SteamOS 3.2 update adds refresh rate settings, quieter fan curve to the Steam Deck

27 May 2022
You can now set the display to 40Hz instead of 60Hz to improve battery life. Also, the fan is now controlled by the OS instead of the BIOS and makes less noise.

Sort by:

  • S
  • Sin
  • N5a
  • 15 Jun 2022

steam deck screen 60hz whats the point in making it even worse
a gaming smartphone has 165hz screen or at least a 120hz screen
less then 60hz unplayable steam deck was tested has 1.30 hour battery life gaming
saving battery life by playing at a painful 40hz really ?

    • S
    • Sin
    • N5a
    • 12 Jun 2022

    value steam deck don't look all that good

    60hz slow low hz screen
    ips screen not as good for gaming as oled
    only 64gb emmc storage
    sd cards are too slow for gaming
    can only game at 30fps 720p in 2022
    only 1.30 hour battery life = rubbish
    will have too wait a year or 2 for per order too come
    can't make calls so you still need too buy and carry a phone too

    gaming smartphones are smaller and better
    lenovo legion y90 or nubia red magic 7 pro

    120hz or 144hz fast screen
    oled screen
    1tb ufs storage or 128 ssd + 500gb ufs storage
    good battery life
    better size too carry around
    also has built in fans
    can make phone calls don't need carry a extra



      Anonymous, 04 Jun 2022The point is that handheld consoles should be light and sli... moreAgreed.
      I wouldn't focus on a portable handheld, but rather a pocketable console. If I had a time machine here's how I would do it:
      Sony PlayStation Phone
      Similar to the Xperia 1 mk.IV
      17:9 display with rounded-corners, flat display
      120Hz 1080p screen, IPS (no burn-in), roughly 5.9inch size
      IP53 splash resistant, with User Removable Battery
      About 4000mAh
      Attachable JoyCons on both sides
      Each phone is sold with a spare battery, the controllers, a large holder for the JoyCons, and a 1-year subscription to PlayStation Cloud service
      ...games are done for 720p, 30fps, Low Settings, for 3-hour battery life

      But you can buy an optional dock, which houses the device and connects your monitor/TV
      The dock fast charges the phone, has some ports for USB, HDMI, Ethernet. It also has active fan, which shuts down the iGPU, and overclocks the CPU. Inside the dock it also has an eGPU which steps up the performance. To a 2160p, 60fps, High Settings, powered through the wall (no battery life).

      However this would make it very expensive, and a niche device. It wouldn't fare too well in sales. We're talking about a USD $500 phone, and a USD $500 Dock. But in the future it might be more feasible.

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • 70d
        • 04 Jun 2022

        Kangal, 03 Jun 2022I think you are confusing "handheld" (like an iPa... moreThe point is that handheld consoles should be light and slim to make players comfortable while playing games for long periods of time. Playing games continuously for 4 or 5 hours with short breaks is normal.

        When Nintendo released the Famicom/NES, they weren't an establish player, and the Famicom/NES sold over 60 million units. Sony wasn't an establish player either when they released the PlayStation, and it sold over 100 million units. The Xbox is a failure. It sold over 24 million units, though.

        By the way, the GPU of the PS4 Pro is about 128% more powerful than that of the PS4. The PS4 has a 100% higher memory bandwidth than the Steam Deck. Overall, the Steam Deck is much closer to the PS4 than the PS4 Pro.

          Anonymous, 02 Jun 2022You should call a spade a spade. These consoles are failure... moreI think you are confusing "handheld" (like an iPad) with the term of "pocketable" (like an iPhone).

          The 10 Million figure is still the better, because that's what the standard would be for non-established players, which is what Valve is currently. Whereas established competitors like Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft should be targeting something more like 50 Million. If Sony (THE dominant established player in the market) only sold 30 Million PS4's that would be a very lukewarm performance for them. If they hit 50 Million, then they would feel like it was successful. And anything higher means Great Success. Which we know, it has hit around 120 Million units, behind the PS2's 160 Million figure, and ahead of the 100 Million figure of the Switch, Wii, PS1, and the 90 Million figure of the PS3.

          Also, when the XB1 and PS4 were announced, a lot of people were disappointed with the hardware/performance. They were using a CPU that was 2-3 generations behind and a GPU that was 1-2 generations behind. Contrast that with the PS5 and XsX which are using the latest generation CPU and GPU. I recall AMD themselves stated their Vega-11CU was roughly equivalent to the GPU performance of the PS4. Whilst there is about a +30% uplift going from Vega to RDNA-1, and another +20% going to RDNA-2. So potentially we're talking about a +50% increase in GPU performance there alone.

