New to Steam deck.
From searching around ProtonDB, it seems like Proton GE outperforms regular proton in just about everything and experiences less crashes.
Is there any case where it shouldn’t be used? Or should I force it on every game.
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Yes. In Mini Ninjas for example, if you force any other version of Proton other than the default, you will have no sound.
Unless you are experiencing issues right from the start, it is best not to force any specific version of Proton.
I haven’t had to force a non default version of Proton for a single game yet, to get it running perfectly.
Other than specific games that using ge proton boosts up the fps or “unsupported” games. Do not use ge proton. Do not use any 3rd part stuff at all if the case is not what I described
You can use it if you want. It is not going to hurt anything
It’s worth it for game that are barely playable.
Cryo + steamdeckessentials + latest version of proton ge = starfield running at 30 fps with dips down to 27 fps.
(Dips into the 20’s in space with a gigantic player ship)
Medium settings with 67% resolution scale and no dynamic resolution btw.
Also, 9/10 a game unplayable ok regular proton will run with GE if the issue is tied to anticheats. (Granted, because GE is launching the game without anticheat…)
Sadly an online game I want to get back into CAN’T really run on Proton (it technically can but the devs consider Proton no different then cheating programs and so the game treats you like a bot in that you have to complete a “prove you’re a human” captcha after EVERY dungeon run).
OK
How often should you delete the old Proton GE packs? I tend to use the older ones if the game runs smoothly
Proton Experimental is the way. Haven’t had to use GE for anything in ages
Any Multiplayer game with an Anti Cheat. As Proton GE can flag it.
A question I have: could using different proton version (or wine) have different impact on performance?
it’s a case by case basis. Some games run better with GE, some run better on regular proton. Some run better on old versions of proton
Use whatever version the Deck picks first, if that doesn’t work then try a different version. I’ve rarely had to force a different version, even with unupported games.
ProtonDB is great, I post on it myself, but you have to remember every comment is out of date by the time you read it. What was necessary 6 months or more ago is not necessarily the case today.
Yes. You shouldn’t use GE Proton for most Steam games. It takes more disk space and doesn’t provide any significant benefits. Especially, you shouldn’t be using it for Verified/Playable games, since those games have been tested on a well supported Proton version and there may be regressions in GE Proton since it’s a community project and not tested as well.
Great answer… thank you.
Only one instance but American Truck Simulator is verified and switching to ProtonGE literally doubled my performance if not more. Anecdotal and one off but don’t apply it as a fast rule that verified couldn’t benefit.
That’s because by default it runs the linux version which is terrible. If you switch protonGE to experimental it will be the same.
You most likely won’t need to use it anyways, at least I don’t, except:
I play a lot of itch games which are almost all Unity K&M games, and I have to use GE on all those games. I’m grateful for it.
So what is “Proton GE”? I understand that proton is the compatibility layer between Linux and the windows based game so API calls get properly directed. But, what is the difference between the two? And why is this considered better?
Proton GE (glorious eggroll) really should only be used when regular proton fails. It’s a heavier layer than normal proton. In fact even when proton 8 fails, you should try expirmental first before GE. The only thing I use it for are the additional video codecs to get things like resident evil zero cut screens to work. If you aren’t using the additional functionality of GE, you aren’t gaining anything.
Here is a list of everything proton GE does that normal proton does not:
Additional media foundation patches for better video playback support
AMD FSR patches added directly to fullscreen hack that can be toggled with WINE_FULLSCREEN_FSR=1
FSR Fake resolution patch details here
Nvidia CUDA support for PhysX and NVAPI
Raw input mouse support
‘protonfixes’ system – this is an automated system that applies per-game fixes (such as winetricks, envvars, EAC workarounds, overrides, etc).
Various upstream WINE patches backported
Various wine-staging patches applied as they become needed
TL;DR: if your game is working, just play! If not, try expirmental, then GE if still not working. Don’t use GE just because (more overhead).
There are some games I’ve found like Fallout 4 that perform much better with GE instead of regular proton or experimental. Just watch out that switching GE proton on your game sometimes will move your save files if the game doesn’t have cloud saves. You can still usually find it in desktop mode though