\n<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

The launch of the Steam Deck is almost upon us. If you’re still on the fence, or wondering what all the fuss is about, we’ve corralled just about everything you could possibly want to know about the hottest PC game machine of 2022.<\/p>\n

What is the Steam Deck?<\/h2>\n
The Steam Deck<\/a> is Valve’s foray into the world of portable gaming, a machine broadly modeled after Nintendo’s excellent Switch<\/a> console design, but running on conventional PC hardware. That means it runs a full desktop operating system and, in theory, can play more games than any portable game machine ever built.<\/p>\n
This is far from the first portable game machine with full PC parts. But with Valve baking the incredibly popular Steam platform right into the hardware, and introducing it at an unprecedented low price, its introduction might just be the biggest shift in the PC gaming market in years.<\/p>\n

How powerful is the Steam Deck?<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
$\"Valve$ <\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Valve<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The Steam Deck uses a custom-designed “APU”, a combination CPU-GPU architecture built by AMD. The CPU is the equivalent of a Zen 2 laptop processor with a 4\/8 core setup of primary and secondary cores maxing out at 3.5GHz. The GPU is an integrated 8-core RDNA 2 design<\/a>, some of the same architecture used in the latest consoles like the PS5 and Radeon graphics cards<\/a>, but here implemented for operating on the low power requirements of a portable machine.<\/p>\n
All Steam Deck units use 16GB of RAM, which isn’t replaceable by the user. Depending on which version of the Steam Deck you buy, you’ll get 64GB of eMMC storage, 256GB of faster NVMe SSD storage, or a 512GB upgrade, all coming in standard and user-replaceable m.2 modules (like some modern laptops<\/a>). Storage can be further expanded with a mobile phone-style MicroSD card slot.<\/p>\n
Other relevant specs include a 7-inch, 1280×800 LCD touchscreen running at 60Hz, 5Ghz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0, a standard headphone\/microphone jack, and USB-C for charging and outputting video at up to 4K 120Hz. The latter will require the Steam Deck Dock, sold separately and not arriving until later this spring<\/a>. The Steam Deck is not being offered with a mobile connection option, and it has haptic trackpad feedback, but not full vibration motors.<\/p>\n
\n
$\"Steam$ <\/figure>\n
Valve<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
That’s a lot of specs and numbers, but how does the Steam Deck handle actual games? That’s a complicated question. The short answer, at least according to initial hands-on testing, is “surprisingly well.” The Steam Deck handles 2D low-power games like a champ, as you might expect, but it’s also surprisingly adept at the latest AAA 3D games. It can even — technically — do ray tracing, though players will probably want to turn it off for most games to avoid a steep performance penalty. <\/p>\n
While it won’t match the blistering graphics and speed of a full gaming desktop, it appears it can handle most brand new games at 30 frames per second at its native screen resolution. Some, especially those that are coded to run natively on Linux, can easily hit 60fps even with graphical goodies enabled. <\/p>\n
How big is the Steam Deck?<\/h2>\n
In a word: massive. At 298 x 117 x 49mm (about 11.7 x 4.6 x 1.9 inches), the hardware absolutely dwarfs the Nintendo Switch, which is just 9.4 inches wide with approximately the same sized screen for the new OLED model. The Steam Deck is far larger than even the legendarily “bulky” portable machines of old, like the Sega Game Gear or the Nintendo Wii U touschscreen controller, and it’s considerably bigger than other PC-based portable machines like the Aya Neo.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
Here’s the #steamdeck<\/a> next to the Switch OLED. pic.twitter.com\/kbGF9exbe0<\/a><\/p>\n
— Cary Golomb (@carygolomb) February 4, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

How powerful is the Steam Deck?<\/h2>\n\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nValve<\/p>\n<\/div>\n