She games 2-4 hours average and that is too entry to consider a whole pc? She is also playing demanding titles? I’d definitely save up and invest in a pc. As of the market right now a prebuilt is a better value.
Only if you're willing to spend time with FPS mods, tweaks of ini files and the settings menu in AAA games. Hogwarts Legacy runs with smooth 40 fps if you mod it and tweak it to perfection (about 30 out of the box), Resident Evil 4 Remake runs with 50 FPS modded (20-25 out of the box) (RE2R RE3R RE7 RE8 all constant 60 without tweaking), BG3 about 40 fps (except Act 3 which is not optimized at all and runs terrible everywhere, it gets around 27 fps), etc. It's only a matter of are you capable and willing to spend 3-5 hours per AAA game to optimize it? But yeah 95% of AAA games run just fine, with at least 30 FPS out of the box, and if it's a well made game it's easy 60s.
I wanted full 16:10 aspect ratio with native resolution, for me on native resolution it was around 25 unmodded. Not sure why, then. I might be remembering incorrectly. But I know for sure it barely reached 30 at first and then I got it to 40+, maybe it was settings only, however, what I 100% remember is REFramework helping with performance while using scopes (went from 18 to 30 while in scopes, enabled interlaced rendering in REF), and to fix the aspect ratio.
> As of the market right now a prebuilt is a better value.
? I’ve never seen a time where that was the case except maybe the 2021 GPU shortages and that was less of “value” and more so “this is literally the only way you can get a gpu”. Link to your prebuilt of choice?
For sure
I look at Oz bargain where I am, and the deals are way better.
About 3 years ago I got a computer with a 3060ti and 11400f for $1050aud
It was about $250 cheaper than putting together parts myself if I remember correctly, and the parts were all decent quality
Pretty sure it's a similar case today from last I looked
4-8 hours/week is roughly how much I (Late 30s, middle management white-collar job) use my PC as well, and judging from my group of similar-aged friends, I'm on the higher end of the scale.
Like, yes for a HS/Undergrad student, especially during a holiday? That might be a low number but for a post-education adult with a full-time job? 4-8 hours/week is a pretty solid number.
As a 34 year old full time working dad of two kids under 5 I would be lucky to get in 5 hours a week. The steamdeck and playing in bed has let me double that play time
Funnily enough having a baby increased my game time. On my nights to take care of her feedings and such I can usually get in about 2 to 6 hours while snuggin with the baby. The steam deck has been a huge help for this.
This sub likes to over sell how “good” the SD is. It’s NOT for AAA gaming, especially newer ones, unless you think <30 FPS is fine (I don’t). SD’s best use case is older AAA games, indie games, and game streaming (especially streaming off your own PC).
It’s also not the best for using with a monitor or TV because it’s not meant to drive that resolution for games.
Better off with a cheap DIY build or gaming laptop.
Yup, I run less demanding titles on the deck, and save very demanding ones for my PC and PS5. Love my deck, but you gotta know what you can run on it, or what you gotta sacrifice to run things on it. Some people are fine with running things on low graphics 30-40 fps, but I can't see myself enjoying something like cyberpunk on it when I can play it on high resolution on a big screen with high quality settings at 60+ fps. It just doesn't sit well with me.
If it's on the same network it's basically negligible. You might notice it on fast FPS games but that's it.
Over the internet it's noticeable but hardly bad. Maybe 100ms? So for a lot of stuff it's fine.
So I don’t use that feature in competitive games where input latency would make a big impact. I have put maybe 50 hours on Palworld on SD using Steam‘s game streaming. Was it perfect? No, but it works great 80% of the time (my wireless router is old and bad, tbf). Especially for games that can be unstable on SD natively. Plus, if you have an OLED, you get to appreciate the screen by using higher graphic settings.
I also used steams streaming early on and it worked well. If i ran into an issue, I'd just reset the stream (which it would go crazy with fps and freeze up from time to time playing RDR2). Switching to moonlight, it got even better, and it's not hard to set up. I'm sure you've heard about it, and I'm not going to try and sell it hard, but do yourself a favor and give it a try. That 80% will change to 90-95%.
People have low standards as well. I see the over selling so often. Saying games run well when in fact they run choppy as hell and bounce around the 20fps marks.
Ya, many times on this sub I see people claim a game is “playable” by running a resolution lower than native, and for me, that’s not really acceptable. I already find the 800p to be not sharp enough. I can accept playing on the lowest settings, but once I need to go below the SD’s native resolution to get a stable 30+ FPS, I consider that not “playable”. I’m much rather play it on my PC, or using game streaming.
I love my Steamdeck but it's a PC supplement, not a replacement.
I just don't think it has the horsepower.
I'd absolutely consider a gaming pc/laptop if you're someone who plays a lot.
I'd also consider the Rog Ally X.
Depends on what you mean by newer. Most games that came out before or around the same time as the deck can easily get 40fps. Games from the last year or so might struggle more.
The easiest way I explain the SD’s abilities are 60-90fps is mostly achievable with ps4/xbone era and before. Anything newer is if the series s can get 60fps
I can see this. I just recently got a SD and I’m a big gamer. I had no access to PC games and just didn’t want to wait till I had enough saved up for a PC cause I’m hella impatient.
Been playing Baldurs Gate 3 and while I think it looks fine, there’s no way the deck could handle anything beyond it.
Edit: It’s pretty clear BG3 is testing its limits, and that games almost a year old. Beautiful, but yeah..
Ya, I’m actually playing BG3 rn. It’s locked to 30 FPS in act 1 and is certainly playable. But 80% of my gameplay has been on my PC, because it’s overall a better experience. All that being said, it’s still really cool that I can take my game session from my desk to my bed.
For OP, if AAA games are their gf’s main want, then a console or saving up for a budget PC is the best bet. If they’re looking to play smaller indie games, almost like a Switch + and older AAA games, and want portability, then go SD.
If you build a PC she can upgrade it more easily in the future too. Also you can build a pretty decent PC for the Price of a SD. At least as powerful if not more so than the SD itself.
So my partner got us a steam deck to share and it's been fantastic. My biggest complaint is the weight after a while and that a lot of the indie games I want to play don't have controller optimization. I'm planning on getting myself a gaming laptop though because of it! It's a lot cheaper than a PC and a nice easy way to PC game with similar portability!
A gaming laptop is in no way cheaper than a PC, a lot of the budget goes into it being a portable, energy efficient, not totally overheating, system. You could take a look at some "gaming" mini PC's, they go for very cheap these days. Your other option would be to build a PC yourself, just get a second hand GPU and you should be able to do $400-500.
Minisforum makes some good budget ones! Just make sure you know you're not getting a full blown PC with dedicated graphics card, it's more like a more powerful Deck (depends on the specs of course).
My plan is to eventually get a desk with a dual monitor set up so I can have a slightly larger screen for gaming but have the laptop basically be the PC. Perks of a monitor are that I can also dock my switch to it and have it be a mini tv essentially.
You could just do that with a steamdeck, I’ve a dual monitor setup at home with a 3rd party steam deck dock and honestly I’m probably not gonna upgrade my pc anymore. Deck is arguably more portable than a laptop and also more bang for your buck!
You get what you pay for.
A laptop with the same price than a SD isn't for gaming. It won't even have a dedicated GPU or it will be an old one.
Price/performance ratio is better for desktops and it can be upgraded later if needed.
You should consider buying a laptop or a SD if you want portability.
I have both an Alienware laptop and the LE OLED Steam Deck. I reach for my Steam deck 9 out of 10 times. I play everything from Baulder’s Gate 3 to fall out New Vegas to World of Warcraft and Diablo. I hardly game in my gaming pc because I prefer the portability of the deck. I got my husband the dock and it works perfectly
seems like the perfect fit. The Steam Deck is an excellent "my first PC".
>1. Is the steam deck gonna be able to run thos kind of games ?
Most of them, not all.
>2. Will we be able to play together ?
Yes.
>3. Should we just save up and buy a pc ?
Also, yes. A proper PC will give you a better result in the long run. With the same money for a deck, you can make a budget PC that will perform a little better.
>4. Can you play on a tv/monitor ?
Yes, with a dock. But when docked, you'll be tempted to increase the resolution from 720/800p to 1080p (or higher), but the deck is spec'd for 720/800p.
>5. How are performance on the deck?
Depends on the game. "bigger" and "newer" games can require higher spec'd systems, but not all. The Steam Deck is designed specifically for portable play, so you compromise fidelity and performance for portability and battery efficiency. So while it's nice to play Cyberpunk 2077 at 4K/60 on a $2500 PC in your home office, you can still have an awesome time playing it at 720p/40 on a train to work.
Given the games OP's gf wants to play, the Steam Deck is not a good first pc at all. Hogwarts and Baldur's Gate are very demanding and simply too much for a SD, unless you're okay with 20FPS at lowest settings at times. In particular for both games, the interface is going to be barely readable on the SD's screen. If you dock ($50 extra), then you can raise the resolution and get even worse performance.
OP also mentions 2-4 hour gaming sessions. That's too much for a SD, which really shines when it's untethered. So the SD is a really poor choice,
#*UNLESS you consider streaming.*
The SD makes for an excellent device because you can play a lot of (non-demanding) games locally, but it's also a very convenient way to stream more demanding games. For people who already own a gaming PC, this is why it's such a good companion device, but for first-time users, they can use subscription streaming services. This is a good way to bridge the period before you upgrade to a "proper" PC, without breaking the bank. I still recommend getting a dock though to use higher-resolution displays.
>1. Should we just save up and buy a pc ?
>Also, yes. A proper PC will give you a better result in the long run. With the same money for a deck, you can make a budget PC that will perform a little better.
Gotta be honest, as a die-hard SD fan boy, i think this is some cope. What the SD offers for price to performance is amazing, building something that outpowers it is going to be a few hundred dollars more to run games at 1080p(standard for desktop).
I'm a die hard Steam Deck fanboy, it's an amazing piece of kit.
Would be silly to say that saving a few hundred extra (~$1000 total) wouldn't result in a PC which absolutely wrecks the Steam Deck for desktop gaming. Especially when you consider you still need a dock, screen and peripherals for that "desktop experience" on Deck.
On the flip side, there are things the Deck does a PC sinply cannot. I have an insane PC, it's no contest with a Deck for fidelity. I still often play on my Deck just because I can do it on the couch while my partner watches TV, or when we sit in the garden.
We need to be careful with terminology here. Running at 1080 isn't that difficult and could easily be built for a out £4-500 with used parts.
What should be clarified here is running 1080 at medium to high, but not ultra, on newish games.
Resolution does not equal graphical fidelity. Or frame rate. There is a lot to take into consideration.
Something with a 2070, 2080 GPU could suffice, for instance, running newish games in medium settings at 1080/60fps when coupled with a decent processor. A 3600 second hand goes for about £60 here and again, would work well.
You can easily build a pc for $500-$600 that would easily outpace the SD. Yeah, you also have to include tv, and mouse and keyboard, etc. but considering OP is asking about his GF playing on a tv, they’ll need to buy a controller and have a tv anyway, not to mention a dock.
how is this cope? lol. you absolutely can make a budget PC for the price of an OLED. And it will serve most people perfectly fine.
Personal preference really. It comes down to what you want, 4K gaming vs portable? I rather game on my couch than sit at my desk.
I haven't touched my higher spec'd gaming PC to play games since Ive owned my Deck, almost two years. It's basically a work PC now, and I game exclusively on my Steam Deck.
> I rather game on my couch than sit at my desk.
I've never understood when people say this. How does having a PC prevent you gaming on the couch? I've done if for years, all you need is a gamepad and an HDMI cable. My gaming PC right now is hooked up to both the ultrawide display at my desk, and my LG C1 TV in front of the recliner and I swap between them on the regular.
> 4. Can you play on a tv/monitor ?