          Which makes me realise as I type this, that the PS4 Pro was stated to be +100% faster than the PS4. So the Steam Deck should be somewhere in-between the two. And it makes me think, that in another universe we could have had an "Xbox Handheld" (eg Q4 2016, GTX 10-series iGPU, Intel 6-series iCPU) that is slightly faster than the PS4, theoretically, but it would cost an arm, a leg, and your left ball.

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • 70d
            • 02 Jun 2022

            Kangal, 30 May 2022The ones I listed (Sega Saturn, Sega Dreamcast, PS Vita, Ni... moreYou should call a spade a spade. These consoles are failures. There is no need to try to soften it. As for the Steam Deck, 30 million should be the minimum target. I doubt that it will sell 30 million units, though. The main problem with it is that it's hefty and bulky. It's the antithesis of what a handheld console should be.

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • 70d
              • 02 Jun 2022

              Kangal, 02 Jun 2022So the Steam Deck is above RX 460 and below RX 470. Whilst ... moreNo, as said, the GPU is much weaker. Most games that are CPU-intensive are also GPU-intensive, so a more powerful CPU doesn't help in most cases. Overall, the Steam Deck is only on par with the PS4.

                Anonymous, 31 May 2022Steam Deck has better CPU without a doubt. GPU however (at ... moreSo the Steam Deck is above RX 460 and below RX 470. Whilst the PS4 Pro is around RX 470. Do you think the VSD will be roughly on par with the PS4 Pro due to the other advantages mentioned? And if not now, so you think the VSD can close the gap (or even surpass it) in the future with maturation and optimisations?

                The Elder Ring port looks very promising, and that's still relatively new.

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • 70d
                  • 01 Jun 2022

                  Anonymous, 31 May 2022Steam Deck has better CPU without a doubt. GPU however (at ... moreThe Steam Deck is like a portable PS4.

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • QwS
                    • 31 May 2022

                    Kangal, 30 May 2022On the GPU front, the new RDNA-2 unit in the Steam Deck wit... moreSteam Deck has better CPU without a doubt. GPU however (at peak clocks), even with RDNA2's 50% IPC increase is significantly weaker than PS4 Pro. According to digital foundry, it performs similar to RX 460 at 1080p in Doom Eternal. They also note GPU tends to throttle when a game pushes the CPU due to system's low TDP. It has low ROP count and memory bandwidth which limits its performance at higher resolutions.

                    "VSD gets ~65fps, 720p, at Medium Settings for Doom Eternal. Whereas the PS4 Pro gets around ~55fps, 1080p, at Low Settings on Doom Eternal."

                    Doom Eternal runs at a stable 60 fps and dynamic 1440p (lowest resolution recorded being 1813×1020) on PS4 Pro.

                    That said Steam Deck has very good performance for a handheld and should achieve higher fps albeit at lower resolution than PS4 Pro in CPU bound games.

                      Anonymous, 29 May 2022All consoles you listed are failures. In console world, con... moreThe ones I listed (Sega Saturn, Sega Dreamcast, PS Vita, Nintendo WiiU) are indeed seen as failures when looked through the lens/expectations of a mainstream device. They were there, and they were seen, and they were remembered... but they were not "hits".

                      If you look at those same devices through a different lens/expectation, such as that serving a "niche" or coming from the small startup, then it would be considered very successful.

                      That is why the "10 Million Sold" is a good metric, it separates the niche from the mainstream. And I do believe that if TSMC/AMD are willing to supply the chipset, Valve would be able to sell 10 Million Units. That would be more than the combined sales of all (7 Million?) GPD handhelds, just to put some perspective.

                      If, and it is a BIG IF, that Valve decides to start MARKETING the Steam Deck to the on the Legacy Media, it would be picked up by Mainstream and go viral. Then I wouldn't be shocked if they pass the 30 Million mark easily.

                        Anonymous, 29 May 2022"If you look at it as a Home Console, it is pretty muc... moreOn the GPU front, the new RDNA-2 unit in the Steam Deck with it's 8-CU is impressive. When the VSD runs at max clock on the iGPU, they're equal. And when it goes down to regular frequency it is still pretty capable. While the PS4 Pro uses the same GPU as an underclocked RX-470 (roughly equal to GTX 970 or GTX 1650). The PS4 Pro is using a CPU that is slightly more powerful than an Intel Atom. And it has Shared-RAM with higher latency, and a Hard-Drive that is fairly slow by modern standards.

