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KeplerL2: Valve is targeting 2028 for the Steam Deck 2

IbizaPocholo

IbizaPocholo

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news.instant-gaming.com

Valve is targeting 2028 for the Steam Deck 2 - IG News

According to KeplerL2, a reputable insider, Valve is targeting 2028 for the release of the Steam Deck 2, unless new memory shortages complicate those…
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According to KeplerL2, a reputable insider, Valve is targeting 2028 for the release of the Steam Deck 2, unless new memory shortages complicate those plans.
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KeplerL2 said:
They were targeting 2028 AFAIK, but the whole RAM/NAND situation could delay it. Also since they don't have a semi-custom SoC, unlike the PS6/Xbox if it gets delayed it could end up with better specs.
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I don't see what chip would be in the pipeline for them in 28, but then again van gogh slipped by unnoticed by most, as a potential gaming handheld chip anyway, until Valve announced the deck
 
Slimboy Fat said:
I don't see what chip would be in the pipeline for them in 28, but then again van gogh slipped by unnoticed by most, as a potential gaming handheld chip anyway, until Valve announced the deck
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Why?
The new PS handheld is rumored to have a 16 CU RDNA 5 GPU (990m?), so I could see the Steam Deck 2 using a similar APU (Z3 Extreme?)
 
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_oni_ said:
Why?
The new PS handheld is rumored to have a 16 CU RDNA 5 GPU (990m?), so I could see the Steam Deck 2 using a similar APU (Z3 Extreme?)
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But that chip is a custom one for Sony, there is no indication anything similar will be available for PC handhelds
 
_oni_ said:
Why?
The new PS handheld is rumored to have a 16 CU RDNA 5 GPU (990m?), so I could see the Steam Deck 2 using a similar APU (Z3 Extreme?)
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I thought the rumors say would be they would be going ARM to leverage all the Fex-Emu work had done for the Frame.

The Z1/2 Extreme have poor uplift from what's in the Steam Deck when you get down to 15W or lower.
 
SScorpio said:
I thought the rumors say would be they would be going ARM to leverage all the Fex-Emu work had done for the Frame.

The Z1/2 Extreme have poor uplift from what's in the Steam Deck when you get down to 15W or lower.
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Possible Deck Mini or Deck Lite emphasize Stream 1st and Native Play 2nd
 
Having FSR 4 working on the SD2 is most important.

I tried 1080p with FSR 4 balance on an 8'' screen , it looks really good imo .
 
I wonder how SD2 and PS6P will compare. SD2 has the potential to target higher TDP while PS6P has much lower API access than Linux+Proton.
 
Zathalus said:
I wonder how SD2 and PS6P will compare. SD2 has the potential to target higher TDP while PS6P has much lower API access than Linux+Proton.
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Higher AND lower TDP. It's one of the best things about the Deck, you can really go all out in either direction (within the constraints), further than the Windows handhelds with customizing the battery / TDP use, and I also think the Deck will have the better UI/OS, I'm not the biggest fan of Sony's. And the Deck will probably have better hardware (like display screen etc). But we'll see!

I also think Linux+Proton will advance and age better than the version Sony uses.
 
Slimboy Fat said:
But that chip is a custom one for Sony, there is no indication anything similar will be available for PC handhelds
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SScorpio said:
I thought the rumors say would be they would be going ARM to leverage all the Fex-Emu work had done for the Frame.

The Z1/2 Extreme have poor uplift from what's in the Steam Deck when you get down to 15W or lower.
Click to expand...

They'll likely use Zen 6 and RDNA 5 for Z3 Extreme, which would be a massive power boost from the OG Deck.
 
Had I realized it would take this long for deck 2, I'd have bought a deck long, long ago. At this point I may as well ride it out on Switch 2/PC.
 
Ozriel said:
They'll likely use Zen 6 and RDNA 5 for Z3 Extreme, which would be a massive power boost from the OG Deck.
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Some rumors tell us there are no plans for another chip in the "Z# extreme" lineup. Medusa point will allegedly ship with 8 RDNA "4m" (modified rdna 3.5) compute units -hardly the "generational leap" Valve is asking for. The upcoming non-custom APU's with Zen6 and RDNA 5 are "Medusa halo" and apparently "Medusa halo mini" both of which would be outside the TDP and price scope of a device aiming to position itself anywhere near the original steam deck on the market.
 
Ozriel said:
They'll likely use Zen 6 and RDNA 5 for Z3 Extreme, which would be a massive power boost from the OG Deck.
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I remember Kepler mentioning that AMD has no plans for a Z3 Extreme.

In any case, the Z extreme chips have always been CPU heavy repurposed laptop chips, which make them unsuited for handhelds. We really need a purpose built chip for handhelds. My Legion Go 2 is too heavy and the performance it has is underwhelming…
 
Valve lucked out cos they had the Van Gough which was meant for magic leap(iirc). They did not have to pay for a custom chip.