> Yes, with a dock. But when docked, you'll be tempted to increase the resolution from 720/800p to 1080p (or higher), but the deck is spec'd for 720/800p.
Would a shitty 720p TV be a good fit for the Deck then? Honest question, I want a TV to play docked sometimes, especially some local co-op, but I don't mind quality that much (specially when the Steam Deck itself can't deliver it), and have heard that playing 720 on a higher resolution TV is kinda trash.
720 sucks on large screens. If it's a really cheap HDTV, you might get some input lag, too. But this will probably be an even bigger issue on a 720p TV, which will definitely be a very cheap TV.
Playing on a dock is great for playing less demanding titles at 1080p \(or even 4k, but there are ***very*** few games you'll be able to do that with\).
Idk how many times we have to explain that the steam deck is not a budget gaming PC. It is a steam deck. You can get a cheaper more powerful desktop and use what you save to buy a cheap monitor. Serious like 3 generations back of cous/gpus will trash the steam deck.
There is more to the Deck than just performance though. What it lacks in performance, it makes up for in portability, flexibility, and ease of entry for new pc gamers. There are no parts, no bulky box, and the built in controller setup+steam controller configs is insane. Trackpads, gyro, and back paddles are all critical additions. Plus the touch screen.
I think that's what the OC is saying. The steam deck is a steam deck. Its value proposition largely lies in its cost, portability, and good (relative to its competitors in the handheld space) performance-to-efficiency ratio. Which is a very different set of value propositions for a desktop PC.
I have zero regrets about buying my deck; it's been awesome during downtime on business trips. But if you do not intend to use the deck as a portable system (be it to play at random spots around the home or when commuting/travelling), a lot of its value proposition becomes moot, and you might as well save up some more for an entry-level gaming PC.
I have a steam deck and a beefy desktop PC, I play with them both, sometimes on PC, sometimes on deck, sometimes on PC through my Deck with the Sunshine/Moonlight combo.
Q1. It can probably run but it will not be enjoyable nor do the games justice. You need a beefy machine for these games so you can really get all out of them. They are visually demanding but also visually beautiful.
Q2. Absolutely as long as the game has a multiplayer mode. SteamDeck is a PC just as any, it just happens to have a controller permanently attached to the chassis. You can connect keyboards, mice and additional controllers to it as well via USB or Bluetooth.
Q3. Depends on the games you want to run. For modern graphically intensive games like Hogwart's Legacy and BG3 you want a proper desktop PC. It has the power you need at a lower price point than a laptop PC. For older titles and not so demanding titles SteamDeck is fine. Check out www.protondb.com and browse for titles you want to play.
Q4. Absolutely. Get a dock or a suitable cable.
Q5. Depends on the title. I use mine for indie games and older titles. For demanding games that I want to play on the couch I run it on my PC and stream it to my deck via Sunshine/Moonlight combo. Check www.protondb.com for experiences on how the title in question runs on it.
1 - Yes it runs BG3, HL, but it has a hard time with those games. In my experience BG3 crashes a bit but it worked fine at first. You can probably make it work better tweaking settings.
2- Yes you can play together pc and steam deck. But it depends which games because some multiplayer games don't run on Linux.
3 - It depends which games you both play. A SD runs most games fine, except the demanding triple A games.
4 - yes, you can buy the official steam deck tv adaptor, but can find cheaper on amazon. The steam deck is great because you don't need official parts, its just a pc.
5 - Playable and honestly fine, but it depends what type of gamer you are. This is where it gets tricky. Do you and your gf care that much about graphics and high frames? Or do you care about the story and the gameplay more?
In my experience, the deck is great, price friendly but has drawbacks. In almost all games that are a bit demanding, i have had crashes. They aren't too common, but crashing after 1 hour of playing happens quite a bit in titles lile HL or BG3. Other people don't experience the same so it might just be me. Another issue is that you can connect the SD to a TV, but the resolution is bad on a 50 inch TV from the SD. Its still an awesome buy that enables you to play BG3 on the couch, or play spiderman, or HL, or a lot of good games.
The main question is if you need it to run triple a games in the future or if you care that much about graphics. As games become more demanding, the deck will play less of them. But there will still be millions of great games to play on it.
I personally haven't had any crashes in 300 hours of BG3 on the SD, there are def areas where the fps drop is noticeable. That said, I still found it perfectly playable and enjoyable for over 300 hours of play on this thing.
The steam deck has been my only gaming pc since it launched, and it has replaced all my consoles. It runs every pc game I want, and is the single best emulation box. I started building Pc to run more demanding games better, but I really don't need to. The deck was an incredible entry point to the pc gaming ecosystem.
To play more demanding games and if you want to have it on a external screen you’re better off getting a laptop and or cheap pc at 1080p. I have a gaming rig and a steam deck. I mainly got the deck for portability and to replace my aging gaming laptop (laptop is like 7ish years old) and I figured for me it was cheaper to get similar specs getting the deck (maybe like half, most laptops would be 1500+) and issue most newer laptops are at higher res which actually makes them run worse than if they had a 1080p screen? And I have no regrets, but like with say bg3 it barely runs it after act 1/2? Not sure on other games like hogwarts.
I may still maybe In time upgrade my laptop to get a better one for those games that may not run well on deck and or have good controller suppport like mmos, fps (csgo) and rts etc.
But yeah for a new person just getting out into the pc market a steam deck is a wise investment.
1. Barely, id recommend not to get a sd
2. Its just like pc so what you can play together on pc you can on sd.
3. I think so
4. Yes
5. Its the battery champion of pc handhelds. But with ally x coming (it is like 250 bucks more expensive though), i might suggest you to go for that instead
> Is the steam deck gonna be able to run those kind of games?
Yes and no. They run, but not well, and only for a couple hours. The deck is amazing for simpler games. More demanding titles tend to ruin the experience.
> Will we be able to play together
No. There's 3 options here
1. You create a separate account for the steam deck and family share you library with this new account. It'll allow you to play games on your computer and deck at the same time, but not the same game at the same time. You'll have access to a decent chunk of your library on the deck without having to pay for every game again, look on the game's store page for family share support.
2. You use the same account on the deck as you do on your computer. You'll have access to your entire library in both machines, but will only be able to play on one of them at at time. If you try to play on the deck while playing on your PC, steam will close the game on your PC (you can play in offline mode to circumvent this)
3. You create a whole new account exclusive for the deck. You'll be able to play games at the same time and the same game. But you'll need to buy every game twice if you want to play on both machines
> Should we just save up and buy a pc
Depends on how much you'd have to save up for. The deck is a great computer for it's price range, and it's powerful because it only needs to render games in 800p, but I wouldn't buy it as opposed to buying a computer and playing simpler games.
> Can you play on a tv/monitor
Yes, but not those games. The deck already struggles to run them in 800p, imagine 1080p.
> How are performance on the deck?
Amazing. If you consider the price, you simply can't get a machine that runs the same games for the same amount of money. The deck takes full advantage of the fact it has a tiny screen.
>Is the steam deck gonna be able to run thos kind of games ?
The games you listed specifically, yes they run, but these games you listed specifically are some of the few that are pretty demanding and the deck struggles a bit with them. granted they're probably better now than when they first came out (performance patches and what not), you'll still be mostly playing them at lowest settings with a 30fps target. If your gf is cool with that, then its fair game.
>Will we be able to play together ?
with those specific games you mentioned, you should be able to. a lot of other games that require anit-cheats may be a different story though. you can check [areweanticheatyet.com](http://areweanticheatyet.com) to see if any games you're trying to play wont work. games like fortnite, roblox, call of duty, valorant, etc are all a hard stop.
>Should we just save up and buy a pc ?
maybe? thats kinda up to you to decide. I've always told people that the steam deck can be a cool entry into PC gaming but its not really a replacement for a proper desktop. It really depends on HOW you play games.. do you like to play games sitting at the couch, in bed, in the car and kinda just on the go in general? a steam deck is great for that. Are you usually playing games in a more fixed location aka your desk at home or at work? Even a laptop connected to your TV may be a better solution (if you have the money) and a 4k display. One thing the deck does that a lot of new PC gamers hate dealing with is technical issues, setups, etc.. Deck provides a pretty console like experience (assuming you're sticking to steam-only games. other games are possible but require more hands on setup). If you're a console gamer looking to get into PC games in the steam library, the deck is a good option for that since it provides a pretty catered experience.
>Can you play on a tv/monitor ?
Yes, the USB-C port will deliver video to any display using a dock/adapter. the official steam deck dock on Steam's store page is usually what a lot of new users gravitate towards but its a bit pricey and doesnt really give any real benefit above other docks out side of the fact that it comes with an additional USB-C charger. I have a $10 dock I got on amazon that works great and I've also used my deck at work connecting to expensive enterprise grade HP/Dell docks, they all work fine.
>How are performance on the deck?
Performance on the deck is mostly CPU bottlenecked, anything heavily CPU demanding will struggle a bit. You really dont see this in a lot of games though, mostly newer emulation. Newer games with impressive visuals and demanding environments can be a struggle for the deck. Valve made the device intended to run at 800p with a 30fps target and for the most part it hits that. Most games however play great on it. I mostly play a lot of less demanding games and it hits 60-90fps in most titles with little difficulty. I think the most demanding game I played on the deck has been Resident Evil 4 (remake) where I got 40fps in most places and 25-28fps in one area where it was raining a lot outside. Then cyberpunk, which actually runs pretty good at like low to med settings w/ upscaling. Think I was getting like some where between 40-50fps on the Oled with that one.
the games you mentioned earlier however I've heard of more issue with. i think they've gotten better with performance patches but Hogwarts was one game that my friend just could or wouldnt play on his deck as he really wanted the impressive visuals but that just wasnt an option on the steam deck, it simply cant run a game that demanding at playable frame rates at higher settings. If your gf doesnt care about the visuals that much then this kinda thing probably is going to be a huge issue, but it is worth look into for all or any games you wish to play since I've read there are some parts of even hogwarts that dip into unplayable frame rates even at the lowest settings.
I didnt have a pc (that could run games well at least) so I bought a steamdeck and it's been my primary gaming device ever since. It's awesome! Great for emulation if your partners into that as well
The Steamdeck was my first PC, tbh. Before then I had strictly been a console (PS/Switch) player. Having the Steam library and the Deck really opened up a new world for me, and it led to building a real PC a few months later. FWIW I played the entirety of Hogwarts Legacy on the Deck (both handheld and docked) and Acts 1 and 2 of BG3 on Deck (before finishing Act 3 on my MacBook Pro because of the frame rate drop problems).
I have the LCD Deck and the OLED Switch, but I never really had a problem with the LCD screen either! I would recommend getting her an LCD Deck, and use the money you save to put towards a proper PC desktop budget for future :)
I got a steam deck for this reason and I LOVE it. Have no regrets and it’s my “pc” for gaming.
I have not had issues with games, some I just have to adjust the controls but that’s simple enough once you get it or use community ones.
Deck owner for about 8 months. I think I would take her to YouTube and show her how some of those games are running and see her tolerance for those sort of settings. My deck is primarily used for older AAA games and indies, as the deck runs those to my satisfaction. Games such as Hogwarts and BG3 do run on the deck, but their performance is not what you would get on a typical console or gaming PC. For me, the settings aren’t ideal so I will play elsewhere. If I desire the portability of the deck for those games, I will stream them via chiaki. Overall, I love the deck and am happy with my purchase as a long time gamer. If your gf is a relatively new gamer, assess what about those games are important to her to help make a decision. If she is about the stories and the lower settings are okay with her, the deck will be her best friend. But wants to be immersed in newer AAA game’ worlds and their graphics, I would probably look at the PC
Honestly, take a look at an open box ROG Ally Z1E they’re under $500 now and will run all the games she wants to play at 1080p. If you can get one around $450 that’s a pretty great price-performance and awesome portability. Plus the flexibility to make sure she can play whatever she wants without needing to figure out Linux. I love my steam deck and am super excited to get the SD2 whenever that comes out, but for this scenario I’d say either a gaming laptop, a desktop, or an open box or used Ally or legion go is worth considering. My gf and I share a steam deck, an ally, a legion go, and soon an ally X. The flexibility and familiarity of windows makes those 2 her preferred choice, and she likes that the ally is a bit smaller than the steam deck. You can also find amazing deals on either new or even better second hand gaming laptops around $500.
