having been a long-time Switch user, it took me some time to get used to the size of it. But the device is quite powerful, I'd say. Really impressed with the performance of some AAA games running on Deck. RDR 2 can run at around 40-47 FPS. However, you should know that not all "Verified/Great on Deck" games are actually that great and well-optimized. Some games might have issues with the graphics, audio, display resolution even if they are "Great on deck". But overall, it's an excellent tool to kill time on the go. Gotta give them some time to polish it even better.
 
I am going slowly through my hole library (around 630 games) just to test, cause the labels mean shit in a lot of cases. And those optimization options. Can't wait to get to the point, where I am willing to start with opening the deck up to other launchers and emulation. But first, just lets try all the steam games :messenger_dizzy:
 

Certinty

Member
My biggest issue with the Steam Deck is part of my bought it to replay older games I can’t on my XSX/PS5.

Though like 80% of them are delisted and unless I put Windows on this thing and get them from “other means”, I can’t get them…
 

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
I am going slowly through my hole library
asking stan marsh GIF by South Park
 

Sleepwalker

Gold Member
Beat mafia definitive edition exclusively on the deck. Medium settings with fps between 30-40fps. Mighty impressed with this thing.

Love it so far... started arkham origins but not feeling it so far, will look for a different game :)
 

CrustyBritches

Gold Member
Messing around with PS2 emu for the first time on Deck. Works pretty well right out of the box. Using EmuDeck+EmulationStation. I still need to learn how to change games to run widescreen and add filters and such.

EmulationStation's UI is great. The game art scraper will automatically find most of your artwork and give you little preview videos in the menu. Steam Deck is worth it just as an emu station, let alone having the top-tier SteamOS UI and the ability to play modern games and tweak performance profiles on the fly. Probably going to get a 1TB microSD around Black Friday to upgrade from my current 512GB card. That way I'll have 1TB SSD+1TB microSD, and then I can load up some bigger stuff like PS3 games and make a comprehensive emu library.
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Really loving having a 1TB SSD. I allocated 705GB for Win10 and I'm able to have RDR2, FH5, MCC, Mass Effect Legendary, and about 7 other smaller games ranging from Deathloop to TMNT: Shredder's Revenge...and I still have like 140GB of free space. Then on the SteamOS side I get 232GB on the SSD + the 512GB(457.5GB after format) on the microSD. I'm not the type of person that just plays one game at a time. I usually play 1 main game like RDR2 then I dabble in stuff like FH5, MCC, etc. It's nice not having to sit through a massive installation just to get in a session of Reach Firefight.
 
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CrustyBritches

Gold Member
How well is Windows running on the Deck? Does it perform well? Do tools like RTSS work on the Deck?
Win10 on Deck is really good. I've used it for about 4 months and it's been solid. It's not as convenient or turnkey as SteamOS/UI. I'm using it for Game Pass and EGS primarily, and that required setting up GlosC for enabling the controller. It's not a huge deal, but before I play a game I have go down to system tray, press/hold Steam icon, and then select Notepad from the drop-down list(that's the program I use to trigger GlosC), and then close it when it opens. Occasionally the Windows clock with get out of sync and GP games won't launch. In that case you have to press/hold the time on the taskbar and then toggle auto-adjust time in the menu.

Aside from that it functions just like normal Windows 10 on a desktop. You can extract and install a certain version of AMD Adrenaline to get access to per-game tuning and use stuff like AMD Chill(FPS limiter). Windows was actually first to have the custom refresh rate and frame rate trick before Valve integrated it into the Deck OS. So you still have the ability to do stuff like 40Hz/40fps on Windows if you want. I think I tried Afterburner+RTSS a long time ago and I wasn't able to limit FPS that way, but it's been a while and it might work now. I'll give it a try later tonight. I haven't been able to use GPU Tweak or Afterburner to mess with overclocking/underclocking. I think that's locked at the BIOS level.

So, yeah. I wouldn't go with Win10 as the sole OS for playing on Deck. The Deck UI is amazing. Although, you can install it on Windows you just won't be able to use the Performance menu options outside of a few options. However, for dual-boot and using with GP and EGS it's extremely convenient.
 

