PC Valve drops a Tim Epic-approved steamer!

[Zaku3]

1 hour ago, Brian said:

Rumor: Asus device will launch in October with 2 models and 2 colors. 
 

$649 - 512GB

$899 - 1TB

Colors - White and Black

 

Asus is reportedly working closely with Microsoft on this to make sure Game Pass and Windows work well. 
 

Also thrown into the Reddit post is that Sony is working on a handheld. handhelds are back baby!

 

I will yolo for 512MB? Like I guess drives would eventually get cheaper then a 250 dollar difference. I also find a thin and light more to my preference anyway.

[Brian]

1 hour ago, Zaku3 said:

 

I will yolo for 512MB? Like I guess drives would eventually get cheaper then a 250 dollar difference. I also find a thin and light more to my preference anyway.

I thought you are out on handhelds

[Zaku3]

25 minutes ago, Brian said:

I thought you are out on handhelds

 

I'm only out technically if I can get back with my ex-wife and/or I move to Colombia. 

 

We are technically in the end times and I want to see what a Zen 4/RDNA3 APU can do. Lol 

 

This answers my question of what would ASUS do to make a handheld PC. I have seen and liked the various kickstarters and indiegogo from Chinese start ups. 

 

Like I love my ASUS 2 in 1 gaming laptops so I figured they'd make a bad ass handheld PC. Plus if the August release date is true I went back to work and Asus is tight with Best Buy and I can get Best Buy Gift cards from work. So I could get it for "free".

[TwinIon]

With a custom chip, hopefully this Asus device will be a good comparison and show us exactly how much benefit there is to Steam OS. While I'd love to see Linux take off in gaming, the reality for me is that there is too much on Windows for me to not want it on a gaming device. Just between Gamepass and Windows only games (like Destiny 2), it makes Windows more or less a must have for me. I'd happily settle for a good dual boot solution, but after more than a year of waiting, I'm starting to think Windows will always be poorly optimized on the Deck.

[Zaku3]

7 minutes ago, TwinIon said:

With a custom chip, hopefully this Asus device will be a good comparison and show us exactly how much benefit there is to Steam OS. While I'd love to see Linux take off in gaming, the reality for me is that there is too much on Windows for me to not want it on a gaming device. Just between Gamepass and Windows only games (like Destiny 2), it makes Windows more or less a must have for me. I'd happily settle for a good dual boot solution, but after more than a year of waiting, I'm starting to think Windows will always be poorly optimized on the Deck.

 

It works but it's not Valve's focus. They only care about SteamOS. You are hoping AMD makes a driver update for a device that is designed for SteamOS. If this sells well ASUS will want to be on AMD about driver updates.

 

I want to get a 2023 Zen 4 RDNA 3 and lovelace/RDNA3 discrete Flow x13 it includes even a larger battery then the current model complete and total W of an upgradr if you ask me. However if I have the Best Buy gift cards for it I will yolo on an Ally 512GB to 1TB. I hope they are using liquid metal instead of paste or pads. 

 

I am still at the Jesus can some capitalist just make me a tablet Flow X13 with integrated controls.

[Zaku3]

Also a custom APU for this could be a negative. Ultimately this is a handheld x86 PC and the closer you are to that the better. So like off the shelf laptop parts would yeild better support as opposed to forcing AMD to make drivers for it. I can see why Valve went with 4 cores and it is a smart choice but it's a product of it's time. AMD was developing a laptop APU that was Zen 2/RDNA2 but never launched them. I can only imagine they figured it didn't have enough of a wow factor to bother producing. So we don't know what kind of work AMD had to put into making a 4 core APU when most of them seem to have 8 cores by default. Like did Valve save the day the chips were launched and the Valve idea meant they had chips for a customer. I'm interested in what differences does being an actual OEM affect the Ally vs other handheld PCs. 

 

When you think about it the Switch is a tablet. So handheld PCs are tablet PCs with a built in controller. As long as you approach these devices as a tablet Windows PC they aren't too bad to use. Actually that makes a use case for like people that might want something alittle bigger. I still love these things because it's cool being in a time where you can once again get it to PC gaming via integrated graphics. The Zen5 version of this is supposed to have like 24 compute units. As our boards Radeon dude that sounds really cool. 

