this post was submitted on 09 Nov 2023
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I'm toying with getting a Steam Deck instead of building a gaming PC. I can't afford both. The Steam Deck looks an even better now option now.
A steam deck is definitely not a gaming computer replacement, get a good pc first imo
Depends a lot on the type of games you want to play. AAA or competitive FPS probably gaming PC. Older games, casual, indie, etc. SteamDeck is great.
I have to say that the SteamDeck brought a lot of fun back to gaming for me. Everything's in one package, it's portable, I can play docked or lay in bed. I can suspend it and come back whenever.
I've mainly played the Witcher 3, Skyrim, Fallout 4, Noita, GC roms, Disco Elysium, Dishonored, and Stardew Valley. Some of those games I've owned for a long time and I never played them until I got the SD.
But it does make a great streaming device/glorified controller too when I want to run more demanding stuff on my PC.
I am currently playing a heavily modded version of Mass Effect Legendary Edition on my SteamDeck, works really well, even Mass Effect 3.
But I had to install a no-EA-link patch, because EA requires to be online to start the singleplayer game. Which hurts playing it on the go. But with that, great experience.
You're being down voted, but it's the truth. Depends a lot on the particular computer though. The biggest consideration is personal value of mobile gaming.
Aside from that, it is damn hard to beat a steam deck in performance at the same price, but if you can stretch to even a bit most gaming desktops will handely out perform one
Depending on your definition of “gaming”, it definitely can be for some folks
I love my deck, but yeah, if OP can get a full desktop, I'd recommend that first. More scalable over time.
It kinda is tho. You can even connect a monitor, mouse and keyboard to it if you want to.
My biggest problem after owning a deck for a year is the controls. If you like to play PC games designed around a mouse and keyboard the deck is just a chore. I struggle to play games on my deck when the controls make playing the game take far longer than on a PC where I can quickly hover my mouse over things or click and drag. Yes it has trackpads but it's definitely not the same experience.
That said if it's a console first game then it usually works pretty well.
I'm using my steam deck right now as a gaming PC while moving across America.
It works really well. I got a dock from Amazon that gives me the ports to plug in my gaming mouse and keyboard. I can do HDMI out to the hotel TV or, better yet, lead out one USB-c cord to a fantastic portable monitor.
I only ran into two minor issues. The first is getting enough juice to the steam deck and heat. Both can be easily solved with a good fast charging station and better air flow (I use this tiny hyper fan and have had zero issues in 90 degree Florida winter weather).
Of note, I dual boot with Windows 11. It's a bloated mess of an operating system, but I want to use certain mods and programs that windows only. Plus, I'm not tied down to only steam games. The addition of being able to run nearly everything that's Windows compatible takes the deck up a level, I feel.
The best way to get the most out of the Windows environment is to run a debloater admin tool, which removes unnecessary programs on Windows 10+ systems. The difference between the performance is shocking, making it pretty much required for usage. It's not too hard to use, too.
The best part of it all is that you still have a stream deck at the end of the day. You don't have to do any hardware mods. You can pick the deck up and walk out of the house and still have the gaming PC with you.
Depends entirely on what you play. For most people, a standard gaming PC is going to be your best bet, especially if you play FPS titles, but for a select group of people a Steam Deck makes a ton of sense.
If you play mainly older titles, are on the go frequently, and enjoy a console experience, you can even hook your Deck up to a TV with a docking station, or to a monitor, keyboard, and mouse. It's super convenient, and is like a gaming laptop/console hybrid, almost like a switch with an entire capable Linux install for productivity.
For someone in need of something like that, I think a Deck might make more sense!
I can only recommend the cheapest Steam Deck, and only if you're willing to either open it to upgrade the internal storage or rely only on micro SD cards. The Steam Deck gets decent performance on most games but decent is defined as 25-45 fps for 3D games and 60 fps for most sidescrollers.
I mainly use my Steam Deck to stream games from my PC at home to my cubicle at work, I am still astonished that my upload speed on coax is substantial enough for very low latency streaming. I prefer it over my laptop because the Steam Deck takes up less space on my desk docked or with a case that has a kickstand like dbrand's Killswitch. Still boggles my mind that this OLED version doesn't have a kickstand either.