Hi all,

I’ve owned my steam deck for a few months now and love it but also feels it’s lacking in the power department in some ways. With a big one being the ram.

With the release of both the ally and legion. I feel like valve needs to release a good power upgrade for all of us. Not a whole new device but an option power upgrade. This could also include the new OLED model too.

The idea - going on the thought of repairability and optional upgrade. Why not just replace an updated motherboard for us owners to make the swap. With an updated APU and larger amount of ram, it would extend the platform lifecycle years. Granted I’ve read and watched reviews showing there is a lot of optimization that’s can be done but that only goes so far. Making the motherboard upgrade optional allows more power hungry users the opportunity to satisfy their hunger.

Thoughts ?

  • Idunnomeister@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Valve chose the components of the Steam Deck pretty darn carefully. I don’t expect any upgrade path, except what they have done with the OLED, because it would destroy the parity they sought. Part of the Steam Deck platform is giving the developers a set series of specs to shoot for, for portable performance. This advantage is part of how the Deck has competed with its more powerful rivals, alongside the sheer amount of software-level support Valve has offered.

  • boontato@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    understandable. but I am in the camp of 1600p 144hz is nothing when the battery is dead. i do love the steamdeck being fast enough and also double the battery life of any other pc handheld. i really do want to see what SD 2 would be like.

  • gretnothing@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    It’s not very complicated but it’s really difficult to explain.

    1. VALVe wants to make a PC console

    2. They want to encourage developers to make games with Deck as one of the focus platforms

    3. To encourage developers, VALVe wants one device, so it’s easier to code

    4. Developers might be discouraged by many different variants of basically the same device

    5. Steam Deck might be too young and risky for developers to focus their resources on, especially if they have to put additional efforts to code on many different variants

    6. VALVe wants developers to treat Deck as a console, not as PC

    7. Games usually run pretty well on consoles, because it’s easier to optimise on one device, instead of many variants and combinations of hardware. That’s why many games run better on consoles than on theoretically stronger PCs.

    8. If a game is coded with Deck in mind from the get-go, it might outperform theoretically stronger PCs.

  • M3maqs@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    No APU currently available will be more efficient than Zen2+RDNA 2 operating at 15W. An upgrade as described would significantly impact battery life, requiring you to be near a power outlet constantly. There is already a legion go and Rog ally if you want to sacrifice battery life for power.

  • Bowflex_Freddy@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    There’s discussions on if it makes a true difference but cryoutilities seems to makes a difference in gameplay for me and the types of games I play.