 

Edit: I checked ya dude a 6500XT is 24CUs like I could see like entry level cards just disappear because an AMD APU would be like a bargain at that point. I'd love it if the APU did something like 4 cores but more then vanilla CUs so like 16CUs. 

 

Damn it @Brian ASUS did it. They got me intrigued.

 

[Nokra]

Just wanted to say what a joy it has been to play Hollow Knight for the first time, on my Steam Deck.

[stepee]

17 hours ago, Zaku3 said:

Also a custom APU for this could be a negative. Ultimately this is a handheld x86 PC and the closer you are to that the better. So like off the shelf laptop parts would yeild better support as opposed to forcing AMD to make drivers for it. I can see why Valve went with 4 cores and it is a smart choice but it's a product of it's time. AMD was developing a laptop APU that was Zen 2/RDNA2 but never launched them. I can only imagine they figured it didn't have enough of a wow factor to bother producing. So we don't know what kind of work AMD had to put into making a 4 core APU when most of them seem to have 8 cores by default. Like did Valve save the day the chips were launched and the Valve idea meant they had chips for a customer. I'm interested in what differences does being an actual OEM affect the Ally vs other handheld PCs. 

 

When you think about it the Switch is a tablet. So handheld PCs are tablet PCs with a built in controller. As long as you approach these devices as a tablet Windows PC they aren't too bad to use. Actually that makes a use case for like people that might want something alittle bigger. I still love these things because it's cool being in a time where you can once again get it to PC gaming via integrated graphics. The Zen5 version of this is supposed to have like 24 compute units. As our boards Radeon dude that sounds really cool. 

 

Edit: I checked ya dude a 6500XT is 24CUs like I could see like entry level cards just disappear because an AMD APU would be like a bargain at that point. I'd love it if the APU did something like 4 cores but more then vanilla CUs so like 16CUs. 

 

Damn it @Brian ASUS did it. They got me intrigued.

 

 

i love that gif so damn much

 

Also I forgot to mention how much I love Steam Deck for emulation when discussing a new device. I have all that set up now and the controls are easier to map with the steam os templates so I don’t want to move that off there either.  And the trackpads for things like ds emulation and wii are so great. 

 

I actually play emulation on it more days than not even if it’s just 20min or so on some game that popped in my head. Like last night was a mix of Kirby Air Ride and Rocky Rodent lol.

[Keyser_Soze]

16 minutes ago, Nokra said:

Just wanted to say what a joy it has been to play Hollow Knight for the first time, on my Steam Deck.

 

How well would Jump King run on it. Could you test it for me?

[Zaku3]

9 minutes ago, stepee said:

 

i love that gif so damn much

 

Also I forgot to mention how much I love Steam Deck for emulation when discussing a new device. I have all that set up now and the controls are easier to map with the steam os templates so I don’t want to move that off there either.  And the trackpads for things like ds emulation and wii are so great. 

 

I actually play emulation on it more days than not even if it’s just 20min or so on some game that popped in my head. Like last night was a mix of Kirby Air Ride and Rocky Rodent lol.

 

See but this is where the steam deck kinda sucks. It's only a 4 core processor. I tried MGS4 on the Aya Neo Next and ya that didn't work. I think the 6800u just about maintains 60FPS in Twin Snakes. Like I'd buy this to be able to like play Metal Gear games that are basically lost to time when I can't use a good enough laptop to do it. I will try it but I'm pretty sure I'm gonna hit 60FPS at 1200p with a 3050 and Ryzen 6800HX. Those parts are literally more powerful then the gamecube designers could have imagined. 

 

Technology has improved and low power but at the same time excellent performance wasn't really a thing. Now depending on the specs this thing might run The Last of Us out of the box. 

 

The performance claims are 1.5x at I think 15-18 watts and double at 32 I think. Imagine a Zen 5/24CU RDNA3+ or 4 APU that is a lower power version of a high end chip for thin and lights. The 24CU is like a 6500XT now. It's pretty exciting.