Filben

Member
Win10 on Deck is really good. I've used it for about 4 months and it's been solid. It's not as convenient or turnkey as SteamOS/UI. I'm using it for Game Pass and EGS primarily, and that required setting up GlosC for enabling the controller. It's not a huge deal, but before I play a game I have go down to system tray, press/hold Steam icon, and then select Notepad from the drop-down list(that's the program I use to trigger GlosC), and then close it when it opens. Occasionally the Windows clock with get out of sync and GP games won't launch. In that case you have to press/hold the time on the taskbar and then toggle auto-adjust time in the menu.

Aside from that it functions just like normal Windows 10 on a desktop. You can extract and install a certain version of AMD Adrenaline to get access to per-game tuning and use stuff like AMD Chill(FPS limiter). Windows was actually first to have the custom refresh rate and frame rate trick before Valve integrated it into the Deck OS. So you still have the ability to do stuff like 40Hz/40fps on Windows if you want. I think I tried Afterburner+RTSS a long time ago and I wasn't able to limit FPS that way, but it's been a while and it might work now. I'll give it a try later tonight. I haven't been able to use GPU Tweak or Afterburner to mess with overclocking/underclocking. I think that's locked at the BIOS level.

So, yeah. I wouldn't go with Win10 as the sole OS for playing on Deck. The Deck UI is amazing. Although, you can install it on Windows you just won't be able to use the Performance menu options outside of a few options. However, for dual-boot and using with GP and EGS it's extremely convenient.
Thanks for this thorough response.

I have the 64GB Steam Deck with an 1TB SD card. I have another SD card, though. Can I install Windows on that SD card, boot from there to play let's say Game Pass games and then shut down and switch to the other (1TB) SD card again to play on SteamOS?
 

CrustyBritches

Gold Member
Thanks for this thorough response.

I have the 64GB Steam Deck with an 1TB SD card. I have another SD card, though. Can I install Windows on that SD card, boot from there to play let's say Game Pass games and then shut down and switch to the other (1TB) SD card again to play on SteamOS?
I’ve never tried booting Windows from microSD, only loading games from one. From what I’ve read there’s slowdown issues with running Windows from SD, but I’m not up-to-date on it. Running games from SD on Win10 works fine.

I’d recommend just getting a $20 used 2230 NVMe upgrade then just dual-boot from the internal drive. The used 256GB 2230 I bought for my older son’s future Deck only had around 300GB reads/300GB writes and 10hrs of power-on usage, along with 100% drive health. I bought it from an EBay store called Konronus. Then get either usb-c to usb single dongle for $6-10, or get a usb-c hub with pass through charging for around $22. Lastly you need at least one flash drive, but 2 or 3 is ideal.
 
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Just got my Deck and been playing around with it for a while now. Having been a long-time Switch user, it took me some time to get used to the size of it. But the device is quite powerful, I'd say. Really impressed with the performance of some AAA games running on Deck. RDR 2 can run at around 40-47 FPS. However, you should know that not all "Verified/Great on Deck" games are actually that great and well-optimized. Some games might have issues with the graphics, audio, display resolution even if they are "Great on deck". But overall, it's an excellent tool to kill time on the go. Gotta give them some time to polish it even better.

A lot of issues can be fixed by using Proton GE and adding launch commands like DXVK_ASYNC=1 to reduce stutter
 

Rubytux

Neo Member
Need for Speed Heat is on sale 95% off and has a Gold rating on protondb.


Fanatical also has a Steam Deck verified bundle going on right now. It's got a few solid indie titles like Blasphemous and Horizon Chase Turbo.
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Thanks for the info, i was going to buy it, but i saw that the EA Play subscription included it, so i decided to buy the EA Suscription for COP $19.900 or US$4.99 dollars a month.

NFS:Heat runs flawlessly in my 64GB Deck, i have to press STEAM Key + X to load the keyboard and the UI is not easy to navigate, but it can be worked around. Unfortunately, my MicroSD card has not arrived yet, so i only have 3GB of the MMC disk free after formating and installing just NFS: Heat.


