Steam Deck vs Xbox Series S: Can Valve's Portable Match The Entry-Level Next-Gen Console?
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- Опубликовано: 2 июн 2024
- If Xbox Series S represents the baseline for next generation console development, can Valve's Steam Deck keep up running the same games at the same settings (or similar!) albeit at reduced resolution? That's the conceit behind this fascinating video from Oliver Mackenzie, tackling a range of challenging games - as well as legacy titles.
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00:00:00 Sizing up the Steam Deck
00:02:26 Cyberpunk 2077, Control, GRID Legends
00:08:28 DiRT 5, Guardians of the Galaxy
00:12:26 How close can Steam Deck get to Series S?
00:15:14 Xbox Series S back-compat vs the Steam Deck Library
00:17:34 Conclusions 
Игры
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if anything this video shows me that the Series S is actually a far more capable console than i was giving it credit for. Whenever it’s put up in the context of the far more powerful Series X and PS5 it always feels like the weak and frail little console that really can’t keep up. However after watching this video I’m noticing that even the Series S is able to run so many big name games at more or less locked 60/30 frame rates and acceptable resolution targets.
So many people need to open their eyes to the same facts.
Little bro is a great console. And it’s half the price of a SteamDeck with the same storage space.
@@TBoogy3 It seems to be the perfect console for a 1080p 120hz monitor
I have both to play online coop using gamepass for the games that don't allow local coop experiences, I have to say regardless of whether I'm playing X or S the experience and enjoyment is ultimately the same, so glad it competes with load times, the latest SSD tech is a real game changer for so many openworld games
@@carolinagamer2874 even better, a 1440p monitor. My friend down the street is using it as such. I bought one and returned it. I already have an X, and it looks way better on a 85 inch tv.
If the steam deck becomes a popular platform in its own right, developers of PC ports are likely to spend the extra effort to target a baseline performance level for the hardware. Rather than struggling with future games, more PC titles may include the customization settings or dynamic resolution settings to really take advantage of the steam deck. I remain impressed with how much performance Valve was able to squeeze out of this device.
yes. its not a question of win/lose the test. being compared to a next gen console is already a win for valve
@@fabio.domingos Easily a good thing, but will the developers take notice? Sony and Microsoft have advertising budget. Is Valve even doing so? They can compete for sure. The series S 1080/1440p vs the steam deck at 720p/800p mobile? This thing crushes titles at that res for that spec.
Imagine this beeing reality gyaaaat how many frames we could´ve get. Probably like 250%+
And maybe native linux game on steam get more attention too
As a huge handheld gaming fan... this is exactly what I'm hoping.
Watching this on Series S, I wonder if anyone is watching this on a Steam Deck lol.
They are brother , I'm sure 👍
Lol I am :p
Me haha xD
I am watching this on my xbox series s soon Apple cheese does
Cope??
5:30 That upsampling is REALLY impressive, have to say.
And as always: Please keep doing these in-depth comparisons, no matter the platform. You guys are the standard everyone should be following.
At the end, I cannot help but feel that developers should put out more competent PC ports. But it's always been that way, despite the PC community pretty much always rewarding that effort.
Kinda thought the opposite. Especially at 5:42. Doesn't even look upsampled at all. It's about 40% less resolution and it still looks about 40% worse.
Dynamic resolution would be pretty sweet though for Control on Steam Deck. I would prefer that over the upsampling
@@krectus That's an old problem that got corrected with DLSS 2.0 and partially with updates to DLSS first-gen, but is still present in most non-Tensor upsampling to date. Namely things that are rather easily reconstructed having vector graphics of known-goods like in this case slightly angled roman letters, will just look like they're captured by a low-res camera.
I don't know if it's viable to correct without having specific hardware bits like RTX GPUs do, but maybe the devs behind it will work wonders with a neat trick.
I’ve been playing on PC recently with a similar 900p to 1080p upsample and it looks very, very close to native, but with a huge FPS boost that allows me to lock at 60fps on my aging PC.
It handles stills very well but movement is much harder.
When you talk about this I want it more each time, your analysis that it works great for older stuff and might struggle with new stuff is honestly just fine for me, it looks like a good "catch up with what you missed while you are out and about" type deal
Deck owner here. Just wanted to add that with plugins like PowerTools to switch CPU SMT and boost clocks, Deck's built-in refresh rate limiter and GPU clock controls and various versions of Proton and Proton GE + in-game and ini tweaks - you can achieve a LOT.
For example, Forza Horizon 4 is marked as "unsupported" by Valve. Boo! I installed it and...it ran, but was very choppy and stuttery, no matter what settings - basically unplayable... The culprit? GPU clocks were not holding, so I had to manually lock them at ~1100MHz, then boost the CPU via PowerTools and tweak the settings a bit - presto mundo: 60fps 👍
Similar story with emulating the Switch version of Diablo III - choppy, whether at native or 540p. Disabled SMT, boosted the CPU - BOOM perfect 60fps emulation at 720p!
This kind of tinkering is definitely not for everyone, but I have to say - it's really satisfying when you do hit that jackpot of making a game work the way you want! Especially if Valve says the game is "unsupported" xD
doesn't that kind of tweaks kill the battery though? there is a reason those are "unsupported" no?
Performance comes at a cost. You know this. Why ask
@@goeland4585 They are only "unsupported" because they do not run well (or at all) *out-of-the-box* - but this does not mean that they don't run *at all* - you can make them run with a few tweaks.