I don't think that will happen again. So either they pay for a custom chip, which I don't think they will, or wait for a repurposed laptop chip, which doesn't give very good performance per watt.
 
Bitstream said:
Thats cool thats cool...

Any updates on the already announced hardware that we don't have any pricing or release information on?

No?
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In my language we use the same word for "steam" and "vapor"

Think About It GIF by Identity
 
hardwood007 said:
Valve lucked out cos they had the Van Gough which was meant for magic leap(iirc). They did not have to pay for a custom chip.

I don't think that will happen again. So either they pay for a custom chip, which I don't think they will, or wait for a repurposed laptop chip, which doesn't give very good performance per watt.
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Leaks/rumors said AMD asked for a guaranteed order of at least 10 million units when Microsoft inquired about a custom design for the Rog Xbox ally X. You'd think that would be a realistic, albeit fairly ambitious, target for Valve considering the steam Deck has sold roughly 5 million units or so coming out of nowhere. But they do not seem willing to procure a custom design.
 
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KeplerL2 said:
Cost, AMD doesn't have any APUs in the near term that are both cheap and a significant leap over Steam Deck.
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Yeah i suspected AMD doesn't have good options for Valve to choose from but wouldn't Qualcomm come with its own list of drawbacks?

What type of chip were they considering from Qualcomm? X line derivate? Snapdragon 8 gen derivative?
 
Slimboy Fat said:
Is there anything planned for the medium term, or the remainder of the 2020s even?
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AMD is using RDNA3.5+ on their budget stuff until 2030 unfortunately, so either Valve picks something cheap that is not a big leap or they go for an expensive RDNA5 APU (or go with a Qualcomm/NVIDIA/Intel SoC).
 
KeplerL2 said:
AMD is using RDNA3.5+ on their budget stuff until 2030 unfortunately, so either Valve picks something cheap that is not a big leap or they go for an expensive RDNA5 APU (or go with a Qualcomm/NVIDIA/Intel SoC).
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But allegedly the RDNA 5 variants are reserved for APU's much too large for Valve's target TDP format. So it seems the Deck 2, as conceived by valve according to their publicly stated design goals, literally cannot be built this decade unless Gabe et al cough up the monies for a custom design.
 
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KeplerL2 said:
AMD is using RDNA3.5+ on their budget stuff until 2030 unfortunately, so either Valve picks something cheap that is not a big leap or they go for an expensive RDNA5 APU (or go with a Qualcomm/NVIDIA/Intel SoC).
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Thats a tough situation. IMO anything that can't run at least FSR4 would be a huge mistake.
 
KeplerL2 said:
They were considering Qualcomm which is even more 🤮
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Qualcomm was the better choice, a handheld is their forte. Valve didn't want to fight two battles at once is all (FEX AND Proton).

Software issues aside, we both know that the Steam Deck 2 is an 8 Elite 5 victim in all aspects. CPU, GPU, etc.

If Valve could have gotten N2P Based SM8945, SM8950 or SM8975 they'd have had a far better "handheld" hardware wise. But needed to fight another battle on the software side.
 
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Gaben should hire a bunch of hardware hackers to create a jailbreak for the PS6 Handheld, and then release a SteamOS image for it. Free subsidized Steam Deck 2. Big brain move.
 
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KeplerL2 said:
I don't think they want a $1999 handheld
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Nvidia Sold Nintendo T239 at cost. which is a revolutionary SoC.

Nvidia sells their old stuff at cost. And since Nvidia is ahead in the PC space their old stuff is cutting edge in the console space.

Nintendo just ruined it by choosing SEC 7LPH for Switch2……

KeplerL2 said:
Cost, AMD doesn't have any APUs in the near term that are both cheap and a significant leap over Steam Deck.
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because Valve obviously can't guarantee the volume commitment when Microsoft barely could.

None of AMD's APUs are suitable for a handheld. They don't have a VGH2. MDS1/2/3 would lose to all modern smartphones in a smartphone tdp envelope.

Valve probably got them to do a VGH N6 IP Cleanup job on one of MDS1/2/3 to make something that is somewhat handheld worthy. But it's still RDNA3.5 trash like the rest of medusa. Exynos 2600 (16CU RDNA4) victims.
 
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Slimboy Fat said:
But allegedly the RDNA 5 variants are reserved for APU's much too large for Valve's target TDP format. So it seems the Deck 2, as conceived by valve according to their publicly stated design goals, literally cannot be built this decade unless Gabe et al cough up the monies for a custom design.
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Yes that's the biggest problem right now for future handhelds. I am waiting to see handhelds with a panther lake chip with cut down cpu cores.
 
if Valve were smart they'd drop AMD like a hot potato and immediately ask Intel for those sexy new Panther Lake processors. Either that or commission AMD for a custom processor that humiliates Intel.

ARM sounds appealing especially CPU wise but if we can't find anyone who's willing to make a great ARM GPU (besides Nvidia) then it'll just perform worse than Steam Deck 1 and maybe have better battery life.
 
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