It’s been a few days since Valve’s Steam Deck opened. Pre-orders have been placed, sales have sold out, but we haven’t seen much about the device yet other than a few small snippets of platform footage as well as some off-screen IGN footage – we have one idea what this machine is capable of, but much of its configuration remains a mystery. However, some additional details about the device have emerged, and official page with technical characteristics was expanded a bit, which gave us more good news about the hardware.
At the heart of the Steam Deck is an AMD processor that has received much publicity but has not received official confirmation, although some believe it has been canceled in the meantime. The APU specifications for mobile devices, codenamed “Van Gogh”, have been around for some time, as evidenced to some extent by discoveries in Linux drivers. The chip is based on the Zen 2 architecture in a quad-core configuration, supported by eight RDNA 2 computational units – an analogue of the Steam Deck. However, one of the long-term issues with AMD chips and their performance has resulted in memory bandwidth limitations, and Valve’s initial specs only hinted at what the chip could provide in this area.
One of the two specific points that have been expanded since its inception concerns the memory controllers of AMD processors – the four-channel configuration effectively confirms the bandwidth of 88 GB / s, and in terms of balancing GPU computation and memory bandwidth, the good news is that The Steam Deck is within the range set by the Xbox Series and PlayStation 5 consoles – and, of course, the hope is that the portable device will be smaller in comparison to those machines.
In our DF Direct Special we tried to set some expectations for the Steam Deck, first with a small snippet of performance analysis based on Valve cutscenes that show Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order running at 30-40fps, Doom Eternal runs very close to 60fps and with less demanding games running at full refresh of the built-in 60Hz display. What we’ve seen so far looks promising – the processor appears to be capable of running Triple A games, no doubt boosted by the 1280×800 resolution. This may be very, very small for a desktop or laptop, but great for a mobile device.
Rich Ledbetter, John Linneman and Alex Battaglia of Digital Foundry are gathering to share their ideas for the Steam Deck. Watch YouTube chapters for each topic.
In our video, we also show the main names of the Ryzen 9 4900HS APU shown in the disclosure. On the one hand, this is a good indicator of the performance of a PC’s integrated graphics in a portable space. However, despite the continuous computing on the 1.8 TF GPU, the performance is more similar to that of the PlayStation 4 (note: this is still a very impressive feat for a mobile device!). In terms of Steam Deck comparisons, this Ryzen-based Renoir processor runs on a lower performing GPU architecture with lower memory bandwidth, but it draws 35W of power compared to the 15W maximum for the Steam Deck. On the one hand, the comparison to the Steam Deck is tangential, but on the other hand, it demonstrates that comparisons to spec-based consoles can be problematic.
We also have to take into account the potential performance limitations imposed by the Steam Deck compatibility layer, but more importantly, the variable power consumption, CPU and GPU clock speeds. We’ve had several requests to install a PC with specifications similar to the Steam Deck, depending on the amount of GPU and CPU compute available. The problem is that any configuration of this type for a PC cannot reproduce the power limitation of a mobile device, which should work well inside a portable device – simply put, power limitations are just as important to performance as other devices. specifications.
Another item in the specification that has changed since the initial disclosure concerns the storage solution. In the base configuration for $ 399, the Steam Deck comes with a 64GB eMMC NAND storage solution, while the more expensive options offer 256GB and 512GB NVMe SSDs. Initially, it wasn’t clear if part of the equation could be updated by the user or not – and to be honest, we still don’t know for sure. An adjustment on the specs page confirms that standard m.2 2230 solid state drives are being used, offering the user the option of replacement or upgrade. However, this is clearly not the intended path, as a microSD slot is recommended for additional storage – in fact, Laurence Young of Valve general that IGN’s experiments in all the games he saw were done from an SD card.
Our initial tech review video from last week – we now have more details on storage and, most importantly for AMD APUs, memory bandwidth.
I’m really looking forward to seeing what’s next with the Steam Deck. We now have confirmation from other IGN video that the pause / resume feature has been implemented – an important feature for a mobile device – but I’m looking forward to seeing more of the device, which is another indicator of Valve’s strategy as to whether games will ship with Steam Deck friendly profiles. We’d really like to see the optimized 30fps and 60fps / 60fps settings unlocked simply because if the PC market wants to expand the way Valve expects, pick and play, it just should work – but. there are, of course, profound implications. battery life when playing on a device with a fully unlocked frame rate.
I also look forward to explaining how open the Steam Deck is in practical terms. Yes, you can install Windows on it, but are there Windows drivers for the AMD chipset? It will be impossible to play without them. And if SteamOS is the best route to the Steam Deck, it will be interesting to see how effective the compatibility platform is for Windows games (although there are many built-in conversions for Stadia on Linux / Vulkan that could be well carried over to Steam), and what if Epic, Ubisoft, Microsoft and others can join the platform and create their own storefronts for SteamOS.
For now, additional details about the device point to details that intersect with the tasks to be done in nuclear specifications and whet an appetite for future revelations. Everything is in place for a device that has a good chance of successfully delivering the full length and breadth of the Steam library to a new dimension – and perhaps in time for a new audience. However, the scale of the challenge to transform PC games into console games while maintaining the openness and adaptability that make PCs so enjoyable cannot be underestimated. Mobile Style Suspend / Resume – The critical handheld has now been revealed, but it will be interesting to see how Valve intends to tackle the biggest issues and how much more we can see about the hardware pre-release.