(So far I've managed to run everything I wanted - from olden NFS Underground/Carbon games, to every Diablo game (1, 2, 3 and remaster of 2), various "unsupported" games, Minecraft, etc. I actually spend more time with non-steam games than I do with Steam games on my Deck so far xD)
On top of that - plenty of "verified" games eat the battery for breakfast, so I really don't get your point here. Valve don't tune games for the Deck, they just make sure the games *run* properly - that's it! You're free to then tune for battery life OR visuals OR framerate OR a whatever balance of the former you desire to have - Valve provide plenty of tools to get started and the community add their own ingenuity as icing on the cake.
The Verified Program just provides a base level of seamless console-like experience for those that are new to PC gaming or want a simple gaming device, but it is not necessarily the be-all and end-all if you know your way around the system.
@@playerroku4412 I don't know this. I'd just like to know more; yes it probably uses more, but what does that mean in real use? 1h of battery? 1h30? more? That's "why ask"
@@goeland4585 See my reply above. And typical battery life is from ~90min for heavy drain to 4-6h for light/old games and some games tuned for battery-saving. Screen brightness, WiFi, bluetooth and speaker volume also negatively impact the battery. Brighter/louder/faster/etc = more energy consumed.
I’ve been really enjoying my steam deck. It’s also great at playing many PC only games that are pretty old.
Witcher 1 plays great on there, despite not having controller support. Steam input does a fantastic job of taking PC controls to a handheld.
Prototype and Prototype 2 both play out of box on Steam Deck but can't play on my gaming laptop unless I star changing affinity cores and gimp my cpu to 4 cores. Even Ignition on Steam which is from 1996 via included dosbox plays but you need to manually map the keyboard to the controller but it's super easy with Steam input.
What has impressed me most is the binding of the right joystick to the left trackpad in Wildermyth. I use it to scroll over the map, and it feels like I'm using a freaking mouse while right clicking. I've played that game with the gamepad controls and the addition of the trackspads, meaning I can navigate menus like with a controller, but switch to mouse controls for all combat instantly, and it's amazing. Seriously better than it currently is on a nomal PC.
@Brandon Smythe Witcher 2 is the one game in the series that has an actual Linux build, so should run just fine on Deck. Should.. ;)
@@glennshoemake4200 HAHA, FINALLY! Someone mentions this issue. Prototype is such a great game, but god forbid the things that have to be done to get it to work via Windows.
Regarding Unreal Engine 5, it should be noted that Steam Deck is an officially supported platform (and not merely Linux, to be clear), and so any issues there are with it should eventually be resolved.
Probably true. Valve seems pretty proactive about patching their system just to fix other people's games.
I understood the concerns going into my Steam Deck purchase. But I was never really concerned with the upcoming raytraced AAA titles. I have a desktop hooked up to a a good monitor for those. I got a Steam Deck for my older games that I could play on the go and cut down my backlog, to have a Linux portable PC, and the great emulation freedom it offers. I am satisfied with that role for it. Others might be better served with a console or a more powerful PC.
And you can always stream from PC to Deck which works great
RT is still not worth it even with 3090 TI imo. You lost like 70% of the performance, for some prettier lightning and in most games, the resolution on the reflections is so low that its uglier imo. Only 2 games where its really worth it is Minecraft and Quake 2. That said a couple of years from now with like 5070 or whatever its gonna be really nice. But with current GPUs its not wroth it.
@Terry the Translator Both GTA V and Doom run at 60 fps on the Deck...... GTA V on medium settings same for Doom. You can add in some high settings as well.
RT is great but you need at least a 3070, preferably a 3080 and up to get anywhere near half decent performance alongside the visuals. So far I've gone through 3 different RT GPUs and also have a deck which is also theoretically RT capable. AMDs RT performance still isn't that great which means the PS5s RT performance is also going to lag. So I don't really think RT with full set of effects is actually viable on the home consoles without huge compromises. You need a really high end desktop.
@@Mundus66 No it can be really good. Depends on the games art direction and style. Cyberpunk, The Ascent, Control, Metro Exodus all look great and are enhanced by it.
Same I'm getting mine to cut down on my back log, I'll be able to play on my long brakes at work .
I've been loving my Steam Deck. It truly is a beast and native 720 on that screen looks like 1080 on my big monitor. it's hard to get me off the damn thing lol
Really hope Valve won't budge to the demands of a 1080p screen for the Steam Deck 2. 720p is more than enough with this screen size and will help tremendously with demanding next gen titles.
@@dampflokfreund yeah 720p is fine for a screen size like this. plus it uses quite a bit less battery power to drive a screen like that and obviously the steam deck battery is not fantastic so every little helps
Its really failing me atm
Yeah, I've played 150 hours of Elden ring on it, and I'm constantly saying to myself DAMN THIS LOOKS SOO GOOD
I was actually shocked at how good the resolution is. I have a 1080p monitor that is about 2.5 times as large, and I have no issues with that. The Deck is way better than that.
Resolution is overrated
This was probably the first product where I had low-ish expectations and what I got blew me away with how much it exceeded these expectations. I thought I'd barely be running Cyberpunk on low and I'm getting 30fps with everything but distant shadows turned up to high.
when pc gamers are proud of 30fps, you know youve got a problem.
@@nick13b 30fps on high... on a tiny handheld powered by a super low wattage processor.
