Valve simply introduced the Steam Machine, a front room PC/console to compete with the Xbox and PlayStation. But Valve already has a front room gaming station! It’s referred to as the Steam Deck and all you want is a dock—you understand, identical to a Nintendo Switch.
I really like my Steam Deck, however I’d by no means hooked it as much as my TV earlier than… so I purchased a dock, gave it a go, and discovered so much. Turns out, it’s fairly simple to show a Steam Deck right into a front room recreation console.
Here’s the best way to do it your self and what that you must know earlier than you do. There are some particular “gotchas” that you must be careful for!
Your Steam Deck simply wants a dock
Unlike the Nintendo Switch, the Steam Deck doesn’t include a dock. But when you add a dock? You get a Switch-style expertise.
I bought Valve’s official Steam Deck Docking Station for $79 and it really works nicely. That worth does really feel a bit of excessive, although, and loads of avid gamers have nice experiences with inexpensive docks. For instance, Anker has a $30 Steam Deck Dock (which I personally haven’t used, however my expertise with Anker {hardware} has been stable).
Chris Hoffman / Foundry
Third-party docks usually don’t ship with energy adapters whereas the Steam Deck Dock does ship with one, so it’s a greater deal than it might appear at first look. Then once more, your Steam Deck already got here with its personal energy adapter that you need to use for the Steam Deck Dock, so you could not want one other one anyway.
Simply plug the dock into an influence outlet, join it to your TV through HDMI cable, and also you’re able to go! Now all it’s a must to do is about your Steam Deck within the dock, then join the little USB-C cable from the dock to the port on high of your Steam Deck. Done!
You’ll want some peripherals, too
With your Steam Deck correctly docked, now you simply want to attach just a few peripherals. A contemporary Xbox Controller works nicely, nevertheless it connects through Bluetooth and I’ve seen some chatter about latency with Xbox controllers. Still, mine labored nicely for me. We have a full information to cutting through the BS when buying gaming controllers for PC.
Chris Hoffman / Foundry
You may wirelessly join Bluetooth keyboards and mice with ease in the identical method. That stated, Steam Deck docks have USB ports that will let you join wired controllers, keyboards, and mice.
If Bluetooth appears flakey however you don’t just like the wired choice, you can even go for wi-fi USB receivers. Not all peripherals assist this feature, however most do. If it got here with a bit of USB dongle, you simply must plug it in and change the machine to wi-fi dongle mode.
Put your TV in Game Mode
If you encounter enter latency—noticeable lag once you press buttons leading to delayed actions on display—go into your TV’s image settings and put it into “Game Mode.” This reduces enter latency and is important for a superb gaming expertise on many TVs.
Samsung
Tweak the show decision
The Steam Deck’s native decision is 1280×800, however it could actually output at increased resolutions. I used to be capable of get it as much as 4K on my TV, although it seemed fairly good at 1080p as nicely. Note, nonetheless, {that a} increased decision places an even bigger pressure on the Steam Deck, particularly with higher-end triple-A video games. The Steam Deck is greatest with lighter video games.
There’s one other large downside: SteamOS makes use of a show system referred to as Gamescope to handle resolutions, and it could actually lock video games to resolutions that make sense within the native handheld mode however not in docked mode. You can tweak it, nevertheless it’s not intuitive.
When a recreation refuses to run at increased resolutions, right here’s what I do:
- I’m going into Settings > Display and turned off computerized decision for the exterior show. This is simply in case.
- For the sport itself, I choose Properties > General > Override decision and enter the TV’s goal decision.
- I launch the sport, go into its settings, and selected the upper decision that’s out there.
This works with most video games, bringing them up from a pixelated low decision to a surprisingly sharp expertise.
Game streaming may be inconsistent
The Steam Deck works nicely as a front room console. Firing up Hades and taking part in it with an Xbox Controller on my sofa is nice! And I’m blissful I can play the video games I already personal with out having to, say, purchase a Nintendo Switch 2 and re-purchase titles on the Nintendo eShop.
But the Steam Deck’s recreation streaming efficiency is inconsistent. I streamed Doom: The Dark Ages from my Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080-powered PC and it did surprisingly nicely on the Steam Deck when handheld. But with the Steam Deck docked and utilizing a Bluetooth-enabled Xbox controller? The Wi-Fi apparently interfered with the Bluetooth connection, inflicting enter to be stuttery.
Chris Hoffman / Foundry
Bluetooth points apart, not each recreation streamed in addition to Doom. I discovered less-demanding video games usually didn’t stream nicely in any respect. It appears depending on the sport’s engine and whether or not it’s utilizing Vulkan, DirectX 12, DirectX 11, and so forth—there are such a lot of variables! You’ll have a greater, extra constant expertise taking part in video games proper on the Deck’s {hardware} than streaming them to the Deck.
I additionally personal one among Valve’s discontinued Steam Link boxes designed for streaming video games from a desktop PC to a TV, and the sport streaming expertise wasn’t nice for that both. Steam has all the time been inconsistent for me on this space, so I’ve all the time most well-liked taking part in video games domestically than streaming them over the community.
What if you wish to stream? Instead of Steam’s built-in streaming assist, use Nvidia GeForce Now to stream games from Nvidia’s servers to your Steam Deck. I’ve had extra constant outcomes with Nvidia GeForce Now through the years than streaming from my very own PC.
A docked Steam Deck is enjoyable and straightforward… however I would like much more!
The Steam Deck is nice in docked mode, nevertheless it has actual drawbacks.
Compared to a Nintendo Switch, there’s much more fidgeting with decision settings. Things that ought to ideally “just work”? Well, they don’t. The Steam Deck works nicely in handheld mode, however the expertise with an exterior show isn’t as polished.
The Steam Deck can also be clearly designed for use in hand. In idea, it could actually ship high-end gaming energy to your TV by streaming video games out of your gaming PC. In actuality, it’s flakey. I wouldn’t depend on a dependable streaming expertise with each recreation in your Steam library.
If something, utilizing the Steam Deck in docked mode makes me understand how a lot I desire a highly effective SteamOS console-style expertise. I like taking part in PC video games in my front room, however I’m not a fan of the Windows desktop expertise on my TV. Clicking by OneDrive promos and Microsoft Edge advertisements on my 4K TV shouldn’t be my concept of a chill time.
SteamOS has an amazing TV interface. If the decision configuration was extra seamless, it will be glorious. The Steam Deck simply wants extra highly effective {hardware} to face as much as fashionable Xboxes and PlayStations in the lounge—and that’s why I’m trying ahead to the brand new Steam Machine. But till it comes, I’m blissful sufficient to make use of my docked Steam Deck as a makeshift SteamOS console.