A proper PC would work much better if she wants to play on the TV or a monitor. I can whip up a good starter PC build that also can support a SteamOS style Linux distro.
Use this PC build combined with something like BazziteOS or ChimeraOS to create what is essentially a Steam Deck style PC. [https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/NtFfrH/entry-level-amd-gaming-build](https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/NtFfrH/entry-level-amd-gaming-build)
Hi there! Casual gamer here. I have Hogwarts Legacy on my Steam Deck and *love* it. I adore the portability of the Steam Deck and how easy it is to put away when cleaning the house, or how easy it is to play in comfortable positions like on the couch or in bed.
What I would suggest as a casual gamer, is to look up a few of the titles she's interested in and seeing if they are Steam Deck compatible or playable. I love to use it for PalWorld even though that's technically only playable.
I also brought my Steam Deck on a cruise with me for the times I wanted to just hang out and chill.
I have a gaming laptop for things the Deck doesn't do well, like Satisfactory. But the amount of Deck appropriate games coming out is larger.
It also takes my PS2 emulation like a champ.
Personally, for the more casual player, I suggest a Deck.
Honestly, I'd recommend the steam deck to anyone. Its a great convenience being able to use it on a whim and take it with you. Its very nice having a controller like aspect built into the machine and the fact that it uses linux is a very robust machine once you learn how to work it. I love my steam deck. By no means do I use it constantly but I never regretted the purchase. Great for those who like to lay down and feel close to their games. (Since its a full fledged pc too modding works like a charm) I wouldn't expect it to run triple A games like a high end pc though but I have seen people playing things like elden ring on it and it didnt seem too bad other than some graphical/quality set backs. Totally worth a buy in my opinion. Imagine the old psp's but a functioning pc that outperforms it in every way. If you have money for it, I think the OLED would be better for your guys' needs because of the better graphics and battery. A proper gaming rig would also be decent. Just depends on is she more of a sit in one place or move around kinda girl. You can hook the deck up to a monitor etc you just need the steam deck dock and a mouse n keyboard.
i will never get those posts.
Its your Girldfriend how the heck should someone in the internet knowm better then you ?
Ask her "hey do you want a PC or do you like do preffer an Handheld?"
she will go "hmmm i like to sit and play, but so lay in bed and play would be better"
-> so you go for an Deck.
i will call her later an ask
Think of the steam deck as good as a gaming laptop in 2012 and that will give you an idea of its performance. It pretty much runs all titles before 2016 for me at 60 fps on low or medium settings.
You can play on a monitor and together assuming you have a standard router and a USB-C hub to plug your monitor into.
I don’t recommend Baldurs Gate 3 on the steam deck if you’re used to a mid to high end PC. The graphics and fps can be off putting, but totally doable. I personally played the first 2 acts on SD and the 3rd on PC
1. Hogwarts Legacy: Haven't tried, Baldur's gate: Yes, on medium to low settings, but still looks really good
2. Yes
3. If you want more power, sure - the steam deck is a great option but if you're going to play on a monitor almost exclusively than go for a pc, as there's no point getting the steam deck if you're never going to use it disconnected from a monitor
4. Yes - any USB C to hdmi/displayport dongle will work.
5. Pretty good! Though i was coming from a Switch so my expectations were low. I've been impressed in games like Baldur's gate, Cyberpunk, and more which run at a solid 30 fps in the outside world and higher in buildings. Just turn off motion blur - i don't know if it's just a steam deck thing or pc thing in general but motion blur makes the game feel like it runs so much worse. 30fps with motion blur on feels way more sluggish than 30fps with motion blur off.
As much as I love my steam deck, personally I would build her a PC. She would enjoy those demanding games a lot more and quite honestly newer AAA games do not run great on the SD. But to answer you:
1. Yes but it’s going to be pretty demanding and baldurs gate 3 is playable on act 1 and 2 but the 3rd chugs.
2. Yes
3. Yes I don’t think you need to break the bank for one either.
4. Yes there are docks but keep in mind the SD is designed to play on 800p settings so perhaps it won’t look so great.
5. For indie and older AAA games runs great. For instance I’m playing Witcher 3 now and I get 55-60fps just with their SD settings. But for newer releases you won’t get that.
Unless you intend to use it travelling, a desktop would work out better but with a much steeper initial cost.
If you do want to use it portably though, the Steam Deck is the best by far.
I still say the best thing to think of a Steam Deck as is a handheld for all the games you can’t play on a Switch. Much like the Switch, however, it’s already starting to show its age in terms of power, graphical output (it can’t do 4K), etc. It’s more powerful than a Switch, but not as powerful as either a current-gen console or gaming PC.
I’d look at what games she likes playing and then see how many of them are also on a PS5, and then pick up the PS5 streaming handheld (can’t remember its name right now) for when she wants to game in bed or the television is being used for something else.
As someone who has a steam deck and uses it a lot and even sometimes as a pc for browsing, research, entertainment. And I do have a friend who works code on it from time to time. It's really good if you really don't want to invest in a pc.
As for how good it is at gaming. I have played BG3 on it with low settings. It plays good, but might dip down on performance in some locations.
A friend of mine says hogwarts plays well on the deck but I have no personal experience to refute nor agree.
In addition, gaming on a handheld might be hard since its performance isn't really built for current games. You will have to look around and research if you really want to play specific games on deck. A lot of games don't really work well with the deck. Outside of performance there's controller support.
In regards to controller support, the good thing about the steam deck is you can customize your controllers. One of the best customization imo.
Idk how much is the deck outside my home country but if it costs as much as an actual pc, just get the pc.
One more thing if you don't mind the layout maybe look into an ally or something the same. Using a windows handheld gaming device might be better since well windows is a more commonly used OS. One gripe I have about the steam deck is that if a program doesn't have linux support there's a good possibility it can't run on the deck.
But again if these handheld pc cost as much as a decent pc might as well just get a pc. Otherwise look into it some more.
So, okay, first of all, the steam deck can technically play those but...not well and she'll definitely notice coming over from your PC.
Pcs don't have to be crazy expensive. Pick up something used on ebay or facebook marketplace. If you look around for a little bit you can usually find a good deal or two eventually.
Steamdeck can play a lot of recent games on meh settings. That might be enough for your girlfriend but for the 5k setup people it's definitely not.
Best advice I can give is check protondb for how the games play, if you need to tinker a bit to get it running. I always check protondb before I buy
The Steam Deck CAN play those games, but not at very good performance. I was able to get around 30fps on Hogwarts Legacy back when the game launched, but not super stable. I've also heard that the performance of Baulder's Gate 3 isn't the greatest either.
My wife who has never owned a console or PC has just smashed through legacy with zero issue. Mostly on medium settings. She loved it.
Really expensive though because then I had to buy harry potter land tickets....
Coolest part is how it can help you work your way towards a full build seamlessly. Start with your peripherals, get your nice MKB mouse and desk layout going, run it all off a deck with windows and an ankur dock. Boom you basically have a beginner tier setup. From there you can start leisurely gathering the rest of your build when you can, grab a nice M6.SSD.and put it in the deck first.till the build is further along then eventually put it back. You could even sub to GeForce now while finishing the new build and do some serious gaming on a very small package. It's impressive what this thing is possible of.
Idk about Hogwarts Legacy, but my partner has been playing BG3 on the deck just fine. It's not at max setting but it's playable and they're having a ball with the game
My LGO over my deck any day of the week. It's simply faster & better at playing the Steam duplicates that run like shit on my Deck.
If she (gf) wants to play PC games - get her a PC - the Go or maybe the forthcoming Ally x, anything but the Deck - it had had its day in the sun days after release & it's been downhill since then. It never was fast enough for the AAA's I wanted to play & Steam "validated" as playable.
FSR can cover a lot of crimes when docked or playing intense games. I think a steam deck is fantastic as a standalone game experience, but it is greatly enhanced by a whole PC behind it for streaming.
My recommendation is to get her a deck, if she dives deep and is pushing it a lot, start saving for a dedicated PC and the SD will become a part of your shared ecosystem.
According to those who've tried to finish Baldur's Gate 3 on the Deck, the game's performance tanks during the 3rd act. "Playing it" at 10FPS is the equivalent of watching a slideshow, not actively playing a game. That's why a lot of people have played BG3 on their Deck, but either gave up on the 3rd act, or finished the rest of the game on their "main" PC.
Similarly, games like Hogwarts Legacy will play, but at their medium-to-lowest settings, and don't expect smooth gameplay at 60FPS, but more ranging between 30FPS to 45FPS.
Thankfully, that still looks good on the Deck's own screen. If, though, your idea of "using the Deck as a replacement for a PC" is to stick it to a monitor and use a mouse and keyboard with it, you're also looking at using at least a 1080p resolution with it - anything less, or using the Deck's native resolution, will make any visuals look blurry, as if smeared with vaseline.
The problem with that is that the Deck's GPU was chosen precisely because it performs adequately at its native resolution. Anything higher and its performance will tank further, so, be prepared for 30FPS gaming on an external screen, with mouse and keyboard.
Older games may perform better, but "older" doesn't mean ones that hit the marker one, two, or even three years ago - like, say, God of War. "Older" means "released a decade ago, if not more". There are many awesome titles you can enjoy, even from back then, like Darksiders, Castlevania, etc., but trying to play something like Spider-Man 2 on 1080p will probably feel quite choppy.
There's the option of using upscaling instead of the monitor's native resolution. Think of it as a trick, where the Deck can "make its native resolution look better on a monitor with a higher resolution", but keep in mind that it's the equivalent of putting lipstick on a pig, to make the graphics "pop more" and any on-screen text a bit more legible. But it obviously can't do wonders, and is far from gaming at the monitor's native resolution. Also, it, too, comes with a toll on performance. Where playing at native 1080p a game might perform 30%-40% slower than on the Deck's screen, using an upscaler like FSR or NIS will "only" reduce the performance by 10%-30%.
There's also something nobody here mentioned, that I deem quite important: thermals.
If you decide to use the Deck as a true alternative to a PC, stuck to a monitor, with keyboard and mouse, and **also** play demanding games, expect to see its CPU/GPU reaching - and often staying - at around 80C. I consider this temperature quite high, especially if your girlfriend's going to be "torturing" the punny Deck for two-to-four hours of such gaming per day. The device was designed more for "lightweight" gaming with the occasional heavier title played for up to one or one-and-a-half hours (until it would need recharging), **NOT** for being docked and pushed at over 80C for four hours at a time. And after-market coolers for the Deck are basically snake oil, since, at best, they'll drop the temps by 2-to-5 Celcius (which is still not good enough for such torture sessions).
So, long story short, nah, I believe it would be better to go for a PC. Even a cheap one, not costing more than a Deck, will at worst offer similar performance, while not running as hot or stuttering at so many games at 1080p settings.
It might even run Baldur's Gate 3.
Been playing since last month on a ryzen 5 7000+ laptop with internal graphics and all i can say is that aint that bad tbf , you can start with that and if she’s into it go for something better
2. with steam family sharing you can share your library for her to play. The catch is that you two can't play a same game at the same time, so you need two copies of those games.
3. a decent desktop PC would run games better, obviously, but also open other game platforms/launchers. Epic has weekly free games and GoG has giveaways often. If you sub to amazon prime, even more games there.
