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Valve Steam Deck

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Re: Valve Steam Deck

#701

Post by __jem »

mr_sturd wrote: post #618
l0b0 wrote: post #606

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Arch Linux is amazing. The biggest surprise for me was that it's more stable than so-called stable distros, probably because the various packages don't end up drifting several months from each other when keeping up to date. Hopefully this eventually results in more user friendly Arch Linux installers. The learning curve is an absolute wall when installing, even after several years on Linux, but after that it's pretty…

Manjaro Linux provides a nice, easy installer for Arch. With different editions based on your preferred DE. https://manjaro.org/download/

I just used the new arch installer script, even though I've gotten my install time down to under an hour over time. It took maybe 10 minutes. I don't have very complicated or unique needs, but it "just worked" on my 4 year old Thinkpad.

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#702

Post by nvarsj »

lemoncookiechip wrote: post #75

The resolution, the weight, the battery life and potentially the cooling are all sub-par. There's also the fact that this can't compete with the Switch due to the simple fact that games are optimized to run at a stable framerate by the developers or subcontracted companies for the Switch, while this will just run games from Steam at a low-res and hope for the best.

Switch is infamous for adding lots of input lag to its PC ports (like hollow knight). Not to mention the abysmal online experience. The steam deck looks like it will destroy it for any third party title.

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#703

Post by __jem »

voxl wrote: post #663
l0b0 wrote: post #606

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Arch Linux is amazing. The biggest surprise for me was that it's more stable than so-called stable distros, probably because the various packages don't end up drifting several months from each other when keeping up to date. Hopefully this eventually results in more user friendly Arch Linux installers. The learning curve is an absolute wall when installing, even after several years on Linux, but after that it's pretty…

I highly recommend staying away from Arch and NixOS if you're not ready to commit upwards of 30% of your work and free time fixing and tweaking your box. I've tried both, Arch Linux will routinely hose your entire install if you don't carefully read the update notes every time (even if most of the time there is no call to action for you). Unless it has changed, this is still the expectation of users. NixOS promises s…

I never read the update notes and the only time I've ever bricked my Arch system was by pulling the power chord during an update. I probably could have recovered from live cd, but it didn't seem worth it.

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#704

Post by Conan_Kudo »

awill wrote: post #611
dralley wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>They fixed the worst thing about SteamOS: It's now got an Arch base. I'm a little surprised they didn't go with something like Fedora. The kernel / drivers are kept just as up-to-date as Arch but the rest of the system is a little more stable.

I don't think either of those points are correct. 1. Fedora is not a rolling release, so you don't get every single kernel point release like you do in Arch. 2. Steam does not want to do a full Fedora 30 to 31 upgrade every six months. They want to roll. It's a better model, especially when kernel/drivers are improving gaming quickly. 3. Arch has a stable base and gets small updates every day. Regular software servic…

> 1. Fedora is not a rolling release, so you don't get every single kernel point release like you do in Arch.

Wrong. The kernel and mesa stack rolls and is rebased regularly throughout the life of a Fedora release. Fedora is prepping for a rebase to Linux 5.13 for both Fedora 33 and Fedora 34 now: https://fedoramagazine.org/contribute-to-fedora-linux-kernel...

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#705

Post by rodgerd »

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #289
chx wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> On the other hand, it could end up all but killing off PC gaming if it is super successful. Why? I thought PC gaming is about powerful graphics cards you can't have pretty much anywhere else.

There's a relatively niche segment of the PC gaming population that really wants to push the envelope in graphics. I think most PC gamers like gaming on their PC because it is a very open platform that allows them to play games they bought the 90s, all sorts of mods, games from random nobodies on the internet, the latest games, and also emulate a wide variety of game systems and computers.

Certainly the Steam surverys support the notion that the people who won't shut up about $1,000 graphics cards are very much a minority in PC gaming. They eat up all the oxygen in the room, but they certainly aren't the actual majority of the group.