                        Yet, the VSD uses an SSD, has much faster latency RAM, lot's of cache, and the CPU is much much faster. So any small disadvantages it might have in the GPU-side, it will more than make up for it from the holistic/system side. Overall, the Valve Steam Deck is roughly equivalent to the Gaming Performance of the PS4 Pro.

                        ...you can even compare the Gaming Performance between the two. For instance, VSD gets ~65fps, 720p, at Medium Settings for Doom Eternal. Whereas the PS4 Pro gets around ~55fps, 1080p, at Low Settings on Doom Eternal.

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • iF4
                          • 30 May 2022

                          Anonymous, 30 May 2022There should still be the older more agressive fan curve as... more"..comes with an OS-controlled fan curve. It is smarter than the old BIOS-controlled system, so the fan is much quieter, especially in low usage situations. If you prefer, you can enable the old behavior in the system settings. Valve will continue tweaking the fan control trying to find further improvements."

                          It still exists, they didn't remove it.

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • 2Wx
                            • 30 May 2022

                            No matter what, products like this will still be a niche product. Limiting your device to 40hz isn't all that enjoyable for a PC gaming experience IMO.

                            AMD Phoenix APUs might address that, but I guess we will see.

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • 8bm
                              • 30 May 2022

                              There should still be the older more agressive fan curve as an option. Some people care about console longevity. Using the thermal throttling argument isn't the point. There are other components on the motherboard that last longer when they have active cooling.

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • 70d
                                • 29 May 2022

                                Kangal, 29 May 2022You said "it won't be", which I thought you ... moreAll consoles you listed are failures. In console world, consoles that sell less than 20 million units in their lifetimes are failures.

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • QwS
                                  • 29 May 2022

                                  Kangal, 27 May 2022The Nintendo Switch has sold more units than the combined s... more"If you look at it as a Home Console, it is pretty much on-par with the PS4 Pro."

                                  No, it isn't. Not at all.

                                    Fearghast, 27 May 2022I own both Switch and Deck and there is like no comparison,... moreYou said "it won't be", which I thought you were saying that the Valve Steam Deck will not be successful. But I guess your contention was the other word "huge". As in it will not be a "huge" success.

                                    I guess I don't disagree with you entirely now. So far, the VSD has been on a really good trajectory. You may be right, they may sell a few units (eg 1 Million) and stop and lose momentum. Or completely wrong, and they shoot off with a great product legacy. What is the metric we measure this by? I would think a fair goal would be the 10 Million Units sold to customers. Consoles which sold close to this figure are: Sega Saturn, Sega Dreamcast, PS Vita, Nintendo WiiU. All of these were "mainstream" but barely, they were not niche but certainly not big-blockbuster hits like the Gameboy, DS, Wii, Switch.

                                    I also don't agree with your assessment that they are different (PC vs Console). The fact is the Steam Deck is a gaming console created by Valve. It is not a PC. It can "become a PC" if you flash it with Windows 10 operating system or use it with a full-linux distribution.
                                    ....Does that mean you call the AYN Odin Pro, as also a PC ?
                                    It is plenty capable because it do many many PC-things thanks to it's capable operating system (AndroidOS). Or you can also flash it with Windows-on-ARM, and run Windows Programs through it.
                                    ....Does that also mean you call the Nintendo Switch, as also a PC ?
                                    It is plenty more capable and do PC-things, when you compare it to the likes of say the Gameboy Advance, or perhaps the Nintendo DS. So it is a bit trite to separate them as such.

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • 70d
                                      • 28 May 2022

                                      Kangal, 27 May 2022The Nintendo Switch has sold more units than the combined s... moreLOL. The Switch isn't a niche product. It's on track to become the best-selling console in history. The Steam Deck is.

                                        Kangal, 27 May 2022The Nintendo Switch has sold more units than the combined s... moreI own both Switch and Deck and there is like no comparison, because one is a PC and the other is a Nintendo console. The fact they share pretty much the same form factor is unimportant at best.
                                        Probably the only games I would be having a hard time deciding on which system to boot in on are Dead Cells, Hollow Knight, Lego games and similar titles.

                                        I never called Deck a fail, it already delivered in spades, but what I call it is insignificant in terms of sales and future sales potential.
                                        + It is underpowered, but considering TDP, cooling, battery and a PRICE, it's more than adequate.

                                          1 of 2