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Steam Deck
posted in Hardware
1
#1
0 Frags +

https://www.steamdeck.com/en/

This looks very sick, finally a reason to play all these unplayed single player games from Humble Bundles etc.

https://www.steamdeck.com/en/

This looks very sick, finally a reason to play all these unplayed single player games from Humble Bundles etc.
2
#2
2 Frags +

Finally, I can play scrims and yell at my team on the train! Thank you Valve!

Actually, though does look sick, and considering you get your whole steam library from the get-go and it is not like it's gonna be dependent on exclusives like Nintendo, Sony and Xbox are.

Edit: though it does look like you're gonna have to pony up to play any big game cause the lowest-end model only has 64 gigs. Some games require more than that and the price increase between the two models is kinda steep. Regardless a cool idea.

Finally, I can play scrims and yell at my team on the train! Thank you Valve!

Actually, though does look sick, and considering you get your whole steam library from the get-go and it is not like it's gonna be dependent on exclusives like Nintendo, Sony and Xbox are.

Edit: though it does look like you're gonna have to pony up to play any big game cause the lowest-end model only has 64 gigs. Some games require more than that and the price increase between the two models is kinda steep. Regardless a cool idea.
3
#3
20 Frags +

yes valve this is very cool, can we have fix for sticky detonation bug please?

yes valve this is very cool, can we have fix for sticky detonation bug please?
4
#4
1 Frags +

this looks really cool, im not sure about the button and analog positions being at the top of the device, but it might feel comfortable when you actually hold it we'll have to see

this looks really cool, im not sure about the button and analog positions being at the top of the device, but it might feel comfortable when you actually hold it we'll have to see
5
#5
0 Frags +

inb4 its a 420€ tablet that will only be good for indie platformers and the likes, and once you realize you already have a computer the novelty wears off

inb4 its a 420€ tablet that will only be good for indie platformers and the likes, and once you realize you already have a computer the novelty wears off
6
#6
22 Frags +

gamers: valve please update your games look we even wrote the code for you
valve: sorry we're too busy innovating
valve: here's a souped up switch

gamers: valve please update your games look we even wrote the code for you
valve: sorry we're too busy innovating
valve: here's a souped up switch
7
#7
11 Frags +

I mean it's pretty impressive that they packed what's essentially a whole x86 laptop + battery into something that small, I'd imagine it took some innovating

I mean it's pretty impressive that they packed what's essentially a whole x86 laptop + battery into something that small, I'd imagine it took some innovating
8
#8
5 Frags +

the tech has long existed, nintendont didnt because they're cheap bastards

the tech has long existed, nintendont didnt because they're cheap bastards
9
#9
0 Frags +

hasnt this kind of device been made like 1000 times

hasnt this kind of device been made like 1000 times
10
#10
EssentialsTF
5 Frags +
Wandumhasnt this kind of device been made like 1000 times

GPD Win 3, AYA NEO, etc.

[quote=Wandum]hasnt this kind of device been made like 1000 times[/quote]
GPD Win 3, AYA NEO, etc.
11
#11
13 Frags +
turbochad69I mean it's pretty impressive that they packed what's essentially a whole x86 laptop + battery into something that small, I'd imagine it took some innovating

It's basically a slightly downclocked Ryzen 3 PRO 4450U/5300U (that's the closest equivalent) with a newer and slightly bigger GPU part (8 CU 1 year old RDNA 2 instead of 5/6 CU 4 year old GCN 5/Vega). It's still a 2 year old Zen 2.
It's sort of a spiritual successor to a bog standard Ryzen 5 3500U. That came out in 2019, with 2 year old Zen 1 4c/8t CPU, 2 year old 8 CU Vega GPU, 15W. So in 2021 you'd get a 2 year old Zen 2 4c/8t CPU, 2 year old 8 CU RDNA GPU. Really the only reason this isn't a list part is that AMD is for some reason still using Vega in their APUs, both for Zen 2 and Zen 3. So Valve needed a semi-custom part to get anything newer than Vega and at that point you might as well get the newest GPU architecture, RDNA 2, not RDNA. They stuck with Zen 2 for some reason though. Probably because it's cheaper.
EDIT: Better comparison: Literally take the Xbox Series S/X or PS5 chip. Cut the CPU in half. Cut the GPU by 2/3 (Series S) to 9/10 (Series X). Cut the bandwidth by 2/3 to 9/10, same as the GPU. There's your Steam Deck chip. Valve literally went to AMD with a console, pointed at it, and said "Give us that, but with a lot less power".

tl;dr
Valve's "innovation" is ordering a very standard semi-custom 15W APU from AMD, that only differs from what you can get in a standard notebook by having a newer GPU part.