50-60% of all steam users cant even do that properly with their pc's, hell, my old i5 7400, GTX 1060 could barely pull that off.
what are you expecting? our pc's are gigantic and still have to worry about heat, get real
@@jayspeidell And don`t forget that the RDNA 2 GPU inside the Steam Deck outputs about 25% more graphical performance per Tflops than the older architecture found in the PS4 and Xbox. So performance wise the RDNA 2 GPU has an output equivalent to 2 tflops when taking it`s architectural efficiency in count. Xbox one has 1.31 Tflops and PS4 1.84 Tflops but that`s on an Architecture from 2012 and that`s 8 years ago. 8 years is an lifetime in technical terms. Even my Black Shark 3 Pro phone outperforms a PS4. PS4 had an old mobil chip from 2011 that was already outdated.
@@nick13b for a handheld, it's impressive
@@nick13b 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡
12:40 "The results are surprisingly close"?
They where miles apart...
Great video Oliver ! Loved your approach to the deck. Please give us more content like this ! More steam deck and other portable PCs videos.
It's such a shame that few PC games have dynamic resolution scaling
I hope the Steam Deck will help change that. It should become a default feature in any game.
Maybe valve should add a tier above verified. I'm thinking deck optimized and it has to include dynamic resolution scaling to get that certification of deck optimized. Just an idea maybe that won't work well idk.
There is that Radeon Boost feature in the AMD drivers that can reduce the resolution in games but the problem is that it's tied to controller motion and not frame rate.
If Valve worked with AMD to improve that so it can work with any game by internally reducing the resolution on the gpu only when the frame rate drops under the target frame rate, that would be a big help for the Steam Deck and even lower end PC gamers.
To this day, I still find it strange why that feature is tied to mouse movement when frame rate would make more sense.
@@paul1979uk2000
It's tied to camera motion because that is when you are least likely to notice the degredation in image quality when it is on screen less.
PS Vita did this in Killzone: Mercenary the game runs at native res... when standing still but as soon as the camera moves the resolution drops and it isn't actually very noticeable despite 960x544 being a pretty low resolution to start with (especially for more modern looking games). PS Vita's pixel density sits at 221 PPI and is very comparable and slightly higher than The Steam Deck's 215 PPI display.
@@Spencerwalker21 yeah I think that’s a smart idea. Verified should mean it’s certified to work, but not necessarily optimized for it
I really like this comparison! Awesome job Oliver! You’ve been a great addition to DF!
High quality video. Clear, concise, informative. Thanks.
I think I'd always choose 40fps over 30. A good compromise from 60 but not eye-bleed 30
Yeah definitely. I can tolerate 40 fps no problem. It feels a lot more responsive and fluid. 30 fps just looks and feels awful.
Eye bleed 30 🤣
Yeah you said it
I agree,I was impressed with 40fps on Steam Deck for certain Games
I find 35 to be quite less jarring then 30 myself. 40 is a good call.
Lol 30-35 or 40 is definitely an upgrade but not eye bleed to ok lol
To me the fact that the Steam OS can run these modern games at all is a huge plus added to the value of the handheld, let alone at Series S level of performance. I was planning to use the Steam Deck primarily for indie or less demanding 2D/2.5D titles and older generation 3D games, but having also the option to run modern games is something to admire. I rather play the newest games on a big screen anyway so I don't feel the need of having GOTG on the go for example, that one is best enjoyed at home.
Agreed. Some games are just better on a big screen. Though the steam deck could easily be used for modding as well.
Exactly why buy a brand new triple A game just to see it on a small 800p screen (no hate to the deck i love/own it) but if im buying any new game it has to be on the xsx or ps5 so i can really get the full experience and graphics! Its only acceptable when they go on sale for under 25 then its a steall like rdr2 is only 20 on steam
The flexibility of the Deck is incredible and unmatched. Requires tinkering and setting up, but if you have even a basic knowledge of PCs it's pretty easy to do it. I can flip from playing 3DS games (which look INCREDIBLE... better than Switch games) to circa 2015 PC games in ultra settings which look jaw droppingly good, to current-day games at mid-low settings (which, again, look a lot better than any Switch port of anything) to Switch emulation, to Arcade emulation... in minutes. The game mode interface is incredibly snappy. You can customize anything you want in any way you want... and on top of all of that you have a full fledged linux PC desktop if you so chose. I only had a work laptop when I purchased my Deck and it became my personal use PC on top of my Nintendo Switch replacement.
Btw, you can also buy an dock for the steamdeck so u can play on the tv and also add an better gpu if im sure. :)
This is a great video Oliver, definitely your best for DF to date. Thanks and keep it up! :)
Thank you Oliver! I just grabbed Cyberpunk and the settings suggestions for 720p really cleaned up the picture over the default/Verified preset. Great content as always.
These are the two devices I decided to game on this generation and they're both good enough that they compliment each other satisfyingly I think.
Not to mention you can now lock the refresh rate to any number from 60 to 30Hz. With this, if your game struggles getting those 60fps constantly and stays around 50, just put the refresh rate to 50Hz and vsync the game for a great experience. The support Valve is outputing is certainly impresive, can't wait to get one.
Both steam and the community have done incredible wonders with the device. It's a no brainer if you are looking for a Switch upgrade and you have any type of experience with computers and PC gaming. If linux scares you, it shouldn't. I had only ever really used Windows and going from winodows to linux was extremely easy, and frankly, I would never want to go back to windows on a non-work computer ever again.
Love the much needed variety brought by Oliver's work. Hope he would do some videos on Linux distros.
That's a comparison I never would have thought of. Interesting. Thanks Oliver.
People keep putting down the series S and you need to start opening your eyes
Valve have really kickstarted the handheld PC, they have floated about with products from GPD and AYA over the years but this has propelled it into the mainstream from being niche. Excited for Zen 4/RDNA3 and Zen 5/RDNA3+ APU based handhelds!
