In Desktop Mode, the Steam Deck can still lean on its AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) upscaling support as well. Elden Ring also mostly stayed above 30fps on Low (thanks, Proton updates), while Crysis Remastered generally stuck between 30fps and 40fps on both Low and Medium. On Low settings, it can drop to around 30fps at certain moments, but can peak as high as 65fps just as frequently. Tempering both expectations and visual quality will see plenty of other games running well enough, including Apex Legends, which has seemingly had its Easy Anti-Cheat issues resolved since I unsuccessfully tried playing it for the Deck review. Death’s Door, another 60fps warrior at 1280x800, had to make do with 35-40fps at 1080p as well.Īnd yet, those are still playable frame rates, despite sticking with the best graphics settings possible. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus also saw a big drop, its top-quality ‘Mein Leben!’ preset having produced a solid 60fps in handheld mode but jumping around the 35-45fps range at 1080p. God of War, similarly, managed around 35fps on Original quality when in handheld mode at 1080p, that’s more like 20fps. With the Deck hooked up to a 1080p monitor, that plummeted to 26fps. Take Horizon Zero Dawn, which on the Deck’s own 1280x800 screen managed to average 40fps on Original quality. While the Steam Deck is powerful next to a mobile phone or Nintendo Switch, stretching that APU to cover a more pixel-populated desktop monitor is a big ask. With the right USB-C hub, the Steam Deck can output video even to 4K monitors, though realistically you’re going to need to stick to 1080p for games. Using the Steam Deck as a desktop: games performance Moreover, there’s a shortcut to Steam already on the desktop, and opening it reveals an interface that’s almost identical to that of the Windows version. Desktop Mode may be Linux but it closely resembles the Windows 10 desktop, with a taskbar, a pseudo-Start menu, and windowed apps, so working everything out is straightforward enough. Still, this is easily done by hitting the Windows key, typing in ‘display’ and selecting Display Configuration when it shows up the settings screen itself makes it easy to apply the required tweaks.įrom there, you’re pretty much good to go. By default, SteamOS will treat the Deck’s screen as the primary display and the monitor as a secondary, so it takes a trip into the Display Configuration settings to swap those around. There’s also a touch of setup left to do once you’re all connected and entered into Desktop mode. You can use an unpowered hub that’s leeches off the Deck’s battery, but given how quickly it drains from full to flat even without a bunch of desktop-grade peripherals poking out of it… don’t. This will both ensure you’re not limited to 30Hz (in other words, 30fps) and keep the Deck’s battery topped up. Specially, you should use a hub or dock that can output video at 60Hz, and supports 45W power delivery. That’s still true, but truly getting the most out of the Deck as a desktop device requires a more discerning taste in hubs (even if you don’t need the official Steam Deck dock, which launches this summer). Using the Steam Deck as a desktop: setup and essential kitįirst of all, mea culpa: in my Steam Deck review I said any old USB-C hub would suffice for connecting a mouse and keyboard. ![]() What I’ve found is that the Steam Deck can do a respectable impression of a budget desktop – that’s just not the reason you should ever buy one. ![]() To find out, I’ve spent hours running games and installing apps in the Deck’s dedicated Desktop Mode, which is accessible any time by simply holding down the power button and selecting it from the restart options. ![]() But how well does the Steam Deck work as a desktop PC, really? Valve’s use of the Linux-based SteamOS alone makes it less of a 1:1 equivalent to a Windows system, and its AMD APU was designed to handle the onboard display’s 1280x800 resolution – not 1080p and above. With the right tools, then, you can plug into a monitor, add a mouse and keyboard, and get playing as if it were a (somewhat) conventional gaming rig. Half the point of the Steam Deck is that it’s portable, but the other half is that it’s a PC.
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