EVERYTHING You Need To Know About Buying A Steam Deck In 2023!

hey everyone and welcome to the ultimate steam deck buyers guide today we're going to go into everything you could need to know if you want to buy a steam deck including what it is what it can do how it compares to the Rog Ally and other windows devices in August of 2023 and even some accessories you might want so let's get right into it all right first things first this is a video for those who are interested in buying a steam deck it is intended to be for those who might not know what a steam deck is or what it can do it will not be incredibly Technical and it won't have a lot of Deep dive content like most of my other stuff if you want a full in-depth review please let me know in a comment down below with that out of the way let's get right into it the first thing that we need to know is what the steam deck actually is essentially it's a handheld computer created by video game company and steam developer valve that is designed to run games valve specifically made the deck to fill the gap between the PC and console markets focusing on user experience and ease of use more than previous entries in the handheld PC market to make a comparison it's like if the Nintendo switch and a gaming PC had a baby it's a handheld device making it possible to take with you on the train or plane but it can be docked like a switch as well allowing you to use a TV multiple monitors keyboards mice headsets Etc the next and most common question I get is what can the steam deck do put simply it can do anything that a regular computer can while it was designed to play games it runs a full desktop operating system steamos by default Steam OS is valve's take on a gaming Focus Linux distribution based off of Arch Linux but simplified to ensure stability this means that you can boot up a game browse the web watch Netflix or YouTube or even use the steam deck for work as a fun fact I develop a tool for enhancing steam deck performance cryo utilities completely on the steam deck itself in addition to coming with a full desktop OS you can install any operating system that you want including Windows valve has made Windows drivers for the steam deck available so you can use a more familiar operating system if you so choose so when it comes down to it the question what can't the steam deck do might be simpler next let's take a look at what games they can play starting with Steam OS using steamos you can play most standard computer games that don't have anti-cheat and even some that do to put that into numbers just the steam store alone has over 50 000 games listed and that's excluding many older PC games or games on other storefronts that would also work on the steam deck if you want to know whether a game will work or not you can look to three primary places sdhq the deck verified program and proton DB if the game hasn't been released yet or it's brand new then sdhq is a great place to check first they get early access to many new releases and test them specifically on the steam deck and have covered nearly every major release in 2023 as well as many smaller titles if a game hasn't been recently covered by sdhq or it's been out for a while then you should check out the deck verified program the deck verified program is an initiative run by Valve to test every game on the steam store and give it a compatibility rating at the time of writing over 10 000 games have been verified which is more than double the entire game library of the Nintendo switch obviously with such a massive library to comb through valve is fighting an uphill battle for compatibility which is where proton DB comes in proton DB is a similar concept to deck verified but the compatibility ratings are user sourced so you get frequent updates and more ratings for games if you want to know whether a given game will work on Steam deck I definitely recommend checking out proton db.com and searching the game if you want more detail on Deck verified or proton DB be sure to let me know in the comments below but this should suffice for now as for anti-cheat games that depends on whether the developers have added support for that game in particular some games like Elden ring and fall guys work great on the deck but some other popular games do not games like Call of Duty or destiny 2 have not yet been updated to work on Steam OS which is where Windows comes in using Windows every game that works on Windows will work on the deck although usability is a much different question and one for another day on top of all the computer games you can play the steam deck can also run most emulators at high settings lending to a better than console experience for tons of console games so suffice it to say chances are good that a game will run on the steam deck the next question I'm usually asked is about gaming performance to avoid getting too technical the steam deck runs a last generation AMD Apu and it can get performance similar to a PS4 or Xbox One if you want to know exactly how well games run on the deck I recommend checking out my playlist of deck Dives linked on screen now in those videos I find out the best settings for each game tested and I show how I get to that conclusion so you can get there too highlights from that playlist are breath of the wild running with better graphics than the Nintendo switch Hogwarts Legacy running better than the PS4 Final Fantasy 13 running in 4k and even Red Dead Redemption 2 running at full speed all of