It is still niche tho, the steam deck wont sell even close to 10mi, maybe 5mi at best.
Lol, there was a tonn pc handhelds before and with better sales.
Not really. It's just that Zen 2 is finally capable of using anything on limited hw.
Handheld PCs exist for 30+ years, back in mid 2000s there were a bunch that offered an ok gaming experience for older games as well, with the withdrawal of VIA the market kinda disappeared and only reappeared with GPD and such
@@zaxmaxlax it's actually enough if it sells a million, that's a lot of a market increase to raise awareness and get the competition better sales as well, at the end of the day valve put steamdeck on AAA dev roadmaps and that's a big improvement over no AAA company caring about handheld PCs
Really good video, I appreciate the effort.
Excellent coverage. Thank you for your detailed comparison
Loving my steam deck, made me fall in love with gaming all over again. Amazing little machine.
A very interesting in-depth review & comparison there, definitely looks like the Steam Deck can hold up pretty well for most of those games, even if some or a lot of tweaks have to be made to get better performance in some cases, it still looks like it holds up great too!😮👍👏
Love to see Oliver get some more in depth projects on the channel
@watchmejumpstart no but he was trying to see if he could match series S performance not run optimized deck settings , and he did switch to 50hz to show games that have unstable performance can be curved by using the decks tools. And ya this video is more in depth then just comparing xbox one and ps4 versions
@watchmejumpstart ya you can, and digital foundry has already mentioned that in previous videos. But the point was to hit series S quality and in many cases that was 60fps, and in the games that hit 30fps he was aiming for better image quality. I'm an fps snob so I'd aim for 40fps or higher too but that wasn't the point of the video.
I have both a ps5 and a series s.. I think people have the wrong idea, they arent leagues apart, the difference isn't anything close to being night and day.
I agree with you. To this day, I'm still impressed with games on my PS4 running on my 4K TV to boot, 1080p scales perfectly obviously. So for me, once last gen hardware is not supported and developers can utilize ALL the features of these current consoles, even the Series will look amazing. If they can just target 1080p, not 1440p, it should look good even next to PS5 or Series X.
@@davidandrew6855 With a 4k TV with decent upscaling built-in, even better! Definitely comparable to PS5 in my experience also.
@@davidandrew6855 i still have my white ps4 pro, i keep it in my bedroom and use it primarily for streaming my PS5 in my living room remotely. Still a nice piece of hardware. I've been saying since day 1 that we really didn't need a new generation of hardware this soon. We would have been fine until at least 2024 imo.
@@davidandrew6855 also, i think the launch day xbox one & the one s were really the only two consoles starting to show their age, base ps4 and ps4 pro could have still made due for a few years.
I honestly wish Sony would have got their supply chain issues worked out better before launching new hardware, the majority of people still dont have PS5 and let's be honest.. The scalping issue was / still is pure insanity and should have never happened. Glad I'm not the only person with this opinion(s).
@@ReptilianRichardRamirez While I agree that the PS4/Pro and Xbox One X were still graphically capable, the CPUs were really holding them back toward the end. IT was 7 years old when current gen released, and that is ages in the tech world.
That being said I'm re-playing Days Gone and Uncharted on my PS4 slim, and damn those games look amazing. I also upgraded to an SSD, so that helped a decent amount with loading times and texture loading.
So yes I see where you are coming from, with more capable CPUs, last gen could have lasted a bit longer, before current gen released.
No, it can't. Calling it before I watch.
Edit: better than I thought but I didn't realize they would say 720p is equivalent to 1080p to 1440p. Also, series S does support 120 fps. I think steam deck to original ps4 would have been the more appropriate head to head.
And PS5 supports 8k but what game outside of Minecraft or indies run at 120fps I'll await no answer only I'm bring mean.
@@Spencerwalker21 I think your comment has some typos. What games are 120 fps on series S? Doom Eternal, cod warzone, gears 5 multiplayer, rocket league, fortnite, apex legends is supposed to get a 120 fps at some point. There are a handful of others I don't know off the top of my head. Series S is pretty decent for a budget console. It's 120 fps games are typically 900p to 1080p. 60 fps is 1080p to 1440p and 30 fps is 1440p to 4k depending on the game.
True you can get a deck to deliver similar performance when it's gpu bound so the lower res allows for the scaling but the cpu difference between the deck and series S is quite hefty.
For me it's not just about performance, but the catalog of games and the freedom of playing wherever I want. I love the switch, but having to re-purchase games I already owned elsewhere was not appealing, and the prices for switch games gets really expensive. With the Steam Deck I not only have the massive catalog of games I accumulated through the years through steam sales, humble bundle and more, but I also have the liberty to execute any (non-steam) games and applications I want, without having to jailbreak or modify my console. The performance is really great, and I'm sure some people will tell me that the aya neo or something else is more powerful, but I don't really care. It runs whatever game I throw at it just fine. I've been playing on the Deck for a few weeks and I'm hooked, especially since I move a lot and have empty spaces in my schedule.
I love my Steam Deck dude, have been buying and playing more games in 2 months than last year as a whole!
Valve is doing good creating a new segment of the market that will put a lot of money in their hands in the long run. It's kind of exciting, since they will keep trying to make the Steam Deck last longer with constant optimization so they can sell as many games per unit.
Same man. I'm actually more motivated to play games that have been on my backlog for so long. I haven't been this stoked about gaming in a long time.
Between you and Alex you've talked a lot about the Proton/Wine compatibility layer. Would it be possible to explore this without the limitation of the Steam Deck hardware by comparing and benchmarking games on some common Linux distributions (eg Ubuntu, Fedora and openSUSE) and compare those with Windows on a reasonably powerful desktop?
