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Valve’s Steam Deck in our hands

Switch-like Steam portable is coming this December


two people playing co-op with two Steam Deck units



The Steam Deck is a new handheld device from Valve for playing PC games on the go, the company announced Thursday. The Nintendo Switch-like device is set for release in December starting at $399.

Previously rumored as the “SteamPal,” the Steam Deck is a portable PC that’s slightly larger than the Nintendo Switch. It features a 7-inch touchscreen, two thumbsticks, a D-pad, and a four-button layout. There are also two trackpads — one on either side of the machine, under the thumbsticks — to allow for increased precision. The Steam Deck has eight triggers on its back: four on the device’s shoulders and four more where the ring and pinky fingers rest.

The Steam Deck will run games from players’ existing Steam libraries. Players will simply log into their account, and their friends and catalog should follow them onto the handheld. The Steam Deck is capable of running PC games on its own hardware, without the power of the cloud. Videos released by Valve show people using the Steam Deck to natively play games such as Baldur’s Gate 3, Crusader Kings 3, Disco Elysium, Hades, and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Players can also purchase a dock that allows the Steam Deck to run on a TV.



Inside, the Steam Deck boasts an accelerated processing unit (APU) built by AMD. Its CPU is based on the company’s Zen 2 microarchitecture and tops out at 3.5 GHz. The GPU contains eight RDNA 2 compute units running at up to 1.6 GHz, delivering peak performance of 1.6 teraflops. The system packs 16 GB of RAM and a microSD card slot, allowing users to expand upon the built-in storage. The Steam Deck’s 7-inch screen is an LCD with a 16:10 aspect ratio and a 60 Hz refresh rate at a 720p resolution of 1280x800. The Steam Deck also features a dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi radio — it’s compatible with 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks — and Bluetooth 5.0 for controllers, accessories, and (unlike the Switch) audio.


At launch, the Steam Deck will be available in three models with different storage options. Valve says there are no performance differences between the three versions — aside from the speed of the flash memory, which will provide varying read and write speeds.

The $399 base model offers 64 GB of storage in the eMMC format. The next model up costs $529, and packs faster storage courtesy of a 256 GB PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSD; it also comes with an “exclusive Steam Community profile bundle.” The top-tier Steam Deck, at $649, includes a 512 GB NVMe SSD that Valve refers to as “high-speed,” although it is still a PCIe 3.0 drive. In addition, this model’s screen features “premium anti-glare etched glass.” The unit comes with an exclusive carrying case and exclusive virtual keyboard theme, on top of the cheaper models’ bonuses.

Steam users will be able to reserve any of the three Steam Deck models (for a fee) starting at 1 p.m. EDT on Friday, July 16 — as long as they made a purchase on the Steam Store at some point before June 2021. If not, they’ll have to wait until 48 hours later.
 
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Seriously ! Why do you want to KNOW ? gaming, movie's, sometime's music and eating junkfood...
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Necrokiller

Expert
Apr 16, 2009
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Nah, but thanks to Steam Deck, Steam OS is finally a viable alternative for my SFF PC. And with PS and Xbox games on PC, I'll just play them there for free when they're available 🤣
Everyone comes running back to Lord Gaben's ecosystem eventually 🤷‍♂️
 

CerebralTiger

Expert
Apr 12, 2007
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Islamabad
GG: Strive isn't on Switch, but I already have it on PS5. The transition from PS5 to PC will be gradual. I've said this earlier as well, but the final blow will be releasing a PS5-only game on PC before the end (or close to) of the generation 🤷‍♂️
 

Necrokiller

Expert
Apr 16, 2009
13,594
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GG: Strive isn't on Switch, but I already have it on PS5. The transition from PS5 to PC will be gradual. I've said this earlier as well, but the final blow will be releasing a PS5-only game on PC before the end (or close to) of the generation 🤷‍♂️
PS5 doesn't have the convenience of being a portable gaming device 🤷‍♂️
 
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Necrokiller

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Apr 16, 2009
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Seems like a good way to gain publicity during Steam Deck announcement.

HORROR TALES: The Wine will work in a Steam Deck with the default graphics settings in the native 1280 x 800 Steam Deck resolution :)

Currently, the build runs al 30fps but we are confident that with a little work we will get it running at 60fps.

How can we achieve this? The game already runs on the Nintendo Switch at 720p 30fps. So the port to Steam Deck is not a difficult task :)
 

Radical

FUCK Y 'all !
Jan 25, 2009
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It's as butch as the girl previewing it, switch looks kinda like the perfect size for a handheld system in comparison! But Switch ain't a PC, so..

