Steam Deck and Linux Gaming

Kurrelgyre wrote:
ccoates wrote:

I've only played the first Hitman 3 map, but running pretty decently on the Deck with default settings. Bounces between 40-60fps without any adjustments.

Lowered the refresh rate and framerate settings in the Deck options to 40. You could probably tweak things for 60fps, but I didn't feel like futzing with it.

Edit: I take it back. Each subsequent map the framerate tanked. Like 30fps and below, very chuggy. Think I'm going to go back to using Remote Play.

How much juice are you giving it?

I only tweaked the fps/refresh settings, so whatever the default is? Ha.

If anyone else is doing any more advanced tweaking and gotten better results, I'd be curious. That first map ran pretty well. But after that it was rough going.

EvilDead wrote:
Kurrelgyre wrote:

Does that mean that the non-512G versions have more a vibrant appearance by default>

I saw some early reviews indicate that was the case.

The difference is subtle. I had both devices side-by-side, and ended up keeping the 512GB.

In a total non-glare environment, I'd give a small edge to the non-512. But as soon as any glare factors in, the etched glass on the 512 is the nicer one to look at.

I've spent some time playing my 512 outside and I'm definitely glad I got it, quite usable on a sunny day.

*Legion* wrote:
EvilDead wrote:
Kurrelgyre wrote:

Does that mean that the non-512G versions have more a vibrant appearance by default>

I saw some early reviews indicate that was the case.

The difference is subtle. I had both devices side-by-side, and ended up keeping the 512GB.

In a total non-glare environment, I'd give a small edge to the non-512. But as soon as any glare factors in, the etched glass on the 512 is the nicer one to look at.

That makes sense. Almost all of my use case is inside so I'm fine with the cheapie with upgraded drive.

Needs to go straight to Privateer from that.

Oh hell. OK, I will finally install a boot video. That BIOS boot got me.

Download here and instructions are on that page too

https://steamdeckrepo.com/post/PmqqP...

Alexywasko wrote:

I just stumbled upon this thread as a new member of this forum. I'm glad to see that Hitman 3 is running decently on the Deck with default settings, ccoates. However, Kurrelgyre's experience of framerate tanking in subsequent maps is not uncommon. I wanted to chime in and suggest looking into Extended Lifecycle Support. It's a great option for ensuring the longevity and stability of your hardware, especially if you're running demanding games like Hitman 3.

Welcome to the site, fellow Steam Deck Enthusiast. Alas, my quick Google search didn't find anything related to that option in the Steam Deck settings. Where can I find it?

I think that particular AI script was going to include a link, but it got left out because the account is new...

The ROG Ally sounds nice. Ditches those touchpad things (wasn't a fan of the Steam controller so I doubt I would like those) and has a seriously upgraded screen. Only question is how much and when?

The touchpads are pretty useful for games like Inscryption that don't have gamepad support.

But I've found that the cross-section of games without gamepad support that are still manageable with the touchpads is smaller than I expected.

Trying to play Shadowrun Returns or Invisible, Inc. with the touchpads just wasn't a good experience. It made playing the games *possible*, but not really enjoyable. I ended up streaming Shadowrun from my Xbox instead rather than deal with it.

Curious about the launcher they're using. It looks decent, if it's running Windows 11 I wonder if it'll be installable on other devices.

Price wise, the $400 Steam Deck still seems to be hitting a sweet spot. Although the Asus is clocking in below the most recent Aya Neos if it'll be $650.

Not doing this myself but….

ROG Ally looks compelling but I'll wait for real pricing before I get excited. I love the idea of being able to plug in an external GPU for desktop level gaming. Use one device for everything and just plug in extra hardware when I'm at my desk. That's the dream. Maybe one day that one device is phone sized but I'd be cool with a handheld today.

ccoates wrote:

Price wise, the $400 Steam Deck still seems to be hitting a sweet spot. Although the Asus is clocking in below the most recent Aya Neos if it'll be $650.

Unless they have some way to make money off the user after the initial device purchase how low could they go? Most device makers in this space need margins on the device purchase and need users to want to buy the next device so they make more money. Valve is incentivized to make every Deck have ongoing value so you keep buying games from Steam and they keep working well. Valve doesn’t need to make all (or any) margin on the hardware.

Is there a good example of an inexpensive laptop with a good RDNA2/3 APU that can be used for price comparison? I'd still expect most consumers to be buying inexpensive laptops and those are usually terrible at gaming but with RDNA2/3 APUs having much better video performance these days I wonder how compelling those are for most consumers instead of a handheld like Deck or Ally. So far it almost seems like manufacturers are afraid to put better APUs in inexpensive laptops and I assume it's because it would take away some of the market for low end gaming laptops with 1650/3050s (which are overpriced IMHO because low end GPUs are terribly value). Did the Ryzen 6600u/6800u ever come to inexpensive laptops? Are Intel mobile CPUs getting better onboard GPUs based on Arc?

ccoates wrote:

The touchpads are pretty useful for games like Inscryption that don't have gamepad support.

I use the trackpads a ton but I also use the Deck in desktop mode. Even just being able to map them to more buttons and quick actions is really nice in many games. Very flexible for nearly any kind of game. Not necessary but still nice. On the Asus those back buttons should be sufficient for those extra actions.

ccoates wrote:

Curious about the launcher they're using. It looks decent, if it's running Windows 11 I wonder if it'll be installable on other devices.