You can tell DF really is fond of the Steam Deck.
Everyone who has one is very fond of it 😊
@@lpnp9477 I have one and I am not very fond of it. I found the SteamOS to be a buggy nightmare. I had to use Windows to do anything meaningful outside of Steam games. It would have been smarter for me to sell it new at like $700-800 to get a laptop with a 1650 GPU. Because the Steam Deck is pretty low end.
@@coryv5679 then sell it...
@@coryv5679 agreed, steamdeck is garbage I already post it for 1100$ and people actually hit me up for it
@@coryv5679 If you consider a laptop in the same category as a handheld then Deck is probably not for you.
I FINALLY got my order in - supposed to be coming this weekend. From all the coverage you've guys have done, this little handheld looks like the perfect travel companion (assuming there's an outlet nearby..)
Absolutely. I travel a lot and this little machine is perfect for me I have a gaming laptop but that’s a chunky boy and heavy to carry around. This can just fit in my bag and I’m ready to go
Watch out for those loud fans though.
@@infinitysynthesis the fans are only loud above a 15W power draw since the updates
I got mine 3 days after my order so it should be quick
***Just a tip… Definitely look into jumping on the beta OS on the Deck and try out 40hz/40fps. It feels closer to 60fps than 30fps and saves a F**k load of battery life.***
DF has a few videos on this!
@@jarde1989 What a min. When did you order?
Great video. Your voice is so smooth.
Series s is a beast, best value for money gaming piece i have ever bought
Best thing about both platforms is that it ensures continued support or optimization for mid-range PC builds which means I could probably go multiple years with just my gaming laptop (which is like in between the Series S and PS5 in terms of power) in addition to my Switch and PS5
It doesn't ensure anything at all. Steam Deck might be s*it-canned by Valve like Steam PCs were.
Don't get things twisted, I still like the idea of Steam Deck and have a payment set for back-order on one unit, but be realistic about this thing. It will barely measures up to Xbox Series S which is on paper and in practice about at capable as an Xbox One X, but with HW accelerated RT. My laptop regularly outperforms Xbox Series S except where RT is deployed.
@@VariantAEC nah looks like deck will be supported for many years because everone is buying it
@@VariantAEC When a console is abandoned and doesn't perform well in sales games stop being developed for it and you can't get anything new on it. The Steam Deck doesn't have this problem because it has access to the entire Steam catalog. The worst case scenario is that developers don't bother optimizing for it if it is abandoned.
Going by the Steam hardware survey, most PCs these days have 4 cores, 16GB of RAM, a GTX 1060 and a 1080p screen. Sounds pretty mid-range / low-end to me. That is what ensures continued support or optimization for mid-range PC builds.
Yes, pretty graphics and fancy new features are good for advertising and carry a certain prestige, but I'm pretty sure developers know that most of their target audience is not going to run Cyberpunk maxed out, for example.
@@MR-vg7yn
16GB of VRAM? Not according to today's survey!
You meant system RAM.
VRAM is 8GB according to the Steam Hardware and Software Survey as of Saturday, June 11th 2022 6:32[PM] GMT.
[Edit: Added "PM" to timestamp]
The Steam Deck is more inline with a PS4 than a Series S.
They had to give Series S a win somewhere…
Awesome video, especially as an owner of both devices 👍
Lets get an update on this. Would love to see some comparisons on popular games that have been updated and/or released this fall
As always, a really high quality video. What seems to be the case, is that Valve has made a handheld console that PC Gamers can be satisfied with. My only question, is if someone does not come from PC - their only gaming experience is from console or Switch, will they too be happy with the Deck?
I love my Steam Deck! Its a great way to explore the older games in my library I never played! Older games usually run amazingly on deck! I am having a blast just seeing what it can do!
This reminds me of the Potato Masher series.
If you guys kept doing videos like this, I won't stop you.
Video very well done 👍
I can’t wait to finally get my steam deck. The ability to play while going outside and touching grass is a game changer
Do you know this thing is wider than your shoulders?
You know Laptops are a thing right?
you have to hook up a Bluetooth controller if you want to use a laptop not at a desk with a mouse also the steam deck is extremely cheap
Aren't you forgetting the person that took his Xbox 360 outside along with his TV along with battery packs that required a separate person to hold it and play it outside?
By "grass" you mean the porcelain throne and the sofa? xD
I think that a pretty valuable statistic to know for Deck users would be the average wattage usage. Battery life is pretty important on this portable console, and some games (especially the AAA ones that push the CPU/GPU) will eat a full battery in 1.5 hours, as well as having a nigh-constant fan blowing.
Definitely. I hope we see some advancements in battery tech soon. But until then, I've accepted the fact that I will be using the Deck plugged into an outlet 90% of the time. That okay for me as I will mainly use it if I am on a trip, or staying over at somebody's house, but not so great for actual use while traveling.
Excellent stuff!
damn, earned my subscription with this video
version 2 will be beastly , especially when going back in the catalog
A Control benchmark without Alex's "Corridor of Doom"?!?!
What has he done to deserve this terrible treatment? :P
This is the perfect video that I never knew I needed
Nice to see Grid: Legends performing so well on the Steam Deck. I was looking for a great racing game to play "on the go" and its already in my Steam library. Gonna download it when I get home. Thumbs up for the video, as usual.
And you can fix all those drops from 60 with the 50hz mode in the steamdeck, that's amazing
And if 50hz won’t do, just go 40 or 45. The best part is that it’s all native refresh rate.