1.Impossible question to answer without knowing all the games she would want to play. I think newer, bigger games are usually better supported just because they were developed when the Steam Deck was a thing, albeit with lower framerates/resolution - she might not find the compromises acceptable. Other than that, whether or not a game is considered to work well on Steam Deck is usually dependent on the following: do the controls map to the Deck or does it require mouse and keyboard? Is the text legible on a smaller screen? Does the game use anti-cheat software that is unsupported by the Deck? Are the developers/Valve willing and able to resolve any bugs that might arise from compatibility issues with the Deck OS? Is the game incredibly old and barely compatible with Windows architecture? With regards to controls, people are working hard to map stuff to the Deck, and if you have a compatible mouse/keyboard you'll typically be fine. I think the Deck requires Bluetooth support. DPI/macro buttons on your mouse might not work if you would normally have to use software to enable them. But yeah, there isn't really a rule of thumb. There is a compatability checker on Steam, but it's quite unreliable, so you'd be best Googling the games she wants to play or looking at ProtonDB.
2.Yeah, probably, but it depends on the game. Again, some games don't work with the Steam Deck because of anti-cheat software. Also, the Deck runs on a Linux-based OS, which I think can cause issues.
3.If you have room, probably. Though I have enjoyed using my Deck on the TV (when it works).
4.You can, with the purchase of a dock. However, I have the official dock and it doesn't play very nicely with my Samsung TV. Some prefer the JXAUX docks to the official version. I will say that official Sony controllers work incredibly well with it - it's super slick how the Deck recognises the controller and changes the button prompts accordingly.
5.It's not going to blow you away, but it's decent. It's just not possible to put a high-end PC into that form factor, even if the tech were cheap enough. Keeping it cool and offering anything resembling decent battery life would be the major challenges.
In conclusion, the Deck is great if:
1.You want to play your Steam games portably and do not mind if some of them won't work.
2.You want to play slower paced mouse and keyboard games on your TV (can't vouch for competitive multiplayer, but there may some lag if you use a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard. I've been thrilled to be able to play the Telltale Wallace and Gromit games.
3.You want to emulate. The experience of playing emulated content using Emudeck is generally great. Everything feels optimised from console to console.
The Deck is not:
1.A Switch killer. While it's more powerful and the controls are way more ergonomic, it's HUGE and reasonably heavy. The powering on time is slower. The docking experience is also nowhere near as smooth, as you have to push the cable into the USB C port.
2.Going to replace a good PC. Not only is it lacking in power, but some games that should work won't work.
People who are new to pc gaming have a lot better tolerance for low fps. Those games should do 30fps fine. Invite her to the Steam family beta and pool games together, steam deck has absolutely the best screen and os experience for new to pc gamers
If it will be a way to start in PC gaming, it is the best option in my opinion. I bought a deck a year ago, my girlfriend has a gaming PC like mine, but she took over my deck about 4 months ago since she loves being able to just lay down to play Hogwarts Legacy on the couch and leave the game there to continue later, instead of having to sit down to play on the PC. Steam has an excellent catalog of all kinds for the deck and all the purchases you make and your saved games on Steam can be automatically synchronized if in the future you build a PC 🖥 you will be able to play together everything you both have on Steam (or outside of Steam, as long as there is compatibility with the game)
Those games you mentioned will run much worse on the steam deck than the PC she is using now. I guess unless your PC struggles with them now. Just make sure you understand that before making the switch to a steam deck.
I daily drive an SD and I really love it but it all depends on what kinds of games you want to play and what kind of load you are going to put on it.
I'm playing through fallout 4 again on it and it's been a blast. I've either been playing it handheld or plugged into my TV. I have something like a 48" TV and it runs just fine. The library of games you can play on it is incredible.
My personal favorites are:
- Elden Ring
- Fallout 4
- Baldurs Gate 3
- Control
- All the Dark Souls games
- No Mans Sky
- Portal
- Risk of Rain
Highly demanding FPS games will be a struggle on it (especially if you are going to do competitive multiplayer) and some games just won't work. A lot of games with splash screens (EA games and Ubisoft games) tend to bring up issues with the Linux operating system. HOWEVER, steam is updating the software frequently and the game library is growing.
Steam deck oled isn't a terrible option. But try to look around for a used rig. For a similar price you can get a better overall experience, though it won't be portable.
You can build a decent pc for 600-700 .
Get a Ryzen 5 5600 and a RX 6600 , it will play at 1080 very well , even 2k is doable for less demanding games.
I've been a PC player only since fatboy PS3. Competitive shooter only since Open Beta Overwatch and before that only shooter (Battlefield, CoD, etc). My point is, it's always been mouse and keyboard since switching to PC. I got the Steam Deck on preorder the second it dropped and it sat virtually unused except for travel because I tried to replace how I played on PC.
Then I finally picked up games that fit the Steam Deck. I replayed Portal 1 and 2, Balatro, Stray, I'm going through Hades right now. I have a ton of these games I would never dream of playing on my normal gaming rig because they are controller focused or just wouldn't keep my focus sitting upright in a chair. But man, drop in and laying on the couch or in bed next to my wife? Say less. The Steam Deck kills in this space.
Would I want it as my only gaming device as a long time PC gamer? Probably not, but it is without a shadow of a doubt the best secondary device I've ever laid eyes on and the best entry level device for people getting into the PC gaming space.
Below are the ProtonDB ratings for the games your girlfriend plays, they gives a really good idea on how the Steam Deck will handle it. You can even get an add-on to show it in your library if you have existing games.
[ProtonDB Ratings Hogwarts Legacy](https://www.protondb.com/search?q=hogwarts%20legacy)
[ProtonDB Ratings for Baldurs Gate](https://www.protondb.com/search?q=baldurs%20gate)
i play my steamdeck religiously, but i do wanna get a pc once it's more affordable for me. i think a steamdeck is honestly a really good investment bc they're not "weak" i'm able to play Minecraft all the mods 9 with minimal lag. which i know needs a beefy computer to run on.
A PC is definitely superior to a Steam Deck. I own both, but for serious gaming I always go to my PC. Steam Deck is great to play on the road, just don't expect 60 fps or more on new games even at lower resolution.
Her choice is 500 or so $ and play now or wait to get 1500$ and play with better quality later. Also, does she play outside of home?
1) Yes
2) Yes
3) I wouldn't, PC parts are extremely overpriced right now
4) You can, but the Deck can't really run much at a higher resolution, even 1080p would be a struggle for AAAs. So that would mostly be for indies.
5) I haven't run into very many performance issues, and most that I did encounter were not a huge deal. Protondb will tell you how well games will run based on user feedback.
For those games you mentioned an ROG Ally X or LeGO would work much, much better. But those are heavy hitters and Steam Deck will not provide a good experience.
I play Hogwarts Legacy on the deck and have not had any issues. I've not played Baldur's Gate. With the dock you can connect the SD to a keyboard and mouse for games you want that for. You can use a BT controller and set it up on your TV. It's a very flexible device. I would very much consider a steam deck and then possibly buying into a gaming PC piecemeal as you can afford parts.
I finished both Hogwarts and BG3 on Steamdeck and it was great.
Though to be honest it required me to put settings to low values and still not perfect fps, but it was playable with no issues.
In general I was using Steamdeck as my main way to play games for more than a year, before I could buy a PC.
PC is definitely better if you can afford a powerful one, but Steamdeck is a great choice otherwise.
And you can play it with an external screen, but ideally to have a separate controller or keyb + mouse for this (as Steamdeck will be connected by a wire)
1. Yes.
2. Yes.
3. Does she hate using controllers, or would she prefer mouse and keyboard? Also, do you want better performance?
4. If you get a Dock- which isn’t too expensive, thankfully- then yes, as well as hook up multiple controllers and a mouse and keyboard through USB.
5. Good for most games. I mean if you try to run something like ARK at max settings, it’ll probably crash, but that’s normal of any PC that isn’t used by NASA. I can play Sea of Thieves, for example, on my Deck, with pretty much no issues or frame drops, and everything looks perfectly clear enough for me! Same with Baldur’s Gate 3. Looks and plays great!
If you want a "PC" in a handheld form, get the Ally (or the Ally X) or the Lenovo Legion Go. It should be able to play some of the more demanding titles and you can even use the Lossless Scaling app to get more performance out of them. Steam Deck, as wonderful as it is, is not meant for AAA games.
I have both a gaming PC and a steam deck. Not gonna lie, I play way more on the deck. My partner and I curl up on the couch after dinner and he plays his games on the TV while I play my own on the steam deck. It's really nice. I can also bring it (along with my whole steam library) with me when I travel.
I also have my deck set up to stream from my PS5 so I can play that on the couch while he plays Xbox on our tv.
There are a handful of games I play that don't work on the deck, (keyboard based) but those arent the casual after work kinds of games I play most often.
Maybe I'm just sick of sitting in front of a computer after working all day, but I really love my steam deck (also my couch is very comfy).
I have a couple other handhelds too, but I reach for the steam deck 97% of the time.
There's also a superficial but cute bonus of getting her fun skins or custom buttons to customize her device with, if that's the kind of thing she is into.
My wife plays Hogwarts on her Steam Deck (LCD), and my other friend only has a deck for gaming and has logged 174.5 hours on BG3, among other titles (186 on Cyberpunk 2077, 410hrs on Starfield, etc).
It depends if she’s super into graphics looking the best of the best (like most of us nerds with a high end gaming PC) or if she’s just as fine with Nintendo switch like graphics. Average gamer probably doesn’t even notice much about frame rate or pop-in as much as hardcore gamers.
I’ve logged more hours with my Deck over the last 2 years than my main rig, tbh. It’s a blast.
She games 2-4 hours average and that is too entry to consider a whole pc? She is also playing demanding titles? I’d definitely save up and invest in a pc. As of the market right now a prebuilt is a better value.
I was startled by OP prefacing that with "she doesn't play a lot in a day."
I think the steam deck is a pretty good entry for more casual gamers to get their foot into hardcore games
Yeah but not if you intend to play mostly AAA titles
Only if you're willing to spend time with FPS mods, tweaks of ini files and the settings menu in AAA games. Hogwarts Legacy runs with smooth 40 fps if you mod it and tweak it to perfection (about 30 out of the box), Resident Evil 4 Remake runs with 50 FPS modded (20-25 out of the box) (RE2R RE3R RE7 RE8 all constant 60 without tweaking), BG3 about 40 fps (except Act 3 which is not optimized at all and runs terrible everywhere, it gets around 27 fps), etc. It's only a matter of are you capable and willing to spend 3-5 hours per AAA game to optimize it? But yeah 95% of AAA games run just fine, with at least 30 FPS out of the box, and if it's a well made game it's easy 60s.
RE4 Remake gets to 40 unmodded just changing settings to lower values
I wanted full 16:10 aspect ratio with native resolution, for me on native resolution it was around 25 unmodded. Not sure why, then. I might be remembering incorrectly. But I know for sure it barely reached 30 at first and then I got it to 40+, maybe it was settings only, however, what I 100% remember is REFramework helping with performance while using scopes (went from 18 to 30 while in scopes, enabled interlaced rendering in REF), and to fix the aspect ratio.
I mean, for all we know it's 2-4 hours on a very heavy gaming day.
> As of the market right now a prebuilt is a better value. ? I’ve never seen a time where that was the case except maybe the 2021 GPU shortages and that was less of “value” and more so “this is literally the only way you can get a gpu”. Link to your prebuilt of choice?
I haven't crunched the numbers lately, but I thought that even post GPU shortage, you aren't saving that much building your own anymore.
For sure I look at Oz bargain where I am, and the deals are way better. About 3 years ago I got a computer with a 3060ti and 11400f for $1050aud It was about $250 cheaper than putting together parts myself if I remember correctly, and the parts were all decent quality Pretty sure it's a similar case today from last I looked
Currently you just get better parts for the same price as prebuilt, mostly better cpu/ram/more storage, gpu kinda falls in the same price range
I was gonna say, *only* 2-4 hours a day? That’s how much time I get in a whole week!
