Valve Steam Deck OLED!

I have a powerful gaming computer and gaming laptop, and I still bring my Steamdeck with me on trips. For Business trips it's easier to bring along with the work laptop than a second laptop, and for personal trips it's easier to bust out and use for travel than the laptop when going between destinations on road travel or just relaxing on a patio with.

While at home it doesn't get a ton of use besides for PC games that are not great ports that require a controller, or for emulated stuff.
 
Lakados said:
If TSMC had their way they wouldn’t be doing anything older than 22nm, and they are begging many other industries to bite the bullet and update their IC’s for the first time in 20 years.
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No, there are many applications where larger nodes are more reliable than smaller nodes. They require less cooling and can be hardened against electrical and radiological interference.

tangoseal said:
Serious question, why would anyone buy a steam deck who owns a competent gaming PC?
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When you're home you can also stream games to the Deck. My desktop is set up in my office which is a converted separated garage.
 
Axman said:
No, there are many applications where larger nodes are more reliable than smaller nodes. They require less cooling and can be hardened against electrical and radiological interference.



When you're home you can also stream games to the Deck. My desktop is set up in my office which is a converted separated garage.
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Yeah but TSMC doesn’t do many of those and they are outliers that they charge through the ass for in dedicated labs. They aren’t bulk IC’s for Kia on 220nm because the part was designed in the 90’s and hasn’t been revised since.

TSMC has been quite vocal on their distain for 200mm wafers and all the nodes that still use them because the silicon is worth more than they can charge for it.
 
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StoleMyOwnCar said:
I really hate how I always end up buying these devices right before they get a far superior refresh. Purchased in July and then four months later it's getting an OLED refresh. I guess the last kick in the nuts would be if they also made it cheaper. I got my 512GB Deck during the summer sale for $560. Would be nice if they gave us some trade-in thing where we could pay a bit more to upgrade to the newer model from the old one, but god knows that shit ain't happening.
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That's the problem with tech though. If you wait only X more months, something far better is coming. But you don't buy it, because the next revolution is only X + Y months away...
 
The Mad Atheist said:
Pass, currently looking to get a Legion Go, unless there's better for the price. Hopefully someone can do a 32GB RAM hack like the SD. Shame Micro Center can ship, I would like to get their 2TB model which is reasonably priced.
I have yet to us OLED but I'm planning on getting a Tab S9 Ultra.
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I love a lot of what Lenovo did with the Legion Go. Really innovative device. The only thing I don't love is the lack of VRR support, which seems like a strange omission.
 
tangoseal said:
Serious question, why would anyone buy a steam deck who owns a competent gaming PC? Who are these made for? Id rather a better GPU or more of this or that for my main rig than a portable "what my PC can do far better already" handheld.
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Obviously if you're on the go you'd want this. If you plan to go to a hotel or something far away over the weekend then a laptop would be better. But if you're on the bus, or car ride, or just need something compact then the Switch/Deck makes sense.
 
tangoseal said:
Serious question, why would anyone buy a steam deck who owns a competent gaming PC? Who are these made for? Id rather a better GPU or more of this or that for my main rig than a portable "what my PC can do far better already" handheld.
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The only reason I would buy it is to play emulators on it, but its way too expensive for that. I got to play around with my friends Deck for a couple days, I like it but not for the price they are asking. Needs to be $349-449 max.
 
HockeyJon said:
That's the problem with tech though. If you wait only X more months, something far better is coming. But you don't buy it, because the next revolution is only X + Y months away...
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I ranted more about this in the Steam Deck thread for this, but in a nutshell, this the issue with this situation, imo:
1. Valve is not traditionally known for making hardware refreshes.
2. There was no real forewarning of this; they decided to keep it under wraps.
3. While keeping it under wraps they put the old one "on sale" (or sell refurb for that price) but the sale price is basically the same price (per storage capacity) of the newer, better model... indicating we weren't getting a deal in any way, since they are already capable of producing the refresh for the same exact value, and they're better in basically every way.

You can go there for my full rant, but frankly I feel like I got fucked here by Valve, nothing more or less. Feels anti consumer to me. We're generally at least somewhat aware of the next Nvidia/AMD card or the next processor gen, so that's on us. This is a bit different...
 
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StoleMyOwnCar said:
I ranted more about this in the Steam Deck thread for this, but in a nutshell, this the issue with this situation, imo:
1. Valve is not traditionally known for making hardware refreshes.
2. There was no real forewarning of this; they decided to keep it under wraps.
3. While keeping it under wraps they put the old one "on sale" (or sell refurb for that price) but the sale price is basically the same price (per storage capacity) of the newer, better model... indicating we weren't getting a deal in any way, since they are already capable of producing the refresh for the same exact value, and they're better in basically every way.

