Hi all!
I’m playing on an old PC and cannot play on new games due to performance issues. issue.
I like to play with keyboard and mouse.
I see a lot of good feedback about SteamDeck and I’m doubting now.
Should I buy a gaming PC or better buy a SteamDeck + dock station and relax?
I like the idea that I can take SteamDeck on trips + I don’t need to think about what PC to buy (you know. select motherboard, CPU, RAM, etc)
But my main concern is SteamDeck performance
Can I play new shooters, CyberPank, etc
Games that need a high-performance PC.
What do you think?
thanks!
I mainly use my deck connected to my TV with wireless mouse and keyboard. I play in HD with good results - Sniper elite 3 and 4, Metro series, borderlands 2, the Witcher 3, and Doom 2016 are in current rotation with good results.
If you want to play Cyberpunk, a gaming PC will be much better, although probably a lot more expensive too.
The Steam Deck’s main advantage is portability, if you don’t use that then a PC will be the better option for performance (especially the CPU). Hopefully one day Valve will release a home console version too.
I still prefer to play shooters (first person and third person) and strategy games on the PC. Like anything that is mainly mouse driven and / or needs a very powerful CPU. That said I finished Sniper Elite 5 and Hitman 3 docked to the TV (before I bought my PC) - so it is playable.
And you can’t play Crosscode, Hades, etc. while waiting in an airport or train with the gaming PC…
If you really want to dive into it you can also stream from the gaming PC to the Steam Deck at home (e.g. to use the OLED screen and play in bed). But it’ll depend on your network setup.
Hopefully one day Valve will release a home console version too.
Well, technically…
I really hope they release a SteamOS installer/image to install on other devices and make them into Steam machines. I’ve got an old laptop with an i7-8750H and an RTX 2070 that already doesn’t have a purpose anymore outside of gaming, so being able to drop Windows and dedicate the hardware to Steam would be great. Opening up SteamOS to all hardware is sure to be a driver nightmare, though.
Between being able to dock the Deck, the existence of Steam Link/streaming from a PC, and the complexity/cost of releasing a simultaneous second console I’m sure Valve won’t be bothering with a home console anytime soon, unfortunately.
Personally, I can’t get used to playing FPSs on the Deck, even with gyro controls. I need a mouse and keyboard for that, which unless you’re docked and connected to a monitor doesn’t make for a very good gaming experience, IMO.
Also, higher-end games will perform poorly on the Deck (though often still playable). It’s not a powerhouse. It has a low resolution screen and a few other things that help performance, but if you’re specifically looking to play very demanding games you’ll be better off with a more powerful desktop.
Now, if you plan to play docked for keyboard/mouse games and you don’t mind things running at 30-40 FPS sometimes and you also really like the thought of playing games handheld, then the Deck is a good choice.
The biggest issue is that a Deck and a good gaming PC aren’t in the same price range. Often a powerful PC will start at twice the price of a Steam Deck.
You won’t get decent performance in latest games on Deck. Unless playing at lowest possible details and 30fps you call “decent performance”. I have SD LCD and SD OLED and play older AAA games that can run at full detail at 60-90fps. There is a good selection of older titles that can do that. And you can obviously run all the indie games you want on Deck. But games like Cyberpunk 2077? People who call CP2077 or Horizon Zero Dawn performance “decent” are deranged. Although games like MGS 5 or Alien Isolation work really damn well.