[Brian]

The only person who thought you were out was you bud 

[stepee]

2 minutes ago, Zaku3 said:

 

See but this is where the steam deck kinda sucks. It's only a 4 core processor. I tried MGS4 on the Aya Neo Next and ya that didn't work. I think the 6800u just about maintains 60FPS in Twin Snakes. Like I'd buy this to be able to like play Metal Gear games that are basically lost to time when I can't use a good enough laptop to do it. I will try it but I'm pretty sure I'm gonna hit 60FPS at 1200p with a 3050 and Ryzen 6800HX. Those parts are literally more powerful then the gamecube designers could have imagined. 

 

Technology has improved and low power but at the same time excellent performance wasn't really a thing. Now depending on the specs this thing might run The Last of Us out of the box. 

 

The performance claims are 1.5x at I think 15-18 watts and double at 32 I think. Imagine a Zen 5/24CU RDNA3+ or 4 APU that is a lower power version of a high end chip for thin and lights. The 24CU is like a 6500XT now. It's pretty exciting.

 

For emulation isn’t more cores not any helpful since it’s mostly single threaded? I know with dolphin you want to disable SMT on Steam deck using power tools plugin and it actually performs much better.

[Zaku3]

1 minute ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

How well would Jump King run on it. Could you test it for me?

 

If it's reputation is Rogue Leader, Twin Snakes, or MGS4 like then I'm gonna say not worth trying. 4 Zen 2 cores sounds great until you realize the clock speeds are gimped for the iGPU's clock speeds. 

 

 

@Brian Ya ultimately a 13 or 16in screen with a keyboard and mouse that I can put somewhere comfortable next to me is better then a handheld PC for strategy games. I can probably play TW3 at native res close to 60FPS probably. I ran into less 5 speed on Stellaris/Vic is slow on the steam deck because clock speeds on the CPU limit performance so an Aya Neo felt better foe the games I normally play kinda thing. I used to buy 3k+ alienwares and a seperate ultrabook but Asus makes affordable gaming ultrabooks that are 2 in 1s so why bother buying 2 seperate devices at that point.

[Zaku3]

3 minutes ago, stepee said:

 

For emulation isn’t more cores not any helpful since it’s mostly single threaded? I know with dolphin you want to disable SMT on Steam deck using power tools plugin and it actually performs much better.

 

I could be wrong in fairness. I buy 7900XTX for the of course I can play MGS4 on an emulator at 4k. The 7950x is like what if I want to rip/encode a blu ray and play a game. What if The Last of Us takes forever to compile shaders and I might as well play something else while I wait. It's like edge use cases but you do it because you can do it. I could probably have done that on an 8 core processor or 12 core. I just dunno if Zen4's speed improvements have made my system super responsive or that in combo with 32 threads does. 

[stepee]

2 minutes ago, Zaku3 said:

 

I could be wrong in fairness. I buy 7900XTX for the of course I can play MGS4 on an emulator at 4k. The 7950x is like what if I want to rip/encode a blu ray and play a game. What if The Last of Us takes forever to compile shaders and I might as well play something else while I wait. It's like edge use cases but you do it because you can do it. I could probably have done that on an 8 core processor or 12 core. I just dunno if Zen4's speed improvements have made my system super responsive or that in combo with 32 threads does. 

 

I think it’s more the speed improvements. For gaming in general single thread performance is king.

 

Edit: That’s why you disable hyper threading/smt on deck for emulation, because you get a higher clock speed on the 4 remaining threads.

[Nokra]

On 4/5/2023 at 11:12 AM, Keyser_Soze said:

 

How well would Jump King run on it. Could you test it for me?

According to the game's store page, it's Deck verified.

[Zaku3]

On 4/5/2023 at 2:26 PM, stepee said:

 

I think it’s more the speed improvements. For gaming in general single thread performance is king.

 

Edit: That’s why you disable hyper threading/smt on deck for emulation, because you get a higher clock speed on the 4 remaining threads.