You can go there for my full rant, but frankly I feel like I got fucked here by Valve, nothing more or less. Feels anti consumer to me. We're generally at least somewhat aware of the next Nvidia/AMD card or the next processor gen, so that's on us. This is a bit different...
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Earlier this year,
https://www.windowscentral.com/gami...steam-deck-requests-its-harder-than-you-think
"Incremental upgrades are seemingly a non-mover for Valve regarding the Steam Deck. However, a future successor seems likely to lean towards OLED or one of its alternatives to power the display."




I mean.... Would you announce your plans for a slightly improved future OLED version while sitting on new old stock? I'm sure they were pushing hard for a before black friday release.
 
StoleMyOwnCar said:
I ranted more about this in the Steam Deck thread for this, but in a nutshell, this the issue with this situation, imo:
1. Valve is not traditionally known for making hardware refreshes.
2. There was no real forewarning of this; they decided to keep it under wraps.
3. While keeping it under wraps they put the old one "on sale" (or sell refurb for that price) but the sale price is basically the same price (per storage capacity) of the newer, better model... indicating we weren't getting a deal in any way, since they are already capable of producing the refresh for the same exact value, and they're better in basically every way.

You can go there for my full rant, but frankly I feel like I got fucked here by Valve, nothing more or less. Feels anti consumer to me. We're generally at least somewhat aware of the next Nvidia/AMD card or the next processor gen, so that's on us. This is a bit different...
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That is 100% a feels bad moment but also kinda needed on their part.
If they let rumours of this slip sales of the original would come to a deal halt while everyone waits for the new version.
 
Lakados said:
That is 100% a feels bad moment but also kinda needed on their part.
If they let rumours of this slip sales of the original would come to a deal halt while everyone waits for the new version.
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Not really, not if they discounted them sufficiently. That's the key. None of us actually got a good deal. All we got was a slap in the face tbh. Sure, they won harder than if they did said discount but frankly my trust in them has evaporated. When I get a successor to the Deck, it won't be from Steam, and I'm not buying any of their hardware after this. They want to keep things under wraps to make more profit, frankly they can go do that in the corner while I proceed to not buy hardware from them again.

Also again old gens sell all the time while new gens are on the horizon. Sales might slow, but they won't just halt. Keeping details vague about new gen capabilities is really all it takes... Though to be fair the screen quality is such a pain point for Deck that maybe a lot of people would wait if they let OLED slip out at all...

Johnx64 said:
Earlier this year,
https://www.windowscentral.com/gami...steam-deck-requests-its-harder-than-you-think
"Incremental upgrades are seemingly a non-mover for Valve regarding the Steam Deck. However, a future successor seems likely to lean towards OLED or one of its alternatives to power the display."




I mean.... Would you announce your plans for a slightly improved future OLED version while sitting on new old stock? I'm sure they were pushing hard for a before black friday release.
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What you quoted was literally worse than speculation. This isn't like Intel, Nvidia or AMD speculation where the company sort of makes it clear it's coming. And to answer your question, yes... You can totally sell units while a better one is coming out. Old gen processors and GPUs sell all the time while a new gen is on the horizon. If they did that, then this would be 100% fair game.
 
StoleMyOwnCar said:
Not really, not if they discounted them sufficiently. That's the key. None of us actually got a good deal. All we got was a slap in the face tbh. Sure, they won harder than if they did said discount but frankly my trust in them has evaporated. When I get a successor to the Deck, it won't be from Steam, and I'm not buying any of their hardware after this. They want to keep things under wraps to make more profit, frankly they can go do that in the corner while I proceed to not buy hardware from them again.

Also again old gens sell all the time while new gens are on the horizon. Sales might slow, but they won't just halt. Keeping details vague about new gen capabilities is really all it takes... Though to be fair the screen quality is such a pain point for Deck that maybe a lot of people would wait if they let OLED slip out at all...



What you quoted was literally worse than speculation. This isn't like Intel, Nvidia or AMD speculation where the company sort of makes it clear it's coming. And to answer your question, yes... You can totally sell units while a better one is coming out. Old gen processors and GPUs sell all the time while a new gen is on the horizon. If they did that, then this would be 100% fair game.
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I didn't phrase my point well I was trying to say they didn't want to heavily discount anything because why would they want to sell it for half if they could just not leak things and sell it for full right until they announce the new one so they are only discounting a small number of leftover stock. It's 100% a dick move and kinda right in Valve's wheelhouse, they don't play nice.

I'm a little more interested in the RoG than I am in the Steam Deck, if I got one it would be for Emulation reasons, either device will do that job, no need for it to compete with my PC because what can that handheld do that my PC and a PS5 controller can't?
If I am out and about that's when I get my Switch or iPad involved. Might as well use the change in scenery to do something different right? For extended away then the Laptop comes in and while the 3060 mobile isn't a rockstar at 1440p, but pricetag aside it's not exactly a kick to the dick either.
 