It would be great if Windows had a controller friendly UI for logging in and getting into games. Now that the Deck UI works in Windows (mostly, still improving) I wonder how many handheld competitors will just have Windows launch the Deck UI immediately after log in. Seems like info about this ROG UI is still limited.

I don't know if I could go to a handheld without touchpads now that I've been using them on the Deck. I use them a ton on my older games without controller support. I also like using them for mouselook instead of the sticks in FPS games, though I might be an oddball there. I use a thumb trackball on my desktop PC, so using my thumb for the trackpad maps pretty easily for me.

I've used them a ton, too. Games like Rimworld and Civ extensively, and in a whole raft of Point & Click adventure/mystery games (Unavowed is sublime, if you're into that kind of thing). Even on games that have controller support, using Steam Input you can configure the touchpads to be (among a million other things), a replacement for number keys. FPS games or even Minecraft, where you can use number keys to switch weapons or tools, the touchpad can have hotspots set for each number so I just have to tap the middle top for 1, middle right for 2, and so on - dont even have to click, just a light tap.

But then I did like the Steam controller too - the deck controls have improved on that ten fold. Steam Input means that it almost doesn't matter what the game/developer wanted the controls to be, I can assign my own, and tweak them to whatever I need as I play, within seconds. I recently discovered the joy of gyro aiming. Not full on, but just for minor adjustments. In Skyrim for example, right trigger is to draw the arrow back. Except the triggers on the deck are analogue, so I can assign partial trigger pull as normal for drawing the arrow back, and letting it go to fire. However, a full trigger pull kicks in gyro aiming, where minor, marginal movement of the deck allows me to follow a target that moved at the last second. It's not about holding the deck out in front and moving it all over, like you're trying to take a photo with a cellphone, it's really, really subtle movement and works surprisingly well.

How malleable controls for games can be (even when they weren't designed that way) when the options are opened up in front of you, continues to amaze me.

pandasuit wrote:

Is there a good example of an inexpensive laptop with a good RDNA2/3 APU that can be used for price comparison?

These two paragraphs seem to be a response to what I said, but I didn't say anything critiquing or criticizing the realities of hardware manufacturing and pricing. I'm sure it's complicated. I was just pointing out that the Ally is rumored to be around $650, which still puts the 64GB Deck in a sweet spot at $400 even if it's specced lower. And regardless of why Aya devices are priced how they are, their pricing limits their appeal.

I'm not crapping on Asus or Aya for their pricing, or claiming they should be lower. They all seem like nicely made devices, even if their target audience is narrower than the Deck.

ccoates wrote:
pandasuit wrote:

Is there a good example of an inexpensive laptop with a good RDNA2/3 APU that can be used for price comparison?

These two paragraphs seem to be a response to what I said, but I didn't say anything critiquing or criticizing the realities of hardware manufacturing and pricing. I'm sure it's complicated. I was just pointing out that the Ally is rumored to be around $650, which still puts the 64GB Deck in a sweet spot at $400 even if it's specced lower. And regardless of why Aya devices are priced how they are, their pricing limits their appeal.

I'm not crapping on Asus or Aya for their pricing, or claiming they should be lower. They all seem like nicely made devices, even if their target audience is narrower than the Deck.

I was just speculating on how realistic the price rumor is. I honestly don't know.

To try to figure that out I was looking for any other device in roughly the same price point with a similar APU or even an APU like the Deck has. I know there are good APUs available for laptops I just wasn't seeing many models actually using them.

TBH if there was a Windows laptop with hardware like the Deck for a price like the Deck I'd buy one for my dad. I've contemplated getting him a Deck and just docking it for him but some of his most played games aren't compatible yet. AFAICT there is no good desktop APU yet but I’ve been watching the mini PC market for those too. So far RDNA2/3 ones are also quite a bit more expensive than Deck.

Speaking of storage space issues. Mine is complaining of low disk space, even though none of my games are installed on the main drive. Various sites suggest Disk Usage Analyzer but that just crashes on launch for me. Any better alternatives?

I found "Cache Killer" from this thread to work but look at the thread because it has lots of other advice

https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/c...

That is cool but we still need Valve to officially add dual boot Windows support.

This is really interesting, thanks for sharing! Once you read the actual person's Twitter thread/reddit posts they're much more reserved about claiming any official Microsoft capacity.

tl;dr it was a hack-a-thon proof of concept, but they stress some accurate pain points like how bad the Windows on-screen keyboard is.

Reading this made me take another look at the state of Windows on the Deck (my Game Pass subscription expired in January, so I haven't booted into Windows very often on my Deck).

Tools for getting a good experience on the Deck with Windows seem to have come a long way, and these two seem to have superseded what I was trying last year:

https://github.com/Valkirie/HandheldCompanion

https://github.com/ayufan/steam-deck-tools

Just tried this and it was easy and worked well

XBPLAY

Xbox remote play alternative to greenlight now in discovery store XBPLAY

Hm, looks like it's made by just one developer, and no public repo? I assume the app requires you to log into your Windows account, right? Maybe it's just my paranoia speaking, but I might suggest a bit of caution.

Maybe. The android app has been out a bit longer (but not a long time) and I hope that someone has looked a bit into it to see what it collects.

You guys recommend Cryo Utilities for the deck? I never installed it.

Balthezor wrote:

You guys recommend Cryo Utilities for the deck? I never installed it.

I've been running it for a while. Don't have definitive figures for improvements, but certainly far fewer crashes on things like massively modded Skyrim.

No downsides at all so far, and no regrets about doing all the VRAM and swap changes that he recommends. Easy to undo it all too, if needs be.