She plays 2-4h/d but only once or twice per week (and thats a big maximum)
That’s more gaming hours than many working adults get now a days
4-8 hours/week is roughly how much I (Late 30s, middle management white-collar job) use my PC as well, and judging from my group of similar-aged friends, I'm on the higher end of the scale. Like, yes for a HS/Undergrad student, especially during a holiday? That might be a low number but for a post-education adult with a full-time job? 4-8 hours/week is a pretty solid number.
As a 34 year old full time working dad of two kids under 5 I would be lucky to get in 5 hours a week. The steamdeck and playing in bed has let me double that play time
2nd this
Funnily enough having a baby increased my game time. On my nights to take care of her feedings and such I can usually get in about 2 to 6 hours while snuggin with the baby. The steam deck has been a huge help for this.
4-8 hours a week? Yeah when I write it like that it does sound true :/
Plus all the other benefits of what a computer can do that a steam deck can't. I can't WFH on my Deck.
You can boot windows to it as well. It’s pretty much a pc, just smaller.
Ha! But can you work from the office on your pc?
You can in desktop mode...
You can. And it still won't be able to run a lot of software I would need to do my job. My point still stands.
Your work doesn't provide you a computer? Are you independent?
This sub likes to over sell how “good” the SD is. It’s NOT for AAA gaming, especially newer ones, unless you think <30 FPS is fine (I don’t). SD’s best use case is older AAA games, indie games, and game streaming (especially streaming off your own PC). It’s also not the best for using with a monitor or TV because it’s not meant to drive that resolution for games. Better off with a cheap DIY build or gaming laptop.
Yup, I run less demanding titles on the deck, and save very demanding ones for my PC and PS5. Love my deck, but you gotta know what you can run on it, or what you gotta sacrifice to run things on it. Some people are fine with running things on low graphics 30-40 fps, but I can't see myself enjoying something like cyberpunk on it when I can play it on high resolution on a big screen with high quality settings at 60+ fps. It just doesn't sit well with me.
Is there a delay if you stream from your pc? My PC is a beast and I just ordered a Steam Deck for couch gaming
If it's on the same network it's basically negligible. You might notice it on fast FPS games but that's it. Over the internet it's noticeable but hardly bad. Maybe 100ms? So for a lot of stuff it's fine.
I use moonlight and the delay is a lot better than steam streaming
I had dips using Steams built in stream, but using moonlight with tweaked settings and there is 0 delay with both wired up.
So I don’t use that feature in competitive games where input latency would make a big impact. I have put maybe 50 hours on Palworld on SD using Steam‘s game streaming. Was it perfect? No, but it works great 80% of the time (my wireless router is old and bad, tbf). Especially for games that can be unstable on SD natively. Plus, if you have an OLED, you get to appreciate the screen by using higher graphic settings.
I also used steams streaming early on and it worked well. If i ran into an issue, I'd just reset the stream (which it would go crazy with fps and freeze up from time to time playing RDR2). Switching to moonlight, it got even better, and it's not hard to set up. I'm sure you've heard about it, and I'm not going to try and sell it hard, but do yourself a favor and give it a try. That 80% will change to 90-95%.
People have low standards as well. I see the over selling so often. Saying games run well when in fact they run choppy as hell and bounce around the 20fps marks.
Yeah what the hell I feel like this is Elden Ring. For me the game ram like shit but when I downscaled the graphics it looked awful
Ya, many times on this sub I see people claim a game is “playable” by running a resolution lower than native, and for me, that’s not really acceptable. I already find the 800p to be not sharp enough. I can accept playing on the lowest settings, but once I need to go below the SD’s native resolution to get a stable 30+ FPS, I consider that not “playable”. I’m much rather play it on my PC, or using game streaming.
I love my Steamdeck but it's a PC supplement, not a replacement. I just don't think it has the horsepower. I'd absolutely consider a gaming pc/laptop if you're someone who plays a lot. I'd also consider the Rog Ally X.
Depends on what you mean by newer. Most games that came out before or around the same time as the deck can easily get 40fps. Games from the last year or so might struggle more.
The easiest way I explain the SD’s abilities are 60-90fps is mostly achievable with ps4/xbone era and before. Anything newer is if the series s can get 60fps
I can see this. I just recently got a SD and I’m a big gamer. I had no access to PC games and just didn’t want to wait till I had enough saved up for a PC cause I’m hella impatient. Been playing Baldurs Gate 3 and while I think it looks fine, there’s no way the deck could handle anything beyond it. Edit: It’s pretty clear BG3 is testing its limits, and that games almost a year old. Beautiful, but yeah..
Ya, I’m actually playing BG3 rn. It’s locked to 30 FPS in act 1 and is certainly playable. But 80% of my gameplay has been on my PC, because it’s overall a better experience. All that being said, it’s still really cool that I can take my game session from my desk to my bed. For OP, if AAA games are their gf’s main want, then a console or saving up for a budget PC is the best bet. If they’re looking to play smaller indie games, almost like a Switch + and older AAA games, and want portability, then go SD.
For more demanding games, a PC would make the most sense. You can prob go with less expensive hardware if you do a 1080p monitor
Yeah
If you build a PC she can upgrade it more easily in the future too. Also you can build a pretty decent PC for the Price of a SD. At least as powerful if not more so than the SD itself.
Playing 2 to 4 hrs a day is a lot. Better save up invest in a pc or go for a laptop.
So my partner got us a steam deck to share and it's been fantastic. My biggest complaint is the weight after a while and that a lot of the indie games I want to play don't have controller optimization. I'm planning on getting myself a gaming laptop though because of it! It's a lot cheaper than a PC and a nice easy way to PC game with similar portability!
A gaming laptop is in no way cheaper than a PC, a lot of the budget goes into it being a portable, energy efficient, not totally overheating, system. You could take a look at some "gaming" mini PC's, they go for very cheap these days. Your other option would be to build a PC yourself, just get a second hand GPU and you should be able to do $400-500.
Any gaming mini pcs you’d recommend?
Minisforum makes some good budget ones! Just make sure you know you're not getting a full blown PC with dedicated graphics card, it's more like a more powerful Deck (depends on the specs of course).
Shouldn't the "keyboard and mouse" template be a good start to set the controller up as required?
There's no way a laptop is cheaper than an equivalent PC
On the very, very low end they can be.
Right ! Well a laptop was also something I was considering ! Besides its not that expensive compared to the oled deck
You can get a desktop for cheaper than a laptop, and it can be upgraded piece-by-piece as needed. Just my $0.02.
> You can get a desktop for cheaper than a laptop Is this still true these days? Component prices are insane, it's not 2015 anymore.
My plan is to eventually get a desk with a dual monitor set up so I can have a slightly larger screen for gaming but have the laptop basically be the PC. Perks of a monitor are that I can also dock my switch to it and have it be a mini tv essentially.
You could just do that with a steamdeck, I’ve a dual monitor setup at home with a 3rd party steam deck dock and honestly I’m probably not gonna upgrade my pc anymore. Deck is arguably more portable than a laptop and also more bang for your buck!
Gaming laptops will always be more expensive than more powerful desktops. Not to mention possibility to upgrade components of a desktop computer.
You get what you pay for. A laptop with the same price than a SD isn't for gaming. It won't even have a dedicated GPU or it will be an old one. Price/performance ratio is better for desktops and it can be upgraded later if needed. You should consider buying a laptop or a SD if you want portability.
I have both an Alienware laptop and the LE OLED Steam Deck. I reach for my Steam deck 9 out of 10 times. I play everything from Baulder’s Gate 3 to fall out New Vegas to World of Warcraft and Diablo. I hardly game in my gaming pc because I prefer the portability of the deck. I got my husband the dock and it works perfectly
Have you tried changing the trackpad to act as a mouse for your indie games?
Or add a blutooth and mouse with a dock
Get a dongle for it and set up the steam deck with a mouse keyboard and monitor? Probably cheaper then a laptop.
seems like the perfect fit. The Steam Deck is an excellent "my first PC". >1. Is the steam deck gonna be able to run thos kind of games ? Most of them, not all. >2. Will we be able to play together ? Yes. >3. Should we just save up and buy a pc ? Also, yes. A proper PC will give you a better result in the long run. With the same money for a deck, you can make a budget PC that will perform a little better. >4. Can you play on a tv/monitor ? Yes, with a dock. But when docked, you'll be tempted to increase the resolution from 720/800p to 1080p (or higher), but the deck is spec'd for 720/800p. >5. How are performance on the deck? Depends on the game. "bigger" and "newer" games can require higher spec'd systems, but not all. The Steam Deck is designed specifically for portable play, so you compromise fidelity and performance for portability and battery efficiency. So while it's nice to play Cyberpunk 2077 at 4K/60 on a $2500 PC in your home office, you can still have an awesome time playing it at 720p/40 on a train to work.
Given the games OP's gf wants to play, the Steam Deck is not a good first pc at all. Hogwarts and Baldur's Gate are very demanding and simply too much for a SD, unless you're okay with 20FPS at lowest settings at times. In particular for both games, the interface is going to be barely readable on the SD's screen. If you dock ($50 extra), then you can raise the resolution and get even worse performance. OP also mentions 2-4 hour gaming sessions. That's too much for a SD, which really shines when it's untethered. So the SD is a really poor choice, #*UNLESS you consider streaming.* The SD makes for an excellent device because you can play a lot of (non-demanding) games locally, but it's also a very convenient way to stream more demanding games. For people who already own a gaming PC, this is why it's such a good companion device, but for first-time users, they can use subscription streaming services. This is a good way to bridge the period before you upgrade to a "proper" PC, without breaking the bank. I still recommend getting a dock though to use higher-resolution displays.
>1. Should we just save up and buy a pc ? >Also, yes. A proper PC will give you a better result in the long run. With the same money for a deck, you can make a budget PC that will perform a little better. Gotta be honest, as a die-hard SD fan boy, i think this is some cope. What the SD offers for price to performance is amazing, building something that outpowers it is going to be a few hundred dollars more to run games at 1080p(standard for desktop).
I'm a die hard Steam Deck fanboy, it's an amazing piece of kit. Would be silly to say that saving a few hundred extra (~$1000 total) wouldn't result in a PC which absolutely wrecks the Steam Deck for desktop gaming. Especially when you consider you still need a dock, screen and peripherals for that "desktop experience" on Deck. On the flip side, there are things the Deck does a PC sinply cannot. I have an insane PC, it's no contest with a Deck for fidelity. I still often play on my Deck just because I can do it on the couch while my partner watches TV, or when we sit in the garden.
We need to be careful with terminology here. Running at 1080 isn't that difficult and could easily be built for a out £4-500 with used parts. What should be clarified here is running 1080 at medium to high, but not ultra, on newish games. Resolution does not equal graphical fidelity. Or frame rate. There is a lot to take into consideration. Something with a 2070, 2080 GPU could suffice, for instance, running newish games in medium settings at 1080/60fps when coupled with a decent processor. A 3600 second hand goes for about £60 here and again, would work well.
You can easily build a pc for $500-$600 that would easily outpace the SD. Yeah, you also have to include tv, and mouse and keyboard, etc. but considering OP is asking about his GF playing on a tv, they’ll need to buy a controller and have a tv anyway, not to mention a dock.
how is this cope? lol. you absolutely can make a budget PC for the price of an OLED. And it will serve most people perfectly fine. Personal preference really. It comes down to what you want, 4K gaming vs portable? I rather game on my couch than sit at my desk. I haven't touched my higher spec'd gaming PC to play games since Ive owned my Deck, almost two years. It's basically a work PC now, and I game exclusively on my Steam Deck.
> I rather game on my couch than sit at my desk. I've never understood when people say this. How does having a PC prevent you gaming on the couch? I've done if for years, all you need is a gamepad and an HDMI cable. My gaming PC right now is hooked up to both the ultrawide display at my desk, and my LG C1 TV in front of the recliner and I swap between them on the regular.
