narc0tic_bird
@narc0tic_bird@lemm.ee
- Comment on Steam games will now need to fully disclose kernel-level anti-cheat on store pages 2 weeks ago:
Include adding kernel level anti cheat to that. This should just give us an option to get a full refund.
- Comment on Valve still waiting on a 'generational leap' for Steam Deck 2 - but it's coming 3 weeks ago:
iFixit rates it “Difficult” for the Steam Deck OLED and says the time required is 2-3 hours:
This is a slight improvement from the original Deck’s estimated 2-4 hours:
It requires removing quite a few parts but the most annoying part is getting rid of the adhesive. It doesn’t have easy-to-access pull tabs or whatever.
- Comment on Valve still waiting on a 'generational leap' for Steam Deck 2 - but it's coming 3 weeks ago:
Understandable.
What I will say though is that I personally wouldn’t mind regular spec bumps at all. The Deck isn’t exactly a cheap device and to get the “latest and greatest” for your “investment” at any given point of purchase would help longevity.
But as I said, in this case it makes a lot of sense (for Valve). SteamOS is still under heavy development, even more basic stuff such as the update mechanism and also power management is something they’re still working to improve.
They also use a custom APU designed in collaboration with AMD, and these designs cost a lot of money. It’s not just a rebranded 7840U like the Z1 Extreme for example. This custom design makes a lot of sense in terms of focusing on gaming performance and efficiency, and it clearly shows in (very) power limited scenarios.
Either way, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a new Steam Deck based on Zen 5 and RDNA 4 with another custom designed APU sometime in 2025 or early 2026. Zen 2 is really starting to show its age and Zen 5 is a solid leap even over Zen 4 (not talking about desktop CPUs here, but Ryzen AI 300). RDNA 4 will likely improve quite a bit over RDNA 3(.5) (with the current Deck having RDNA 2) and include some type of hardware-accelerated machine learning upscaling with FSR4, which could make a lot of sense on the Deck as long as enough games support it.
I’d also like to see a few other improvements. The OLED display is great in many aspects, but VRR would be a great feature to have. Internally I’d like to see an easier way to swap the battery, maybe using similar tech to what Apple does with the iPhone 16’s battery. Currently, swapping the battery is one of the most complex repairs on the Deck, but it’ll also be the most common a few years down the line when all these batteries really start to show their age.
- Comment on Valve still waiting on a 'generational leap' for Steam Deck 2 - but it's coming 3 weeks ago:
I think we’ll get at least one more x86 Steam Deck generation before it moves to ARM (if it moves to ARM at all).
The Snapdragon X isn’t anything to write home about when it comes to efficiency under load, with the newest CPUs (with iGPUs) from AMD and Intel keeping up or maybe even exceeding it.
- Comment on Bazzite is the next best thing to SteamOS while we wait on Valve 1 month ago:
Missing built-in FDE is one of my main gripes with SteamOS. It’s why I don’t really do anything besides gaming on the Deck. It’s a portable device that could easily be stolen or lost, so this seems like a major oversight.
- Comment on YouTube TV on steamdeck with more than 720p 1 month ago:
youtube.com/tv is/was the YouTube website optimized for big screens. It’s basically just a different layout for regular YouTube.
- Comment on YouTube TV on steamdeck with more than 720p 1 month ago:
OP is talking about YouTube and I can watch 8KUHD just fine on Linux.
- Comment on SteamOS 3.6.12 Beta Will Start Bring SteamOS 3.6 Into Stable - Steam Deck HQ 2 months ago:
Will reflash my Deck once this hits stable as it’s acting up in various different ways.
- Comment on Black Myth: Wukong shows very clearly Valve are selling a lot of Steam Decks 2 months ago:
And what would that help with?
- Comment on [Game] Fix For Jackbox Megapicker Corrupting Steam Decks Released - Steam Deck HQ 3 months ago:
Would be interesting to know what actually happens.
- Comment on If you have DeckHD (Steam Deck Display Mod) will now be officially supported 3 months ago:
I don’t think the Deck HD is ideal as UI scaling is also off with the Deck’s UI (unless Valve also supports 150% fractional scaling with their update), but battery life would only be affected in a meaningful way when the game is actually rendered in a higher resolution.
Having a higher resolution target for upscaling with FSR(2) can lead to (slightly) improved image quality even with the same internal resolution and obviously sharper UI. 2D games should look great with the higher pixel density (though at the cost of battery life in this case).
