Steam Deck worth it?

[LV858]

I am looking into getting a used steam deck 256gb. I was wondering, how does this console performs? Does it play games smoothly? I am currently using a Logitech GCloud, and while I like using this console, I am limited to playing the games that I wanted, I know that you can stream games from the GCloud but it lags sometimes so I avoid streaming games on the GCloud.

[Luna]

Its worth it to those who can afford hahahah

[ReBoot]

The Deck's totally worth it.

[76561199540158642]

be careful buying a used steam deck, some steam decks have been known in the past to have failure graphic chips which burn out or desoder making the whole steam deck run very poorly.

you should buy the newest steam deck spend a little more and don't take your chances purchasing a old bricked device.

[Haruspex]

Depends on what you want to play. If you buy a Steam Deck excited to play a newer COD, GTA V Online, Destiny 2, or Fortnite, you're going to be disappointed. The Steam Deck runs Linux, and while it's great for most games, the kernel-level anti-cheats being used in some multiplayer titles just don't play well with it.

There's also performance. The Steam Deck is fantastic for what it is, and it really punches above it's weight, but at the end of the day it is a battery-powered handheld with an APU capped at 15 watts. It's not made of miracles. If you want to play the absolutely newest, demanding, AAA games, you can expect, at best, a 30 fps, low to medium settings kind of experience.

For the right person though, it's amazing. I have three, one for each member of my family. Mine is an OLED and I use it as a backlog destroyer. I've beaten more JRPGs I've been sitting on since I got it than ever before. It's my main emulation machine too. While I can run big AAA games, I usually only run older releases on my Deck, and I run the newer releases on my desktop instead where I can turn things up and enjoy them without compromises. Also those older games get fantastic battery life. Up to 12 hours on an OLED.

My wife uses hers to play her "cozy" games and lots of platformers. She can usually be found playing Stardew Valley, Disney Dreamlight Valley, Sackboy, and various indie roguelikes. She also plays Apex Legends, but she prefers the mouse and keyboard there so she uses her desktop, and also last fall they changed the anti-cheat so it no longer works on Linux anyway.

My teenage son can usually be found playing different sandboxy things. He uses it for BeamNG Drive, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, and Satisfactory. He likes to tinker, and he enjoys pushing it further than it was intended, so sometimes I'm surprised by what he's able to get running at a decent framerate. Once he had Windows 95 running in a VM on the thing, just to see if he could. I've also seen him playing around with Blender on it, which isn't an ideal use, but he has fun getting it to do things it wasn't really intended for.

I recommend you look up the games you want to play on Youtube to see how others got those games to run. This will also give you tips on the best settings for each game.

[LV858]

I would like to get the steam deck to play games like arma reforger and other war/shooting games, plus sports games like basketball/football/baseball. Is the steam deck good to play these type of games?

[Haruspex]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από LV858:

I would like to get the steam deck to play games like arma reforger and other war/shooting games, plus sports games like basketball/football/baseball. Is the steam deck good to play these type of games?

Like I said, go check for yourself. Do a reality check to make sure you can play what you want to play. Do a search on Youtube for "'game name' Steam Deck", and see how it goes.

ARMA reforger looks playable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6b9bhkGC9rw

Madden or Fifa:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6qniEmBW-8

Some of those newer sports games will have incompatible anti-cheat and won't work, but previous versions will probably work fine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQKNOUUeR34

You can also check ProtonDB[www.protondb.com] for good insights on what will work, what won't, best settings to use and ways to get some games working that don't otherwise.

[D. Flame]

Low settings, 900p, with upscaling, at 45 FPS

That's what you are looking at with most games.

[Heraclius Caesar]

It's not worth it anymore, no. Especially not the 256 GB which doesn't have nearly enough storage, and doesn't come with an anti-glare screen, though it at least has the same SSD as the 512 GB model. And I say this as someone who loves their Steam Deck (512 GB model) and has played it nearly everyday for the last 2 & a half years.

While older games will usually play very well, even beautifully on Deck, newer games generally do not.

If you are intent on getting 1 anyway, definitely follow the advice of other users here and check to see if the games you want to play are even playable/verified on Deck, and be prepared to compromise on visuals and controls.

You'd honestly be better off waiting for Steam Deck 2 or just spending more on a superior handheld like a Legion Go or a Onexplayer Pro 2 or something.

[Electric Cupcake]

Absolutely.

The knockoffs like the ROG Ally supposedly have slightly more powerful specs, but are crippled by Windows bloat and bad TDP. And the controls are upside down. Disgusting xbox layout. Putting analog stick above d-pad is abomination.

You need to posses some Linux-Fu to get the most out of the Steam Deck, but it's an almost universal game platform. Valve accidentally showed it running Yuzu briefly in one of their promotional videos, which they very quickly took down.

[Gnome]

It's fine if you play mostly low-spec games. Otherwise the performance will be subpar, as the Steam Deck's hardware is already having problems running more demanding games. When it comes to the software side, Valve has done wonders when it comes to gaming on Linux, but you still won't be able to play games with kernel-level anti-cheats (like Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone, Valorant, League of Legends, etc).

Some great websites to know more about Linux compatibility:

* https://www.protondb.com
* https://areweanticheatyet.com
* https://gamingonlinux.com

[yankees992007]

No, Asus ROG Ally X is better than steam deck.

https://youtu.be/Vao0ZS6dqLs?si=J08MfuIjRKkkG4qx

[RPG Gamer Man]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από Golden Unicorn:

be careful buying a used steam deck, some steam decks have been known in the past to have failure graphic chips which burn out or desoder making the whole steam deck run very poorly.

you should buy the newest steam deck spend a little more and don't take your chances purchasing a old bricked device.

Do not play outside if it gets very hot. It is possible that this can cause overheat issues too. Even nintendo warned this about their switch systems doing this too. I believe this is a inherit issues with portable systems.

[29933545203998740]

Αναρτήθηκε αρχικά από yankees992007:

No, Asus ROG Ally X is better than steam deck.

https://youtu.be/Vao0ZS6dqLs?si=J08MfuIjRKkkG4qx

This is true, since it is sold worldwide unlike Steam Deck.

[Darkwave Dahlia]

Why would you buy a used Steam Deck?
More character, right? Right?

[Doctor Zalgo]

I think it's one of those things that you buy because it sounds like a great idea and the hardware is great. But then you get it and wind up just playing it at home because when you leave the house you're not playing games anyway and you don't want to risk breaking it.

Signed,


Someone who has never undocked their switch in their entire life.