Earlier I did an article about Valve’s new Steam Deck that is releasing later this year, and based on the specs it’s an impressive piece of hand held hardware. So much so that Valve claims it’s powerful enough to run everything they have tested at 30fps or more.
*COUGH* Did they test Crysis? *COUGH*
In an interview with IGN, Valve programmers and designers explains that after years of testing and developing the hardware, the Steam Deck has reached a surprising level of performance.
“We’ve been looking at various games over the past few years in the back catalogue,” said Valve coder Pierre-Loup Griffais. “But the real test for us was games that were coming out last year. They just couldn’t really run very well on the previous types of prototypes and architectures we were testing.”
With the latest version of the Steam Deck, they are confident that the device is performing better and can handle anything they throw at it, assuming, of course the game supports Valve’s SteamOS or its Linux compatibility software Proton.
“We haven’t really found something that we could throw at this device that it couldn’t handle,” Griffais explained.
It is however mentioned in the video that the Steam Deck is targeting 30fps on its 800p display, which had some worried that it would struggle to run games at 30fps, effectively losing the advantage of PC gaming: High-framerates.
LOL…I just had a weird vivid mental image of a frame rate taking a drag of a blunt….Ai, Kaas.
But Griffais explained this away on Twitter for all the twits:
He also explained that the Steam Deck will will include an optional fps limiter to save battery life.
I guess the truth will be in the pudding, and PC gamers keen on getting a Steam Deck, will only be able to reveal the truth once they have it in…well…their hands.
Last Updated: July 26, 2021
Yozzie
July 27, 2021 at 15:59
30 FPS… what YEAR IS IT!?!
Francois Knoetze
July 28, 2021 at 00:50
In all fairness if this was pc or console I would whole heartedly agree. But this is a handheld/mini pc running PC games on the go. Tech hs gone far but right now if you want anything higher I can see you carrying around a backpack with a GPU
MonsterCheddar
July 28, 2021 at 01:43
Doesn’t the Switch also only run on 30FPS?
https://media0.giphy.com/media/zYCMFPiZEsWcM/giphy.gif
Francois Knoetze
July 28, 2021 at 05:20
I think it does. Plus I personally still love the Switch. For me it set the benchmark for what a console can be. Something that suits any way you prefer to play. yes 30fps but hell it is awesome switching between tv and handheld, taking your games with you and when the kids are taking up your time, you park you butt in the bed with a set of cans and just enjoy it.