From their own FAQ:
We ran both SD’s on GTA V single player mode with a FPS cap at 30 starting from 100% charge. Both SD’s had the same brightness level and resolution (800p). The testing duration lasted just under 3 hours when DeckHD’s SD turned off when the original SD had 3% battery left.
So just having more pixels to render the UI with or whatever doesn’t really change much. 3% is within margin of error.
I doubt it’s possible to fit a smaller-bezel screen in the LCD’s case.
The touch screen is supposedly a lot better and the color reproduction obviously is as well.
If you need a replacement anyway, I don’t see why you shouldn’t get a better replacement for a similar price to the original anti-glare screen, especially now that Valve starts “officially” supporting it. If you’re looking for a bigger upgrade instead of a replacement because you need a repair, selling your working LCD Deck and upgrading to the OLED model is probably the better option.
- Comment on If you have DeckHD (Steam Deck Display Mod) will now be officially supported 3 months ago:
I meant more as a replacement option if your original screen is already broken.
- Comment on If you have DeckHD (Steam Deck Display Mod) will now be officially supported 3 months ago:
While replacing the display is quite complex in comparison to other repairs on the Deck, you may as well get this display should yours break for some reason.
- Comment on Record a Window on Wayland 3 months ago:
Works fine with OBS Studio (Flathub) for example.
Add a “Screen Capture (PipeWire)” source and a window should pop up asking for which screen or application window you want to capture.
Works with KDE and GNOME, not sure about other desktop environments.
- Comment on Steam Deck - SteamOS 3.6.0 Preview: Remote-Controlled 6 months ago:
Fedora has been using it for years. The only thing that comes to my mind is that maybe it had some issues with the Deck’s standby mode? I wouldn’t think so, but why else would they not ship it for now?
- Comment on Steam Deck - SteamOS 3.6.0 Preview: Remote-Controlled 6 months ago:
Ah that makes sense I guess. Just felt weird to me to jump from 6.1 to 6.5 instead of 6.6.
- Comment on Steam Deck - SteamOS 3.6.0 Preview: Remote-Controlled 6 months ago:
It would also help with SSD lifespan, especially on smaller SSDs. It’ll likely improve performance further with the 64 GB eMMC model some people are still using stock.
- Comment on Steam Deck - SteamOS 3.6.0 Preview: Remote-Controlled 6 months ago:
So the zram change didn’t make it? I thought it was a great change, but it’s not mentioned here.
Kernel 6.5 is an odd choice as 6.6 is the latest longterm release.
Great that Mesa is up-to-date though.
Does overclocking support for the LCD Deck mean we can increase frequency?
- Comment on Is the difference between OLED and LCD models really that big? 6 months ago:
I have the OG Steam Deck (one so “old” it had the Delta fan from the factory which I swapped for the better one) and while tempting, I didn’t upgrade (yet?).
I’m strictly using the Deck to complement my desktop PC, so I don’t have that many hours on the device. If it was my primary gaming device, I would’ve probably upgraded already.
Efficiency improvements and a bigger battery are nice and noticeable, and so is the way better screen obviously. I wouldn’t say it’s a completely different experience though and the OLED model isn’t perfect either. I would’ve liked to see a VRR panel for example as the Deck struggles hard to keep a somewhat consistent frame rate with many bigger modern titles.
- Comment on New AMD CPU leak looks like a perfect fit for Steam Deck 2 6 months ago:
The relevant metric is how much faster it is at the same power draw. The Z1 Extreme/7840U/8840U are faster compared to the Deck’s APU, but at equal power limits there isn’t too much in it.
- Comment on I used to be a frame rate snob but owning a Steam Deck has made me realise the error of my ways 7 months ago:
My point is that game developers should aim to deliver games that render at similar framerates throughout.
Scenes in most games usually have a high variety of complexity, so the way you’d achieve that is through getting a baseline quite a bit higher than your target FPS, and then limit FPS to your target FPS. This way the game won’t utilize near 100 % of the GPU most of the time, but peaks in scene complexity won’t cause FPS to drop below the set cap.
This is how it works or at least use to work for a lot of games on console. On PC, you almost always have to make the choice yourself (which is a good thing if you ask me).
For many games with a lot of changing scenery I have to target around 45 FPS with graphics settings to even have a chance of achieving somewhat consistent 30 FPS/33.33ms on the Deck.
On the one hand the Deck is heavily underpowered compared to even lower-end PCs. On the other hand tests show that the Z1 Extreme/7840U isn’t much faster at these lower wattages (10-15 watts TDP), so there hasn’t been a lot of progress yet.
