Listen, I would pay good money for an off the shelf console first computer that runs SteamOS, has as primary input a controller and an ARM architecture or any other small form factor x86, that fits under the TV. Freaking SteamMachines were a top notch idea, and Gabe should go for it again.
this post was submitted on 10 Nov 2023
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Wouldn't ARM cause a lot of compatibility issues? I'd imagine we'd need to stick to small form factor x64 for now.
It mostly works but you do get a small performance hit. Comparable to to the proton -> dx conversion.
That said, games tend to hit the GPU much more than the CPU
I run windows on ARM, no issues using x86-64 apps.
That gets wildly different with how taxing games are and how much they specifically take advantage of x86_64 instructions sets. Even decade old games would barely squeak by, if they don't break entirely.
Sounds like you want a steam deck with a dock, or does that not fit under your TV?
That setup lets you connect controllers via bluetooth.
I had a random 3rd party usb dongle with hdmi and a port for power laying around. Gave it a shot, and it worked great.
Pleasantly surprised. The only issue was that I had to use the deck specific buttons to do a few things.
I did the same with the dongle that came with my Huawei laptop. There's even an USB-C port that supports charging.
And with the steam controller, no button issues!
Oh shit! I didn't think of that, thanks! I have a steam controller that I might just have to dust off.
I think it's worth checking out some diy alternatives that get the job done. I built my own "steam box" with some cheap Ali Express parts (Elsa 5700xt and Erying motherboard with core I9 equivalent engineering sample) to great success. The OS is key. I've found two that work very well:
https://chimeraos.org/ (requires AMD GPU) https://github.com/ublue-os/bazzite/ (Works with Nvidia but it's unstable using steam full screen at times)
I've had a great level of success with ChimeraOS so far.
I have thought about trying a minisforum with the built in 6600m but I haven't given it a go yet.
Would love a new Steam Machine and could actually be good this time. Proton didn't exist when they released the original Steam Machines which limited you to linux ports of games. I had bought two but wiped & did clean installs of Windows 7 so we could play all the games wanted to.
Before Proton, gaming on linux relied on native ports or WINE. Native ports were rare & not always better. WINE took some learning to make work well but I dunno, never got any good at it.
I have a suspicion that they are making something. In an interview about the steam deck refresh one of the engineers mentioned how they couldn't find an AMD apu that was efficient and powerful enough to warrant making a steam deck 2, he said not in this chassis anyway. Insinuating they know of one for a different chassis. Pinch of salt.
Even more rare was a port that was up to date with the windows branch if ever updated at all.
Man I tell you, the early 2000's was actually a great time for Linux gaming, it only really went downhill around the early 2010's
Check out ChimeraOS
Just buy a video game console at that point.
I mean that is what he is asking for, but with the added benefit of doing whatever the hell we want with it too. Personally I'd be down for that too
Steam Machines were the solution, but no one fucking bought any of them so the market decided OPs desire was a waste of time and money.
The OS was also very limited with focus on Linux ports of games which there were not very many at the time. Proton wasn't a thing yet. I bought two of them, one for myself and one for my brother. I tested it out & it was neat but wiped both to do clean installs of Windows 7 so could play the games we wanted.
No proton and no vulkan, it was too early
Seems like they won't release it before it's in a state where it'll "just work" on about machine, which makes sense, since that's the thing that helped the Steam Deck to success.
To that end it'll probably be a while before they can get there, particularly for machines with NVIDIA GPUs, assuming stuff like multi-monitor VRR and bug-free Wayland support is on the list of requirements.
big picture works great on any linux distro, why would i want anything more?
It works* on any Linux distro. Definitely not great.
Big picture mode runs like complete shit for me no matter what I do
If the reduction in overhead, or any other optimizations it might offer, increases performance even more, I might go out of my way to set up a multi-boot.
A gaming-focused, curated experience that just works™️
With a little know how you can get 99% of the way there with any arch based distro, but installing a new OS for non techies can be pretty intimidating. Having Valve's assurance that it works with all common hardware would help more people take the plunge, I think.
I guess this is a different SteamOS than the one that has been freely available for years?
I think you're talking about the really old version from the steam machines. The OS the Steam Deck uses (version 3.0+) is completely rebuilt and uses a different OS as a base (now using Arch instead of Debian)
I think what’s meant is there isn’t an official ISO to download as it’s not yet that polished for PCs
There used to be though. I have it on a DVD. SteamOS is much older than the SteamDeck.
The name is old, but there are distinct distributions. Debian vs Arch.
The current, unavailable for general download, is Steam OS 3. Valve just refuses to put a number 3 anywhere, do they just pretend the other two do not exist.
BTW, there are a few "almost steam os" out there. I can vouch for Bazzite, it's fedora based and really good. Very welcoming for beginners, but had a lot of options of you want to dig a bit.
It's available, but not really built or supported for standard desktop installation, at least as far as I know.
If you mean the old Debian based one, yes. SteamOS 3+ is arch based and released with the steam deck. Valve said they'd release a version for desktops, but have yet to follow through.
makes sense. each handheld represents a single platform and hardware config to target. PCs vary wildly in both hardware and software.
"Coming to other handhelds" "very tuned for steam deck" Why are these conflicting things in the same headline?
It's tuned for a specific hardware platform right now. Choosing specific hardware platforms for support is just an extensions of that.
However the "PC" platform is basically an amalgamation of any possible hardware combination that currently exists, and is a whole different target for a project like this.
It's tuned to the architecture. AMD APUs.
Be very keen to see steam OS everywhere, there's a vetted interest in valve getting this widely adopted (more devices running it means more eyes on steam and more potential sales)
I'm keen to see the hardware variations device manufacturers come up with when they can just throw steam os on them and it all "just works"
Bringus Studios champing at the bit to make more ghetto Steam Decks.
im pretty sure steamos has been available for pc for quite some time now.
Not exactly. There's the old Debian based version and a user edited version of the deck's recovery image. The latter gets you pretty close to the experience, but as with most arch based distros it's not always a super user-friendly experience.
I was really more making a point about the title not saying update or something.
What will be first, dual boot support or PC install support?
You mean dual boot for the steam deck? Iirc the new OLED model will allow custom bios/firmware so that could be a possibility soon