The Good:
-It will run literally anything. Anything that runs on a pc should run on this.
-It's a lot more powerful than a Nintendo Switch. 5 times, maybe? That's just a guesstimate. Also more reasonable CPU to GPU ratio. 4 instead of 6 cores + 50% more GPU power seems like a much better deal than the 4500U in the AYA NEO

The Bad:
-It's still a low power mobile APU. While it can run any AAA title it will not run anything recent well. Not even at 1280x800. The GPU is about 1/3 of a 5300(M), literally the lowest-end GPU AMD is still selling. Think RX 550 or GT 1030. The 80$ GPUs from 4 years ago.
-64 GB eMMC is pretty fucking painful, both in terms of size and speed (mostly random access), 130$ for a 256 GB NVMe SSD is bloody robbery, about 3 times what Valve probably pays for it, same thing with 250$ for a 512 GB "high-speed" NVMe SSD

[quote=turbochad69]I mean it's pretty impressive that they packed what's essentially a whole x86 laptop + battery into something that small, I'd imagine it took some innovating[/quote]
It's basically a slightly downclocked Ryzen 3 PRO 4450U/5300U (that's the closest equivalent) with a newer and slightly bigger GPU part (8 CU 1 year old RDNA 2 instead of 5/6 CU 4 year old GCN 5/Vega). It's still a 2 year old Zen 2.
It's sort of a spiritual successor to a bog standard Ryzen 5 3500U. That came out in 2019, with 2 year old Zen 1 4c/8t CPU, 2 year old 8 CU Vega GPU, 15W. So in 2021 you'd get a 2 year old Zen 2 4c/8t CPU, 2 year old 8 CU RDNA GPU. Really the only reason this isn't a list part is that AMD is for some reason still using Vega in their APUs, both for Zen 2 [i]and[/i] Zen 3. So Valve needed a semi-custom part to get anything newer than Vega and at that point you might as well get the newest GPU architecture, RDNA 2, not RDNA. They stuck with Zen 2 for some reason though. Probably because it's cheaper.
EDIT: Better comparison: Literally take the Xbox Series S/X or PS5 chip. Cut the CPU in half. Cut the GPU by 2/3 (Series S) to 9/10 (Series X). Cut the bandwidth by 2/3 to 9/10, same as the GPU. There's your Steam Deck chip. Valve literally went to AMD with a console, pointed at it, and said "Give us that, but with a lot less power".

tl;dr
Valve's "innovation" is ordering a very standard semi-custom 15W APU from AMD, that only differs from what you can get in a standard notebook by having a newer GPU part.

The Good:
-It will run literally anything. Anything that runs on a pc should run on this.
-It's a lot more powerful than a Nintendo Switch. 5 times, maybe? That's just a guesstimate. Also more reasonable CPU to GPU ratio. 4 instead of 6 cores + 50% more GPU power seems like a much better deal than the 4500U in the AYA NEO

The Bad:
-It's still a low power mobile APU. While it can run any AAA title it will not run anything recent well. Not even at 1280x800. The GPU is about 1/3 of a 5300(M), literally the lowest-end GPU AMD is still selling. Think RX 550 or GT 1030. The 80$ GPUs from 4 years ago.
-64 GB eMMC is pretty fucking painful, both in terms of size and speed (mostly random access), 130$ for a 256 GB NVMe SSD is bloody robbery, about 3 times what Valve probably pays for it, same thing with 250$ for a 512 GB "high-speed" NVMe SSD
12
#12
3 Frags +
Setsulhardware

Imagine the battery life for something this beefy...

I've heard some reports that the Deck can range from 2-8 hours compared to the Switch's ~4 hours per charge, but considering how light the Switch's hardware and games are to get that much time out of it's battery, I have my doubts that the Deck would reach anywhere close to the 8 hours it's advertised.

Remember the Sega Nomad and Atari Lynx, and how shit their batteries were? If any of you don't, that's probably the reason why.

Awful console title, though. "People give me weird looks when they catch me playing with my Deck in public."

[quote=Setsul]hardware[/quote]
Imagine the battery life for something this beefy...

I've heard some reports that the Deck can range from 2-8 hours compared to the Switch's ~4 hours per charge, but considering how light the Switch's hardware and games are to get that much time out of it's battery, I have my doubts that the Deck would reach anywhere close to the 8 hours it's advertised.

