During the Steamworks Virtual Conference, Valve showed the internal components of the Steam Deck in various videos
After dire fate of the Steam Controller, whose production was officially discontinued in 2019, Valve attempts a new experiment through the Steam Deck, the first true portable console which allows access to your Steam library on PC. It was bookable for a very short period of time, and although it was scheduled to arrive next month, the continuing lack of raw materials and necessary components meant that Steam Deck was postponed to 2022, as an expected release period at starting from February. Nonetheless, Valve continues to keep the focus on this particular console, releasing new information about the specifications that can be found within it.
Valve talks about the components that make up the Steam Deck
During the Steamworks virtual conference dedicated to Steam Deck which took place on November 12th, accessible for free for anyone interested, Valve has presented through a stream a lot of information regarding the components of its new game machine definitely inspired by Nintendo Switch. The virtual conference is divided into various videos, starting with an overall introduction of the hardware, and then moving on to the custom AMD and the APU system, also including some useful tips for both gamers and developers.
Among the most relevant news, we have the official name of the AMD CPU, which will be the SoC Aerith, in clear reference to one of the protagonists of Final Fantasy VII. It is a 4-core, 8-thread chip based on Zen 2 architecture, accompanied by 8 AMD RDNA 2 Compute Units. No restrictions have been placed on the CPU, but developers are advised to set frame limits independently.
The console should run stably in any situation, but without limits it could consume the battery faster, which has 7-8 hours of autonomy. Developers will be able to upload specific texture packs, reducing the size of the files to download. Steam Deck will be available from 64GB to 256-512GB, and will have expandable memory; Furthermore, will support 4K at 60Hz, but not the VR peripherals. An important change will be the modification of the Big Picture Mode of Steam, designed to be used with the controller or on a TV, and will be replaced by the Deck UI. Pending the release of the console in 2022, you can find more detailed information on the official Steamworks Virtual Conference page.
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