The Nintendo Switch (OLED model) wasn't the "Pro" upgrade many expected it to be with 4K support and new internals but before its announcement, other handhelds aimed to take the role of the "Switch Pro". The AYA NEO and GPD Win 3 are among those devices shooting for that nickname since they are able to run recent AAA PC games on the go, given that they are handheld gaming PCs. Their efforts and popularity, although niche, enticed companies like Lenovo and Tencent to make similar concepts or patents; indicating that these indie companies might have more serious competition in the future.

It seems like this will indeed be the case and these handheld gaming PC manufacturers will need to brace themselves as Valve is itself entering this market with a Valve-branded handheld gaming PC. This news was actually reported back in May and today we have the official confirmation. In a Steam post today, Valve revealed the Steam Deck, an AMD-based handheld gaming PC that is expected to begin shipping in December 2021 in select regions.

The software giant partnered with AMD to create a custom APU for the handheld that is said to be "optimized for handheld gaming". "It is a Zen 2 + RDNA 2 powerhouse, delivering more than enough performance to run the latest AAA games in a very efficient power envelope," reads the announcement.

It will run on SteamOS 3.0 (Arch-based) and there will be several models of the Steam Deck, which differ on the storage capacity, with the base model starting at $399. However, every model will include a microSD slot for additional storage capacity. For more details about the models available and their price, refer to the image below:

You can find additional specs details in the images below (click/tap to enlarge):

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And just like the AYA NEO and GPD Win 3, the Steam Deck will also have a dock which will be sold separately. This accessory will provide ports for external displays, wired networking, USB peripherals, and power. More details about the dock's pricing will be announced at a later date but you can find some specs details in the thumbnail below:

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Valve says that the Steam Deck will start shipping this December to the United States, Canada, the European Union and the United Kingdom, with more regions coming in 2022. However, to be able to purchase one, you will need to book a paid reservation which will let you pre-order when the time comes. This reservation fee will also count towards the Steam Deck purchase price.

"The main reason for reservations is to ensure an orderly and fair ordering process for customers when Steam Deck inventory becomes available," writes Valve in the announcement FAQ. "The additional fee gives us a clearer signal of intent to purchase, which gives us better data to balance supply chain, inventory, and regional distribution leading up to launch."

Reservations for the Steam Deck will open Friday July 16th, 10am PDT. For more details about the new handheld gaming PC, head to the source link and official Steam Deck website linked below.

Are you interested in getting one?

SOURCE
Steam Deck Official Website

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

It's a PCIe Gen3 x4 slot, and it will be very interesting to see a teardown of this thing. They said everything is crammed in there very tight, so it might all be fixed to the main board.

The thing is they don't explicitly specify whether it's a slot, just that it's a PCIe x4 interface. Doesn't necessarily mean they're shoving an M.2 slot in there. It's possible they'll just solder the NAND and controller to the board if it's as "tight" as they claim, which would totally suck. Hopefully it's just an M.2 slot though.

 

[smf]

Hopefully it's just an M.2 slot though.

But if it's not and you pre-order the emmc one, then you're screwed.

If it is an m2, it'll probably be something tiny like 30mm.

 

[Snintendog]

I honestly doubt it's "not upgradeable" so much as "not recommended for the average person", it's a bog standard PC after all. Unless they do something really dumb like not include an M.2 slot and solder the storage to the board or something, there's no reason someone couldn't just tear it down and slap something in there. Whether it'll be easy to do is something else, but honestly unless they do something really stupid with the construction of the thing I expect the day it ships to anyone mildly good at DIY there will be tutorials on how to do it.

I mean if its on board it would be cheaper to just use a standard m2 than to solder it on for 3 different skus and repariblility would suck ass if they did solder it on.

 

[Sterophonick]

>working with anticheat vendors for proton support
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Seriously this'll be a big dub for Linux gaming

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

I mean if its on board it would be cheaper to just use a standard m2 than to solder it on for 3 different skus and repariblility would suck ass if they did solder it on.

That's what I would expect as well, yeah, but given the insane price bump they're charging for storage it's not something that can be totally ruled out. An extra $130 for a 256GB NVMe is nonsensical, but if you account the additional manufacturing costs for different skus...it makes more sense. Not that I expect it to be true of course, I'm sure the price bump is purely there so they can lessen the amount of money they're undoubtedly losing on these things based on what Gabe said in an interview lol.

 

[Xzi]

>working with anticheat vendors for proton support
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Seriously this'll be a big dub for Linux gaming

Yeah I've heard some good things about compatibility with Proton lately, and this device will be great for familiarizing myself more with Linux. Doubt I'll even bother dual booting, or if I do it'll be a different Linux distro.

 

[Bauti]

PC gaming laptops get pretty damn warm, I have a feeling this thing will burn your hands when trying to deal with any current PC game.

Also I don't think many people realize that switch games are like 16 GBs max, versus the massive sizes of nowadays PC games like Tekken 7, MH World, Resident Evil, etc.