But it’s also that many games don’t scale so well anymore. I feel like half the settings in many modern games don’t affect performance to any noticeable degree, and even fewer settings affect CPU usage. And if there’s low settings, the game often looks unrecognizable because these lower setting models, textures and lighting/shadows are simply generated by the engine SDK and rarely given second thoughts.
- Comment on Owners Report Valve’s Priciest Steam Deck Model Has A Cracking Problem 7 months ago:
This affects just the US exclusive limited edition, right? So not the most expensive regular model with an opaque case.
- Comment on looking for a dock that let's me connect my DVI monitor 7 months ago:
I’d try a DisplayPort to DVI cable. HDMI to DVI might work as well, but docks usually have their own circuitry for HDMI, and most probably don’t implement DVI compatibility. DisplayPort is more likely simple passthrough (not sure though), and the Deck’s APU most likely understands DVI.
- Comment on Third party docks 7 months ago:
One thing to keep in mind is that the Steam Deck will negotiate a maximum of 45 watts of power from the wall. Docks/hubs with PD passthrough (which most are) will NOT negotiate power themselves (as they’d need to provide their own internal power supply for the Deck then) and simply reserve/use a portion of that power budget for themselves. Some docks use so much power for themselves that the Deck can actually discharge under heavy load. I’ve experienced this with some Anker hubs for example.
Note that it doesn’t matter if you have a higher wattage USB-C power supply. The Steam Deck will always negotiate 45 watts (15V@3A) at most.
- Comment on Outside of gaming, how do you guys use your Steam Deck? 8 months ago:
That’s mostly it for me. Handheld gaming. I used it for a “retro” LAN party 3 times. I also watched a movie on it with some friends with a very scuffed setup consisting of the Steam Deck + dock + external display + old car radio with speakers, lol.
Sure I used it as a desktop (with monitor, mouse and keyboard) browsing the web and stuff just to see how well it does, but I prefer my full-size PC for desktop use and a notebook for the couch to be honest.
- Comment on [Help] Performance spikes in Minecraft Bedrock? 8 months ago:
Are you playing single player or multiplayer?
If you’re playing single player, this reads like I/O lag to me. Every 30 seconds is probably the autosave timer, and opening chests loads their contents.
Could you check whether these spikes happen on a multiplayer server as well?
- Comment on Selling my deck 11 months ago:
Considering officially refurbished Steam Decks are already a lot cheaper and they are checked for functionality/repaired if necessary and also come with fresh warranty, only going down $100 from the original asking price likely doesn’t get your listing a lot of attention.
- Comment on [News] Steam Deck OLED review: much more than a screen improvement - Polygon 11 months ago:
Sustained brightness is 600 nits, 1000 nits is peak brightness for HDR content. Still an improvement of course.
I’m wondering whether the charging circuitry is largely the same except for the quicker charging to 80 %. I’d love to be able to use some higher-powered USB-C hubs with PD passthrough, where currently a hub using 15 watts leaves 30 watts for the deck, and using a higher wattage charger won’t change that because the Deck only requests 45 watts (15 V @ 3 A). Would be great if the new Deck could do, say, 60 watts (20 V @ 3 A), because leaving just 30 watts to the Deck is right on the edge under full load with an external display, meaning it has to fallback to battery momentarily, which isn’t great.
Another nice thing to have would be a low-power standby/download mode, for which they’d probably have to tweak the hardware a bit. I don’t use my Deck too often (great device, but it only fills specific gaps in my gaming needs), and every time I pick it up it starts downloading quite a few game updates.
The OLED model is tempting, but I don’t use the Deck enough to justify upgrading I think.
A bit sad for these guys who made a display upgrade for the original Deck released a few weeks ago (the 1920x1200 one), as most people who really care about display quality will probably just upgrade to the OLED model instead. The higher resolution seems rather pointless (the Deck doesn’t have enough oompfh to run modern games in this resolution), especially compared to a bigger, brighter, higher refresh rate OLED screen.
- Comment on [News] Steam Deck OLED review: much more than a screen improvement - Polygon 1 year ago:
Gotta check whether iFixit already did a teardown on this. Repairability is improved, but I’m wondering by how much, especially when it comes to screen and battery replacement.
- Comment on [News] Steam Deck OLED review: much more than a screen improvement - Polygon 1 year ago:
The now lowest end model (256 GB) still is the old model, so it’s a sibling.