 

Ya I want to avoid having to do that. I'd upgrade to a Zen 5 or 6 3D 8 core variant whatever has 1 CCD. 

 

Omdia: Steam Deck's total console sales count to hit 3m units in 2023

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Sign up for the GI Daily here to get the biggest news straight to your inbox A new Omdia report estimates that the life…

 

It would be cool if ASUS is the first of many from other system builders. I'd reconsider the UFO so long as AMD can keep the chips coming. 

[stepee]

3m is a damn good start!

[Zaku3]

16 minutes ago, stepee said:

3m is a damn good start!

 

Who knew Elden Ring was the greatest handheld game ever made?

[TheLeon]

I know everyone was on the edge of their seats waiting for more Deck updates from me. I gave it a week, messed around with a dock when I was housesitting, but I ended up returning it. It was a painless, no questions asked return, and my full refund was processed pretty quickly. 
 

And as it turns out, it’s looking like I’m going to need that money to fix/replace my car soon, so no new toys for a while. Which is fine, I have plenty. 

[stepee]

27 minutes ago, Zaku3 said:

 

Who knew Elden Ring was the greatest handheld game ever made?

 

I figured it was all people buying it for Pizza Tower

[Nokra]

1 hour ago, TheLeon said:

I know everyone was on the edge of their seats waiting for more Deck updates from me. I gave it a week, messed around with a dock when I was housesitting, but I ended up returning it. It was a painless, no questions asked return, and my full refund was processed pretty quickly. 
 

And as it turns out, it’s looking like I’m going to need that money to fix/replace my car soon, so no new toys for a while. Which is fine, I have plenty. 

I'm glad that Valve made it so easy for you to return. That's actually pretty awesome; it's a little more risky of a purchase than a Switch, for example, given the imperfect stability of the platform for some games. Hopefully that flexibility will encourage anyone else on the fence to give the platform a try. 

[Keyser_Soze]

13 hours ago, TheLeon said:

I know everyone was on the edge of their seats waiting for more Deck updates from me. I gave it a week, messed around with a dock when I was housesitting, but I ended up returning it. It was a painless, no questions asked return, and my full refund was processed pretty quickly. 
 

And as it turns out, it’s looking like I’m going to need that money to fix/replace my car soon, so no new toys for a while. Which is fine, I have plenty. 

 

Could have made @b_m_b_m_b_m proud. Get rid of your car, hang on to the deck and play it on the bus!

[TheLeon]

1 hour ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

Could have made @b_m_b_m_b_m proud. Get rid of your car, hang on to the deck and play it on the bus!

Sure, I can’t comfortably play the Deck at home, but playing it on the bus would definitely work. 
 

I am exploring how feasible it would be to not have a car. I live in a pretty suburban area, but if I get a decent e-bike, that should be able to get me most places I couldn’t easily get to on foot or by bus. 

[Brian]

My only real complaint is the battery life. Even playing games that I think are less demanding and dropping frame rate to 30, I still average about 2-3 hours of game time.

 

I can’t imagine Asus having decent battery life using Windows, dual fans, and a newer processor. 

[Zaku3]

3 hours ago, Brian said:

My only real complaint is the battery life. Even playing games that I think are less demanding and dropping frame rate to 30, I still average about 2-3 hours of game time.

 

I can’t imagine Asus having decent battery life using Windows, dual fans, and a newer processor. 

 

AMD is really efficient with their laptop chips. It will run as low as 5 watts as high as 28-32 watts. It will be faster then the steam deck at the same TDP. Also this looks steam deck sized so unless its super thing I'm expecting a bigger battery. I think the Aya Neo has a 50.25wh. 

 

There are room for more premiun models but there is a price ceiling for these. Probably cost of a lower end ultrabook so like 1k-1.2k. An aluminium body model would be cool.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Valve is about to slash the file sizes of the Steam Deck's SSD-hogging shader caches in half | PC Gamer

WWW.PCGAMER.COM

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An upcoming graphics driver update will free up some precious gigabytes on our Steam Decks.