 

[smf]

I mean if its on board it would be cheaper to just use a standard m2 than to solder it on for 3 different skus and repariblility would suck ass if they did solder it on.

It's probably cheaper to do three pcb runs than stuff them individually by hand during assembly. It'll be more reliable too.

 

[GBADWB]

on a tinkerers note, i wonder how well the RNDA2 igpu can undervolt

 

[Sterophonick]

Yeah I've heard some good things about compatibility with Proton lately, and this device will be great for familiarizing myself more with Linux. Doubt I'll even bother dual booting, or if I do it'll be a different Linux distro.

I gave Linux a fair shot for 3 months and found basically every base was taken, but gaming (especially with frontends) is just not quite there yet. Hopefully this machine can significantly boost adoption!

 

[FFTfanatic]

I'll be getting it regardless, but for anybody wondering about relative weight for prolonged portable play sessions, particularly if for medical reasons, the Steam Deck, like the Neo and GPD Wins before it, is a heavy little fella.

At approx 669g it's over 50% heavier than the Switch with joycons, and not that much lighter than a 12.9 inch iPad Pro from 2017.

 

[Xzi]

PC gaming laptops get pretty damn warm, I have a feeling this thing will burn your hands when trying to deal with any current PC game.

No chance they're using an all-metal enclosure/grips, and it's pretty damn thick. They either fit one big ass fan in there or two smaller ones. And since clock speeds and power draw are both entirely up to the end user's preference, I don't see overheating becoming a big issue.

 

[MarkDarkness]

120% getting this.

 

[samuzomoxo]

duplicate

 

[the_randomizer]

The main thing pushing graphics card prices up was miners, but they have started dumping them on the market now that btc has crashed.

Embedded GPU did not really suffer the same issue, it was just a problem getting hold of them.

Good, screw those cryptomining douchebags. Now I can get an RTX 3060 TI...eventually.

 

[FFTfanatic]

PC gaming laptops get pretty damn warm, I have a feeling this thing will burn your hands when trying to deal with any current PC game.

Also I don't think many people realize that switch games are like 16 GBs max, versus the massive sizes of nowadays PC games like Tekken 7, MH World, Resident Evil, etc.

Nah, PC gaming laptops tend to be pushing for a much higher target in terms of performance and image quality. Not only are they typically aimed at pushing several times more pixels than just 800p, with much higher refresh rates, but they also have to provide power to a much bigger screen. Moreover, they have the majority of their chassis insulated by whatever surface they are rested on.

This thing has a much smaller screen with a relatively low resolution and native refresh rate, and hand grips meaning the majority of its chassis will be exposed to the air for better heat dissipation.

(Btw, Switch game installs can go higher than 16gb. The biggest install is something like 33gb, one of the NBA2K games).

 

[mattyxarope]

I've heard GPU prices are finally starting to stabilize a bit, so maybe it'll be fine. and it looks cool, but the price....

You really out here complaining about the price Mr. "I already have a Series X, PS5 and PC"?

 

[wolffangalchemist]

The buttons could be placed better seems like they got pushed to the edge, and the track pad thing from the steam controller makes a bit more sense here but that really could be mapped to the analog.... my only qualms and this would be personal ones with the idea of this, is that i already have a gaming pc and there really isn't anything i can think of off the top of my head i need to play or really have time to play on a portable that i couldn't play on pc or a console. for those who travel a lot i can see it being a great thing but i don't really need another gaming pc and i have my gaming laptop for travel, i can't see this being more cost effective or having as much storage. now a newer GPU in that price range..... but i digress, just one of those not really for me things. hence my switch stays docked.

 

[RedBlueGreen]

Runs SteamOS 3.0, supposedly its now based on Arch Linux for some reason.
Game support thus relies on Linux and Proton support.

Apparently they said in a livestream that its not locked down and you can install Windows if you feel like it. Have no source except a friend watching a stream for that one.

I'd say either use Kubuntu or Windows 11 with the bloat and telemetry disabled on something like this, unless it's using desktop components which I doubt. Regardless of how good this custom APU is if it's a mobile CPU we can expect to be playing games at low-medium settings. As cool as these things are, I really think a good laptop and controller are better. Especially with how bad that button placement is.

Oh and SteamOS 3 being Arch-based seems weird. I get that Arch is basically bleeding edge, but stuff can break between updates. The one thing I hate about Linux (besides WINE not working for a bunch of general lack of software support) is how fragmented everything is because of the different distros. There's commercial software that only supports on CentOS, and some commercial stuff that only supports Debian/Ubuntu, etc. Sure a lot of people make scripts that let you install on the other distros, but that's beside the point. Supporting Ubuntu and other Debian based distros makes the most sense for stability and amount of users. Yes, Proton will still support Ubuntu, but being Arch based makes me think SteamOS will run into issues down the line.

 

[Jayro]

Imagine installing Windows to this thing, and then firing up Yuzu (or that other forgettable Switch emulator) and playing Switch games at full speed. That's a dream come true, and definitely worth the price for the 256GB model.