@@Sebyllis7350k amazing little machine as Rich would say
@@Sebyllis7350k which is why the 30fps cap in Dirt 5 is weird, why not aim for 40fps with lower settings than the High/Medium used
Naw
40hz/40fps is better imo
Prevent hitching and saves even more battery but feels way better and more responsive than 30.
@@imo098765 it's up to each gamer preference. Strenght of Steamdeck is in its flexibility.
It would be cool if the Series S hardware could keep going if microsoft reused it to make a portable console like the switch and the steam deck.
But microsoft going for xcloud probably means that plan is out of the question
which is mostly due to the hardware shortage which has a huge influence on all future concepts.
I got a portable screen for my Series S, and it is a great travel machine. Add in RetroArch which you don't need Dev Mode anymore, and it is a perfect box to take on the go.
@@ryanpartlow2961 you don't need dev mode anymore? Wow I might actually set it up when I get one
Zen 2 is already at its peak, and nothing will change that. They need to move to new architecture, and then hope that devs will keep games optimised enough.
Microsoft is going to keep making consoles, like they told us around launch of series X|S and multiple articles where written trying to make seem like the fact they were already planning future revisions and new consoles was a bad thing.
Great video
Thank you for bringing up the BC fps boost enhanced games on Series X/S, went back and got Sonic Generations from Xbox 360 and it looks fantastic running at 4k 60 fps, almost as good as anything released today and this game is 12 yrs old.
I think mostly I would get the steam deck for my older library, wizardry 8, thief 1 and 2, Deus ex original, and so on... Definitely some stardew valley. I don't think I'd be trying to push games that really released within the last 2 years, in fact I think I've got at least a hundred old games I haven't gotten around to completing!
I have the Steam Deck and most AAA games run great at mid graphics settings, 800p and at least 40Hz which is enough for most games on a small screen. It's perfect for older games but still great for new games too
An interesting comparison. I'm pleased with the Xbox Series S, even when using a 55 inch 4K 120hz TV. I am looking forward to getting the Steam Deck. Both are good alternatives to an expensive gaming laptop.
I own both and boy, oh boy, they are really nice consoles to have alongside my RTX 2060 PC. Lately I play a lot more on these two becouse my graphics card is to loud :P
Man I cannot wait for my pre-order to arrive! Sadly I still have to wait until October (3rd quartal) :/ but great video!
Sweet video.
The perfect backlog handheld!
Ahhh yes because i personally love playing through my backlog on the weakest possible hardware available
@@spenny2cents This ain't it, chief.
@@spenny2cents I played Elden Ring for 150 hours on this bad boy. Best game ever.
When I first tried my deck out, I wanted to try out Housemarque’s Nex Machina. I didn’t think of it as much of a demanding game especially since people are playing games like Cyberpunk and Control. Awkwardly, it tried to start me at 4K high settings (possibly from my HTPC?), and I turned the resolution down and left everything else at high. It wasn’t able to hit a solid 60 like I was aiming for, so I turned the settings down more, and I’ve gotten fairly close.
Your video made me think of this because Nex Machina has that same problem that you talked about… it lacks a lot of options, and as a result, it’s harder to really tune for the Deck.
40 hertz screen and 40 FPS can solve anything
Great video! Although I would like to point out that there's probably something wrong with your Dirt 5 because I can play it at 75% Medium settings at 60fps with some frame drops
This guy is a perfect fit for Digital Foundry 🖤
Fact is every single game tested is cross-gen, and the Deck already requires 'strategic cuts'.
@Gaia Mason That's right, all tests in the video would drain the battery very quickly.
Feel like this video needs to be revisited because 40fps seems to be the sweet spot
To be fair, there are considerably more than just a few backward compatible console titles for the Series S, which received a resolution boost and/or a doubling of frame rate. (HDR support has also been added to quite a few older titles, going all the back to the original Xbox 20 years ago.) It all comes down to which PC titles you're looking for.
The fact that it's even in the same conversation is a big win in my eyes
I don’t think anyone should even attempt raytracing on the deck, it works but it won’t be nice. Keep it simple like what the console was built for.
"works" with portal rtx at a whopping 2fps
Not a single mention at how impressive the Series S is. Better performance at a better price point. $100 cheaper at the moment. This time next year the Series S could be at $250 or closer to $200. At that price it will be seriously impressive.
It's also not portable so between the two, Deck is more impressive.
@@lpnp9477 Well it does not have a screen that is true, as for portable, it fits in almost any backpack or laptop bag, it is very "portable". 😉
@@lpnp9477
My laptop is much older and also portable... also more powerful than Steam Deck so far even regarding compatible RT games my PC trounces Steam Deck despite my PC lacking RT accelerated HW.
My laptop PC was more expensive, it is is much older, larger and less power efficient, but none of that changes the fact that it is still way more powerful while still being portable.
@@davidandrew6855 it's is portable, much more than any laptop, especially laptops that can game and that price point.
That's not the point of the video LOL The Series S is a big console, the Deck is a tiny portable pc.
Exceptionally good note about the backwards compatibility
You guys did a great job w/ this review. This is perfect for ppl on the edge about the SD! I will happily wait for the SD 2 since I prefer a little future-proofing (even at the handheld level)
Yeah thats around 2-3 years away as Valve is working with AMD to create the APU and not use an off the shelf CPU. Best bet would be to grab one of the RDNA3 Ayaneo/GPD devices in 2023 those APU’s should hit some insane numbers when on the small screens.
