Steam Deck and Linux Gaming

Ccoates, you can order them direct from Dell and Lenovo in various sizes. That's pretty reputable. However, I don't see any of them with sale pricing, unfortunately. Maybe on Cyber Monday they will drop a bit?

The first one was introduced in January 2022, so I really am not sure demand has dropped at all. There might not be a meaningful sale for another year or so.

But check early Monday at Dell and Lenovo. Maybe you'll get lucky.

ccoates wrote:

M.2 2230 drives still seem a bit uncommon. Has anyone seen any on sale from a reputable seller?

Not reputable but I bought this one. I benchmarked it and it's legit. By the part # I think they are just pulled from Dell computers.

Looks like a small company upgraded a few computers after buying them and put the drives up on Ebay. Already out of stock. Sometimes you can get lucky that way.

Oh damn. Didn't notice it was out of stock. Anyways I found it from a reddit thread where users had bought it months before me so maybe it will come back.

I found several on amazon for not a huge price, as long as you wany a 512 or less

I'm upgrading my 512GB to a 1TB as soon as SteamOS adds native dual boot.

Any day now would be awesome...

*Legion* wrote:

I'm upgrading my 512GB to a 1TB as soon as SteamOS adds native dual boot.

Any day now would be awesome...

Did you already source a 1TB drive?

I did see a 2TB one out in the wild but it was $400, haha.

Something I noticed while browsing the drives on eBay, the amps range anywhere from 1/1.1 amps to 2.5 amps.

In theory would the 1.1 amp drives (pulled from Xbox Series S/X consoles apparently) have better battery life?

Better battery life, and perhaps even more importantly, less heat generated.

I cannot find a 1TB for a sensible price here in the UK, unless it's from China via ebay...

omni wrote:

Better battery life, and perhaps even more importantly, less heat generated.

This! The Steam Deck (like most mobile devices) is designed around specific thermal load. Stick with low power 2230 m.2 drives.

https://twitter.com/lawrenceyang/sta...

https://youtu.be/Dxnr2FAADAs?t=197

ccoates wrote:
*Legion* wrote:

I'm upgrading my 512GB to a 1TB as soon as SteamOS adds native dual boot.

Any day now would be awesome...

Did you already source a 1TB drive?

No, but it will probably be an eBay purchase. Seems to be the go-to for now. I nearly pulled the trigger on one a couple months ago and I'm sad that I didn't, because it was cheaper than the prices now.

I was looking at this one:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/115586320573

Apparently they're from Xbox Series X consoles. Seller reviews seem to mention it works in the Steam Deck but it has slightly less usable space than a regular SSD (~850gb vs. 930gb).

3.3v 1.1a.

Deck comes in in a few days. Hopefully fedex doesn't send it someplace weird.

Here is what I bought to go with it.
1TB SD Card
Grip case with glass screen protector
Fast Charger
keyboard
mouse
dock
joystick caps
top romen because that is all I can afford to eat now.

Big plan is for it the double as a emulation machine. I have a need to add a bunch of games I'll never play to huge list of steam games I will never play. Now I can not play them on one device!

This is sad. My current keyboard has bluetooth. I could have it connected to the deck and my pc at the same time so I didn't really need to buy a new one. Why didn't someone tell me this thing had bluetooth. In my defense when I bought it bluetooth wasn't a factor. Well I guess the new keyboard can still be useful as a backup keyboard. Yeah I guess I did want another keyboard for when I deep clean my current keyboard. Still sad. If I find another mouse or sd card I forgot about I'm going to go crazy.

The sound. So many good memories

Is there a way to map a double click to a single button press? It seems like there should be, but I couldn't find it.

I was also disappointed to find that the capacitive stylus I have that works great on phones doesn't work on the Deck. Too bad, because Solitaire Conspiracy would be great with touch controls, but I don't really want to get fingerprints all over the screen.

Got the deck in hand. Fedex left it at the mailbox instead my door but at least they didn't leave it at the wrong house this time. Now I just need some water and coal to light up so I can power it up. Steam power has come very far.

So would you say Emudeck is the best way to go for emulation? If not what are you guys using?

Valve is giving away a Steam Deck every minute during the The Game Awards show.
Register here.

Baron Of Hell wrote:

Now I just need some water and coal to light up so I can power it up. Steam power has come very far.

Wrong thread. Tell us your best dad jokes!

Baron Of Hell wrote:

So would you say Emudeck is the best way to go for emulation? If not what are you guys using?

Yes, EmuDeck. It's a minor pain to get it up and running, and configured for each game, but once you do it's a silky smooth, Steam-integrated experience.

WizKid wrote:

Valve is giving away a Steam Deck every minute during the The Game Awards show.
Register here.

I let it add it to my google calendar and it booked up 12/8 - 12/12 full days as busy! Maybe choose the email reminder instead

Debating getting Midnight Suns on PC or console. PC would let me play on the Deck. Anyone doing that?

Balthezor wrote:

Debating getting Midnight Suns on PC or console. PC would let me play on the Deck. Anyone doing that?

I saw Evan Lahti mention that the experience was not optimized and less than stellar on Deck.

PWAlessi wrote:
Balthezor wrote:

Debating getting Midnight Suns on PC or console. PC would let me play on the Deck. Anyone doing that?

I saw Evan Lahti mention that the experience was not optimized and less than stellar on Deck.

I think the same thing came up on MinnMax.

So I'll probably hold off. XCOM 1/2 were both really chunky games.

One of the reviews I posted in the gaming video thread talks about the Deck performance. I can't remember which.

EvilDead wrote:
WizKid wrote:

Valve is giving away a Steam Deck every minute during the The Game Awards show.
Register here.

I let it add it to my google calendar and it booked up 12/8 - 12/12 full days as busy! Maybe choose the email reminder instead :D

I registered as well. I hope EvilDead and … maybe me win a deck.

@OnDeck: "Happy December! Here's a quick look at the top 20 games of November on Steam Deck, sorted by playtime."

No wonder Bethesda keeps putting out Skyrim - over a decade later and it still one of the most popular games

IMAGE(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fi63apiaAAA3kGe?format=jpg&name=900x900)

farley3k wrote:

No wonder Bethesda keeps putting out Skyrim - over a decade later and it still one of the most popular games

My wife is playing it for the first time as I type this. A friend of ours discovered she had never played it, but did like Oblivion and Morrowind, and he just bought it for her out of the blue.

Mixolyde wrote:
farley3k wrote:

No wonder Bethesda keeps putting out Skyrim - over a decade later and it still one of the most popular games

My wife is playing it for the first time as I type this. A friend of ours discovered she had never played it, but did like Oblivion and Morrowind, and he just bought it for her out of the blue.

I just started Oblivion on the deck. It's a good time.

Binding of Isaac is generally a great portable game. I have played some while traveling on Switch. The switch struggles with performance occasionally and gets updates MUCH later than PC (which I've also experienced with Kingdoms: Two Crowns, Cult of the Lamb, and Moonglow Bay). I don't have a Deck yet but if I do get one it will entirely replace the Switch as travel entertainment for me.