Also, this thing needs specific/targeted developer support, imo.
 
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Necrokiller

Expert
Apr 16, 2009
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Both aren't "pocketable" devices. Valve is putting the bigger size to good use though. Fitting in more control options (trackpads and grip button) and making a portable that will actually be comfortable to hold with its ergonomic shape.

Switch is downright terrible as far as comfort is concerned. A third party accessory is pretty much necessary if you want to play in handheld mode frequently and comfortably.






No wonder some Switch owners play it while docked (for the most part) :ROFLMAO:
 
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CerebralTiger

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LMAO @ believing a 3rd-party accessory is necessary to play the Switch in handheld mode. Holy sh*t @ that hyperbole 🤣 🤣

LMAO @ calling both "pocketable" devices, when it's blatantly obvious what makes the Switch legit "pocketable" in the first place is its detachable joy-cons. I'd really like to see Necrokiller share a picture of his pocket stuffed with a Steam Deck 🤣🤣

Never mind the fact that a single pair of joy-cons can be used separately as two controllers, and they work really well for most Nintendo first-party multiplayer games (the reason people buy a Switch anyway lol).
 
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    Consoles can't even catch a break in titles developed exclusively for them 😢
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    no jokes.
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    faraany3k said:
    So while Playing Control, I found a journal which said that a bathroom is missing in Islamabad Beurue of Control. With Alan Wake and Control seems to be connected worlds. Even our city is in the universe as well. No wonder those Trail 5 and Trail 6 are haunted.
    did you know you can see @NaNoW credited in the game too ? :p
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  • faraany3k faraany3k:
    So while Playing Control, I found a journal which said that a bathroom is missing in Islamabad Beurue of Control. With Alan Wake and Control seems to be connected worlds. Even our city is in the universe as well. No wonder those Trail 5 and Trail 6 are haunted.
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    faraany3k said:
    What is peoples obsession with Battle Royale genre. 6 minutes to find a match, 3 minutes to setup a match, 2 minutes to land, 10 minutes for scavanging maybe 2 3 gunfigts and its over. Multiplayer landscape is looking absolute dogshit.
    I tried playing Apex Legends once. Couldn't find a gun for 5 minutes straight. If I found a gun, I couldn't find the right ammo for it. Got killed fighting with my fists. Uninstalled it the next day.
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    What is peoples obsession with Battle Royale genre. 6 minutes to find a match, 3 minutes to setup a match, 2 minutes to land, 10 minutes for scavanging maybe 2 3 gunfigts and its over. Multiplayer landscape is looking absolute dogshit.
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    skip the villain arc
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    iampasha said:
    I usually stay away from animes. Vinland saga changed the way i look at my life, and my experiences within. I recommend every breathing human being to watch this animated masterpiece at least once fromstart to finish.
    After I watched it, I never felt like i watched a show. It was a friggin journey. I got way too attached to Thorfinn and seeing him grow up and find himself and get rid of all the negativity inside of him was just pure bliss.
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    EternalBlizzard said:
    Vinland Saga > Berserk
    I usually stay away from animes. Vinland saga changed the way i look at my life, and my experiences within. I recommend every breathing human being to watch this animated masterpiece at least once fromstart to finish.
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    Crapcom's RE Engine expose hogaya saaeen. This shit ain't worth experiencing on any platform. 🤷‍♂️
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    When a $399 console provides the same experience as a 4090. Yikes indeed saeen :sneaky:
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    that's a yikes saaaen
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    " Both PS5 and Series X have an unlocked frame-rate here, with performance that generally lies between 30fps and 45fps. That makes for a stuttering and inconsistent output in general play, no matter what you are doing at any given time."
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  • EternalBlizzard EternalBlizzard:
    Vinland Saga > Berserk
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    I absolutely hate parry and Sekiro made me love it, i hate sci fi and Mass Effect made me love it. This is the definition of genre defining experiences.
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    Forbidden West Complete Edition now available on your fav websites. And Nixxes showed Crapcom how it's done 👍
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    RE Engine is just utter shit for anything other than corridor design remakes
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    This is a console first developer. LMAO
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  • faraany3k faraany3k:
    With how great cod warzone has translated onto mobile. Mainstream Consoles have lost its value even further. Maybe console gaming was associated with TVs and how TV is not the primary source of media consumption anymore, consoles will lose its 200 million core audiences even further.
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  • Necrokiller Necrokiller:
    Even VRR can't rescue it 🥲
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    And yet PC version has the highest score. RIP who plays it on consoles.
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    Necrokiller Necrokiller: Consoles can't even catch a break in titles developed exclusively for them 😢