@@deadeagle-archived What up. I'd grab a device soon but gaming is like my #4 hobby. You'd think its #1 w/ all the damn controllers I have (like 12). When these portable devices can dock and play at least 1440p on med settings is when they are gonna blow up the market! IMO they'll replace a lot of the gaming laptop and PC desktop demand. You'll then see those manufacturers make their own--callin it now!
@@zerocal76 Apparently some leaks are pointing towards the higher end zen4 apus potentially being able to deliver 9TFlops in gpu compute power which is around a 3060 but the package wattage seems to point towards 35-50w requirement. So if these leaks pan out could be pretty cool seeing an Ayaneo with these specs
Considering it can get pretty close to a series s, a current gen console while being a battery powered handheld is bloody impressive. Really hope valve stays in the handheld business for many years to come as they did an amazing job for a first attempt.
I think the overall reception of the device is in the positive. I'd expect them to keep this a series. Steam Deck 1, 2, 2.5, 4 and more. ❤
@@Aethelbeorn Man of culture, I see.
It didn’t really get close to the Series S at all
Series S shouldn't have been made. 500 GB and less power than a One X. For only $100 than a digital PS5. I like the Series X. But the S is hilariously bad and soon all it will be able to to do is 900p 30.
@@Mundus66 you know one day stupidity will die out but you’re still here keeping it going b
Like it or not…
The *Series S* is the best thing that happened to the *Deck*
Having a popular budget console guarantees lower end PCs (and Steam Deck) support for years and years to come.
Basically all MS/Xbox games are going to run great on Deck for atleast another 5-6yrs.
Unless games become more CPU intensive, Series S still has twice more cores than the Deck
Good point I think
I would've say vulkan fixed that.
But UE5 seems to have high CPU usage. Low resolutions ain't really going to help in these cases.
I'd say both a long cross gen, and the series s helped the deck alot. Still, at 399$, it wouldn't be the worst if it can't run games next year. Now these weird nearly 1000$+++ competitors, I'd feel awful. Unless I was a drug dealer or something
@@ka7al958
Absolutely, but with a Series S typically targeting 1440 - 1080/60 FPS… And the Deck targeting 800 or lower with the ability to lock games at 40 Hz and 40 FPS… It makes that CPU difference much more negligible
@@jarde1989 YOu are talking more GPU then CPU with resolutions. The fact that the Deck only has 4 cores, the games that really leverage cores/therads, the deck will be at a pretty sizable disadvantage. Not saying it won't be useable, but certainly at a disadvantage.
that flickering might be addressed in a newer DXVK version. a few games had it and it had a fix couple weeks ago i think.
Wow, microphone is good for your channel in this video.
I can't get enough Steam Deck content, and I love this channel. Great combo.
Yeah
I play my deck all day and watch videos about it until I fall asleep. Is this what they call "love"?
@@bluepill8077 I wouldn't know, I haven't received mine yet 😢
@@bluepill8077 My dude I'm right there with you
It doesn't really seem close at all to me. To come close to series s performance they had to lower everything and use FSR.
The fact a handheld can come this close to the new generation of consoles is impressive...it's literally a handheld that can run most games. You can still get 30-40fps in Cyberpunk 2077 with FSR turned off using medium settings. Very impressive given what it is
Lower everything? No? Series S doesn't run on the highest setting, not even the Series X.
@@ADreamingTraveler the Series S is cheaper.
@@akippnn they also don't all run on the lowest settings either, genius. Even when they did that and used FSR the Steam Deck was not as good.
@@Blackson187 was not as good based on what? Because it uses FSR and has a lower resolution target and is more expensive? My guy, you aren't seeing the point in the comparison. Maybe try to know why that's the case, because you're not talking to idiots here. Nobody has to explain everything for you.
The game-changing update which is the 40 fps cap is missing on his Deck. Mine is always locked to 40 even if 60 is well within reach.
I'm getting mine sometime this month. I'll mostly be using it to play pre 2017 games that I never got around to. Which should run just fine on it. That backlog is gonna get mined I tell ya hwat
As much as I adore the SteamDeck, it's still surprising no one has highlighted the issues with Publishers using DRM Launchers like Origin to prevent Offline/Portable Mode. EA in particular practically removes their entire library, unless you want to play tethered or on in a Wifi environment. The performance issues are totally mixed also. Some 'verified' games run like trash on default settings and require tweaking, while some like Oblivion require heavy mouse use. Meanwhile some 'playable' titles have zero issues and play like a dream. I love the Deck, but it's probably a while before it irons out all the kinks. Nice video tho.
Funny enough, there's even unsupported titles that run just fine.
75 Watts vs 15 Watts
720p vs 1440p
@@navpreetsingh8156 "1440p" very optimistic ay pal
@@navpreetsingh8156 1080p & 900p.
@@otti3397 yes and some of the steam decks settings also turned lower, the comparison side by side would be better if it was done on the same screen
Also series s ($299) vs steam deck ($399) at lowest price with the 64gb model lol
It would be so cool if we could access DF Steam Deck configurations for games. I know you can use system settings from other users I’m the community. Have the boys at DF considered participating in that (or perhaps they already have and I don’t know)?
It's a emulation monster, from Atari 2600, DOS, PS2 and even Switch, you can have all of video game history with you on one device. Plus thousands of indie games. It being able to run some Triple A games well is just a bonus.
Why go for High texture quality on nearly every game? The Deck screen resolution makes a case where this is potentially the least noticeable thing to drop to Low
It’s got the VRAM to spare, there’s little to no peformance cost in most games unless you are running out of memory.