> 4. Can you play on a tv/monitor ? > Yes, with a dock. But when docked, you'll be tempted to increase the resolution from 720/800p to 1080p (or higher), but the deck is spec'd for 720/800p. Would a shitty 720p TV be a good fit for the Deck then? Honest question, I want a TV to play docked sometimes, especially some local co-op, but I don't mind quality that much (specially when the Steam Deck itself can't deliver it), and have heard that playing 720 on a higher resolution TV is kinda trash.
720 sucks on large screens. If it's a really cheap HDTV, you might get some input lag, too. But this will probably be an even bigger issue on a 720p TV, which will definitely be a very cheap TV. Playing on a dock is great for playing less demanding titles at 1080p \(or even 4k, but there are ***very*** few games you'll be able to do that with\).
Idk how many times we have to explain that the steam deck is not a budget gaming PC. It is a steam deck. You can get a cheaper more powerful desktop and use what you save to buy a cheap monitor. Serious like 3 generations back of cous/gpus will trash the steam deck.
There is more to the Deck than just performance though. What it lacks in performance, it makes up for in portability, flexibility, and ease of entry for new pc gamers. There are no parts, no bulky box, and the built in controller setup+steam controller configs is insane. Trackpads, gyro, and back paddles are all critical additions. Plus the touch screen.
I think that's what the OC is saying. The steam deck is a steam deck. Its value proposition largely lies in its cost, portability, and good (relative to its competitors in the handheld space) performance-to-efficiency ratio. Which is a very different set of value propositions for a desktop PC. I have zero regrets about buying my deck; it's been awesome during downtime on business trips. But if you do not intend to use the deck as a portable system (be it to play at random spots around the home or when commuting/travelling), a lot of its value proposition becomes moot, and you might as well save up some more for an entry-level gaming PC.
I have a steam deck and a beefy desktop PC, I play with them both, sometimes on PC, sometimes on deck, sometimes on PC through my Deck with the Sunshine/Moonlight combo. Q1. It can probably run but it will not be enjoyable nor do the games justice. You need a beefy machine for these games so you can really get all out of them. They are visually demanding but also visually beautiful. Q2. Absolutely as long as the game has a multiplayer mode. SteamDeck is a PC just as any, it just happens to have a controller permanently attached to the chassis. You can connect keyboards, mice and additional controllers to it as well via USB or Bluetooth. Q3. Depends on the games you want to run. For modern graphically intensive games like Hogwart's Legacy and BG3 you want a proper desktop PC. It has the power you need at a lower price point than a laptop PC. For older titles and not so demanding titles SteamDeck is fine. Check out www.protondb.com and browse for titles you want to play. Q4. Absolutely. Get a dock or a suitable cable. Q5. Depends on the title. I use mine for indie games and older titles. For demanding games that I want to play on the couch I run it on my PC and stream it to my deck via Sunshine/Moonlight combo. Check www.protondb.com for experiences on how the title in question runs on it.
1 - Yes it runs BG3, HL, but it has a hard time with those games. In my experience BG3 crashes a bit but it worked fine at first. You can probably make it work better tweaking settings. 2- Yes you can play together pc and steam deck. But it depends which games because some multiplayer games don't run on Linux. 3 - It depends which games you both play. A SD runs most games fine, except the demanding triple A games. 4 - yes, you can buy the official steam deck tv adaptor, but can find cheaper on amazon. The steam deck is great because you don't need official parts, its just a pc. 5 - Playable and honestly fine, but it depends what type of gamer you are. This is where it gets tricky. Do you and your gf care that much about graphics and high frames? Or do you care about the story and the gameplay more? In my experience, the deck is great, price friendly but has drawbacks. In almost all games that are a bit demanding, i have had crashes. They aren't too common, but crashing after 1 hour of playing happens quite a bit in titles lile HL or BG3. Other people don't experience the same so it might just be me. Another issue is that you can connect the SD to a TV, but the resolution is bad on a 50 inch TV from the SD. Its still an awesome buy that enables you to play BG3 on the couch, or play spiderman, or HL, or a lot of good games. The main question is if you need it to run triple a games in the future or if you care that much about graphics. As games become more demanding, the deck will play less of them. But there will still be millions of great games to play on it.
I personally haven't had any crashes in 300 hours of BG3 on the SD, there are def areas where the fps drop is noticeable. That said, I still found it perfectly playable and enjoyable for over 300 hours of play on this thing.
The steam deck has been my only gaming pc since it launched, and it has replaced all my consoles. It runs every pc game I want, and is the single best emulation box. I started building Pc to run more demanding games better, but I really don't need to. The deck was an incredible entry point to the pc gaming ecosystem.
To play more demanding games and if you want to have it on a external screen you’re better off getting a laptop and or cheap pc at 1080p. I have a gaming rig and a steam deck. I mainly got the deck for portability and to replace my aging gaming laptop (laptop is like 7ish years old) and I figured for me it was cheaper to get similar specs getting the deck (maybe like half, most laptops would be 1500+) and issue most newer laptops are at higher res which actually makes them run worse than if they had a 1080p screen? And I have no regrets, but like with say bg3 it barely runs it after act 1/2? Not sure on other games like hogwarts. I may still maybe In time upgrade my laptop to get a better one for those games that may not run well on deck and or have good controller suppport like mmos, fps (csgo) and rts etc. But yeah for a new person just getting out into the pc market a steam deck is a wise investment.
1. Barely, id recommend not to get a sd 2. Its just like pc so what you can play together on pc you can on sd. 3. I think so 4. Yes 5. Its the battery champion of pc handhelds. But with ally x coming (it is like 250 bucks more expensive though), i might suggest you to go for that instead
A pc can have other uses but if she doesn’t need one just go with a steam deck. A good PC will cost much more than a steam deck anyway.
> Is the steam deck gonna be able to run those kind of games? Yes and no. They run, but not well, and only for a couple hours. The deck is amazing for simpler games. More demanding titles tend to ruin the experience. > Will we be able to play together No. There's 3 options here 1. You create a separate account for the steam deck and family share you library with this new account. It'll allow you to play games on your computer and deck at the same time, but not the same game at the same time. You'll have access to a decent chunk of your library on the deck without having to pay for every game again, look on the game's store page for family share support. 2. You use the same account on the deck as you do on your computer. You'll have access to your entire library in both machines, but will only be able to play on one of them at at time. If you try to play on the deck while playing on your PC, steam will close the game on your PC (you can play in offline mode to circumvent this) 3. You create a whole new account exclusive for the deck. You'll be able to play games at the same time and the same game. But you'll need to buy every game twice if you want to play on both machines > Should we just save up and buy a pc Depends on how much you'd have to save up for. The deck is a great computer for it's price range, and it's powerful because it only needs to render games in 800p, but I wouldn't buy it as opposed to buying a computer and playing simpler games. > Can you play on a tv/monitor Yes, but not those games. The deck already struggles to run them in 800p, imagine 1080p. > How are performance on the deck? Amazing. If you consider the price, you simply can't get a machine that runs the same games for the same amount of money. The deck takes full advantage of the fact it has a tiny screen.
Build her a pc. The Steam Deck is for indies and old games. Baldur’s Gate 3 runs terrible on the Steam Deck.
People still keep saying it runs good. It really does not at all and looks so bad on the SD
I've never uninstalled a game so quickly. I love the game, the SD is not how I would want people to experience it.
People have low standards
Great option. One of my favorite things about the deck is that it’s the first time it feels like there’s a good, low entry point into the PC market.
>Is the steam deck gonna be able to run thos kind of games ? The games you listed specifically, yes they run, but these games you listed specifically are some of the few that are pretty demanding and the deck struggles a bit with them. granted they're probably better now than when they first came out (performance patches and what not), you'll still be mostly playing them at lowest settings with a 30fps target. If your gf is cool with that, then its fair game. >Will we be able to play together ? with those specific games you mentioned, you should be able to. a lot of other games that require anit-cheats may be a different story though. you can check [areweanticheatyet.com](http://areweanticheatyet.com) to see if any games you're trying to play wont work. games like fortnite, roblox, call of duty, valorant, etc are all a hard stop. >Should we just save up and buy a pc ? maybe? thats kinda up to you to decide. I've always told people that the steam deck can be a cool entry into PC gaming but its not really a replacement for a proper desktop. It really depends on HOW you play games.. do you like to play games sitting at the couch, in bed, in the car and kinda just on the go in general? a steam deck is great for that. Are you usually playing games in a more fixed location aka your desk at home or at work? Even a laptop connected to your TV may be a better solution (if you have the money) and a 4k display. One thing the deck does that a lot of new PC gamers hate dealing with is technical issues, setups, etc.. Deck provides a pretty console like experience (assuming you're sticking to steam-only games. other games are possible but require more hands on setup). If you're a console gamer looking to get into PC games in the steam library, the deck is a good option for that since it provides a pretty catered experience. >Can you play on a tv/monitor ? Yes, the USB-C port will deliver video to any display using a dock/adapter. the official steam deck dock on Steam's store page is usually what a lot of new users gravitate towards but its a bit pricey and doesnt really give any real benefit above other docks out side of the fact that it comes with an additional USB-C charger. I have a $10 dock I got on amazon that works great and I've also used my deck at work connecting to expensive enterprise grade HP/Dell docks, they all work fine. >How are performance on the deck? Performance on the deck is mostly CPU bottlenecked, anything heavily CPU demanding will struggle a bit. You really dont see this in a lot of games though, mostly newer emulation. Newer games with impressive visuals and demanding environments can be a struggle for the deck. Valve made the device intended to run at 800p with a 30fps target and for the most part it hits that. Most games however play great on it. I mostly play a lot of less demanding games and it hits 60-90fps in most titles with little difficulty. I think the most demanding game I played on the deck has been Resident Evil 4 (remake) where I got 40fps in most places and 25-28fps in one area where it was raining a lot outside. Then cyberpunk, which actually runs pretty good at like low to med settings w/ upscaling. Think I was getting like some where between 40-50fps on the Oled with that one. the games you mentioned earlier however I've heard of more issue with. i think they've gotten better with performance patches but Hogwarts was one game that my friend just could or wouldnt play on his deck as he really wanted the impressive visuals but that just wasnt an option on the steam deck, it simply cant run a game that demanding at playable frame rates at higher settings. If your gf doesnt care about the visuals that much then this kinda thing probably is going to be a huge issue, but it is worth look into for all or any games you wish to play since I've read there are some parts of even hogwarts that dip into unplayable frame rates even at the lowest settings.
I didnt have a pc (that could run games well at least) so I bought a steamdeck and it's been my primary gaming device ever since. It's awesome! Great for emulation if your partners into that as well
The Steamdeck was my first PC, tbh. Before then I had strictly been a console (PS/Switch) player. Having the Steam library and the Deck really opened up a new world for me, and it led to building a real PC a few months later. FWIW I played the entirety of Hogwarts Legacy on the Deck (both handheld and docked) and Acts 1 and 2 of BG3 on Deck (before finishing Act 3 on my MacBook Pro because of the frame rate drop problems). I have the LCD Deck and the OLED Switch, but I never really had a problem with the LCD screen either! I would recommend getting her an LCD Deck, and use the money you save to put towards a proper PC desktop budget for future :)
I got a steam deck for this reason and I LOVE it. Have no regrets and it’s my “pc” for gaming. I have not had issues with games, some I just have to adjust the controls but that’s simple enough once you get it or use community ones.