Something to mention, is that most EA Play Games in my Deck doesnt show as supported, but i havent really tried them due to lack of storage. But again, contrary to most comments on Reddit, NFS:Heat runs flawlessly in my 64GB Deck.
 

Filben

Member
A lot of issues can be fixed by using Proton GE and adding launch commands like DXVK_ASYNC=1 to reduce stutter
This is interesting. Already installed Proton GE as a just-in-case fallback but didn't know about that launch command.

Does this work with any game and does it only work with Proton GE or other Proton versions as well?
 

JCK75

Member
My sons 64GB deck came in last week, had to wait for Saturday when the 512GB SSD came in and swapped it out yesterday.
had to hit harbor freight as I realized I left my precision screwdrivers at my old house when I left during the divorce so I grabbed a new set.

Took me less than 10 minutes to swap out the SSD, then about 15 mins to reload SteamOS..
looking it over inside I'm madly impressed at how repairable this thing is.. I mean I've done Nintendo switch repairs on analog stick drift but this was so much easier.
 
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TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
Amazed at how simple it is to run Morrowind with OpenMW. Just download Luxtorpeda from ProtonQt and launch Morrowind with it.

EjisNAK.jpg


Only downside so far is that 16-18W battery consumption. Oblivion for example only uses like 9W or so, guess I'll look into optimizing this one.
 
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Cyberpunkd

Gold Member
Amazed at how simple it is to run Morrowind with OpenMW. Just download Luxtorpeda from ProtonQt and launch Morrowind with it.

EjisNAK.jpg


Only downside so far is that 16-18W battery consumption. Oblivion for example only uses like 9W or so, guess I'll look into optimizing this one.
WHAT SORT OF SORCERY IS THIS???????

I need detailed steps.

gordon ramsay fox GIF by MasterChef Junior


DOOM plays great, 2 hours battery on 60FPS, medium preset. Got to also start Remember Me since that game has been in my library for 10 years now, runs super well, 60FPS, 3 hours battery.
 

TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
WHAT SORT OF SORCERY IS THIS???????

I need detailed steps.

gordon ramsay fox GIF by MasterChef Junior


DOOM plays great, 2 hours battery on 60FPS, medium preset. Got to also start Remember Me since that game has been in my library for 10 years now, runs super well, 60FPS, 3 hours battery.
It's pretty easy! Did you get Proton GE by using ProtonQt on desktop mode? Just do the same but for Luxtorpeda. Then set it as the forced compatibility mode in Morrowind's Steam config, launch the game and pick openmw-launcher if you want to tweak the settings.
Which you really should, specially for adding one more cell to view distance and also to scale the GUI to a factor of 1.5 or 2. Morrowind's default font size is too small, at least for me.

Oh! And I also managed to lower the watt consumption from 16 to like 9 or 10 by disabling the water shader from the Morrowind's video settings (in game).
 

Cyberpunkd

Gold Member
It's pretty easy! Did you get Proton GE by using ProtonQt on desktop mode? Just do the same but for Luxtorpeda. Then set it as the forced compatibility mode in Morrowind's Steam config, launch the game and pick openmw-launcher if you want to tweak the settings.
Which you really should, specially for adding one more cell to view distance and also to scale the GUI to a factor of 1.5 or 2. Morrowind's default font size is too small, at least for me.

Oh! And I also managed to lower the watt consumption from 16 to like 9 or 10 by disabling the water shader from the Morrowind's video settings (in game).
I assume you are emulating mouse with the trackpads?
 

AndrewRyan

Member
Love it so far... started arkham origins but not feeling it so far, will look for a different game :)
Same experience. Runs well on deck but world feels empty and flying seems slow. Still want to play Origins.. someday.

Been playing Devil Daggers. Intense little game that typically only last a few minutes per run so perfect for on the go playing.
 

Delt31

Member
Win10 on Deck is really good. I've used it for about 4 months and it's been solid. It's not as convenient or turnkey as SteamOS/UI. I'm using it for Game Pass and EGS primarily, and that required setting up GlosC for enabling the controller. It's not a huge deal, but before I play a game I have go down to system tray, press/hold Steam icon, and then select Notepad from the drop-down list(that's the program I use to trigger GlosC), and then close it when it opens. Occasionally the Windows clock with get out of sync and GP games won't launch. In that case you have to press/hold the time on the taskbar and then toggle auto-adjust time in the menu.