Lakados said:
I didn't phrase my point well I was trying to say they didn't want to heavily discount anything because why would they want to sell it for half if they could just not leak things and sell it for full right until they announce the new one so they are only discounting a small number of leftover stock. It's 100% a dick move and kinda right in Valve's wheelhouse, they don't play nice.
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That's fair, I don't think they would even need to discount to half, though. I think even a 25% reduction from the price of the OLED version release price would have been fine... along with just some rumors or a """leak""" of the new version. But you're right, they just went full dick with it. Even Nvidia is giving more of a heads up to their Super line than what Valve just did (Nvidia of all people). I doubt it, but I do hope this dick move loses them some customers. Maybe the OG Steam Deck is just the last model I will ever have in general of these handhelds. I don't really play much on a mobile platform that actually needs more horsepower than it has. If it does die on me, probably going ASUS or Lenovo, as much as I hate ASUS. I doubt I'm buying a "Steam Deck 2" when it releases either, because what's the point... they're going to eventually release some "welp we decided to upgrade everything without telling anyone" Steam Deck 2.5 model afterwards anyway; just wait for that. They decided to set this precedent themselves.

Lakados said:
If I am out and about that's when I get my Switch or iPad involved. Might as well use the change in scenery to do something different right? For extended away then the Laptop comes in and while the 3060 mobile isn't a rockstar at 1440p, but pricetag aside it's not exactly a kick to the dick either.
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I do play some trashy mobile games on my phone, but honestly, I can't remember the last time I got my Switch out. Like most consoles, there's just 1 or 2 things I play on it (generally exclusives). Afterwards it collects dust. I made the mistake of initially starting Stardew Valley on it and sinking a bunch of time into it, only to figure out, "wait, I can't have any QoL mods on this." So I restart it on PC, but then the energy is kind of gone. At this point I think I would prefer to basically play anything on a PC platform vs even my Switch.

From a compatibility standpoint, the ROG Ally being on Windows is a nice thing... though the interactivity takes a hit. One of the reasons I chose SD vs Ally is mainly the controller options and better native interface.
 
Eurogamer recommends the OLED model:

Older Decks get price cuts but really, I find all of them hard to recommend with the arrival of the new OLED model. If you've seen the difference between a Switch and Switch OLED, you have some idea of the improvement here, but the high-spec nature of the screen and support for HDR is something else altogether - this is point blank the most impressive handheld screen I've seen. Quality of life improvements via improved battery life, weight reductions and improved acoustics simply add further to the refinement. Unless you're budget-constrained, the OLED model is highly recommended as the default purchase.

https://www.eurogamer.net/steam-deck-oled-review-a-beautiful-display-upgrade-and-so-much-more
 
Wow at least 10 good and kind replies to my question. The reasons you provided are very logical. I asked because I assume I'm in a particular situation that doesn't meet any of the criteria described by the community. I understand now why people buy the steam deck. Thanks for your kind replies.
 
All the internal Steam Deck changes.


View: https://youtu.be/9jhRh11bTRA?feature=shared

Shows definitely that it wasn't simply just slapping together a new one in a quick and dirty fashion. The Steam Deck OLED has all of these 'minor' improvements that lead to a much more mature product. Much more mature than, dare I say, all the rest of the competition.
 
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UnknownSouljer said:
All the internal Steam Deck changes.


View: https://youtu.be/9jhRh11bTRA?feature=shared

Shows definitely that it wasn't simply just slapping together a new one in a quick and dirty fashion. The Steam Deck OLED has all of these 'minor' improvements that lead to a much more mature product. Much more mature than, dare I say, all the rest of the competition.
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Yeah, looks like Valve’s done a good job with the redesign. Only thing I would have liked to see would have been an upgraded APU.

I’ll keep my current Deck for a while yet in any case.
 
After watching Steve's tear down analysis, this "refresh" is actually pretty significant. I'm still not sure it's something an existing Steamdeck owner should "upgrade" to, but it's closer than I thought.
 
HockeyJon said:
Only thing I would have liked to see would have been an upgraded APU.
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Thinking on this, I see where they are coming from by not going with Z1 Extreme. Most of the stuff I've see shows the same if not less performance for the watts compared to the deck. I do not know how many more node reductions are going to be needed to see a 50%+ boost at 15w. I guess it could be awhile.
 
My thoughts here as a existing steam deck owner/fanboy. I have to have this but the resale value of the normal steam deck is probably down the tubes now. Valve has totally discounted the steam deck during previous sales which I never expected as well. I am torn about it, should I just wait half a year or so waiting for a sale or just swall the pills and just do it because the steam deck is awesome. Compare with ps5 slim situation - where the new model is not really any sort of upgrade LOL.
 