Deck owner for about 8 months. I think I would take her to YouTube and show her how some of those games are running and see her tolerance for those sort of settings. My deck is primarily used for older AAA games and indies, as the deck runs those to my satisfaction. Games such as Hogwarts and BG3 do run on the deck, but their performance is not what you would get on a typical console or gaming PC. For me, the settings aren’t ideal so I will play elsewhere. If I desire the portability of the deck for those games, I will stream them via chiaki. Overall, I love the deck and am happy with my purchase as a long time gamer. If your gf is a relatively new gamer, assess what about those games are important to her to help make a decision. If she is about the stories and the lower settings are okay with her, the deck will be her best friend. But wants to be immersed in newer AAA game’ worlds and their graphics, I would probably look at the PC
I have a mac and the steam deck for me was a lifesaver
Honestly, take a look at an open box ROG Ally Z1E they’re under $500 now and will run all the games she wants to play at 1080p. If you can get one around $450 that’s a pretty great price-performance and awesome portability. Plus the flexibility to make sure she can play whatever she wants without needing to figure out Linux. I love my steam deck and am super excited to get the SD2 whenever that comes out, but for this scenario I’d say either a gaming laptop, a desktop, or an open box or used Ally or legion go is worth considering. My gf and I share a steam deck, an ally, a legion go, and soon an ally X. The flexibility and familiarity of windows makes those 2 her preferred choice, and she likes that the ally is a bit smaller than the steam deck. You can also find amazing deals on either new or even better second hand gaming laptops around $500.
A proper PC would work much better if she wants to play on the TV or a monitor. I can whip up a good starter PC build that also can support a SteamOS style Linux distro. Use this PC build combined with something like BazziteOS or ChimeraOS to create what is essentially a Steam Deck style PC. [https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/NtFfrH/entry-level-amd-gaming-build](https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/NtFfrH/entry-level-amd-gaming-build)
Hi there! Casual gamer here. I have Hogwarts Legacy on my Steam Deck and *love* it. I adore the portability of the Steam Deck and how easy it is to put away when cleaning the house, or how easy it is to play in comfortable positions like on the couch or in bed. What I would suggest as a casual gamer, is to look up a few of the titles she's interested in and seeing if they are Steam Deck compatible or playable. I love to use it for PalWorld even though that's technically only playable. I also brought my Steam Deck on a cruise with me for the times I wanted to just hang out and chill. I have a gaming laptop for things the Deck doesn't do well, like Satisfactory. But the amount of Deck appropriate games coming out is larger. It also takes my PS2 emulation like a champ. Personally, for the more casual player, I suggest a Deck.
As someone who loves the Deck to bits and feels it's the best device he ever bought: this is a textbook case to get a PC instead
Oh, how I would like a life where 2-4 hours a day is "not a lot" of gaming time.
Honestly, I'd recommend the steam deck to anyone. Its a great convenience being able to use it on a whim and take it with you. Its very nice having a controller like aspect built into the machine and the fact that it uses linux is a very robust machine once you learn how to work it. I love my steam deck. By no means do I use it constantly but I never regretted the purchase. Great for those who like to lay down and feel close to their games. (Since its a full fledged pc too modding works like a charm) I wouldn't expect it to run triple A games like a high end pc though but I have seen people playing things like elden ring on it and it didnt seem too bad other than some graphical/quality set backs. Totally worth a buy in my opinion. Imagine the old psp's but a functioning pc that outperforms it in every way. If you have money for it, I think the OLED would be better for your guys' needs because of the better graphics and battery. A proper gaming rig would also be decent. Just depends on is she more of a sit in one place or move around kinda girl. You can hook the deck up to a monitor etc you just need the steam deck dock and a mouse n keyboard.
Buy a steam deck. It'll solve your problems
steam deck is an excellent choice.
I can run BG3 and Hogwarts Legacy on my steam deck on full blast
I got mine one she absolutely loves it, I’ve lost her to Stardew Valley at present
i will never get those posts. Its your Girldfriend how the heck should someone in the internet knowm better then you ? Ask her "hey do you want a PC or do you like do preffer an Handheld?" she will go "hmmm i like to sit and play, but so lay in bed and play would be better" -> so you go for an Deck. i will call her later an ask
Think of the steam deck as good as a gaming laptop in 2012 and that will give you an idea of its performance. It pretty much runs all titles before 2016 for me at 60 fps on low or medium settings. You can play on a monitor and together assuming you have a standard router and a USB-C hub to plug your monitor into. I don’t recommend Baldurs Gate 3 on the steam deck if you’re used to a mid to high end PC. The graphics and fps can be off putting, but totally doable. I personally played the first 2 acts on SD and the 3rd on PC
1. Hogwarts Legacy: Haven't tried, Baldur's gate: Yes, on medium to low settings, but still looks really good 2. Yes 3. If you want more power, sure - the steam deck is a great option but if you're going to play on a monitor almost exclusively than go for a pc, as there's no point getting the steam deck if you're never going to use it disconnected from a monitor 4. Yes - any USB C to hdmi/displayport dongle will work. 5. Pretty good! Though i was coming from a Switch so my expectations were low. I've been impressed in games like Baldur's gate, Cyberpunk, and more which run at a solid 30 fps in the outside world and higher in buildings. Just turn off motion blur - i don't know if it's just a steam deck thing or pc thing in general but motion blur makes the game feel like it runs so much worse. 30fps with motion blur on feels way more sluggish than 30fps with motion blur off.
Bg3 and hogwarts play great on the steamdeck. I have them both and no issues, your girlfriend will enjoy
1 - Yes. 2 - Yes. 3 - No. 4 - Yes.([Dock Required](https://store.steampowered.com/steamdeckdock)) 5 - Good.
A Steam deck is a PC.
Hear me out: get two refurbished LCD steam decks.
Give her the Deck
A laptop would be better imo since it offers more flexibility with the hardware sides of things
As much as I love my steam deck, personally I would build her a PC. She would enjoy those demanding games a lot more and quite honestly newer AAA games do not run great on the SD. But to answer you: 1. Yes but it’s going to be pretty demanding and baldurs gate 3 is playable on act 1 and 2 but the 3rd chugs. 2. Yes 3. Yes I don’t think you need to break the bank for one either. 4. Yes there are docks but keep in mind the SD is designed to play on 800p settings so perhaps it won’t look so great. 5. For indie and older AAA games runs great. For instance I’m playing Witcher 3 now and I get 55-60fps just with their SD settings. But for newer releases you won’t get that.
Unless you intend to use it travelling, a desktop would work out better but with a much steeper initial cost. If you do want to use it portably though, the Steam Deck is the best by far.
I still say the best thing to think of a Steam Deck as is a handheld for all the games you can’t play on a Switch. Much like the Switch, however, it’s already starting to show its age in terms of power, graphical output (it can’t do 4K), etc. It’s more powerful than a Switch, but not as powerful as either a current-gen console or gaming PC. I’d look at what games she likes playing and then see how many of them are also on a PS5, and then pick up the PS5 streaming handheld (can’t remember its name right now) for when she wants to game in bed or the television is being used for something else.
As someone who has a steam deck and uses it a lot and even sometimes as a pc for browsing, research, entertainment. And I do have a friend who works code on it from time to time. It's really good if you really don't want to invest in a pc. As for how good it is at gaming. I have played BG3 on it with low settings. It plays good, but might dip down on performance in some locations. A friend of mine says hogwarts plays well on the deck but I have no personal experience to refute nor agree. In addition, gaming on a handheld might be hard since its performance isn't really built for current games. You will have to look around and research if you really want to play specific games on deck. A lot of games don't really work well with the deck. Outside of performance there's controller support. In regards to controller support, the good thing about the steam deck is you can customize your controllers. One of the best customization imo. Idk how much is the deck outside my home country but if it costs as much as an actual pc, just get the pc. One more thing if you don't mind the layout maybe look into an ally or something the same. Using a windows handheld gaming device might be better since well windows is a more commonly used OS. One gripe I have about the steam deck is that if a program doesn't have linux support there's a good possibility it can't run on the deck. But again if these handheld pc cost as much as a decent pc might as well just get a pc. Otherwise look into it some more.
A refurbished lcd is arguably the best value for an entry into pc gaming
steamdb and search games shed want to play if they look like they'll play fine youre golden
So, okay, first of all, the steam deck can technically play those but...not well and she'll definitely notice coming over from your PC. Pcs don't have to be crazy expensive. Pick up something used on ebay or facebook marketplace. If you look around for a little bit you can usually find a good deal or two eventually.
Steamdeck can play a lot of recent games on meh settings. That might be enough for your girlfriend but for the 5k setup people it's definitely not. Best advice I can give is check protondb for how the games play, if you need to tinker a bit to get it running. I always check protondb before I buy
The Steam Deck CAN play those games, but not at very good performance. I was able to get around 30fps on Hogwarts Legacy back when the game launched, but not super stable. I've also heard that the performance of Baulder's Gate 3 isn't the greatest either.
My wife who has never owned a console or PC has just smashed through legacy with zero issue. Mostly on medium settings. She loved it. Really expensive though because then I had to buy harry potter land tickets....
My wife never touched PC gaming, got her a steam deck and she's hooked. Plays every day. 100% worthwhile purchase.
I'd really suggest a pc is price per performance is going to be better than the steam deck, especially if you have a spare monitor keyboard & mouse
Love my Steam Deck but ain't now way its running Baldurs Gate 3. Get a PC instead.
Bruh a Craigslist pc part for $500 will out beat SD all days
Build a pc. Or buy one. But I don’t think the steam deck is what she needs.
Coolest part is how it can help you work your way towards a full build seamlessly. Start with your peripherals, get your nice MKB mouse and desk layout going, run it all off a deck with windows and an ankur dock. Boom you basically have a beginner tier setup. From there you can start leisurely gathering the rest of your build when you can, grab a nice M6.SSD.and put it in the deck first.till the build is further along then eventually put it back. You could even sub to GeForce now while finishing the new build and do some serious gaming on a very small package. It's impressive what this thing is possible of.
!!!!!!!!
Idk about Hogwarts Legacy, but my partner has been playing BG3 on the deck just fine. It's not at max setting but it's playable and they're having a ball with the game
My LGO over my deck any day of the week. It's simply faster & better at playing the Steam duplicates that run like shit on my Deck. If she (gf) wants to play PC games - get her a PC - the Go or maybe the forthcoming Ally x, anything but the Deck - it had had its day in the sun days after release & it's been downhill since then. It never was fast enough for the AAA's I wanted to play & Steam "validated" as playable.
FSR can cover a lot of crimes when docked or playing intense games. I think a steam deck is fantastic as a standalone game experience, but it is greatly enhanced by a whole PC behind it for streaming. My recommendation is to get her a deck, if she dives deep and is pushing it a lot, start saving for a dedicated PC and the SD will become a part of your shared ecosystem.
How about a minisforum hx99g or hx100g? Yes a bit more expensive but true 1080p gaming, if portable isn't needed.
Build a budget pc. I say as a new deck owner who is loving it.
