It has been a few weeks now since Valve hand-delivered some of the first Steam Decks to lucky buyers near their offices, but the question remains. Is the Steam Deck good for AAA gaming?
The Steam Deck packs a pretty big punch, with all of the models rocking a custom AMD APU optimised for handheld gaming. This chip is based on AMD’s Zen 2 and RNDA2 architecture, delivering plenty of performance for PC games on the go.
The Tech Spec
In their official tech sheet, Valve refers to the Deck as having the “Highest graphics performance of any handheld device.” On paper, the claims and marketing seem to check out, with it boasting some pretty impressive hardware for us to get excited about.
Let’s get into the specs! The Steam Deck is available at three price points, with the main difference being in storage capacity and format. The base model, priced at £349, has 64GB of eMMC memory. The mid-tier model costs £459 and comes with a 256GB NVMe SSD, which provides faster load times. This model also includes an exclusive Steam Community profile bundle. Finally, the top tier Steam Deck costs £569, benefitting from incredibly fast 512GB storage and a premium anti-glare etched glass, as well as an exclusive carry case, Steam Community profile bundle, and virtual keyboard theme.
Compute
| Processor | AMD APU CPU: Zen 2 4c/8t, 2.4-3.5GHz (up to 448 GFlops FP32) GPU: 8 RDNA 2 CUs, 1.0-1.6GHz (up to 1.6 TFlops FP32) APU power: 4-15W |
| Memory | 16 GB LPDDR5 onboard RAM (5500 MT/s quad 32-bit channels) |
| Storage | £349 – 64 GB eMMC (PCIe Gen 2 x1) £459 – 256 GB NVMe SSD (PCIe Gen 3 x4) £569 – 512 GB high-speed NVMe SSD (PCIe Gen 3 x4) *All models include high-speed microSD card slot |
Display
| Resolution | 1280 x 800px (16:10 aspect ratio) |
| Size | 7″ diagonal |
| Refresh rate | 60Hz |
| Interactivity | Touch-enabled |
Connectivity
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5.0 (support for controllers, accessories and audio) |
| Wi-Fi | Dual-band Wi-Fi radio, 2.4GHz and 5GHz, 2 x 2 MIMO, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac |
Power & Expansion
| Input | 45W USB Type-C PD3.0 power supply |
| Battery | 40Whr battery. 2 – 8 hours of gameplay |
| microSD | UHS-I supports SD, SDXC and SDHC |
| External connectivity for controllers & displays | USB-C DisplayPort 1.4 Alt-mode support; up to 8K 60Hz or 4K 120Hz, USB 3.2 Gen 2 |
More Frames Less Lag
The Steam Deck packs a lot of power into a small portable device, especially when compared with other handhelds such as the Nintendo Switch. An AMD quad-core APU ensures this performance with 512 RNDA2 Shaders with help from AMD FSR, which is baked right into Steam OS.
AMD FidelityFX Supper Sampling (FSR) allows for games to be calculated in a lower resolution and then upscaled. Ideally, games then run with higher FPS without image quality deteriorating.
Great Experiences
The Steam Deck offers excellent compatibility with Indie and AAA games alike. What’s more, Valve uses the Steam Store to verify games as compatible with the Deck. The best are given the title ”Great on Deck”. Notably, these titles include games such as Life is Strange True Colors, Elden Ring, Valheim, and more.
Alongside these ‘Great on Deck’ titles, there are plenty of additional games that will work on the Deck with more being added daily. You can even check your current library of Steam games to see which are playable on the Deck.
Gaming PC or Steam Deck?
So, is the Deck a replacement for a desktop gaming PC? Sadly not. Whilst the Steam Deck is truly the hero we have been needing for on-the-go gaming, it is no replacement for a custom pre-build gaming pc. But how does it compare to a full system?
The Deck features 16GB of DDR5 RAM and a roughly 2.4-3.5GHz CPU clock alongside GPU performance comparable to a GTX 1050. If you’re looking for a slightly more powerful system and don’t need to travel as much, you can choose a customisable desktop gaming PC.
OcUK Gaming Falcon Gaming PC
- AMD Ryzen 7 7700 CPU
- AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT GPU
- 32GB DDR5 RAM
- 1TB NVMe SSD and additional optional drives
- Fully Customisable
Like to learn more about the Steam Deck compares to our current gaming hardware? We have the ultimate showdown: Gaming Laptops vs the Steam Deck!
Will you be getting a Deck?
The Steam Deck offers the power of a gaming PC in your hand, and you can even play the games you already own. Are you getting a Deck? Let us know in the comments.
PC specs are subject to change.
- 4 min read
Robert Mullane
Author
When not working, you'll find me in VR or losing in bottom-tier Valorant matches. I write about all topic's tech and gaming with a particular focus on representation in gaming, virtual reality, and LGBTQ+ themes. If you're still not fed up with me, you can also catch me over on the Overclockers UK TikTok and YouTube accounts.
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