that said I want to make it clear that the steam deck is not a miracle machine some games like Eternal can struggle to run and most games won't run on maximum settings how well a game runs depends on how well it's optimized it's really rare that a game won't run at all but it might be rough to get into a playable frame rate if it's not optimized that well the only games I've seen thus far that fall in this Camp are a few AAA games from 2023 but they're usually playable at a decent frame rate within a few months of release after patches are out something that I think is very overlooked on the steam deck despite being one of the main selling points is the ability to suspend and resume games at any time just like the switch you can simply press the power button and the game will pause exactly where it is press the power button again and you'll be right where you left it with the obvious exception of online multiplayer same as the switch this is something that no other PC handout can do not even the Rog Ally and it allows busy adults to make progress in games much easier on other handhelds you usually need to wake it up boot the game load your save and then play but on the steam deck you just need to wake it up and get right back in even saving you Time by not forcing you to save before putting it to sleep next let's cover the three different models of the steam deck there are three price points the 64 gigabyte 399 dollar model the 256 gigabyte 529 dollar model and the 512 gigabyte 649 dollar model the first thing I want to say is that gaming performance across all three models is identical in almost every game Yes you heard that right all three models are identical in gaming the only difference are between day-to-day use ability from extra storage and the screen starting at the 399 dollar model you can get the steam Deck with a standard screen and a 64 gigabyte emmc drive along with a carrying case next the 529 dollar model gives you the steam Deck with a standard screen and a faster 256 gigabyte SSD along with the same carrying case and some digital goodies lastly the 649 model gives you the steam Deck with an etched anti-glare screen a really fast 512 gigabyte SD a fancier carrying case and even more digital goodies if you'd like to know more about the exact differences between each steam Dex Drive I definitely recommend checking out this video where I check each default steam deck Drive in addition to an upgrade in a Micro SD for performance in gaming load times and more the next thing that you need to know is valve's commitment to repairability and user serviceability for the steam deck valve has partnered with right to repair giant iFixit to provide thorough instructions for repairing the steam deck as well as a shop to buy almost every single part that goes into making one this means that barring damage to the main board itself the deck can be repaired by anyone with a relatively basic set of tools the internals of the deck itself are largely modular allowing you to swap out one analog stick or one button easily with only the battery and Screen being glued down and more difficult to remove this also means that the storage in every model of steam deck can be very easily upgraded it's very common to buy the base level of steam deck and then upgrade the storage on your own to save some money you can even do this with the screen if you prefer the anti-glare screen over the stock one later on in addition to excellent user serviceability valve's support team is amazing and has been great at supporting owners of the deck going above and beyond regularly I've heard many instances of things that were in a gray area of warranty being covered at worst charging at cost for the fix is necessary all by the Stellar support team tangentially related to upgradability and repairability is customization and tweakability Steam OS is a modified version of Arch Linux which gives users a ton of control but only if they want it if you're interested in getting maximum performance with overclocking making it into an emulation Powerhouse with mu DAC trying to get the most out of the battery with undervolting or even using the deck as your primary work machine you can do that and that brings me to one of the biggest benefits of the steam deck over any other device I've seen the community dozens of YouTube channels subreddits Discord servers Community develop tools and users in love with the steam deck have led to an absolutely phenomenal Community if you have a problem with the deck somebody can undoubtedly help you with it in one of the many Discord servers are on Reddit if you want a specific piece of software for the deck it likely already exists or it will be developed by somebody in the community if you wish that a game out there was working just a bit better someone's probably already figured out how to do it the community is an often overlooked and insanely valuable part of device ownership so this is a huge Boon for the deck now that you know most of what you need to know about the deck itself I figure now would be a good time to go over some common accessories starting with the micro SD card which is a way to add a lot of storage to your deck very easily the steam deck has a Micro SD slot in the bottom and you can basically use them like you would a cartridge in a Nintendo console swapping them to load a different set of games onto the deck at will I personally use the Samsung Evo select drives affiliate Link in the description below