MrSneis said:
My thoughts here as a existing steam deck owner/fanboy. I have to have this but the resale value of the normal steam deck is probably down the tubes now. Valve has totally discounted the steam deck during previous sales which I never expected as well. I am torn about it, should I just wait half a year or so waiting for a sale or just swall the pills and just do it because the steam deck is awesome. Compare with ps5 slim situation - where the new model is not really any sort of upgrade LOL.
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Or keep the old steam deck, wait for the legion GO with z1 non extreme & buy it when its available ??
 
next-Jin said:
Thinking on this, I see where they are coming from by not going with Z1 Extreme. Most of the stuff I've see shows the same if not less performance for the watts compared to the deck. I do not know how many more node reductions are going to be needed to see a 50%+ boost at 15w. I guess it could be awhile.
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Yep. I get that this is not the Steam Deck 2, and putting in the Z1 Extreme would probably have involved a more involved re-design, but still, the did upgrade the process on the APU and made a huge number of modifications to the motherboard and battery size, so it's practically an all-new device as it is.
 
MrSneis said:
My thoughts here as a existing steam deck owner/fanboy. I have to have this but the resale value of the normal steam deck is probably down the tubes now. Valve has totally discounted the steam deck during previous sales which I never expected as well. I am torn about it, should I just wait half a year or so waiting for a sale or just swall the pills and just do it because the steam deck is awesome. Compare with ps5 slim situation - where the new model is not really any sort of upgrade LOL.
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You only upgrade when you need an upgrade. By the sounds of it, the SD is still doing what you need it to do, so why incur the cost now when you can wait a few months or a year or whatever and get an actual upgrade?
 
Where can you tell in your steam library, if the game will run on Linux/Steam Deck?
 
Protondb is better but regarding the OLED one mine came last Wednesday and it's glorious in the extreme. I'm going to use the LCD one as a media player in the camper with a 22TB HDD with a dock.
 
UnknownSouljer said:
Big enough deal I think to mention in News.

NEW!:

View: https://youtu.be/9jhRh11bTRA?feature=shared



View: https://youtu.be/nfulSFtsH0c?feature=shared


My thoughts? Getting a machine that adds continuity to previous gens and keeping them relevant. And increasing battery life and power savings with a massive improvement to the display. It's akin to what happened with Switch. I like what Valve is doing here, because it's making the SteamDeck a better investment than other handheld PCs. And it also shows that Valve is interested in Deck and is committed to continue working on the platform.

It's now technically possible to watch Dolby or HDR10 content on SteamDeck, which I think most will appreciate the improvement - and of course just better image quality in general on desktop or in games. +90Hz! The display improvement here is going to be game changing.


EDIT, for the TL;DW among you...:
Processing:
6nm from 7nm
Ram speed increase 6400 MT/s from 5500 MT/s (the only true speed improvement meaning mostly the new deck will still perform the same)

Storage:
All new models use faster NVME storage
Minimum now is 256GB up to 1TB
OLED models 512GB/1TB
Base LCD model has 256GB

Display:
7.4" from 7"
OLED from LED
90Hz from 60Hz
600 SDR/1000 HDR from 400 SDR
110% DCI-P3
1,000,000:1 Contrast Ratio

Wi-Fi:
6E
Bluetooth 5.3

Battery:
50Wh from 40Wh
Improvement of 3-12 hours of battery life from 2-8 hours

Build Quality:
Internal cooling improvements
Same outer dimensions
Display assembly smaller
Internal components more easily removable and interchangeable
Repair-ability increased
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I bought the 1TB deck and love it.

I skipped the first gen. I have tended toward desktop gaming, we already had a Switch that doesn’t get much use and the screen on the first deck was at least to me an obvious “do not buy this” qualifier since even at its launch there were superior options to be had. I can’t speak to how meaningful the additional battery life is now, but I can say that the screen is stunning. Took a long overnight flight a few days ago, and my wife had a blast playing stray on the steam deck; it looked beautiful, and was smooth as silk.

In my own use, I have been struggling with controls for my PC games, but I think that is less to do with the steam deck, and more to do with my lack of familiarity with game console controllers in general.
 
sphinx99 said:
I bought the 1TB deck and love it.

I skipped the first gen. I have tended toward desktop gaming, we already had a Switch that doesn’t get much use and the screen on the first deck was at least to me an obvious “do not buy this” qualifier since even at its launch there were superior options to be had. I can’t speak to how meaningful the additional battery life is now, but I can say that the screen is stunning. Took a long overnight flight a few days ago, and my wife had a blast playing stray on the steam deck; it looked beautiful, and was smooth as silk.

In my own use, I have been struggling with controls for my PC games, but I think that is less to do with the steam deck, and more to do with my lack of familiarity with game console controllers in general.
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It seems to be a pretty big upgrade from the first gen. I got mine the other day. The fan is much quieter, which is nice. I'm excited to check out some HDR titles on it.
 
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