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#706

Post by VortexDream »

caconym_ wrote: post #286
AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #56

Gotta admit, I never saw that coming. I thought SteamOS was dead after the failure of Steam Machines and Valve was only continuing with their Linux efforts because it's still a useful hedge against Microsoft locking everyone in the App Store. I totally did not expect them to copy the Switch use-case with it. I'm anxious to see how this turns out. Valve's history with hardware is not so great, so it could go nowhere l…

The thing about Valve's record with hardware is that the products aren't bad , just extremely niche. If this thing really can play most of most people's Steam games in a Switch-like form factor with a standard gamepad layout, I think it stands to be a hit in a way their past hardware attempts weren't. It's also an interesting counterpoint to all the streaming services popping up these days. PC game streaming to mobil…

This seems like it'll become the best emulation platform we've seen so far. I'm excited.

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#707

Post by dralley »

awill wrote: post #611
dralley wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>They fixed the worst thing about SteamOS: It's now got an Arch base. I'm a little surprised they didn't go with something like Fedora. The kernel / drivers are kept just as up-to-date as Arch but the rest of the system is a little more stable.

I don't think either of those points are correct. 1. Fedora is not a rolling release, so you don't get every single kernel point release like you do in Arch. 2. Steam does not want to do a full Fedora 30 to 31 upgrade every six months. They want to roll. It's a better model, especially when kernel/drivers are improving gaming quickly. 3. Arch has a stable base and gets small updates every day. Regular software servic…

> 1. Fedora is not a rolling release, so you don't get every single kernel point release like you do in Arch.

Fedora rolls the kernel. I'm on Fedora 33 (a full release behind), and yet I still have kernel 5.12.15, the exact same as Arch currently has. I don't have any custom repos configured.

On rare occasions Fedora even gets new kernels faster than Arch, but usually it's less than a week behind.

>2. Steam does not want to do a full Fedora 30 to 31 upgrade every six months. They want to roll. It's a better model, especially when kernel/drivers are improving gaming quickly.

Fedora gets constant Mesa updates as well, it's not pinned. Admittedly it's 2 months behind Arch (21.0 vs 21.1)

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#708

Post by grae_QED »

Just wondering, it notes that the base model has 64GB and it has an SD card slot. 64GB isn't enough space to play most modern AAA games. Do SD card really have the bandwidth to play AAA games or Will the memory be upgradable post purchase?

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#709

Post by ChuckNorris89 »

rasz wrote: post #689
alanwreath wrote: post #453

Earlier quoted context omitted.

`Steam Deck is a PC, and players will be able to install whatever they like, including other OSes.` this is probably this most exciting thing about this release. How many days until this thing is running k3s and/or serving up a prometheus dashboard on the same device that is touch capable?

The only exciting thing is the form factor. Spec wise its an underperforming laptop with integrated graphics delivering below 8 year old GTX 760 level of "performance". 1280 x 800 at up to 30 fps.

The Nintendo switch has the same screen resolution and way worse specs and sold like crazy.

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#710

Post by pizza234 »

l0b0 wrote: post #606
css wrote: post #135

From the FAQ [0]: - What OS is Steam Deck running? SteamOS 3.0, a new version of SteamOS based on Arch Linux. - Will people be able to install Windows, or other 3rd party content? Yes. Steam Deck is a PC, and players will be able to install whatever they like, including other OSes. [0]: https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/steamdeck/faq

Arch Linux is amazing. The biggest surprise for me was that it's more stable than so-called stable distros, probably because the various packages don't end up drifting several months from each other when keeping up to date. Hopefully this eventually results in more user friendly Arch Linux installers. The learning curve is an absolute wall when installing, even after several years on Linux, but after that it's pretty…

> it's more stable than so-called stable distros, probably because the various packages don't end up drifting several months from each other when keeping up to date

What are you precisely referring to with "packages drift from each other"? Stable distros like Ubuntu (and I suppose Debian) don't do release updates at all, only critical/security fixes only. Only some software has special treatment (browsers first of all) and get full updates.

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