because they are the maximum speed that the deck can handle and are reasonably priced next I recommend a dock which allows the deck to be hooked up to external storage displays peripherals and more valve makes an official dock which is a bit pricey and doesn't fit if you have a case on your deck but it's pretty solid overall and allows firmware updates I actually recommend a third-party dock if you're on a budget or have a special need the upgraded ivolar dock is only about half the price of the official dock but it's largely identical and can accept cases whereas the jsoc 7.2 dock is much more expensive but provides a full-size 2280 m.2 slot for fast external storage if you're interested in any of the docs I just mentioned plus one more I have a video on screen now testing things like Network latency input latency Etc if you're a tinkerer and don't mind opening the deck up then you should definitely take a look at the jsox vented backplate and or the Honeywell PCM 7950 pad if you want a full in-depth review then I definitely recommend checking out my last video but suffice it to say that it makes a world of difference for both temperatures and fan noise lastly for this section I recommend a case I personally have two of The jsox Mod case which is very comfortable to hold includes a mounting mechanism for accessories and protects the deck from dings and scuffs during daily use it also allows me to put a cover on the front of the screen and makes it easier to pack into a bag without a carrying case do note that it nullifies the extra cooling capabilities of the jsox vented backplate though as before there's an affiliate Link in the description if you're interested alright let's move on to how the steam deck Compares with the Asus Rog Li while I don't have the Ally itself I've talked with many friends and seen many reviews on it so I'm very familiar with the pros and cons of each device the pros of the steam Deck Over the Rog Ally are a better user experience more cohesive software very console-like set and forget suspend and resume any game a much cheaper entry price more ergonomic and incredible Community track pads allow for greater game compatibility more buttons including two additional back pedals and a home button valves support team better repairability and better low wattage performance which leads to a much better battery life overall the pros of the Rog Ally over the steam deck are better overall performance a much better screen which is 1080p 120 hertz and freesync a higher wattage ceiling a more familiar OS coming out of the box with Windows a quieter fan access to Game Pass games it's smaller and lighter it can run anti-cheat games out of the box you can buy it in store at Best Buys in the US and support for external gpus although they are pretty pricey of course size weight and Aesthetics are all subjective but these are the largely agreed upon merits of each device the Ally is definitely a good choice if you'd rather have better performance out of the box want a nicer screen or if the deck is too large and heavy for you on the other hand the steam deck is definitely more refined and has a lot more attention put into the user experience as well as better tweakability and customization from the get-go I'm also a firm believer that the steam deck will last longer Unfortunately I would be remiss if I didn't mention the elephant in the room with the Rog Ally as of the time of filming in August 2023 Asus is not exactly in the good graces of many customers in the past few years they've had several scandals in their PC parts division enough that at least one prominent YouTuber has dropped them as a sponsor completely the issues have historically been bad Hardware design or manufacturing defects that Asus has decided not to cover under warranty at least until heavily criticized by the media the reason I bring this up is because the Ally is currently experiencing a hardware design flaw that is destroying MicroSD cards by overheating in addition to that they have numerous quality control issues being reported by the public what Asus is doing to recover from this or what they will is well beyond the scope of this video but I will leave some links down below of some reports that I've seen about the Ally hopefully Asus comes through and corrects the issue but I could not release this comparison video in good faith without disclosing those problems alright and with that I think I've covered everything I wanted to in this video please let me know Down Below in a comment if it's helped you a few weeks ago a friend actually asked me what the steam deck was and what it did and I couldn't find any good single source of Truth for it especially made this year so I decided to make this video and hopefully help some other people out as well with that said of course thank you to all of my patrons super thanks and YouTube members for helping make this content possible if you've gotten this far you might want to check out this video where I test five different drives in the steam deck and find out exactly what performance implications there are between each letting you know which model you might want to buy or if you want to upgrade the SSD and as always thank you all for watching and have a great day

Channel: CryoByte33

Views: 61,710

Keywords: steam deck, buyer, purchase, accessories, performance, rog ally, ally, asus, valve

Id: KonjgKyifD4

Length: 16min 26sec (986 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 25 2023