If iFixit starts selling steamdeck motherboards, can you buy just a motherboard and make a console-only version? Same motherboard, just no screen, battery, buttons.
And a SSD I guess.
Alternative question: Do you want steam to offer a console only version? Same motherboard, just no screen or battery.
If you want a console look you can always look up mini itx motherboards and cases
The Steam Deck works so well because the screen is only 720p, and even then people have complained about low framerates on some games. Scaling it up to 4k for a modern TV would drop the performance even more.
It looks like a great handheld, but I think trying to use it as a console wouldn't work.
I asked before and people say it works perfectly fine https://lemmy.ca/post/2861180 It renders at 720p and upscales to 1080p.
You can do that, but be aware, upscaling with FSR takes a performance hit. It's not a big one but can make the difference between stable and unstable 30FPS.
I use Deck mainly docked in 1080p. The only issues I have are with very recent games. After some questions and learning, I've come to expect not to use it for current big-name games. To that end, well optimized modern games like Powerwash Simulator run fabulous. Most of my Steam library plays very well and is perfectly enjoyable!
You could. You would need some sort of dock for HDMI/DP output but you can run just the motherboard by itself, though you would also need cooling. If someone made a fitting heatsink/fan you could make a little case that has a built in USB C hub and turn the motherboard into a mini-PC/console pretty easily.
When I was repairing my broken motherboard after my failed RGB mod I tried powering up the motherboard by itself with a dock and display and it booted up just fine. Would be a good repurposing of that board since the thing that died was related to the built in game controller and that isn't needed on a console. If Valve or iFixit sold replacement motherboards I'd replace my bodged repaired board with a new one and repurpose the bodged one for a console.
Before ifixit official sold Steam Deck parts, all the prices got leaked and the motherboard was sold for $350. When they officially started selling steam deck parts the motherboard was no longer included, but that's unsurprising if that one part is going to sell for so much when a 64GB deck is only $400.
I use ChimeraOS on an old i5 box with Intel graphics for my couch co-op addiction.
ChimeraOS is SteamOS from Steamdeck but for x86/AMD64. Supports not only Steam but also Epic and a bunch of emulators.
Installation was plugnplay except for one hiccup with sound not going through HDMI . Googled and fixed it in 2 minutes.
I guess you could, yeah, but no I already have a Steam Deck which can do both.
Better to buy a PC and install chimeraOS
If you are using Steam Link you still require a PC
That's cheaper, but it's also a whole hell of a lot worse.
Streaming is OK, if you have a great network, but it's significantly worse than playing on device. An XBOX controller is OK (but worse), but attaching a tablet to it is awful balance.
The Steak Link app doesn't recognise controllers reliably on Android. I've got a few controllers that work in other games, are recognised as being connected in Steam Link, but just don't work. Connecting them with a cable lets them work straight away.
I've had more luck streaming games with Moonlight (+ Sunlight server on game pc) than using Steam Link, both for controller support in certain games and just better latency. Even on Steam Deck, when I'm at home I barely notice a difference, it saves a lot of battery and I can AAA games without compromising in graphics settings.
Steam Machines already existed a while back, but compatibility was bad and hardware was expensive.
I would like Steam Machines to come back again, but they'd really just be computers with AMD graphics cards you can just buy or build yourself.
Put a Ryzen/Radeon computer in a console-like case and put HoloISO on it, that's all you really need. The only thing Valve could really add is better pricing and a Valve Controller v2 that's based on the excellent Deck design
I would fight a baby penguin for a Steam Controller v2; it was (and still is - I have 2) the best controller I have ever used.
Amen.
honestly the steam controller's killer feature for me isn't even the touchpads -- it's the multiple-profile support. "oh, you want to connect to your PC for a bit, then reconnect to your console later? sure, just hold select during startup, I'll remember your last 2 bluetooth connections."
This would be a new one obviously. When it matches the steamdeck and OS perfectly it could be more streamlined.
I don't think the Deck's performance is that great for console use. Without the restrictions of a portable machine, desktop components would be much cheaper to put into a machine.
An RX 6600 paired with a Ryzen 5600 would blow the Deck out of the water (3-4x depending on the measurement) for a very similar cost to a mid-range Deck.