Aside from that it functions just like normal Windows 10 on a desktop. You can extract and install a certain version of AMD Adrenaline to get access to per-game tuning and use stuff like AMD Chill(FPS limiter). Windows was actually first to have the custom refresh rate and frame rate trick before Valve integrated it into the Deck OS. So you still have the ability to do stuff like 40Hz/40fps on Windows if you want. I think I tried Afterburner+RTSS a long time ago and I wasn't able to limit FPS that way, but it's been a while and it might work now. I'll give it a try later tonight. I haven't been able to use GPU Tweak or Afterburner to mess with overclocking/underclocking. I think that's locked at the BIOS level.

So, yeah. I wouldn't go with Win10 as the sole OS for playing on Deck. The Deck UI is amazing. Although, you can install it on Windows you just won't be able to use the Performance menu options outside of a few options. However, for dual-boot and using with GP and EGS it's extremely convenient.
How did you install AMD Adrenaline? What exact version and where did you get it? I would love to change the contrast settings on windows (to match what the vibrant plugin does in Steam OS.

I run windows dual boot installing it to my internal. I've never had any issues with it - plays great and allows me to play CODs. Highly recommended.

Also - there is another really good option to use for controller support that imo beats the steam/notepad trick. Check out SWICD.
https://github.com/mKenfenheuer/steam-deck-windows-usermode-driver
 
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hollams

Gold Member
Playing Stick of Truth during lunch and before I started the battery life said about 2 hours 15 min left. Played for about 15 minutes then I get a 10% battery life notice. I quickly save, then 2 minutes later I get the 5% warning, 20 seconds later the deck shuts down due to low battery. Of course I forgot my charger but that was pretty quick for it to shut down.
 

CrustyBritches

Gold Member
How did you install AMD Adrenaline? What exact version and where did you get it? I would love to change the contrast settings on windows (to match what the vibrant plugin does in Steam OS.

I run windows dual boot installing it to my internal. I've never had any issues with it - plays great and allows me to play CODs. Highly recommended.

Also - there is another really good option to use for controller support that imo beats the steam/notepad trick. Check out SWICD.
https://github.com/mKenfenheuer/steam-deck-windows-usermode-driver


It was this version listed under 6950xt. You don’t install the drivers, you use 7zip to extract Adrenaline and install it independent of the graphics driver.
 

Calverz

Member
Man gran turismo 3 looks amazing on this until you reach a corner where the sun is shining in front of you and frames drop. apparently it’s an issue with bloom or something. It’s pretty disappointing
 

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
My order came up this morning! I’m so excited. 43 years old, never owned a PC or played any PC games. Been a console guy since NES. I’m excited and a bit overwhelmed by everything .

Well, you’ve got a community here when questions pop up.

Sales happen frequently on PC. You can get a lot of games in bundles for low prices at places like Humble Bundle and Fanatical.
 
This is interesting. Already installed Proton GE as a just-in-case fallback but didn't know about that launch command.

Does this work with any game and does it only work with Proton GE or other Proton versions as well?

There are a lot of CLI you can use on Windows/Linux, from starting another program at the same time to disabling DirectX features. You can use it on any shortcut from Firefox to Microsoft Word

e.g.
-windowed to force the application to start in a window or --windowed to disable it from starting in a window
 
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LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
Yep, although you can also use the right stick. Controls are pretty nice out of the box.
Is it the default controller config through Steam or did you download one from the community?
My order came up this morning! I’m so excited. 43 years old, never owned a PC or played any PC games. Been a console guy since NES. I’m excited and a bit overwhelmed by everything .
Welcome and just know that you have about infinite legacy support and a super robust strong community working on things to make it better.

It's a game changer for a parent or anyone who hasn't been on PC as it has the full complexities of a PC with the interface for anyone to quickly step in and game.

Enjoy as it really is special (sorry for the hyperbole). I've only had this feeling with the PS1, PS2 GBA, and PSP when it comes to how HW blows me away.
 

TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
Is it the default controller config through Steam or did you download one from the community?
I think it's a community one, but it comes as the default one anyway, so you don't have to do anything. Only thing I did was setting Quick Save to L5.
 

CrustyBritches

Gold Member
Also - there is another really good option to use for controller support that imo beats the steam/notepad trick. Check out SWICD.
https://github.com/mKenfenheuer/steam-deck-windows-usermode-driver
Just got this up and running. Thanks for the tip. Initially I was getting button input doubling in certain games like FH5. After looking at the support page I just disabled 'Lizard Mode'(aka Mouse and Keyboard mode) in the GUI and now it works great. So far this seems much better than GlosC since it launches at startup with Windows independent of Steam and you don't have to initialize it every time.
 
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Filben

Member
I will RMA my Steam Deck. :( Unfortunately I've got the Delta fan so I get a high-pitched fan noise when it starts to go off. It's not as bad as with the first Deck I had had before. But having tried the Deck from a friend there was no pitch at all, the blow of the fan, when under heavy load, reminding me of subtle and small waves hitting the beach in the distance, which is ultra pleasant for me as I'm living at the coast. High pitch though, I'm super sensitive to and just can't stand it and get distracted.

I've already contacted Steam's support but will hold onto my Deck until the end of the next week because I'm going on holidays and I don't think I'll get mine fixed until then.

Fortunately it still works and it's not a major issue and most games I play on the Deck don't make the fan go on high RPM. But since I know it could be tremendously better, I obviously want the best possible version of the Deck.
 

Diseased Yak

Gold Member
I will RMA my Steam Deck. :( Unfortunately I've got the Delta fan so I get a high-pitched fan noise when it starts to go off. It's not as bad as with the first Deck I had had before. But having tried the Deck from a friend there was no pitch at all, the blow of the fan, when under heavy load, reminding me of subtle and small waves hitting the beach in the distance, which is ultra pleasant for me as I'm living at the coast. High pitch though, I'm super sensitive to and just can't stand it and get distracted.

I've already contacted Steam's support but will hold onto my Deck until the end of the next week because I'm going on holidays and I don't think I'll get mine fixed until then.

Fortunately it still works and it's not a major issue and most games I play on the Deck don't make the fan go on high RPM. But since I know it could be tremendously better, I obviously want the best possible version of the Deck.
That sucks you have to do that, but at least Valve will fix ya up. I lucked out with mine, the fan is whisper quiet unless it's going full blast, and even then it can barely be heard. Puts out a lot of heat, that's for sure.
 

JetBlackPanda

Gold Member
Just wanted to give my impressions so far. I have had my 256gb Deck for about 2 weeks. I have a PS5,Series X, Gaming PC and an OLED Switch.

This little machine is fantastic! I benefit from having a really big steam library already filled with games I haven't played but picked up on sales, its been really fun going back and playing them on the deck. Besides playing native steam games, being able to remote play my PS5 and Moonlight to my gaming PC. I find myself running all my games via the deck instead of sitting at my desk. I also have to mention the gamepass Xcloud streaming. It works REALLY good on my home network! the cherry on top is emulation.

I am all in. bravo Steam!

current obsessions: Tem Tem, Circuit Superstars and Snow Runner ( all run great on the deck )
 
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Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Guy @ work got one and it's a pretty sweet little thing, nice and speedy and beautiful and premium feeling in pretty much every way, from the screen to the back buttons, and it's so light too. For the price you'd only get some shitty celeron laptop. I want that interface in Steam Big Picture already.
 

TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
Had it since Friday, that thing is incredible. Sturdy, simple UI if you need it, more robust customization if you want it. Going through my Steam backlog, finally playing some games I didn't get to for years (Remember Me, Doom, Alien Isolation).
When it comes to DOOM... Are you using some source port? Or Nerve's Unity port?

If the latter... Are you able to play custom wads? Or only those that come included?
 

Diseased Yak

Gold Member
One thing that's puzzling me about the Steam Deck, I've been using the thing every night since it arrived, and it seems like when I first turn it on for the day, tons of the games I have installed all start downloading updates. They're usually small and go by fast, but what's up with that? These are definitely not normal game updates that I see for the same games on my PC.
 
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