Remember the Sega Nomad and Atari Lynx, and how shit their batteries were? If any of you don't, that's probably the reason why.

Awful console title, though. "People give me weird looks when they catch me playing with my Deck in public."
13
#13
9 Frags +

someone on twitter called it the "GabeBoy" and I don't think I will refer to it as anything else from now on

someone on twitter called it the "GabeBoy" and I don't think I will refer to it as anything else from now on
14
#14
3 Frags +

Finally, I can drop 130 DPM in scrims from anywhere I want!

Finally, I can drop 130 DPM in scrims from anywhere I want!
15
#15
11 Frags +
Gritomabattery

Thankfully Valve is very upfront about the specs.

Processor
AMD APU
CPU: Zen 2 4c/8t, 2.4-3.5GHz (up to 448 GFlops FP32)
GPU: 8 RDNA 2 CUs, 1.0-1.6GHz (up to 1.6 TFlops FP32)
APU power: 4-15W
RAM
16 GB LPDDR5 RAM (5500 MT/s)
Battery
40Whr battery. 2 - 8 hours of gameplay

So it's not a report. Those are Valve's official specs.
Assuming the APU is limited to exactly that TDP then 2-8 hours is a bit tight, but not completely unrealistic. 5W for the rest of the system (20W for 2 hours) I could buy, 1W (5W for 8 hours) I don't really think is going to happen, though I don't know enough about the display's power consumption to really refute it. I guess it's possible when the APU consumes even less because only one core is barely active and the GPU is deep in power saving mode as well, but that's certainly not happening for AAA games.

EDIT: The Nintendo Switch is getting by with a 16 Wh battery and a chip that officially got a 15W TDP. So remember that all TDPs are lies. If you underclock something hard enough it suddenly becomes really efficient.

[quote=Gritoma]battery[/quote]
Thankfully Valve is very upfront about the specs.
[quote]Processor
AMD APU
CPU: Zen 2 4c/8t, 2.4-3.5GHz (up to 448 GFlops FP32)
GPU: 8 RDNA 2 CUs, 1.0-1.6GHz (up to 1.6 TFlops FP32)
APU power: 4-15W
RAM
16 GB LPDDR5 RAM (5500 MT/s)
Battery
40Whr battery. 2 - 8 hours of gameplay[/quote]
So it's not a report. Those are Valve's official specs.
Assuming the APU is limited to exactly that TDP then 2-8 hours is a bit tight, but not completely unrealistic. 5W for the rest of the system (20W for 2 hours) I could buy, 1W (5W for 8 hours) I don't really think is going to happen, though I don't know enough about the display's power consumption to really refute it. I guess it's possible when the APU consumes even less because only one core is barely active and the GPU is deep in power saving mode as well, but that's certainly not happening for AAA games.

EDIT: The Nintendo Switch is getting by with a 16 Wh battery and a chip that officially got a 15W TDP. So remember that all TDPs are lies. If you underclock something hard enough it suddenly becomes [i]really[/i] efficient.
16
#16
2 Frags +

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4HOnqblhFs

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4HOnqblhFs[/youtube]
17
#17
11 Frags +

"i'm in!! i'm in deep" i scream on the bus, as the g-men drag me away

"i'm in!! i'm in deep" i scream on the bus, as the g-men drag me away
18
#18
1 Frags +
delete_my_accounthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4HOnqblhFs

are the controls on this thing really that trash or has that guy never played a first person shooter before in his life

[quote=delete_my_account][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4HOnqblhFs[/youtube][/quote]
are the controls on this thing really that trash or has that guy never played a first person shooter before in his life
19
#19
4 Frags +

why is he wearing gloves

why is he wearing gloves
20
#20
0 Frags +

Anyone been able to setup a config for tf2 on it? Without installing windows?

Anyone been able to setup a config for tf2 on it? Without installing windows?
21
#21
14 Frags +
delete_my_accounthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4HOnqblhFs

if only shade were still around to throw invite matches by playing on a steam deck

[quote=delete_my_account][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4HOnqblhFs[/youtube][/quote]
if only shade were still around to throw invite matches by playing on a steam deck
22
#22
0 Frags +
skotiwhy is he wearing gloves

he stole the steam deck and didnt want his fingerprints on it

[quote=skoti]why is he wearing gloves[/quote]
he stole the steam deck and didnt want his fingerprints on it
23
#23
1 Frags +
skotiwhy is he wearing gloves

It's kr4tos I think

[quote=skoti]why is he wearing gloves[/quote]

It's kr4tos I think
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