Install Steam
login
|
language
简体中文 (Simplified Chinese)
繁體中文 (Traditional Chinese)
日本語 (Japanese)
한국어 (Korean)
ไทย (Thai)
Български (Bulgarian)
Čeština (Czech)
Dansk (Danish)
Deutsch (German)
Español - España (Spanish - Spain)
Español - Latinoamérica (Spanish - Latin America)
Ελληνικά (Greek)
Français (French)
Italiano (Italian)
Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
Magyar (Hungarian)
Nederlands (Dutch)
Norsk (Norwegian)
Polski (Polish)
Português (Portuguese - Portugal)
Português - Brasil (Portuguese - Brazil)
Română (Romanian)
Русский (Russian)
Suomi (Finnish)
Svenska (Swedish)
Türkçe (Turkish)
Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
Українська (Ukrainian)
Report a translation problem
Discussions Rules and Guidelines
Report this post
not like generic ones AMD Ryzen or AMD Radeon RX in notebooks or desktops,
thats why I think AMD generic drivers aren't compatible on Steam Deck in Windows,
so they are not locked.
Generic ones CPUs and GPUs (APUs) are used in other handhelds like from company AYANEO.
Valve said, they provided those Windows drivers "as is" since Steam Deck is made mostly with SteamOS 3 in mind.
So don't expect from Valve, they will be updating those drivers and keep Windows on Steam Deck supported (what I think).
It's written here https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/6121-ECCD-D643-BAA8
But there is an OEM lockdown that prevents us from installing the generic drivers. The Linux driver packages suggest there is not much hardware custom work done.
The magic of PC gaming is that we aren't locked down to anything.SteamOS unfortunately lcks support for a lot of games.
We never know what else was stripped from this custom GPU, unless we get full documentation.
You can't compare Linux drivers and Windows drivers the same way, they work differently.
While AMD driver is open source for Linux. On Windows there is no such a thing.
The only custom AMD CPUs and GPUs are hardware locked on PS5 and XSX/XSS have the same architecture x86-64, where they are probably missing specific CPU instructions, I/O on motherboard or how boot is handled.
On Steam Deck, there is no such a thing, you can normally install Windows 10/11 - it works.
You can install drivers - it works. That means, there is no hardware or software lock by OEM.
You need to understand it's custom GPU, so AMD isn't providing driver for it, everything depends on OEM and since Valve said those drivers are "as is" that means they are done with Windows.
You are not locked only to SteamOS 3, you can use any other linux distro.
The problem will be always Windows.
How SteamOS is locking out support for games ? Valve is trying via Proton to have more and more playable games on SteamOS. Games like Destiny 2 and other games with EAC is game developer problem, THEY ARE locking their games to Windows ONLY.
For me, that means they don't need my money so I skip to another game that is supported on Steam Deck.
Open source doesnt make it suddenly different. Ofcourse how drivers are written differs between Windows and Linux. But the core programmign that talks to these GPU's is identical for both OS-es. This architecture is platform agnostic.
The Steamdeck Soc does not fall under this category.
Only currently we cannot use the generic GPU drivers because of an OEM lockout, we can only partly bypass it by doing it manually but we are still losing out. The CPU/Chipset drivers are luckily not OEM locked so those can be installed. The GPU however is.
The drivers where written and provided by AMD on the request by Valve. It is literally the same installer even. But it is signed to allow for install on the Steamdeck. The drivers distributed directly by AMD however are not. Even though there is no specific Valve code to be found in the drivers apart from that it doesnt allow for the Adrenaline control panel to be opened. Which we can bypass though (and it works 100% so this strengthens the argument that the GPU is not custom).
We arent talking about isntalling other Linxu distro's though.
I am not talking about SteamOS, that it locks out users, it doesnt But it also lacks support from developers. That is why W11 is such an enticing thing on the deck and it actually currently runs quite well, especially considering that Valve did port the launcher to windows including steam deck specific functionality such as the ability to calibrate the controls, touchpads etc. That is why it is extra sour that there is for some reason an OEM lock on the AMD drivers even though based on what we can see from the provided driver package for the steamdeck that they are just the standard AMD GPU drivers, just without the OEM lock.
I am not asking for support from Valve regarding my windows installation and potential issues, I am asking for the OEM lock to be removed so that we can properly update are drivers as part of the main AMD driver branch.
I know about this. If they don't support Linux and locking out players even with Proton compatibility, then that game doesn't exists for me.
Valve created tool so devs don't need to make native Linux version and even Epic Games created EAC support for Proton. But for some devs like even Warhammer: Vermintide 2, they don't bother.
I bought Steam Deck 256 GB version in mind it will be running Linux based distro, not Windows. (Later I bought 512 GB version with Dock)
We even saw specs for Steam Deck since July 2021 and shipping started in February 2022.
So we had a lot of time to consider buying it. I wanted Linux gaming experience so I bought Steam Deck.
If I ever wanted Windows experience on handheld, I will buy AYANEO handheld and not Steam Deck.
This problem you have with AMD GPU on Windows is same experience,
like with Nvidia GPU on Linux (from my view, thats why I am still using Windows with my RTX 2080 Super until 2025).
OK so I checked AMD site and TechPowerUp site, CPU-Z and GPU-Z to dig some information
From AMD site
If you have AMD GPU from MSI, Sapphire, Asus, XFX......
the GPU chip is still the same just different brand with different sizes and different cooling.
Notebook version (Mobile version) from HP, Dell, Lenovo ..... still have the same mobile GPU and even CPU chip.
From TechPowerUp site
Steam Deck GPU is considered as "console custom made" from AMD for Valve,
something like Nintendo Switch GPU from Nvidia for Nintendo.
So that means one thing - Valve need to build new drivers and publish it by themselves, not AMD.
It isn't OEM lock, it's different GPU, that's why drivers from AMD site will not work perfectly.
(I'm saing it again) Valve stated, those drivers they published for Windows 10 and 11 are "as is" so no more updates.
I bought the steamdeck for PC gaming on the go, I want to take my favorite titles with me and Valve offered the most price effective device for this. I have an enormous Steam library and spend easily 24 hours a week playing games on Steam.
I couldn't care less for Linux, I know there are a lot of Linux fanboys out there, but I think it is a lesser experience. I didnt buy an Aya neo handheld because the internal components, most notably the battery and power circuit are of less quality, while the device is double the price. Nvidia drivers on LInxu are hampered because Nvidia doesn't want to make some of their proprietary software functionality open-source which I understand. This is not a reason for AMD to OEN lock the Steamdeck drivers.
It is considered custom because it's exclusive to valve in this core configuration (zen 2 with RDNA2). But the architecture itself separated is not unique to valve. Various websites have gone fairly in depth on this and nowhere is there any sign that there is something more specifically custom for the steamdeck outside of the power circuitry surrounding the soc to ensure the powerdraw remains low.
And again, the drivers are made AMD and are part of the AMD installer. It is an OEM lock.
They nowhere stated that there are no more updates coming, that is what you make out of it. Also that they not offer support on Windows installations. That doesn't mean that no driver udpates will be provided either. You are basically non-stop assuming.