A good showing by the Steam Deck, but I wouldn't expect it to run AAA games particularly well a few years from now. And if we get console games that are designed for 30 fps then the Steam Deck is SOL.
I really think the next Steam Deck generation should be less than 3 years from now. Upgraded display and apu. And it's a pc so it's not as hard to change from one generation to the next.
As long as it can run optimized UE5 games it will be fine. With fsr 2.0 it's probably possible
I really got the steam deck in the first place for emulation tbh
the problem comes when the series s will be targeting 1080p 30fps at some point in the future. if that happens then the steam deck is probably not going to hold up well.
I have a Steam Deck and have personally witnessed it's struggle when playing some open world PS4/XONE era titles at 60fps at it's already low 800p resolution.
I definitely agree that Steam Deck has no longevity for next gen titles. This device is for older games, imho. Adjusting to lower resolution beyond 800p and playing sub-30fps isn't acceptable for any game and people shouldn't be expecting to play any of the upcoming next-gen titles well on this device imo
Anytime I see performance on Control, I always wonder how it runs the mold areas.
Man Control was such a good game. Just seeing the gameplay cuts your showing takes me back.
The Steam Deck has already done a lot for PC gaming as devs will have to take lower-spec PCs into account when developing multiplatform games.
This thing has no sales, so NO.
@@barulicksama3838 what are you smoking? they are 3 months in and are still working off the first 40 minutes of pre-orders in the US. EU is on day 3 of pre-orders (which i can confirm because i just got mine this week and i reserved on day 3).
The bottleneck is production, not demand.
This comment is asinine
@@ZeroB4NG numbers baby? I need numbers. Of course they have manufacturing bottleneck cuz they can't do s*jt. While Nintendo is selling tens of billions even while so called shortages.
The thesis of the video you're commenting under is that the statement you just made is false. Lay off the glue, son, it's bad for you.
I have the steam deck and all these games and I still find myself spending most of my time on the GameCube emulator lol
I have GeForce Now, Google Stadia, Amazon Luna, Xbox Cloud Gaming, PSNow, Xbox remote play, PlayStation remote play, epic game store, gog, stream library (obviously), as well as a collection of my favorite switch, wiiu, GameCube, n64, snes, nes, ps3, ps2, pax, psp, vita, Xbox, Dreamcast, Saturn, genesis, win95 and dos games set up and running great on my steamdeck. Thing is a complete blast.
Jumping between elder scrolls II: Daggerfall, bloodborne, halo infinite, and GodHand effortlessly is very cool.
I have two things. Icarus on Steam has FSR/DLSS/Raytracing, its heavy on CPU as well, just an FYI if no on knew. My second thing is, I would love to see the steam deck compared to a phone/Razer Kishi just for in home gaming. I know it's a unique use case but I am betting a lot of Steam Deck users were/are Kishi owners. It would be cool to see if you are in bed gaming if your OLED phone/Kishi is a better fit then a steam deck.
edit: oh btw, great vid! :D fellow Canadian! :D :p
got series s for $200, what a deal, xbox play anywhere is really neat features
How did you snag that?
200 bucks?? Either it was stolen and sold to you or you're lying lol
got it from my cousin, he used it about a week, sold to me because he realized it cant play any disc, so all his backlog is useless, lmao
is 200 that surprising? i mean, even brand new one only 250 here
Price and poor battery life, sums it all up
Play at 40hz
@@brandon_nope better advice would be like don't buy it for now at all
@@63alkash I mean sure if you hate fun
Thank you for the analysis. It's actually a really interesting comparison in order to determine how ''future proof'' the steam deck is towards this console generation.
I really hope it meets success and push PC devs to improve the scalability of upcoming games.
I'm eager to see how the steam deck will fare with those titles.
I must say that the CPU side of things has me a bit worried.
But even in it's late life the deck will remain great for 2d and older titles, and a capable emulation machine.
Anyway I really like the reactiveness of Valve to update their software and make it better. Let's hope they stand behind their product and add as many cool feature as possible.
About "future proof" potencial of Steam Deck, I could give you a simple answer.
And that is: It depends on game developers.
If they treat Deck as PC than at least for AAA games it will be obsolete in 2-3 years.
If they treat it as console (and if Valve give them tools to acomplish that) it could lasts easily 5-6 years.
Edit.: It also depends how good these developers are.
@@lukasl3440 what you say mostly applies to ''classic'' console and PC. The steam deck is neither of these two things so it is not that easy to determine. However in my opinion it clearly is more bound to PC, as it runs PC games and has the internals of a PC.
If it is a massive success we can hope that devs try to target it as a ''minimum requirement'' at least.
For now we don't really know how much lifespan it has (at which point Valve will sell a successor).
Even if it has an estimated lifespan of 3 to 5 years, that's approximately the lifespan of a GPU. And the steam deck is also in the price range of a GPU...
Though you are right, it's up to the developpers now.
I'm really excited about this product. It may end up creating a whole new sector in gaming : handheld PC.
Even though it existed for a long time already, no one really tried to push a whole eco system, with software dedicated to gaming .
There are a lot of future perspective also. Imagine a handheld with the modularity of desktop PC. That would be killer...
@@etienne1062 I personally see Deck as almost perfect hybrid. PC with potencional benefits of console.
Just one example that we will most likely see in practice. On-line vs Off-line decoding.
Traditionally game on PC don't know in advance on what configuration it will run. So it must decode during run.
Deck has so far one configuration (if we will ignore diferend speed storage) so game knew on what will be running, so it will be like it's already decodet.
Just that could bring 30% performance uplift.
nice video