Steam Deck / Legion Go / ALLY - Lower UMA Frame Buffer > Increase Frames

[Gypsum Brawler]

Did some tests. I'm on a Legion Go running BazziteOS.

High Preset (1600 * 900)
UMA Frame Buffer: 8gb | TDP: 20 | FPS 20
UMA Frame Buffer: 4gb | TDP: 20 | FPS 30

Low Preset (1600 * 900)
UMA Frame Buffer: 8gb | TDP: 20 | FPS 20
UMA Frame Buffer: 4gb | TDP: 20 | FPS 40

Tweaking the settings gets a more consistent framerate and it actually looks good.
Just in case it helps anyone. I'm probably refunding because of this god forsaken save file situation...

[Snek]

I think it's because the UMA Frame Buffer setting reserves that amount for specifically the GPU only, but when it's set lower the OS (at least SteamOS) can automatically choose if the RAM goes to the CPU or the GPU. So if it was set to 8gb on the Steam Deck with 16gb of ram, it would leave the CPU with only 8gb to work with. From what I've researched it seems like setting it lower is better in almost every case except when you're trying to run Windows on the device, as it doesn't auto-allocate the VRAM like SteamOS.

[Gypsum Brawler]

Originally posted by Sneaky:

I think it's because the UMA Frame Buffer setting reserves that amount for specifically the GPU only, but when it's set lower the OS (at least SteamOS) can automatically choose if the RAM goes to the CPU or the GPU. So if it was set to 8gb on the Steam Deck with 16gb of ram, it would leave the CPU with only 8gb to work with. From what I've researched it seems like setting it lower is better in almost every case except when you're trying to run Windows on the device, as it doesn't auto-allocate the VRAM like SteamOS.

Depends what you’re playing. Generally on a steam deck you can get away with higher UMA Frame Buffers to support GPU overhead and reduce some other settings to settle the RAM use whilst also adjusting ZRAM or Swap File. I found that some games (RDR2 for example) your UMA should be lower for the inverse and it would run better whereas cyberpunk was high UMA for best effectiveness (at least from my testing). Also making sure cryoutilities was run as well. I did have some minor overclocking/undervolting using Smokeless though so results may vary.

I smashed out 12 months of games finishing almost 1 game a week for a year so I played with the settings a lot before I moved on to the LeGo :)

[Wodnes]

Wait, what about the save file? I'm on Steam Deck and I just had this weird bug after 150 hours, my Continue from Last Save is gone and I can only save through Inns.
Also, thanks for sharing these findings.

[Gypsum Brawler]

Originally posted by Wodnes:

Wait, what about the save file? I'm on Steam Deck and I just had this weird bug after 150 hours, my Continue from Last Save is gone and I can only save through Inns.
Also, thanks for sharing these findings.

That’s a unique one. I have no idea! Try a full restart and validate game files.

Otherwise you can navigate to where your local file may be (there’s a few guides and see if there’s anything weird there. I’m stumped, sorry!