 

Quote

 

Here's some exciting news for those of us with smaller Steam Deck SSDs or choice paralysis over what games to uninstall. A forthcoming update to the Steam Deck's open source video driver will shrink the gaming handheld's shader cache files by approximately 60%, Valve has confirmed to PC Gamer. 

 

A recent report on Phoronix highlighted an update coming in Mesa 23.1, which "re-implements the RADV pipeline cache based on the common vk_pipeline_cache." There are probably a whole bunch of words in that sentence that don't mean much to you—most importantly, Mesa is an OpenGL and Vulkan video driver that Valve, AMD, Intel, Microsoft, and others contribute to in a rare act of unity, and this change affects how the now widely used Vulkan driver caches files.

 

In the Steam Deck's case, Valve has created big shader cache files for individual games that are delivered during the installation process, improving performance and helping avoid the dreaded shader compilation stutter. The downside to these shader caches is how much space they take up: potentially multiple gigabytes for larger games. With the new Vulkan pipeline cache, however, they're about to get a lot smaller.

 

 

[Zaku3]

Microsoft experiments with Windows handheld mode for Steam Deck and more - The Verge

WWW.THEVERGE.COM

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Microsoft employees are looking at optimizing Windows

 

 

The wait Valve sold 3 million of these LTD and they aren't sold everywhere. A new way to monetize Windows exists. 

[ThreePi]

Bought Fire Emblem Engage and ripped it from my Switch to put on my Deck. Seems to run farily well on Yuzu, but I'll have to fire it up on Switch just for comparison.

[Brian]

1 hour ago, Zaku3 said:

Microsoft experiments with Windows handheld mode for Steam Deck and more - The Verge

WWW.THEVERGE.COM

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Microsoft employees are looking at optimizing Windows

 

 

The wait Valve sold 3 million of these LTD and they aren't sold everywhere. A new way to monetize Windows exists. 

Do whatever it takes to get Game Pass on the Deck natively 

[Zaku3]

33 minutes ago, ThreePi said:

Bought Fire Emblem Engage and ripped it from my Switch to put on my Deck. Seems to run farily well on Yuzu, but I'll have to fire it up on Switch just for comparison.

 

Rule of thumb seems to be performance depends on how well the emulator does it's job. The games could run on the Deck if there was a Windows release. Hell even with the Deck it's almost at real time levels of emulation since proton is translating DX12 calls to Vulkan. So it's a question of software more then hardware. 

 

I think I hit like 30FPS 1080p on my OXP Pro Mini with 3 houses.

[ThreePi]

58 minutes ago, Zaku3 said:

 

Rule of thumb seems to be performance depends on how well the emulator does it's job. The games could run on the Deck if there was a Windows release. Hell even with the Deck it's almost at real time levels of emulation since proton is translating DX12 calls to Vulkan. So it's a question of software more then hardware. 

 

I think I hit like 30FPS 1080p on my OXP Pro Mini with 3 houses.

 

It is running on the Deck, Yuzu is available in the Discovery store. I actually haven't even tried running it on my desktop PC. I more just want to compare Deck performance with a Switch. Out-of-the-box I know Metroid Dread ran better on a Deck than on a Switch. With Engage it's locked to 30fps in light areas with occasional stutters in battles and transitions. Just want to see if some of that occurs on the Switch as well.

[Zaku3]

I think it holds FPS well but resolution dropsis what I remember.

[TwinIon]

10 hours ago, Zaku3 said:

Microsoft experiments with Windows handheld mode for Steam Deck and more - The Verge

WWW.THEVERGE.COM

---

Microsoft employees are looking at optimizing Windows

 

 

The wait Valve sold 3 million of these LTD and they aren't sold everywhere. A new way to monetize Windows exists. 

I'd be pumped if MS put out a windows version optimized for the Steam Deck, but I won't hold my breath. Windows isn't even well optimized for tablets and MS has been shipping their own tablet for a decade.

[Nokra]

I beat Hotline Miami on the Deck today. It was technically great (no lag, very smooth, etc.) but I had way too many frustrating moments aiming with the sticks to want to play Hotline Miami 2 on the Deck. PC or bust. 

 

I think I'll finally give Pentiment a try next.