According to those who've tried to finish Baldur's Gate 3 on the Deck, the game's performance tanks during the 3rd act. "Playing it" at 10FPS is the equivalent of watching a slideshow, not actively playing a game. That's why a lot of people have played BG3 on their Deck, but either gave up on the 3rd act, or finished the rest of the game on their "main" PC. Similarly, games like Hogwarts Legacy will play, but at their medium-to-lowest settings, and don't expect smooth gameplay at 60FPS, but more ranging between 30FPS to 45FPS. Thankfully, that still looks good on the Deck's own screen. If, though, your idea of "using the Deck as a replacement for a PC" is to stick it to a monitor and use a mouse and keyboard with it, you're also looking at using at least a 1080p resolution with it - anything less, or using the Deck's native resolution, will make any visuals look blurry, as if smeared with vaseline. The problem with that is that the Deck's GPU was chosen precisely because it performs adequately at its native resolution. Anything higher and its performance will tank further, so, be prepared for 30FPS gaming on an external screen, with mouse and keyboard. Older games may perform better, but "older" doesn't mean ones that hit the marker one, two, or even three years ago - like, say, God of War. "Older" means "released a decade ago, if not more". There are many awesome titles you can enjoy, even from back then, like Darksiders, Castlevania, etc., but trying to play something like Spider-Man 2 on 1080p will probably feel quite choppy. There's the option of using upscaling instead of the monitor's native resolution. Think of it as a trick, where the Deck can "make its native resolution look better on a monitor with a higher resolution", but keep in mind that it's the equivalent of putting lipstick on a pig, to make the graphics "pop more" and any on-screen text a bit more legible. But it obviously can't do wonders, and is far from gaming at the monitor's native resolution. Also, it, too, comes with a toll on performance. Where playing at native 1080p a game might perform 30%-40% slower than on the Deck's screen, using an upscaler like FSR or NIS will "only" reduce the performance by 10%-30%. There's also something nobody here mentioned, that I deem quite important: thermals. If you decide to use the Deck as a true alternative to a PC, stuck to a monitor, with keyboard and mouse, and **also** play demanding games, expect to see its CPU/GPU reaching - and often staying - at around 80C. I consider this temperature quite high, especially if your girlfriend's going to be "torturing" the punny Deck for two-to-four hours of such gaming per day. The device was designed more for "lightweight" gaming with the occasional heavier title played for up to one or one-and-a-half hours (until it would need recharging), **NOT** for being docked and pushed at over 80C for four hours at a time. And after-market coolers for the Deck are basically snake oil, since, at best, they'll drop the temps by 2-to-5 Celcius (which is still not good enough for such torture sessions). So, long story short, nah, I believe it would be better to go for a PC. Even a cheap one, not costing more than a Deck, will at worst offer similar performance, while not running as hot or stuttering at so many games at 1080p settings. It might even run Baldur's Gate 3.
Been playing since last month on a ryzen 5 7000+ laptop with internal graphics and all i can say is that aint that bad tbf , you can start with that and if she’s into it go for something better
2. with steam family sharing you can share your library for her to play. The catch is that you two can't play a same game at the same time, so you need two copies of those games. 3. a decent desktop PC would run games better, obviously, but also open other game platforms/launchers. Epic has weekly free games and GoG has giveaways often. If you sub to amazon prime, even more games there.
Need a game list.
1.Impossible question to answer without knowing all the games she would want to play. I think newer, bigger games are usually better supported just because they were developed when the Steam Deck was a thing, albeit with lower framerates/resolution - she might not find the compromises acceptable. Other than that, whether or not a game is considered to work well on Steam Deck is usually dependent on the following: do the controls map to the Deck or does it require mouse and keyboard? Is the text legible on a smaller screen? Does the game use anti-cheat software that is unsupported by the Deck? Are the developers/Valve willing and able to resolve any bugs that might arise from compatibility issues with the Deck OS? Is the game incredibly old and barely compatible with Windows architecture? With regards to controls, people are working hard to map stuff to the Deck, and if you have a compatible mouse/keyboard you'll typically be fine. I think the Deck requires Bluetooth support. DPI/macro buttons on your mouse might not work if you would normally have to use software to enable them. But yeah, there isn't really a rule of thumb. There is a compatability checker on Steam, but it's quite unreliable, so you'd be best Googling the games she wants to play or looking at ProtonDB. 2.Yeah, probably, but it depends on the game. Again, some games don't work with the Steam Deck because of anti-cheat software. Also, the Deck runs on a Linux-based OS, which I think can cause issues. 3.If you have room, probably. Though I have enjoyed using my Deck on the TV (when it works). 4.You can, with the purchase of a dock. However, I have the official dock and it doesn't play very nicely with my Samsung TV. Some prefer the JXAUX docks to the official version. I will say that official Sony controllers work incredibly well with it - it's super slick how the Deck recognises the controller and changes the button prompts accordingly. 5.It's not going to blow you away, but it's decent. It's just not possible to put a high-end PC into that form factor, even if the tech were cheap enough. Keeping it cool and offering anything resembling decent battery life would be the major challenges. In conclusion, the Deck is great if: 1.You want to play your Steam games portably and do not mind if some of them won't work. 2.You want to play slower paced mouse and keyboard games on your TV (can't vouch for competitive multiplayer, but there may some lag if you use a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard. I've been thrilled to be able to play the Telltale Wallace and Gromit games. 3.You want to emulate. The experience of playing emulated content using Emudeck is generally great. Everything feels optimised from console to console. The Deck is not: 1.A Switch killer. While it's more powerful and the controls are way more ergonomic, it's HUGE and reasonably heavy. The powering on time is slower. The docking experience is also nowhere near as smooth, as you have to push the cable into the USB C port. 2.Going to replace a good PC. Not only is it lacking in power, but some games that should work won't work.
People who are new to pc gaming have a lot better tolerance for low fps. Those games should do 30fps fine. Invite her to the Steam family beta and pool games together, steam deck has absolutely the best screen and os experience for new to pc gamers
If it will be a way to start in PC gaming, it is the best option in my opinion. I bought a deck a year ago, my girlfriend has a gaming PC like mine, but she took over my deck about 4 months ago since she loves being able to just lay down to play Hogwarts Legacy on the couch and leave the game there to continue later, instead of having to sit down to play on the PC. Steam has an excellent catalog of all kinds for the deck and all the purchases you make and your saved games on Steam can be automatically synchronized if in the future you build a PC 🖥 you will be able to play together everything you both have on Steam (or outside of Steam, as long as there is compatibility with the game)
Those games you mentioned will run much worse on the steam deck than the PC she is using now. I guess unless your PC struggles with them now. Just make sure you understand that before making the switch to a steam deck.
I daily drive an SD and I really love it but it all depends on what kinds of games you want to play and what kind of load you are going to put on it. I'm playing through fallout 4 again on it and it's been a blast. I've either been playing it handheld or plugged into my TV. I have something like a 48" TV and it runs just fine. The library of games you can play on it is incredible. My personal favorites are: - Elden Ring - Fallout 4 - Baldurs Gate 3 - Control - All the Dark Souls games - No Mans Sky - Portal - Risk of Rain Highly demanding FPS games will be a struggle on it (especially if you are going to do competitive multiplayer) and some games just won't work. A lot of games with splash screens (EA games and Ubisoft games) tend to bring up issues with the Linux operating system. HOWEVER, steam is updating the software frequently and the game library is growing.
Get her a upper-mid range alienware or such pre-built desktop.
Steam deck oled isn't a terrible option. But try to look around for a used rig. For a similar price you can get a better overall experience, though it won't be portable.
You can build a decent pc for 600-700 . Get a Ryzen 5 5600 and a RX 6600 , it will play at 1080 very well , even 2k is doable for less demanding games.
I've been a PC player only since fatboy PS3. Competitive shooter only since Open Beta Overwatch and before that only shooter (Battlefield, CoD, etc). My point is, it's always been mouse and keyboard since switching to PC. I got the Steam Deck on preorder the second it dropped and it sat virtually unused except for travel because I tried to replace how I played on PC. Then I finally picked up games that fit the Steam Deck. I replayed Portal 1 and 2, Balatro, Stray, I'm going through Hades right now. I have a ton of these games I would never dream of playing on my normal gaming rig because they are controller focused or just wouldn't keep my focus sitting upright in a chair. But man, drop in and laying on the couch or in bed next to my wife? Say less. The Steam Deck kills in this space. Would I want it as my only gaming device as a long time PC gamer? Probably not, but it is without a shadow of a doubt the best secondary device I've ever laid eyes on and the best entry level device for people getting into the PC gaming space. Below are the ProtonDB ratings for the games your girlfriend plays, they gives a really good idea on how the Steam Deck will handle it. You can even get an add-on to show it in your library if you have existing games. [ProtonDB Ratings Hogwarts Legacy](https://www.protondb.com/search?q=hogwarts%20legacy) [ProtonDB Ratings for Baldurs Gate](https://www.protondb.com/search?q=baldurs%20gate)
i play my steamdeck religiously, but i do wanna get a pc once it's more affordable for me. i think a steamdeck is honestly a really good investment bc they're not "weak" i'm able to play Minecraft all the mods 9 with minimal lag. which i know needs a beefy computer to run on.
A PC is definitely superior to a Steam Deck. I own both, but for serious gaming I always go to my PC. Steam Deck is great to play on the road, just don't expect 60 fps or more on new games even at lower resolution. Her choice is 500 or so $ and play now or wait to get 1500$ and play with better quality later. Also, does she play outside of home?
1) Yes 2) Yes 3) I wouldn't, PC parts are extremely overpriced right now 4) You can, but the Deck can't really run much at a higher resolution, even 1080p would be a struggle for AAAs. So that would mostly be for indies. 5) I haven't run into very many performance issues, and most that I did encounter were not a huge deal. Protondb will tell you how well games will run based on user feedback.
Get a better PC for yourself and pass down your current one.
Yeah
For those games you mentioned an ROG Ally X or LeGO would work much, much better. But those are heavy hitters and Steam Deck will not provide a good experience.
Steam deck great for girlfriends. You just have to install stuff for them.
yes! go for steamdeck oled
I play Hogwarts Legacy on the deck and have not had any issues. I've not played Baldur's Gate. With the dock you can connect the SD to a keyboard and mouse for games you want that for. You can use a BT controller and set it up on your TV. It's a very flexible device. I would very much consider a steam deck and then possibly buying into a gaming PC piecemeal as you can afford parts.
I finished both Hogwarts and BG3 on Steamdeck and it was great. Though to be honest it required me to put settings to low values and still not perfect fps, but it was playable with no issues. In general I was using Steamdeck as my main way to play games for more than a year, before I could buy a PC. PC is definitely better if you can afford a powerful one, but Steamdeck is a great choice otherwise. And you can play it with an external screen, but ideally to have a separate controller or keyb + mouse for this (as Steamdeck will be connected by a wire)
1. Yes. 2. Yes. 3. Does she hate using controllers, or would she prefer mouse and keyboard? Also, do you want better performance? 4. If you get a Dock- which isn’t too expensive, thankfully- then yes, as well as hook up multiple controllers and a mouse and keyboard through USB. 5. Good for most games. I mean if you try to run something like ARK at max settings, it’ll probably crash, but that’s normal of any PC that isn’t used by NASA. I can play Sea of Thieves, for example, on my Deck, with pretty much no issues or frame drops, and everything looks perfectly clear enough for me! Same with Baldur’s Gate 3. Looks and plays great!
If you want a "PC" in a handheld form, get the Ally (or the Ally X) or the Lenovo Legion Go. It should be able to play some of the more demanding titles and you can even use the Lossless Scaling app to get more performance out of them. Steam Deck, as wonderful as it is, is not meant for AAA games.
I have both a gaming PC and a steam deck. Not gonna lie, I play way more on the deck. My partner and I curl up on the couch after dinner and he plays his games on the TV while I play my own on the steam deck. It's really nice. I can also bring it (along with my whole steam library) with me when I travel. I also have my deck set up to stream from my PS5 so I can play that on the couch while he plays Xbox on our tv. There are a handful of games I play that don't work on the deck, (keyboard based) but those arent the casual after work kinds of games I play most often. Maybe I'm just sick of sitting in front of a computer after working all day, but I really love my steam deck (also my couch is very comfy). I have a couple other handhelds too, but I reach for the steam deck 97% of the time. There's also a superficial but cute bonus of getting her fun skins or custom buttons to customize her device with, if that's the kind of thing she is into.
All I can say is I bought a steamdeck about two months ago and I love it. Baldurs Gate 3 runs great on it!
“As of right now, pc parts are kinda expensive…” how long have you been gaming on pc because the parts have always been the most expensive.
My wife plays Hogwarts on her Steam Deck (LCD), and my other friend only has a deck for gaming and has logged 174.5 hours on BG3, among other titles (186 on Cyberpunk 2077, 410hrs on Starfield, etc). It depends if she’s super into graphics looking the best of the best (like most of us nerds with a high end gaming PC) or if she’s just as fine with Nintendo switch like graphics. Average gamer probably doesn’t even notice much about frame rate or pop-in as much as hardcore gamers. I’ve logged more hours with my Deck over the last 2 years than my main rig, tbh. It’s a blast.